Every company needs a digital strategy that is informed by what your customers want and what your competitors do.
As well, it needs to be able to flex because those things change.
A lesson underpinned by the pandemic.
The pandemic accelerated everyone’s digital transformation plans. Customers expected you to be able to service them online and at home.
What customers want is that you can adapt quickly to what they need
At first, customers were patience. But patience evaporated as time went on. People changed suppliers to those that accommodated their needs
Some companies were able to adapt quickly, and some did not. Some flourished. Others coasted. Some closed their doors.
There were vendors who benefited hugely because they offered products and services that could help companies serve customers online.
For some of these, they didn’t have a strategy for when things moved on and demand leveled off. They made hay when the sun shined for them.
It is one of the reasons we are seeing layoffs and retraction in companies like Shopify and Thinkific. Criticism is leveled that it’s about planning mistakes. Not looking far enough ahead. Expanding their businesses but not in a sustainable way.
Your digital strategy includes how you will adapt the strategy to an uncertain future.
A digital strategy needs to include how you will adapt the strategy to events that happen in an uncertain future.
Above all, know what parts of your solutions are foundational and what can flex.
It’s not about just rushing out and adopting the next greatest thing just because it might be helpful in the moment.
The companies that did well, used digital solutions to augment what they were already were doing. Certainly, they focused on what their customers needed in the moment. Yet, they are able to flex again to what customers need now.
What has been your experience?
Does this make you think of stories of who did well or who didn’t?
