As many businesses move to establish their digital workspace in order to adapt to the changes brought about by the pandemic. When the majority of work and activities have gone digital. 

People have more access to advanced technology through their smartphones, and they use them for day-to-day activities like navigation, shopping, or using social media. 

Technology also influences customer decisions such as finding brands to buy from or learning more about a certain product. 

Advancements in technology are great, but they pose a challenge to businesses. Since new demands and changes are happening, companies need to keep up with them if they would want to make it through the upcoming years. 

Some businesses might be slow to adapt to change, and undergoing digital transformation might be costly. But if you would like to future-proof your business, you need to address some digital transformation challenges. 

 

What is Digital Transformation?

Modern technologies can drastically change our approach in solving traditional issues and this is the main goal of digital transformation. Every level of business is affected and it often dictates how a business can progress.

Many digital transformations may require organisations to take on some level of risks, and here are some of the digital transformation challenges Australian companies may face:

 

Digital Transformation Challenges

 

Changing Customer Experience

Customer Experience (CX) is the highlight of how consumers value a brand above all else. Whether you’re a physical business or a digital one, you would need to improve the overall customer journey to your brand.

Since consumers have higher expectations of businesses, it might not leave brands time to adapt and adjust processes for their customers. It’s also bad news when customers have a bad experience. Most likely, it would be the reason why they will vanish without complaining and completely switch to your competitor without knowing what you may have done wrong.

How can you improve customer experience? Revamping your customer journey is the key to change your brand’s relationship with your customers and prospects. Starting from brand awareness up to customer support, you have to optimise and improve the touchpoints along the journey instead of merely trying to win sales. 

A better customer journey may help you keep your customers longer. It gives you the opportunity to improve your sales and retention which will help your stability and growth in the years to come.

 

Poor Analytics

Analytics play a major role in growing a business. Many companies are dissatisfied with their analytics abilities, whether they lacked the right tools to gather and analyse data or they failed to identify the metric they need. 

While there are many tools available to seek and measure data, it is still up to the decision-makers and data analysts to identify the correct data to measure and interpret. Proper interpretation and analysis of the current data enable business owners to know the success, opportunities, and risks of every decision they make for their business.

Personalisation also affects the customer experience, so utilising analytics will identify which of your efforts are effective and which of them should be improved. Customers love a tailor-fit experience in every brand interaction, so you can maximise data and analytics on their preferences.

 

Legacy Business Models

Businesses rely on established products and practices that they have been using for a long time. Sometimes, that legacy could be a drawback than an advantage. When you’re system may become obsolete in the future, it is important to know when you should switch to newer and better processes.

Take Kodak and Verizon for example. Kodak is a household name in the photography industry since they have invented the digital camera years before it became mainstream. But instead of taking advantage of the opportunities brought by a digital camera, they just stood still because it threatened the legacy film industry.

Meanwhile, Verizon (then Bell Atlantic) saw that landlines and their use have been declining throughout the years as more mobile devices were needed in that era, so they decided to pivot and lead the transition to mobile phones.

There’s no one-size-fits-all to this issue, but you may start slowly until you figure out how your business would like to pivot.

 

Omnichannel Adaptation

Customers jump from one channel to another as they go through their buying journey. For instance, customers could be exposed to your brand when they searched for recommendations in search engines and on social media. They will look up your business from their smartphones, and they might stop by your store only to buy online later. 

This long process of purchase is omnichannel shopping by consumers. Your prospects are more discerning and might take longer to actually purchase something from your business, and that’s okay. As a business, you have to adapt to capture the interest of the omnichannel shopper.

Businesses that mainly relied on physical sales were affected during the pandemic. Some businesses lost a majority of their sales and some were forced to close down for good. Those businesses that have not pivoted to digital and established their online presence drove away potential customers.

If you’re struggling to have an omnichannel presence, here’s what you can do:

• Establish multiple sales channels for your brand where customers can buy from you anywhere.
• Build a one-stop-shop fluid customer experience that covers all touchpoints.

For instance, instead of checkouts solely on your website, you may expand it to digital marketplaces. You may also need a variety of channels for support, so could build automated support chats on your website and social media platforms. 

These are just some suggestions on how you can improve your omnichannel efforts. Without adapting, you risk losing a hefty number of prospects. It’s better to invest and take effort now because the pay off is guaranteed for the long-term.

 

Employee Pushback

Your employees are the biggest pillars of your business and you cannot fully realise the growth and opportunities without their support. While employees aid in the transformation of a business, there could be scenarios that you would encounter a pushback, especially in digital transformation.

One concern of a company when it comes to overhauling processes and going digital is the capability of employees to adapt to these changes and how it would impact the current company culture and organisational structure. This is especially true for SMEs that is currently undergoing the transition from traditional to digital. 

In addition, there might be a significant skill gap when adapting to these changes. Your skilful employees would have been occupied with priority tasks and they couldn’t be spread too thin to train others or fuel your digital growth. 

You may also face a huge drawback when your employees feel that their job is threatened by these changes you want to implement –which is not good for your team’s morale or productivity.

How can you overcome this challenge if you have your existing structure in place?

As out-of-the-box as it may seem, you can overcome this challenge by effectively build a customer-centric culture where you combine the internal efforts agility and external improvements on customer journeys and touchpoints. Put your customers at the helm of your efforts so change can happen more easily.

 

The Bottomline 

It’s essential for businesses to overcome digital transformation challenges so they can grow and last for a long time. You can start by focusing on building a customer experience that caters to a personalised experience for your prospects and positioning your brand as the solution to their problems. Establish a customer-centric culture within the company so you can easily adapt based on what your customers tell you. 

Ultimately, don’t let these challenges become roadblocks for your business’ success. Face the challenges head-on and you’re set to success for years to come.