Capabilities in Digital Transformation You Need to Know

What does it really take to execute a successful digital transformation? With a staggering 70% of digital transformations failing (McKinsey), it’s clear that merely adopting new technology isn’t enough. Success lies in building the capabilities in digital transformation that drive a complete business overhaul—one that enhances your customer experience and gives you competitive advantages that make your competitors scramble to keep up.

As digital transformation experts, we know how to accelerate digital transformation and do it right. We’ve helped companies across the board tackle their challenges and come out stronger.

The best part? You can, too. Let’s talk about what it really takes to make your business transformation a success and crush it.

Step 1: Define Your Transformation Strategy – With Purpose

Digital transformation is a big deal, and it needs to be treated like one. This isn’t about shiny new tools or simply updating your software development practices. It's about fundamentally rethinking your operating model.

Before you start buying up the latest tech, you need a transformation strategy that’s aligned with your business goals. Ask yourself: How will digital help you improve the customer journey? What are the actual pain points your customers are facing? Because, trust us, if you’re not thinking about customer experiences, you’re not doing this right.

Your strategy should be customer-first and data-backed. Conduct data analysis to identify where you can enhance the user experience—whether that’s through better customer service, personalized product offerings, or faster delivery times. Every piece of digital tech you introduce should support this goal.

Step 2: Build a Data-Driven Culture

Digital transformation without a focus on data is like trying to bake a cake without flour. Your company needs to live and breathe data. And we’re not just talking about collecting it—we’re talking about understanding it, acting on it, and making it part of your DNA.

Data analysis should be at the heart of every decision. How are your customers interacting with your services? What does their customer journey look like from start to finish? How can you optimize it?

A strong digital technology foundation means gathering insights from every corner of your business—from supply chain to finance, from marketing to operations. Those insights are what will drive smarter, faster, and more informed decisions. Being data-driven isn't just a box you check—it's your lifeblood.

When you’ve got a handle on your data, you can start layering in machine learning algorithms to make sense of patterns you can’t even see yet. Predictive models, personalized content recommendations, automated customer service responses—this is where you start improving the customer experience.

Step 3: Embrace the Right Tech, But Don’t Get Distracted

We’ve seen it time and time again—companies get wooed by the flash of new tech without considering whether it actually solves their problems. Just because it’s cool doesn’t mean it’s going to help you transform. Artificial intelligence? Awesome. But if you don’t have a specific use case that’ll move the needle for your business, it’s just another costly tool sitting in your IT department.

Same goes for cloud solutions, automation, and customer service chatbots. If you want to improve your customer experiences, the tech has to be aligned with your business process and strategy.

The best way to do this is to get your team involved. Your people are the ones who know where the real problems are, so ask them. When you bring tech into the fold that actually solves real issues, you’re going to see a smoother digital adoption.

Step 4: Equip Your Team for Digital Success

Digital transformation isn’t only about adopting new technologies; it’s just as much about your people—your employees, leadership, and even your customers. Here’s what that means:

Your team needs to develop the right skills to succeed in a digital world. But it’s not just about technical skills, like coding or using new software tools. It’s broader than that. To truly thrive in digital transformation, your team also needs soft skills like adaptability, creativity, and collaboration. These skills will help them innovate, problem-solve, and embrace change as it happens. After all, digital transformation means constant evolution.

For example:

• Foster a culture of innovation: Encourage your team to take risks, experiment with new ideas, and not be afraid of failure. The more comfortable they are with learning and adapting, the more effective they’ll be at navigating the digital landscape.
• Ongoing training: This is crucial. Keep investing in your people by upskilling them. This could mean teaching your marketing team to make data-driven decisions using data analysis tools, or training your customer support team to leverage your new customer service platforms effectively. Using a Digital Adoption Platform can streamline this process by providing on-screen guidance, interactive walkthroughs, and real-time support. This ensures your team can quickly adapt to new tools, learn efficiently, and integrate their skills into daily operations without getting overwhelmed.
• Leadership understanding: Your leaders need to grasp how to lead in a digital-first world. They should understand how to steer the organization toward data-driven decisions and keep everyone aligned with the digital strategy.

In short, building these skills for digital will make your team your strongest asset and ensure your digital transformation doesn’t just happen but sticks long-term.

Step 5: Update Your Operating Model

So you’ve got the latest tech—awesome! But if your operating model is stuck in the past, you’re basically putting a fresh coat of paint on a crumbling house. To really make your digital transformation stick, you need to rethink how your business runs from the ground up. Here’s how to update your operating model for the digital age:

Break Down Silos

• Integrate Your Tools: Start by connecting your tech stack. If your marketing, sales, and customer service tools don’t talk to each other, you’re setting yourself up for chaos. Use integrated platforms like a CRM system to centralize data and keep everyone on the same page.
• Create Cross-Functional Teams: Ditch the old-school departmental divisions. Form teams that mix and match people from different functions. For example, a team made up of members from marketing, sales, and support can tackle projects that impact all areas, fostering better collaboration and innovation.

Improve Collaboration

• Adopt Collaboration Tools: Tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Asana aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re game-changers. They keep communication flowing smoothly and make sure everyone’s in the loop.
• Regular Check-Ins: Set up regular interdepartmental meetings where everyone discusses what’s working, what’s not, and how to better align efforts to improve the customer experience.

Empower Teams to Make Faster Decisions

• Decentralize Decision-Making: Stop bottlenecking decisions at the top. Give your teams the power to make calls on the spot. For instance, let your customer support reps handle issues immediately without waiting for managerial approval.
• Set Clear Guidelines: Autonomy is great, but it needs boundaries. Provide your teams with clear guidelines and frameworks to ensure they’re making decisions that align with your overall goals and strategy.

Reorganize Around Customer Outcomes

• Customer-Centric Structure: Instead of organizing by function, restructure your teams around customer needs. Imagine a team focused solely on a particular customer segment, ensuring every touchpoint and interaction is tailored to their journey.
• Design Customer Experience Teams: Form teams dedicated to mapping out and enhancing the customer journey. These folks should be laser-focused on identifying pain points and crafting strategies to make every customer interaction smooth and satisfying.

Embrace Agility

• Cultivate Continuous Improvement: Foster a culture where feedback is a regular part of the process. Encourage teams to regularly review and refine their approaches based on what’s working and what’s not.

By updating your operating model with these steps, you’ll build a business that’s not just keeping up but leading the way in the digital age. It’s about making sure every part of your organization is working in sync to deliver outstanding customer experiences and stay ahead of the competition.

Step 6: Prioritize Risk Management

Digital transformation is exciting, but it’s not without its risks. Think cybersecurity threats, data privacy issues, and the chance of operational hiccups—all of these become more significant as you dive into new digital technologies. Yet, we often see businesses racing to “go digital” and forgetting about risk management.

Here’s the deal: skipping risk management can seriously derail your transformation efforts. Here’s how to get it right:

• Identify Potential Vulnerabilities: Start by mapping out where your risks are. Look at your digital tools, data flows, and processes to spot weak points that could be exploited. Regularly review and update this assessment as your tech stack evolves.
• Understand the Regulatory Landscape: Make sure you’re clear on the regulations that affect your industry and geography. This includes data protection laws like GDPR or CCPA, which dictate how you handle and store data. Non-compliance isn’t just a risk—it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
• Develop a Contingency Plan: Prepare for the worst so you’re not caught off guard. Have a plan in place for scenarios where things don’t go as planned. This could involve data breaches, system failures, or any other major hiccup. Your plan should outline how to respond, recover, and communicate during a crisis.
• Leverage Digital Tools for Risk Management: Embrace the tech at your disposal. Use machine learning and data analysis to monitor your systems and spot threats before they escalate. For example, advanced analytics can help detect unusual activity that might signal a security issue.
• Balance Caution with Action: Don’t let fear paralyze you. Risk management is about being prepared, not about avoiding risks entirely. The right risk management strategy will help you navigate uncertainties and actually provide a competitive advantage by demonstrating reliability and resilience.

By prioritizing these aspects of risk management, you’ll protect your digital transformation and turn potential threats into opportunities to strengthen your business.

Step 7: Always Keep Your Customer at the Center

You’ve probably noticed a theme here: customer experience is at the heart of a successful digital transformation. And if there’s one takeaway from this entire conversation, it’s this—every single decision you make during your transformation should be grounded in how it will improve the customer journey.

That could mean using machine learning to provide faster and more personalized customer support, adopting new payment methods to streamline the purchasing process, or implementing tools that give customers more control over how they interact with your business. Whatever it is, it should directly tie back to creating a better user experience.

When done right, digital transformation doesn’t just change the way your business operates internally—it fundamentally transforms the way your customers experience your brand. And when you improve customer experience, you’re building loyalty, driving revenue, and staying ahead of the competition.

How VisualSP Can Be Your Digital Transformation Sidekick

Digital transformation isn’t just about adopting new technologies; it’s about transforming how your business operates and excels in a digital world. That’s where VisualSP comes in.

What is VisualSP?

VisualSP is an in-app guidance and support platform designed to help users seamlessly adopt and master new technologies. It provides on-screen help, interactive walkthroughs, and real-time training directly within the applications your team uses every day. Think of VisualSP as a digital mentor, ensuring your team develops the skills for digital transformation and knows exactly how to use new tools and processes, right when they need it.

Here’s how VisualSP can be a game-changer for your digital transformation journey:

Seamlessly Integrate New Technologies

• In-App Guidance: When rolling out new tools, like a CRM or project management software, VisualSP’s in-app guidance helps your team learn on the go. Interactive walkthroughs and contextual tips ensure that everyone knows how to use the new system efficiently without getting overwhelmed.

Enhance Training and Skill Development

• Customized Training Content: Tailor training materials to fit the specific needs of your team. Whether it’s a new data analysis tool or a customer service platform, VisualSP allows you to create and deliver targeted training resources that keep everyone up to speed and confident in their digital skills.
• On-Demand Learning: With VisualSP, your team can access training content right within the application. This means they can get help and refresh their knowledge at their own pace, reducing the time spent in formal training sessions and boosting overall productivity.

Streamline Risk Management

• Compliance and Best Practices: VisualSP can guide your team through compliance requirements and best practices directly within the application. This reduces the risk of costly errors and helps you stay on top of regulatory demands. You can also utilize VisualSP's user behavior analytics to identify any governance issues.

Foster Collaboration and Communication

• Centralized Information Hub: Use VisualSP to create a centralized knowledge base where all your documentation, training materials, and best practices are easily accessible. This promotes better collaboration and ensures that everyone has the information they need to work effectively.
• Interactive Feedback Tools: Collect feedback from your team on new tools and processes directly through VisualSP. This helps you identify areas for improvement and make adjustments quickly, ensuring a smoother transition and better user adoption.

Optimize Customer Experience

• Contextual Help for Customer-Facing Tools: Equip your customer service team with in-app help and guidance for tools they use daily. This ensures they can quickly find answers and solve customer issues efficiently, enhancing the overall customer experience.

With VisualSP as your partner, you can ensure that your digital transformation is not just about adopting new technologies but about transforming how your business operates and thrives in this new era.

Ready to take the leap? Get started with VisualSP's free package today.