How to measure digital transformation success

Over the past decade, companies have attempted to transform themselves in a digital world. Digital transformation is no longer an “if” or a “maybe” choice for companies – it is a clear necessity as customer preferences and usage patterns are shifting. A study from Accenture found that those who invest in digital capabilities significantly improve their market share, productivity, growth and profitability over those that don’t. In addition to providing tangible Rotherham business benefits, digitizing your business also boosts people’s productivity and has been linked to increasing work satisfaction.

There will never be a single point in time where you can announce your company is “done” with its digital transformation – it isn’t something you can ever really finish. Instead, successful companies continually adapt to market changes to stay ahead.

Digital transformation is essentially the idea that business processes are being changed by digital technology. For example, Amazon started as an online bookstore but quickly morphed into so much more – now it’s a retail behemoth specializing in products of all sorts. Amazon continues to experiment with new services, introducing Amazon Go brick-and-mortar stores and developing aerial drones for delivery. Amazon is always trying something new, which helps keep it at the forefront of customers’ minds as they consider where to shop next. Even if one of their ventures flops (heaven forbid!), it doesn’t take down the entire company because there’s always another service or product to back it up.

In short: The key to successful digital transformation is being able to adapt quickly.

There are, of course, non-business reasons for becoming more digitally oriented. Digitizing your company means making your customers happier with better experiences and improved service. And if you’re publicly traded, it’s nice to have a high stock price . It also makes sense to adopt digital transformation efforts when you think about recruiting top talent or attracting investors.

Digital transformation consultants will tell you that technology alone isn’t enough for success – organizational change management is crucial too (for more on this concept see the “Building Change Management Into Your Digital Transformation” section below). Additionally, companies need to define what they want their customer experience (CX) strategy to be (Does your CX include mobile apps? What about chatbots? Is the CX even the right place to focus?) and which capabilities they need for customer experience excellence (for example, an omnichannel platform ).
Digital transformation is all about delivering what customers want. No company can afford to rest on its laurels – you have to change with your customers or risk becoming irrelevant.

If you’re thinking of embracing digital transformation, it’s critical that you define success first. What do you hope to accomplish through your efforts? How will you measure whether you’ve succeeded? Setting concrete goals helps keep everyone on track as the process unfolds over time. And once you know how you’ll measure your results, be sure to regularly check in with employees, managers and executives on how things are progressing towards those goals.

In the end, digital transformation isn’t just a fleeting trend – it’s a reality that will continue to shape business as long as customers are increasingly connected. Successful companies embrace this new normal and use technology to deliver more meaningful customer experiences. All you have to do is ask yourself: “What kind of company do I want to be?”

The first step toward achieving your digital transformation goals is figuring out what exactly those goals should be. Start by asking questions like: What kind of results do we hope to see? How quickly must we achieve them? What’s the minimum level of success for our organization? You might also consider speaking with people on your team about their ideas for creating an ideal vision for your company .

What’s the right formula for digital transformation success? Well, it depends on your business and what you hope to accomplish. Amazon wasn’t successful because it introduced a mobile app – Amazon was successful because its app created an exceptional customer experience. The brand continues to excel at this now that Amazon Go has been introduced as yet another way to make shopping more convenient for consumers . If your company is struggling with getting started with digital transformation, take inspiration from Amazon!

Be sure to define specific goals related to organizational change management, customer experience and capabilities development/deployment before embarking on any serious efforts towards digital transformation.

The bottom line: Digital transformation isn’t just about technology – it’s about using technology and consistently in order to deliver fantastic customer experiences.

Feel free to contact Rotherham Apps if you want to continue the discussion about your digital transformation plans and how we can help.