The truth is that it DID NOT take a pandemic to make the world embrace business of experience. Instead, it merely acted as a catalyst for its acceleration.
The world has been on a steady trajectory towards Digital for decades now.
Every major and minor innovation has been made in the name of digital. COVID-19, if anything, has proved why it was needed, and that if anything, we have been moving too slow.
But before we can talk about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Digital Transformation, let’s start with what is Digital Transformation? Is it a hip new way of defining cloud-based computing? Is it something that we all can do on our own? Or are there specialized teams of people who are qualified to handle these transformations for us?
More importantly, how much of our business strategy needs to change, and how much is it going to cost? – Is it worth it?
At the offset, we need to understand that Digital Transformation means different things to different companies. Because no two companies work and operate in the exact same way (though they may share the same industry), Digital Transformation, as a whole, changes based on where a company is currently positioned. To make things simple though, we can define digital transformation as the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business resulting in fundamental changes to how businesses operate and how they deliver value to customers.
Over and above that, it’s also seen as a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo and keep experimenting while getting comfortable with failure. At times, this even means walking away from long-standing business processes that companies were built upon in favor of relatively new practices that are still being defined.
What is Digital Transformation?
As we mentioned before, Digital Transformation means different things to different companies. So in order to find out what it means to you, you need to ask yourself, what aspect of your business are you looking to improve? Are you looking to improve customer experience, increase productivity, elevate profitability? Or maybe your aim is more aspirational in nature, like being a market leader or segment specialist; and so you’re looking to bolster that vision by relying on Digital Transformation to get there.
To better understand what digital transformation means to businesses, let’s listen to Niall McKeown and his take on the meaning of digital transformation.
Different companies have implemented Digital Transformation in ways that were specific to their vision. For example, at Monsanto, former CIO Jim Swanson revealed that the company invested in automation saying, “We talk about automating operations, about people, and about new business models”.
“Wrapped inside those topics are data analytics, technologies, and software – all of which are enablers, not drivers.” “In the center of it all is leadership and culture.” He goes on to say, “You could have all those things – the customer view, the products and services, data, and really cool technologies – but if leadership and culture aren’t at the heart, it fails.
Understanding what digital means to your company – whether you’re a financial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, or retail institution – is essential.”
What is Business Experience (BX)?
The Business of Experience (Business Experience) or BX, as Accenture calls it, is a new approach where all business leaders are equal stakeholders in building exceptional experiences for customers, employees, and the society.
The term BX – Business of Experience – was recently coined by Accenture to describe a new paradigm in which all business leaders are equal stakeholders in creating extraordinary experiences for customers, workers, and society.
In this ever-changing digital landscape and changing client needs, customer experience has become a must-have for most businesses. Customer satisfaction is the responsibility of each individual and business function inside an organization.
The majority of companies are concentrating on the technology and digital initiatives that are required to support their company and operations. The next step is to go beyond technology and strategize how everyone in the company can contribute to rethinking customer engagement and experience.
Business leaders must establish new organizational structures to capitalize on technology investments and find new methods to deliver value and fulfil evolving customer expectations through meaningful and personalized experiences. This necessitates a shift in the organization’s attitude from one focused on the customer experience (CX) to one focused on the business of experience (BX).
Traditionally, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) was in charge of customer experience, but BX is a larger notion that encompasses all aspects of corporate operations.
It requires the organization’s stakeholders to shift their mindset and rethink how they conduct business from the standpoint of customers – how customers interact, shop, and so on.
Business of Experience And Digital Transformation
For some, the notion of Digital Transformation is going paperless. For others, it transcends human input in favor of artificial intelligence and machine learning. In the food industry it could be as simple as ordering online, while for a digital marketing agency, it could mean remote working.
The onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic saw companies embracing Business of Experience is a variety of ways in order to stay afloat.
But it hasn’t been completely negative. Most companies that were already on the path to ‘truly digital’ merely accelerated the process.
Within the first week of the global lockdown that took place in March of 2020, companies such as Nordic Intent, a Norwegian startup accelerator and business incubator based in India, took their entire operation digital, while working from various remote locations which include parts of India and Europe.
While everyone from the leadership and sales teams, to the programmers and coders, set up base in home offices, meetings moved online, and sales pitches went completely digital through highly successful LinkedIn outreach programs.
Similarly, other organizations have effectively conducted large-scale audits of the current state of their digital transformation thanks to the skyrocketing utilization of the technology they have on hand. Missing capabilities came to the fore immediately – but more often, redundant or conflicting systems were identified as people actually used them
In an article for The Enterprisers Project, Melissa Swift stated that “Nothing silences an individual’s – or an organization’s – inner perfectionist like a full-blown crisis. In response to dramatic disruption, many organizations have undergone a healthy re-negotiation of their relationship to digital technology – prioritizing ‘hey, it works!’ over ‘after years of slaving over this initiative, we’ve assembled the very best bells and whistles.’ But candidness aside, it’s rather clear that Business of Experience is the key to business success, regardless of the industry that you are in.
To find out how Business of Experience can help your business achieve its goals (even during a pandemic) book a FREE consultation call with the experts at Kilowott.
Keep reading this unique business experience blog to uncover deeper insights in to technology.
