Transformation numérique

If you own or operate a business, then you should be thinking about innovation and modernization. This is true for nearly every business, and especially true for companies that have not deliberately strategized for modernization or innovation recently. We can examine innovation and modernization across a variety of parts of a business, from our customer profiles to our physical plants, but let’s focus our attention primarily on the technical side of your business.     Why modernization and innovation matter You may be wondering why innovation and modernization are important at all. After all, your business is running just fine without making drastic changes to your strategy or your business practices, right?  Perhaps things are great–but they can ALWAYS be better. What if you could streamline some aspect of your business to make you more responsive to your clients? What if there was a way to better engage your potential customers and make them more likely to choose you (along-side of, or integrated with, your marketing strategy)? What if you could make a few changes that would make it easier for your employees to work together to solve problems? This is all a part of a business process modernization. And as CIO Deb Gildersleeve puts it, “I have yet to see a place where modernizing isn't needed.” …

How much time are your salespeople actually spending on selling? Sales is a remarkably complex human activity. As Daniel Pink points out in To Sell is Human, it’s also deeply connected to who we are as a species. The desire to persuade others to join us in a belief, a mission, or an experience forms part of our identity as social animals. By the same token, success in selling depends largely on our ability to connect with another person on a human-to-human level.  As any seasoned sales rep knows, that means tuning into emotional signals and zeroing in on psychological needs. The best salespeople score high on qualities of emotional intelligence, such as the ability to empathize and to articulate feelings, through tone of voice, gestures, and facial expressions. And many of these highly skilled professionals are stuck behind computer screens for much of their time, prevented from doing what they do best—engaging in human interaction. Although it might sound paradoxical, automation can help improve your bottom line not by dehumanizing your sales process but by rehumanizing it. The ABCs of selling At the most basic level, any sales process consists of three general stages. First, you Attract potential customers, or leads. Then you Build your relationship with them. And finally, you Convert their interest into a…

In today’s world, the question is not whether you should or could become a digital business. Every business that wants to survive must evolve in this direction or get left behind as an analog relic. The key is to transition to this new reality in a way that preserves your core strengths and company identity.

While the latest tech and processes are driving much of the innovation in Silicon Valley, companies of any size and type can benefit from digital transformation and the business modernization that comes with it. After all, if you're not busy innovating and trying to improve your processes, you're busy falling behind, and the constant drive of your competitors surely won't stop to allow you to play catch-up. Sure, we may think that a certain industry or vertical is immune from disruption. Critics said the same thing about books (Amazon), taxis (Uber, Lyft) and TV (Netflix, Hulu), but that didn't stop those industries from being upended in just a few years with the right technological improvements and efficiencies. But you don't have to be dealing in tech to benefit from business modernization. Digital solutions and the innovation brought by modernization can benefit any company, no matter its size or what it is that you do. That's because whether you rely on people or machines to get your work done, better processes and greater communication, as well as the collection of important data that you can use to make better decisions, is a rising tide that can lift your business. Why you need a business modernization strategy When you're in front of that next problem, instead of clamoring to…

Digital transformation is about the journey, not the destination. Once you reach the first milestone, it’s time to start heading for the second. Otherwise, you won’t recoup your ROI, and you may find yourself falling behind your competitors. Here are some signals that could be telling you it’s time to start the next phase of your company’s journey.

Keeping up with the changes is hard work, and many companies may approach their technology capabilities as something to reevaluate once in a while instead of a cornerstone of their overall business strategy, yet those in the know realize that this is a sure way to be left behind.  What are some signs that your business may need help in managing your digital transformation?

When you introduce digital transformation into your business, you’re deciding that life will never be the same. You’re not just adding a new app or installing a new “system” of some kind—you’re intentionally evolving your company’s DNA. This is exciting news because it means you’re not just reacting passively to changes in the environment that might cause mutations to your business processes and offerings. You’re proactively injecting your company with the innovation and resilience it will need to continually adapt in our era of ongoing disruption. Your employees may not, however, find this approach as invigorating as you do. As you introduce game-changing digital solutions into your organization, bear in mind that many of your employees will want to cling to the rules of the old game. They’re probably viewing the world from ground-level and need some help spotting the vision you see shimmering so brightly above the horizon. To nudge your team out of their comfort zone and get them to buy into your vision, you’ll need to overcommunicate the value of “going digital.” Don’t assume that one upbeat email announcing a new digital solution will do the job, no matter how long the list of benefits it includes. Consider carefully the way you paint your vision and the story you weave around it, especially in…

You’re probably familiar with the traditional elements of a business growth strategy. But are you incorporating a digital transformation strategy into your plans for expansion? If not, you could be missing a key factor and limiting your organization’s opportunities to develop resilience and achieve success.