Putting value creation at the centre of transformation

The aim of a transformation project is change, but transformation itself should start with value. Why? Value helps engage your stakeholders in the project. This not only helps you stay competitive, but also increases the chances of buy-in and transformation success.

 

Transformation projects usually include the following goals:

• Enhance productivity
• Improve the top line
• Reduce costs
• Improve product quality
• Reduce manual processes

However, many businesses give little thought to how these goals will benefit their stakeholders. For example, a director might care about the impact of the transformation on their business initiatives, while the people working at the coalface day in, day out might see it as improving their daily lives.

 

That’s why you need to be ready to answer the “what’s in it for me?” question. Don’t expect your teams to simply fall in line with the change. People often don’t like change, and their motivations are one of the main wildcards in transformations. We’re talking about hidden agendas, personal ambitions, fear of the unknown and so on.

 

This puts further unpredictability and complexity in digital transformations, making the right investment decisions, business priorities and sustaining the change. Instead, transformations are about extracting the value from what you’re trying to deliver (such as a systems upgrade or structural reorganisation), tying that in with your stakeholders’ motivations and aligning them to one cause.

What does value look like?

Value comes in various forms and can be both financial and non-financial. Essentially, value is any improvement seen as beneficial for your internal and external stakeholders. As we’ve touched on already, one group of stakeholders within your organisation will likely have different thoughts on what qualifies as “value” compared with another.

 

That’s why you need to make sure you have:

• Determined what you’re transforming
• Clearly outlined what you want to achieve

How can I create value?

Here are three ways you can create value within your business:

 

Step #1: be prepared to question and break traditions

 

Many business leaders are concerned their ideas – which may be perceived as “going outside of the box” within their organisation – won’t work. This is likely because of the fear of change, or resistance to change a process which “has worked for years”.

 

This results in businesses getting stuck in their current strategies, negatively impacting their customer base and ability to innovate. By driving new value-creation strategies, you can expand customer bases and increase revenue, helping push your business forwards.

 

Step #2: focus on providing customers with more, better or new value

 

In today’s digital landscape, there’s several options available to buyers at a touch of a button, which means there’s nothing stopping them moving to a competitor if something catches their eye. Think about how you can provide your customers with more, better or new value, with the ultimate goal being increasing customer satisfaction.

 

You can do this by studying the data you already have on your customers. Then, answer the following questions:

• What do they want/expect from your business?
• Are you meeting their every need?
• How can you make interacting with your company easier for them?
• What needs do you expect to appear on the horizon?
• Can you meet those potential new needs?

 

Step #3: find solutions that support your vision

 

Once you know more about your customers’ wants and needs, you can focus on implementing the right solution to help meet (and exceed) their expectations. For example, if your business relies on commerce, you could invest in a modern commerce platform that helps streamline your buying process, as well as:

• Personalise content – allowing your customers to view the products, offers and other content which might be relevant to them
• Seamlessly integrate with your other business systems – connecting your CRM makes it easier for your customer service teams to find the right customer profile when a customer contacts them, helping provide a more seamless experience
• Boost your product information management (PIM) – a PIM system helps bring all your product-related data into one location, making it easier to update, add and remove
• Offer content management system (CMS) features – allowing you to tweak your digital storefront as and when you need

These three steps are just a small part of value creation. Our guide digs deeper into how you can build a business value creation strategy and fit that into your overall digital transformation project. Click here to find out more.

Transform your customer experience with digital transformation

Technology on its own isn’t a silver bullet – you need the right mindset in place to deliver an exceptional customer experience. But that’s easier said than done. In our report, produced in association with Business Reporter, we explore the internal and external impacts of digital transformation and how it connects to customer experience. Download it today by clicking here.

 

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By Ian Kingstone, UK Director – Strategy & Change