The digitalization of individual processes in the consumer goods sector
… has already heralded a digital transformation of how we shop years ago. She has also put retailers on the scene to rethink sales. The fusion of online and brick-and-mortar is part of good manners – and preferably without us as consumers experiencing a systematic break. We browse online for the product of our choice, compare prices and conditions with just a few clicks, possibly go to our trusted dealer to pick up and test the product, and buy it either directly on site or online via a webshop. At the touch of a button, we have an overview of all (channel-independent) purchases and can initiate and track returns from the comfort of our own homes – whether with our mobile phone or laptop.
In the B2B sector, the situation is somewhat different
In the past, industrial companies have begun to translate defined (individual) processes and procedures from the offline world into digital applications. Fax has been replaced by e-mail, we work with databases instead of index cards, and even automated workflows have found their way into some areas. Ideally, the processes have become leaner, faster and more effective.
However, all of this has only a limited connection with digital transformation, because it is not about digitizing individual processes, but about tackling business models, overarching structures and organizations, (partially) rethinking them and supporting them with the necessary technology. The result of such a digital transformation can also go beyond the existing business model.
Since the digital transformation of the sales of B2B companies in general and SMEs in particular is a special challenge for many, we at diselva would like to pay more attention to this in this upcoming blog series. Various studies, e.g. by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce or McKinsey, show that although digitization has received an enormous boost from the COVID-19 pandemic, the existing potential of digital transformation is only slowly being realized, especially in the B2B sector.
The reasons for this are manifold and company-specific – from a lack of vision and a shortage of skilled workers to rigid structures and cultures that make this step difficult or not permitted, to the IT technologies used that stand in the way of a digital evolution (not revolution).
We pay particular attention to the needs of SMEs
We want to name where digital evolution and transformation often fail and show ways in which these imponderables can be circumvented. We will explain why it is important to have a clear vision and strategy, what it means to work hybrid and how this way of working affects internal and external processes, structures, customer and employee attitudes and “togetherness” and that it is worthwhile to rethink the business of tomorrow with creativity and imagination.
Especially in view of the already existing critical order situation in the manufacturing industry and the concrete concern about a recession in medium-sized industry (see also Raiffeisen study), the need to consistently deal with the possibilities of digitization has become even more important and precarious than it was in the wake of the Corona aftermath.
The digital transformation of sales is becoming the key factor of a successful B2B business.
Stay tuned until the next post in the blog series: