What is digital transformation? Let’s start with what is digital transformation? Put simply, digital transformation is when you use digital technologies to create new or modify existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market needs. According to Statista, digitally transformed enterprises will account for over $53 trillion in 2023, up from $13.5 trillion in 2018. This figure demonstrates the need for businesses to be digitally savvy to compete in a marketplace that’s becoming more reliant on digitization. GDP driven by digitally transformed and other enterprises worldwide from 2018 to 2023 GDP driven by digitally transformed and other enterprises worldwide from 2018 to 2023 The mistake that many organizations make in their digital transformation according to Brian Corish, Managing Director at Accenture Interactive in our recent webinar is that they make too many changes at once. “If you think about digital transformation, the companies that are the best artists are those that pick a point in the customer journey and transform that. They pick one part that they know they can create competitive differentiation and double down and over-invest.” So for your company, think about the most important area to focus on first and set realistic milestones that will help you reach organizational objectives. This could be improving the customer purchase experience, improving sales and marketing alignment or looking to improve in-house digital skills through a training program. Check out our case studies if you’re looking for some great examples of digital transformation with global brands. 1) Identify your mindset and skills gap Digital is not an add-on to your business, it’s now a requisite and that thinking needs to feed from the top-down. Your business needs leaders that understand the importance and impact of digital to create and cultivate a digital culture that’s embedded across the organization. The key to achieving this is to understand what the current mindset is. Ask yourself: Are your employees worried about or scared to use digital technologies? Do teams know what digital technologies and processes are in place across the business? Do teams collaborate and share information using digital channels? Are your employees aware of the digital activities that take place across the business? Do employees understand and know the business targets and goals - KPIs, revenue, etc? Taking time to figure out where your employees are in terms of their understanding of the business can help you put processes in place that enable transparency and information sharing so everyone is on the right page. This mindset feeds into the skills in your business. Becoming digital doesn’t mean you need to use every channel and piece of technology on the market. It’s about choosing the right ones for your business. But do you have someone that can help you do that? Do you have a digital strategy? Are you confident in using key digital channels to get your message out there? There are so many digital skills that can help your business, but you need to have a plan that’s tailored to your organization to drive digital transformation. 2) Cultivate cross-functional teams There’s no point in your sales and marketing teams working in silos. They have to work together to ensure your company’s message is clear and consistent to engage prospects and convert leads. Encouraging cross-collaboration takes all knowledge and skills into account. It allows the sharing of ideas to maximize the activities in your organization and enables employees to work with and experience new technologies. It also helps instill the same language and a common understanding of digital to enable future and cross-departmental thinking. This not only empowers employees and provides new knowledge, but it encourages teams to think outside the areas they work in and offers ways for recruits to get to grips with the company. For example, it could be beneficial telemarketing list for a new marketing member to sit in on the weekly sales meeting to learn the lingo and see the tactics used to drive conversions. Or for the sales team to review edits of a blog to understand the importance of SEO keywords in lead generation. It’s about enabling marketing and sales alignment to drive growth and success. 3) Offer Continuous Professional Development Companies that invest in the right experience for their people and prepare for the future, tend to outperform their competitors, delivering 19% more growth in revenue than competitors and 15% more profit according to MIT Management. “These companies are also more innovative, better at cross-selling, and deliver a significantly better customer experience,” said Kristine Dery, a research scientist at the MIT Center for Information Systems Research. To prepare your employees for the demands of the digital world, you need to future-proof their careers. Continuous Professional Develo