Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and last-minute cancellation of major industry events, trade shows, conferences & congresses; businesses – particularly those in the B2B segment – are increasingly turning to digital marketing to stay relevant, visible and result-driven.
Albeit sudden and unplanned, businesses that are yet to adopt cloud technology, digital marketing, digital payment and real-time collaborative work methods will suffer the most to keep things together at this time.
An example of such business is Primark – UK’s top fashion retail brand whose sale dropped from £650 monthly to Zero.
This is especially because their employees will struggle to use the tools they aren’t familiar with and as a result, the already threatened productivity will be affected.
In the last couple of weeks, we have watched some of our clients struggle with keeping up with the changes while others experienced seamless business continuity. Seeing as the factors that differentiate the two categories of businesses isn’t far from digital transformation and early adoption of technology, below are some of the lessons every business should learn from Covid-19:
Digitisation is no longer a myth
Unlike most trends that ‘blow-away’ after a while:
- technology is evolving new business capabilities.
- Last century designs no longer work
- Customers are more empowered and connected
- Customer expectations are rising faster than ever.
with the increasing speed of adoption and growing needs of the digital consumer, it’s safe to say that the age of digital is “a long ride that has only just began”.
This means that organisations who are yet to accept the reality of digital or still consider it a good-to-have will need to fully reconsider that decision if they intend to remain in business longer.
Digitization doesn’t always require a change in your Business Model
The speed at which most businesses adapted to the work demands and adjustment is proof that
No business is built solely for traditional means of operations.
This in itself means that while some organisations continue to struggle with the assumption that a full-scale digital transformation journey requires a complete change in business model, our experience with various businesses have proven that with the proper change management plan in place, any organisation can go digital with little to no significant impact on the model it’s chosen to operate.
Every Business Needs Automation
This isn’t just about meeting and emails, auto-responders or chatbots.
It’s about Customer Engagement, Relationship Management, Marketing Automations(for example: real time lead/deal tracking), Customer Service & Support, Invoicing, Memos & Approval processes, Inventory Management, Order fulfilment, System Administration & more
Think about the kind of automation that will enable a retail chain like Primark to serve customers effectively. Now that’s the kind of automation we’re talking about.
Businesses will need to identify their unique tech requirement for a seamless digital experience and serve that to customers in an automated structure.
Remote is the new normal
This is one point that can not be over-emphasised. We’ve all seen it play out in the last month or more and it’s not about to go away with the end of the Pandemic.
Organisations have come to realise that productivity and effectiveness are rarely associated with an on-premise workforce. More businesses will continue to explore the possibilities of a remote workforce and as a strategy to reduce cost on infrastructure and other related overheads.
