So what is digital transformation, exactly, anyway?
And how can it help me reach my KPIs, improve sales, and get better data?
Last week we launched our newest KSV Brief on Digital Transformation. And the response was huge.
Turns out, a lot of companies in the energy and sustainability space are challenged by the digital experience they are offering to their customers and the data they are able to get back out of them.
Even some that you might expect would really know what to do with data, companies that specialize in helping other businesses use data to drive efficiency and business decisions, even they are struggling with gaps, holes in data, redundant and black box systems that don't speak to each other, and digital user experiences that don't reflect the best parts of their brand.
So we thought we'd revisit the topic again this week and answer the three biggest questions that we got about digital transformation work.
1. "Digital Transformation" sounds like what we need, but I don't really get what the actual work is? For KSV, it's a process by which we think about the entire customer experience we're creating, how offline channels connect to online ones, and how all of it can contribute to a better experience, higher revenues, better data, and more satisfaction for your customers. Want even more insight into the actual work? Download the brief.
2. Sounds great, but we're married to the CMS platform we're on, and it's already so hard to get the website updated, this feels like trying to boil the ocean? Yup, we hear this a lot. The answer is that there is a lot you can do without having the latest and greatest back end system, so you shouldn't feel stuck. The work here is about improving the customer experience and getting better data out of it. All of that can be done without a complete rebuild or a capital investment in a new platform or infrastructure.
3. I know that we need a better digital experience, but I don't know how to start this conversation inside my organization. We've got goals to meet, and a whole different team who owns the website. Silos, ownership, KPIs and inertia: there are a lot of elements working against this process. But continuing to work with subpar tools isn't serving your organization. It's ironic, isn't it, that so much of the work that utilities, energy companies, and connected product companies are doing is trying to talk to customers about how they could be making their homes and businesses better through upgrades, through investing in the systems that will actually work better for them, and yet we fight against it for our own organizations.
This week we met with an innovative lighting manufacturing company who wanted to again talk digital transformation and customer engagement. And they acknowledged that their business has been growing at a 30% increase each year (which, as a multi-billion dollar organization, is no small feat). But they are seeing that slow down, and they (smartly) know that the key to continuing to grow lies in focusing more on the customer and the experience they are giving them.
So, will digital transformation be a part of your focus?
Shouldn't it be?
Next week we'll be co-presenting at an AESP Brown Bag webinar with one of our clients from National Grid about how they are creating transformation in customer experience through hyper-targeting, customer-centric messaging, and better utilization of data.
