The success of any business in the digital era depends on the ability to adapt to the fast-paced environment and reconceptualize the existing business model and processes. To get a competitive advantage, businesses need to seek new ways to optimize their business processes. It’s only through the effective use of human, technology and financial resources that sustainable growth can be achieved. Business transformation process can be costly and requires thorough analysis and planning. However, it allows modern companies to retain and grow their customer base and stay afloat in a highly competitive environment.
Let’s take a look at five major steps the top companies took to transfigure their business processes and get better financial results:
● Step 1. Create and Nurture a High-Performance Culture
In the 2000s, a VF corporation encountered limited growth and unclear financial future. Despite its production process efficiency, the company’s valuation was lower than that of its peers. To reach higher profitability, VP created a high-performance culture. Managers were trained on the principles of value creation and given ownership of their decisions. They also introduced a talent management program and attracted top talent for leadership roles. Along with cost management initiatives and portfolio transformation, these efforts resulted in $4 billion growth in only five years.
- Key takeaway: Hiring people with the right education and set of skills isn’t enough to help the business prosper. It’s important to constantly train your team, educate them on cutting-edge practices and give enough autonomy so they could make a difference to the process functioning.
● Step 2. Embrace the Changes and Adapt to Them
As newspapers’ sales cut year after year, The Financial Times faced a crisis. The company needed to take radical actions to fit into the changing habits of people’s media consumption. In addition to print media, they launched a website that loads in 1.5 seconds on desktop and 2.1 on mobile. By adapting to their readers’ preferences, they managed to grow reader engagement by 30% and digital subscriptions by 14%. The Financial Times are everywhere where their subscribers are, and continue getting positive financial results.
- Key takeaway: In the digital era, most business models will undergo significant changes. It’s only the companies that predict and adopt the change will remain successful and profitable. Don’t be afraid of the change and learn to proactively respond to them with an appropriate strategy and a focus on delivering value to your customers.
● Step 3. Operate with Integrity and Strong Business Ethics
Firstly, what is business ethics? Basically, it’s the basic principles and guidelines that determine the way a business acts in certain situations. Starbucks is considered one of the world’s most ethical companies, with the stock increase by 2,200% over 10 years and 28,000+ stores across the planet. Such rapid growth was achieved, in particular, thanks to the company’s dedication to its mission and values. Starbucks’s coffee is ethically sourced, the company recycles its paper and plastic and constantly reduces energy consumption. High ethical standards spread on communications and customer relationships too: employees do community service and receive multiple benefits, and uplifting the lives of customers is seen as a top priority.
- Key takeaways: In the era of corporate social responsibility, celebrating diversity and conscious consumption, businesses can’t afford poor business ethics. Create your own business ethics definition that goes in line with your mission, and you’ll attract more loyal customers whose values and ethical principles align with yours.
● Step 4. Get the Most out of Your Digital Transformation
The most popular type of business optimization over the decade is the digital transformation. With the offline sales decrease across the industries, companies leverage digital tools to enhance customer experience and increase profitability. For instance, Disney has recently encountered a decline in customer satisfaction levels. The company has developed a MyMagic+ program consisting of a website, smartphone app and a wristband to analyze customer behavior and improve customer experience in Disney World. The wristband, which serves as a hotel room key and admission ticket, allows to track guests and offer discounts in case of large lines. It took Disney to train 70,000 employees on new technology, but the result was worth it: 90% of users rated the program as “very good” or “excellent”.
- Key takeaways: Disney’s MyMagic is a good example of using omnichannel analytics to track and analyze customer behavior and a comprehensive digital business transformation. Your business doesn’t have to completely go online but think of how using applications, improving the website and IoT can streamline your business processes, help you save costs and transform the experience of your customers.
● Step 5. Be Passionate About Your Customers
A German insurance company Barmer GEK was lagging behind its competitors in market share and key financial benchmarks. To improve the situation, they decided to launch a major transformation, focusing on improving customer experience in the first place. They cut down the number of branches by 50%, transforming the remaining ones into larger and more attractive service centers. The company also introduced online services and call centers so that the clients don’t have to visit the branch. The processes were made easier and faster, leading to increased levels of customer satisfaction. These changes resulted in €300 million savings yearly.
- Key takeaways: Delivering value to clients always pays off. Optimizing business processes with customer satisfaction in mind will help you maintain customer loyalty and increase business profitability. Introducing digital services, training staff on customer service and creating an emotional connection with your customers are just a few examples of transforming the customer experience.
The above-mentioned steps will help your business remain competitive and profitable in the ever-changing business environment. Efficient and clear communication through all media channels is another important aspect of transforming your business performance. Whatever information about your business you post online, it should be flawless. Check your content, business case study or blog post with the help of this service or in any other way to make sure your writing is free of any possible mistake. A competent checker will correct the grammar, punctuation, style, and syntax in real time to polish your message and help your ideas resonate with a much wider audience.