Simplify Your Processes for the Digital Economy

Digital is no longer a buzzword and is fast becoming a reality for many.  Conversations about digital transformation continue to dominate CEO and executive agendas in 2018.

 

Recent study findings by McKinsey show that only 8 percent of companies surveyed said their current business model would remain economically viable if their industry keeps digitizing at its current course and speed.  It is critical that the conversation moves from the “what” to “how” of digitalization.

 

Previous blogs have discussed the benefits of digital supply chains and of deploying two speed IT capabilities to leverage existing technologies while accelerating digital transformation efforts.

 

This blog highlights some key reasons and need to simplify processes that are at the core of successful digital operating models.

 

 

1. Customer Experience is the New Battleground

 

The costs of poor customer service are staggering.  A recent Forbes article estimated that businesses lose over $60B annually due to poor customer service, up more than $20B in just three years!  It is not surprising that companies, particularly B2C and increasingly B2B, are reinventing their customer experience.

 

To be successful these renewal efforts must recognize changing demographics and shifts in customer interaction. Long gone are the days of measuring customer satisfaction based on discrete transactions at selected customer touch points. Measurements that give a false sense of overall satisfaction.

 

Forbes also found that 49% of customers reported switching suppliers for poor service and that millennials are more than twice as likely as their boomer counterparts to switch suppliers. A sobering fact given that 73% of B2B purchasers are now social savvy, mobile first, peer influenced millennials.

 

“Intelligent Process Automation is The Engine at the Core of the Next Generation Operating Model” – McKinsey

 

 

What Customers Want

Digital leaders have recognized shifting customer demographics with expectations moving from a series of individual moments to an overall experience supported by continuous interaction. Customers now expect:

 

  • Multiple engagement channels to assess, compare and select products and services.  Integration across social, mobile, web, voice and support channels is key to recognizing consumer needs.
  • Continuous rather than transactional interaction. 80% of customers would benefit from proactive outreach, so long as it is helpful.
  • Transparency is essential to build trust and lasting relationships. Avoiding mistakes before they happen but informing immediately of any customer issues and the corrective actions taken.

 

The ability of companies to bring this level of digital awareness to their existing business processes will be a determinant factor in how quickly and successfully they can shift to a leading digital experience.

 

 

2. Intelligently Automate Processes

 

Intelligent process automation based on event-driven platforms are an emerging set of technologies, currently recognized as a top strategic priority by Gartner research.

 

Digital business is event driven. The intelligence comes from contextual awareness of business events supported by an intelligent rules engine for dramatic automation breakthroughs.

 

Event-driven platforms complement rather than replace existing systems. They provide real-time detection of social interactions, process anomalies or delivery failures fully supported via mobile notifications that incorporate actionable analytics.

 

 

3. Drive Down Costs

 

Findings have shown that companies experimenting with intelligent automation are simplifying processes and closing process gaps that can result in:

 

  • Automation of between 50 to 70% of routine tasks
  • Reduction in process time between 50-60%
  • Improved cost efficiencies of 25-35% annually

 

Existing systems were not designed to be able to deliver today’s leading customer experiences. Success requires a new digital mindset, one that is support by rapid, continuous and non-disruptive digitization that can respond in near real-time to events occurring throughout the customer experience.

 

 

4. Empowers your Employees

 

Emerging event-driven platforms have the potential to improve employee engagement. Context and intelligence means that customer issues can be handled autonomously, increasingly without human interaction, while keeping the right people informed at the right time.

 

Automating routine tasks within processes can achieve the above cost reductions, but more importantly allows customer service and delivery teams to focus on higher value customer focused activities. For example, refocusing attention to customer outreach, improving understanding of customer behaviour and assessing social data to predict future trends. Activities that not only benefit the customer but are more rewarding and engaging for staff.

 

 

5. Increase your Revenue

 

A study by IDC showed that less than 20% of Canadian are prepared for the digital era.

Companies that have been slow to respond to digitalization saw increased pressure as digitalization progresses with many companies experiencing negative revenues over the past three years.

 

In stark contrast, companies experimenting and investing in digital transformation are more than twice as likely to have achieved significant financial growth (over 25% CAGR) during the same period.

 

 

Moving Forward

 

There are compelling reasons, supported by strong evidence, for companies to accelerate their digital transformation efforts.

Now is the time to experiment and invest in event driven platforms that allow companies to sense, analyze and intelligently respond to business events occurring across their partner, supplier and customer ecosystems.

 

A focus on customer experience and delighting the customer is foundational to many organizations digital efforts. Among other things these initiatives aim to:

 

  1. Delight the customer with a leading customer experience
  2. Reduce the high and growing cost of poor customer service
  3. Dramatically improve operational efficiency
  4. Empower employees to focus on higher value, more rewarding activities
  5. Drive revenue growth and customer retention

 

Organizations are quickly learning that modernization and simplification of processes is at the core of digital transformation efforts. Digital transformation initiatives will not deliver expected results without modernization and simplification of existing processes.

 

The inevitable shift to digital occurring across industries requires companies to accelerate their digital journey. Skepticism is being replaced by optimism with the growing realization that success can be achieved through continuous evolution rather than a big-bang approach. An approach that can deliver immediate results with lower risk.

 

 

NCX Solution

 

The An-ser© platform connects everything, simply and intelligently.  It is a non-disruptive solution, designed with the business user in mind.  With little or no coding you can digitize processes in weeks, not years. Contact us to discuss how An-ser© can enable IT provisioning and de-provisioning to reduce security risk and improve compliance.