Digital Transformation: the time has come for agencies to take their own medicine

There are many examples of technology changing business models. As agencies, we talk to our clients about the digital disruptors - the innovators like Airbnb, Netflix and Uber. We’re so used to citing these examples as beacons of competitive advantage and the sharing economy. Yet in the agency world, examples of technology transforming business processes and ways of working aren’t so famous. The examples certainly exist, but the focus always seems to be on improving the customer’s experience in their touchpoints with the brand online rather than the internal experience of staff who are the ones servicing the customer.

To fully transform the way brands talk to their customers, it’s firstly vitally important to first change the way your business talks to its workforce. Let’s not forget that your employees are people – they are consumers in the real world, and as consumers, they now expect a superlative service, faster and cheaper. Digital has changed the expectations of a global workforce in a 24/7 world. They want access to information faster and demand tools to help them get their jobs done better. What’s more, with millennials entering the world of work, the need for seamless digital services is even greater.

81% of medium-sized businesses (100-999 employees) said that technology solutions could help them improve business outcomes or run the business better. This is staggering evidence that we must be creative with technology to improve the efficiency and productivity of the workforce.

We all want our businesses to grow. To do so, we need to provide our clients with the very best service, offer the best advice and products and always have that competitive edge that keep them coming back for more.

In order to provide this superlative service, we need to have the right infrastructure and tools internally to meet our client’s growing demands. And our employees need to not only have the enthusiasm to help clients on their own journeys of discovery, but have access to the tools and resources to help them consult better.

Did you know that 70% of workers in the UK say that state-of-the-art technology is the most important factor in an ideal work environment – more so than access to food and drinks and plush lounge spaces? And that 76% of workers also think that technology makes them more productive?

Statistics like this can’t be ignored. With only 14% of organisations today saying they have digitised their business processes and only 5% believing they have mastered digital as point of differentiation from their competitors, the time is ripe for agencies to transform to empower their employees, to optimise their operations, transform their products and better engage their customers.

Katya Linossi, co-founder of ClearPeople, will be delivering a free webinar on Tuesday 27 June at 3pm illustrating the examples of how her agency is transforming the way it works through the innovative use of technology. To sign up for the webinar click here.