You must have experienced the rich and useful communication-style of corporates or large businesses. Remember how your credit card company communicates with you - how you get that 20% discount on your anniversary from a five star hotel; how you get the ATM-Pin on your mobile or every transactional detail through SMS or when you call a corporate company, a recorded sweet and friendly voice greets you and guides you to right person with a music & message till the person picks the phone. Now, these are all modern personalised ways to communicate with your clients or anybody that interacts with your company. What appears as a friendly company's personalised service is actually a smartly planned marketing tool which is based on the modern amalgamation of software, hardware and communication channels, intelligently placed in business with the System Integration Process.

What is Digitalisation? 

Gartner explains "Digitalisation is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business." The aim of being digital is to adopt technology for the benefit of the business and stay ahead and competitive in the market.

Benefits of Digitalisation 

SME adopters of digital technologies are gaining a competitive advantage by obtaining quality customer insights, which drive their marketing strategy, allowing them to effectively engage with new and existing customers for additional sales. This not only gives the feeling of a modern company but also helps in ingraining a brand image among clients. The use of digital technology could be a major differentiator or your USP in your field.

The latest Deloitte research suggests SMEs currently making use of modern personalised automation enjoy a substantial return from their investment. That is, SMEs with more marketing automation capabilities generally experience more favourable revenue growth. The report finds that after controlling other characteristics, an average 0.8 percentage point increase in annual revenue growth and 0.13% reduction in customer acquisition cost can be achieved for each additional marketing automation capability take-up.

This research report from Deloitte Access Economics provides new evidence that digital is not just for those with online sales.

How much extra revenue could you create?

A 1% increase in online service-spending, for example, could increase revenue by as much as $100,000*. Adding just 2 customer communication channels could increase revenue by an average of $160,000 per year*

*Based on average revenue reported by SMEs in a Deloitte survey

How can data help you build customer-loyalty?

Nearly 50% of SMEs in Australia and New Zealand rank customer retention as the number one factor for their future success. Yet less than 20% of SMEs are currently using tools such as social media to engage with customers. The opportunity is immense if seized timely & properly. Digitalisation in customer service & experience can help companies not only retain the customer but build the brand and up/parallel sale to these customers.  

Why digitalisation is now required more than ever?

While the above number represents the foreign market, the fact remains that digitalisation of business in India is lagging behind. It is imperative to understand at this stage how digital you are today. Most Indian SMEs & even some corporates are working in the old style which brings in higher cost on companies due to the excessive use of human resource, less profitability due to the increased cost and not to forget the missed business opportunities due to the lack of data & intelligence. Recall the case of Kodak Photo Film & even Nokia for that matter! They refused to take into account the modern day customer's requirements & continued serving in the old fashion. Consequently, the companies suffered & lost their relevance significantly among new age customers. Social media, apps, smartphones etc. have carved a definite place in your target customers' lives & each day, the number of these customers are increasing as the new generation starts using these technologies right from childhood.

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