Many businesses are still unsure whether a digital transformation is fruitful for their organization because they think of it as a technology deployment exercise. However, this is far from reality.
Digital transformation is aimed at solving business problems. They create new opportunities, optimize the sales channels, and power up the entire organization’s productivity.
Digital transformation is like looking at the future and how you can bring value to the owners and other stakeholders by adopting digital technologies in all aspects of your business.
Here are the top five ways to power your organization for a digital transformation:
1- Set Clear Goals
Document your entire digital transformation strategy. Start by setting up clear goals as to what you are trying to achieve. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
- Are you looking to cut costs?
- Do you wish to improve productivity?
- Are you looking to increase the flow of leads?
- Do you want to reduce the load of your sales team?
- Do you want to manage your employees better?
- Are you looking to deliver the best customer experiences?
Anything that’s not measured is not optimized. Hence, it is essential to note down all your goals to measure it later in your organization’s digital transformation journey. Doing so will help you drive the maximum revenue by optimizing your sales channels, and it will also keep your workforce happy.
2- Get the Staff Involved
Preparing your employees for digital transformation is a crucial step that should not be ignored. Evaluate your staff’s digital skills to understand whether they know CRM and automation tools. In most cases, you might need to hire a trainer or seek outside talent to get the tasks done at the early stages of the journey. Once your staff is trained and able to handle the tasks efficiently, they will be able to teach others.
Have a strong presence in the workplace. Your role doesn’t end with training. It starts with that. You have to encourage employees to ask questions to learn more about the processes and the software used to manage them. Remain connected via chat or email and try to have open conversations. This will help your workforce to stay confident, and they will accept the change gladly.
3- Leverage the Power of Automation
Digital transformation is all about automation. You have to apply technology so that the processes run themselves and increase your organization’s efficiency and reporting capabilities.
Role of ERP and CRM
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning, and it refers to a type of software used to manage all the day-to-day tasks related to your accounting, project management, risk management, and supply chain departments.
ERP offers significant advantages like real-time business insights, streamlined business processes, increased efficiency, reduced risk, improved data integrity, and lower business costs.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and it refers to all the tools used to acquire, nurture, and manage the customers.
Differences Between On-Premise and Cloud ERP
ERP can be of two types, namely, On-Premise ERP and Cloud ERP. On-Premise ERP is installed locally on your organization’s server managed by your own IT department while the vendor manages cloud ERP, and all the business data is kept in the cloud.
Cloud ERP is also known as SaaS or Software as a Service. It is easy to implement and does not require high maintenance costs. It offers greater work efficiency for multiple teams with improved customer service.
Difference Between ERP and CRM
The core functionalities of ERP and CRM are different. ERM focuses on reducing costs and improving operational efficiency while CRM increases business revenue by bringing in more sales with a higher customer retention rate. The best way to leverage ERP and CRM’s power is to integrate CRM within the ERM. Although most ERM systems have CRM integrated as one of the pillars, if your ERP doesn’t have CRM integrated, you choose the one that easily integrates with your CRM.
Why An ERP For Ecommerce Companies is a Must
Implementing a cloud ERP for eCommerce businesses must be because the average ROI for ERP implementation is $7 for every dollar spent. ERP is a central hub of all information coming from different departments like sales, inventory, marketing, etc. The software automatically manages to send notifications to customers and connects different workflows to automate information exchange, leading to increased productivity.
4- Create a Data-Driven Environment
Data-driven work culture is crucial to make the best business decisions. Organizations that fail to make decisions backed by data ultimately fail in the longer run.
Make it a habit of collecting crucial operational and customer data right from the start. Data is essential to acquire more customers via different marketing channels. When you have data at your disposal, you know how to target the customers and when.
Email marketing is the most ROI-friendly channel to acquire business leads. Hence, the importance of data-driven email delivery can’t be ignored. Data-driven email marketing is all about using the existing data to segment your email lists and message to keep your audience engaged. With all the collected data that you already have in your ERP and CRM systems, you can personalize your emails for every customer. Email personalization is highly effective and leads to high open-rates. When your customers read your emails, they start taking actions, which ultimately leads to higher profits.
Data collection and access are vital to make crucial decisions at the right time. You should be able to access the data as and when required. When you automate your organizational workflow and implement software like ERP and CRM, you can get data at your fingertips and use it whenever you need to.
Final Thoughts
Digital transformation is a necessity. Make sure to understand your business goals before you implement any software. Train your employees and start collecting data right from the start to better view customer expectations and future outcomes. The current business environment is extremely competitive, and organizations that take appropriate steps to accept digital transformation stay ahead of their competitors.
