Digital Transformation (DT) is not really a new concept, but current events have caused it to circulate and trend widely in many business sectors. Since 2017, DT is extremely important in terms of business growth strategies, and many leaders are actively implementing changes to include it.
In fact, according to Forrester’s report, digital transformation directly affects 50% of corporate sales.
What Is Digital Transformation?
According to Wikipedia, digital transformation is the use of modern and advanced problem-solving technology. In other words, digital transformation is the transformation from a traditional monotonous workflow model to a more dynamic and creative business model, by reducing the time needed to perform routine tasks, allowing businesses to invest in more creative tasks.
An example of digital transformation in business is the transition from sending paper invoices to using digital invoices. The benefit of using this technology is evident: it saves time and costs, because:
- There’s no need to print the invoice
- There’s no need to mail hard copies of invoices
- It’s easier to send a large number of invoices in a short time
- It’s easier to collect payments
- Businesses can offer more flexible payment solutions to customers
- You can track the billing status from your mobile phone / PC
- Ability to schedule bills
- Businesses can easily send reminders of the invoices due
- Businesses can send the invoice link through communication platforms quickly and efficiently
This is only one example of the many and varied applications for digital transformation. Imagine if all of your work could be completed within a digital framework?
So, why should business leaders prioritize digital transformation before business growth? Here are four reasons to consider:
Easier Decision-Making
One of the most important responsibilities of business leaders is making decisions, and this task is perhaps one of the most difficult and sensitive tasks. Because the future of the company depends on these decisions, decision-makers need data and information that enables them to see the big picture.
Today, with the rise of Business Intelligence (BI) and Big Data, access to and analysis of data has become more flexible and easy. Today you can review last year’s sales from your laptop, assess quarterly figures, track sales, and create sales reports. You can learn your business’s strengths and weaknesses, referring to crisis points and analyzing data to find out the reasons behind the results. Companies can understand their customers better, and provide them with a more customized and enjoyable experience, offering products based on individual attitudes and preferences.
It is difficult to follow all of these details when relying on traditional paper reports– not an impossible task, but imagine how many people need to work on these data and statistics if modern technology is not being used? And how long would it take to adopt a new strategy based on the information?
With the application of digital transformation, all these tasks are performed by specialized applications, allowing decision-makers to measure and evaluate sales and commercial activities and can act on generated data within minutes. Leaders can then make decisions based on real data, not just on intuition and predictions.
Increasing Employee Productivity
Recruiting top-notch candidates and improving employee performance is one of the most important responsibilities of business leaders. To fulfill your responsibility, leaders must strive to improve communication between their employees and the company itself.
Technology plays a fundamental role in the area of communication. Today, there are many powerful and useful applications available for the management of teams, which allow HR managers and working teams to focus on growth and development opportunities, instead of being preoccupied with monotonous tasks. The benefits of using such applications include:
- Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for all team members.
- The ability to work remotely.
- Flexible employee interaction rate measurement.
- Recognizing and retaining the most creative employees.
- Improving the speed of institutional communication.
- Clearly defined workflows.
- The ability to track errors and solve problems.
- Ease in applying flexible management principles.
Strengthening Partnerships
In a world of increasing concern for customer welfare, and demands to provide distinguished and qualitative services, companies need to hold more strategic and practical partnerships. Such partnerships make it simpler for businesses to provide high quality services and products, enhance customer experience, and improve return on investment.
One of the most important challenges is the process of maintaining this type of partnership on a regional or even international level. However, doing so has become a necessity to expand business and its growth, to the point that one of the most important goals of sustainable development approved by the United Nations was the development of international partnerships. Digital transformation greatly facilitates this goal, by streamlining the process of concluding deals and trading at local, regional, and international levels.
The digital transformation has contributed to strengthening partnerships, by providing digital tools for commercial exchange, documentation, maintenance, and follow-up.
Today you can sign official documents electronically, create bank accounts, send and receive payments, and more– all in a digital ecosystem.
Meeting Demand for Digital Services
As an employer, this is possibly the most important reason pushing you towards digital transformation. The business world of today is directly linked to technology, and demand for useful applications is growing.
In today’s market, everything from consumer research, shopping, purchase orders, gifts, and events can be done digitally.
The COVID-19 crisis was the biggest proof of the importance of digital transformation. Projects, training, learning, purchasing, and even entertainment, were conducted entirely through digital applications, and businesses that provided these services saw an increase in demand and growth during this period.
Even if you believe that your business can continue without digital transformation, do you think your customers agree?
There are businesses that cannot be completely transformed digitally, but that can still benefit from technology to make their services more effective and flexible. For example, in the real estate sector, landlords can collect rent payments with ease through the use of the URent service, which facilitates paying and collecting rent online. URent also provides additional features, such as:
- Collection reports
- Ability to manage multiple properties
- Information regarding unit status
- Can replace complex accounting software
- Provides accurate reports on the real estate status, returns, expenses etc.
- Follow-up on maintenance requests, reducing the risk of theft and fraud.
- Sending reminders of payment due dates automatically (via SMS and email service)
You can contact us to find out more about how UPayments services can contribute to the digital transformation of your business. Book an appointment here: upay.to/book