Digital Adoption Is the Key to Scaling Business Systems. Here's Why. Struggling to further scale your startup or SMB? Digital adoption might be your answer.
By Lucas Miller
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Big is better than small — at least when it comes to building a profitable business. Every business owner understands the economy of principle. The bigger you are, the less your product costs per unit. When you grow, your audience and the money you make grows with you.
However, when you add current technology to traditional business scaling, you wind up with a transformation similar to mankind discovering the lever.
You're in possession of a set of tools that previous generations of business owners could only dream of. You have in your pocket a device that can amplify your message and shoot it out all over the world. All it takes is a little know-how.
Digital adoption will give you a leg up on your competition. It will create new opportunities. It will make your business run more efficiently. And it's probably easier than you think.
Understand what digital adoption actually is
That fancy new software package you bought will do you no good if you hand it over to your employees and say "figure it out." Would you give the keys to your car to someone who's never driven before? Of course not. Business owners often do the equivalent.
Related: 3 Ways Digital Adoption Can Make You a Better Business Leader
One of the best definitions of digital adoption comes from a Forbes article by Lilach Bullock. She calls it "achieving a state within your company where all of your digital tools and assets are leveraged to the fullest extent."
Traditionally, training methods weren't necessarily tailored to each person's skill set, speed and understanding. Sometimes it would be a more experienced team member training the person, sometimes with only a manual.
With modern technology, there are digital adoption software packages that can be used to train each member of a team at their own pace, making for a much more effective experience. Digital adoption software can help your business scale more efficiently by making sure everyone understands the tools they've been given for their job.
Use better technology to work more efficiently
A McKinsey study found that up to 800 million jobs worldwide could be lost to automation by 2030. Six of ten current occupations have more than 30 percent of activities that are technically automatable.
That's not as bad as it sounds, given the fact that technology tends to create jobs. Look at the personal computer, for example. But it does bring up the reality that as you embrace digital adoption, your organization will become more efficient.
Technology is a force multiplier. In cases where you can provide the training necessary to harness that technology correctly, it's even more of one. Digital adoption will allow you to set up systems that take the load off people, freeing them up for more important tasks.
Related: How Adoption of Digital Technologies and Payments Methods are Boosting Business in Rural America
Think about how many people it used to take to organize a magazine before the advent of desktop publishing software. What sort of work it would take to build an entire car by hand? What about the work that went into synchronizing marketing and sales before CRM software?
Automate benefits and payroll systems to run your human resources department more efficiently. Can you use an onboarding app to help employees learn the tasks of their job? Why not use the automation and information in your CRM to build a better series of sales emails? Digital adoption will make every aspect of your business run more smoothly.
Create a better customer and employee experience
When you embrace digital adoption, it will help your customers and employees. Employees will find their jobs easier and have free time for more important things, which makes the end-user experience better.
Take Disney, for instance.
Disney has consistently provided a great customer experience for the people who visit its parks. It only got better when it introduced the MyMagic+ app. As Brandwatch highlighted in a case study, Disney's been able to stand out from the crowd because that app doesn't just allow people to plan a trip. It personalizes their visit completely.
Related: What's Driving Technology Adoption in the Business Ecosystem?
They can control every part of their experience at a Disney park. Their name appears on screens when they are in the vicinity. Photos taken on rides show up on their app. It's a bonus for Disney, too. The company's understanding of traffic patterns and customer behavior lets it shift staff around as needed in real-time. This makes the user experience even better and ensures every worker's getting maximized.
Digital adoption will help you scale your business effectively by making sure your employees understand how to use the tools they have. It will also streamline parts of your business and build better user experiences for both employees and end-users. Use this strategy effectively and make the most of the technology at your disposal.
