No matter how long your business has provided goods and services in a traditional brick and mortar setting, failing to evolve a practical e-commerce plan threatens viability. Even a business that feels it already has a robust digital presence must be constantly vigilant and open to progressive changes.
Should you feel as though you might be a bit behind the curve on this transformation, you are in good company. A 2015 Forrester study of 400 executives from firms employing more than 250 individuals indicated that barely one out of four leaders was comfortable that their company’s leader possessed a discernable plan for their business’s digital growth and mission. Only 21 percent of the executives queried felt their enterprises were ready to embrace digital transformation, lacking the culture and the staff needed for a smooth transition. 
A passive or reactive approach leaves you in other companies’ dust because the key is to become an active part of your customers’ experience. Simply using social media for advertising purposes or a mobile app for ordering is inadequate. Successful businesses use digital enhancements as opportunities to converse in real time with their current customers and leads. Much more efficient than emails, strategies like using a chatbot to capture the inquiries and reactions of your expanding base on the customer’s timetable is an example of how things continue to change.
Companies that embrace multiple methods of relating to the public are going to boost sales and build sustainable relationships. Keeping the focus on understanding the customer, serving the customer, and developing changes with input for the customer are the keys to improving both products and services, naturally boosting your bottom line.
Keeping both eyes on the competition is no longer a reliable strategy. Although you can learn how they may be doing things differently from you, you will never know the reason for their choice or precisely how that choice was determined, and if it really meets the needs of the customers you would like to attract.
Today’s business leaders must collect and process data from many informational streams to maintain and extend that lead. Being open to fundamental change in how a company relates and serves its bases is also mandatory. Measured by what your customers want from you or another provider allows you to modify what you offer and the ways you deliver desired services and goods.
Your co-pilots in your journey now must include savvy digital developers and advisors, flexible and innovative types who encourage you to consider taking calculated risks to reap unforeseen benefits. Your vehicle may change, tweaks based on the volatile nature of consumer needs and wants. What is essential is that your momentum builds, established through the current incentives your market seeks.
