Questions you need to be asking about your digital transformation

shows that in nearly 70% of companies undergoing digital transformation the objective is to improve customer experience and increase customer satisfaction. This applies in both B2B and B2C sectors. However, when you survey customers themselves, nearly 60% claim they are not getting the experience they want, and that the digital products and services are anything but intuitive.

So, what’s going on? The answer is quite complex as you need to get a number of things right. If your company is in the process of (or about to start) a digital transformation, ask yourself the following questions to ascertain whether you are on the right track.

Are you putting a digital prism on your customers?

A digital prism means looking at things differently. You need to challenge the assumptions and existing norms in your industry. You need to identify the operational constraints that digital technology can help you remove, such as time or distance. You also need to focus on deconstructing how you serve customers today to reconstruct a better digital experience.

How are you connecting digitally?

This is about delivery. Is your digital solution feasible? Can you scale faster by connecting with customers in a different way? Very often you can’t do this as a single firm, as you may not have all the required capabilities. This is where building an ecosystem of external partners plays a vital role Building an augmented value proposition and making sure all ecosystem partners find benefits in the collaboration.

It’s also important to understand that you need to engage your customers not just at the end of the process, but every step along the way of your production system. You need to get the customer to participate in what you are doing if you are to connect digitally with customers. Netflix is a good example of this; when customers rate your products they are participating in the delivery of a better service.

How are you monetizing digitally?

This isn’t about squeezing as much money out of the customer as you can. Nor is it about being customer-compelled, by giving away all your margins to make customers happy. Customer-centricity is about finding an equilibrium, or a win-win, where you deliver a value proposition that benefits both sides.