Eight Steps to a Successful Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is a process that’s essential in 2021 and beyond.

Especially after the pandemic, many companies have seen just how fragile a company can be if they don’t have digital processes set up.

That’s why we’ve gathered the eight most important steps to a successful digital transformation. So you can “future proof” your business and build a solid foundation for years to come.

Let’s dive into the eight steps now.

8 Steps For Your Company’s Digital Transformation

1) Understand it in the first place

It’s first important to understand what digital transformation actually is. Only then will your company see its value and stay committed to the actions you decide on. While there are different definitions, perhaps the most important is also the simplest: adopting digital technology.

As for the purpose of digital transformation? Many companies have adopted this as their primary business goal because digital transformation improves efficiency, quality of service, and ability to be innovative.

Put simply, if you are refusing the digitalization trend, you are falling behind your competition. This is the first thing your team needs to know before getting started.

2) Define your goals

After understanding how important digital transformation is, you need to decide how your company will pursue it.

In the year 2021, the desire for digital transformation can mean a whole lot of things. This naturally implies there are many different actions you can take in the pursuit of it.

But doing everything isn’t the right strategy. Instead, it’s important to define exactly what your goals are and work backward from there. Maybe you want to drive more revenue from products you sell online? In this case, it’s worth looking into your sales funnel and how you might improve it. Trying to drive more traffic to your website through social media? In this case, doing significant research into the sort of content that works is the first step.

Digital transformation is unique for every business that takes it seriously. Get your goals set up before getting started.

3) Change your company culture

Once you’ve defined your goals, it’s important to get your entire company on board. And the only way to do that is to build an environment of experimentation and openness to outside ideas.

That’s where your company culture comes in. Are you workers afraid to express their opinion? Do you have older executives that still need help from younger associates handling their computer setup? These are just two examples of a company culture that’s destructive to digital transformation.

You have to walk the walk, as well. Check out this guide for some practical advice on effectively and sustainably implementing change to your company culture.

4) Focus on your users

Of course, what good is digital transformation if it’s not actually useful for the people you’re serving. Sure, maybe your boss loves your new website design. But have you asked your customers? It’s important with any digital transformation to keep the focus on your users.

So ask them what they want. What do they think of your website? How easy is it for them to message you on specific platforms and actually get help? What is their entire online experience with you like, and how can you improve?

These are answers that can be hard to hear, but are always essential to take seriously.

5) Train for the right skills

At some point in your digital transformation process, it’s likely that you will hit a roadblock. There will be certain things your team doesn’t know how to do. Perhaps certain actions that nobody knows how to proceed with.

That’s why skill development is essential. Not only to get your digital transformation right, but also for the future success of your company. 

One important action here is to examine what your competitors are doing well. What sort of digital experiences are they creating for their own customers, and what are they doing successfully that your own company has a skill gap in?

This is a good indication of which skills you should be focusing on. Maybe it’s web design. Perhaps it’s taking your customer service to the next level. Whatever it is, learn from the companies that are doing it well.

6) Automate processes

Automation is one of the biggest appeals to digital transformation. It takes the pressure off your team to constantly be attending to mundane tasks and frees them up for more creative work.

Perhaps even more importantly, though, is the role it plays in customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that one of the biggest factors in happy customers is the speed with which you help them. People don’t necessarily care about getting the perfect answer, so much as getting a “good enough” answer quickly.

Keep this in mind for your digital transformation. For example, maybe you employ the use of a chatbot to provide quick customer service. Maybe you focus on the most important email flows to automate communication with people after they buy for the first time.

Regardless of what you choose to do, always remember how powerful automation can be to your business.

7) Accept that mistakes will happen

It’s a simple fact that not all companies are prepared to make their company more digitally friendly. In fact, the majority of companies are underprepared for digital transformation.

This can mean a lot of things, including a website that isn’t user-friendly, an online buying process that is confusing, or copywriting throughout their online sales material that isn’t as compelling as it should be. If fixing these are part of your game plan, it can be a lot of work.

That’s why it’s important to approach the process with a growth mindset. Yes, you will probably make mistakes. And yes, not everything will go according to plan.

But keep moving forward. Especially if you have a smaller team, digital transformation can be a work in progress. And that’s perfectly fine!

8) Continue the process

Digital transformation doesn’t happen all at once. In fact, with the rate of technological change, it’s a process that likely never ends.

But this doesn’t mean you have to despair. Indeed, if you look at it the right way, the fact that effective digital transformation is a continual process means most people are likely to neglect it.

This can be your company’s big competitive advantage. Like I said in the last point, digital transformation is a work in progress. 

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