Before a company can even think about the technology it is looking to implement, it must first analyze the business as a whole and the objectives it is trying to achieve.

It is important to fully understand “who” the company is today, and how it has changed over time or under the current circumstances. Once companies understand this, they are in a better position to reshape business architectures in a way that best aligns with business goals.

Another option is to work with a third-party vendor to perform an audit of the company. This will help to get an unbiased view on where a company can improve. A vendor would also be able to provide industry best practices on what similar businesses have done to become more efficient.

Cultural transformation is the key to digital transformation success. One of the biggest challenges companies face when implementing new digital strategies is ensuring all team members are on board. This can be done through strong and clear internal communication. Outlining clear key performance indicators that will help show benefits such as increased sales effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and revenue, will help everyone involved understand why changes must be made.

When company leaders are on board, they can help act as advocates for projects and initiatives, while encouraging and rewarding agility amongst the rest of the teams involved. It is also crucial to provide training on any new technologies prior to implementation, while continuing to support and tend to any questions, and troubleshooting as new strategies are being rolled out.

The popular adage ‘patience is a virtue’ doesn’t apply when achieving peak commercial performance is the end goal. Doing business gets harder every day because the ever-increasing complexities of a changing economy causes friction between companies and their customers.

Victory goes to those who are impatient and challenging the status quo with new business models that leverage digital transformation for speed. Those who can remove that friction are performing disproportionately well, even in the unpredictable times we are in today.

The secret to removing friction is meeting customers wherever they are in their digital transformation journey. This applies to businesses of all types across various industries — from small retailers trying to bridge the technological gap with their older buyers, to large manufacturers that want to simplify complex purchase and fulfillment processes.

Winning businesses are transforming the way customers do this by meeting them where they are on the journey and enabling them to provide an enjoyable and frictionless customer experience.

Another key component of digital transformation is the ability to move at the speed of the customer. Businesses that get it right invest in ways that will get the customer from Point A to Point B as quickly and painlessly as possible. This requires an understanding that it’s less about features and functions and more about removing screens, clicks, and other bottlenecks.

For example, consider Door Dash’s success over the past six months. While the food delivery service was doing well prior to COVID-19, it’s been doing even better during shelter-in-place and quarantine. Door Dash understood the points of friction in their customer’s journey and implemented things like touchless payment and contactless pickup.

Today, the volume of its pickup business is growing by double digits as a result of removing friction and enabling customers to pay for and receive their meals sooner. Success requires moving faster to meet customer needs today while simultaneously increasing agility to prepare for an uncertain tomorrow.

Remaining agile in a dynamic market requires the ability to go fast in a straight line while also navigating around corners with confidence. This is especially important as companies grow and dodge inevitable curve balls during their digital transformation efforts.

For example, today we must provide customers with the resources they need to succeed in an all-digital, work-from-anywhere world. Because let’s face it, even when the pandemic is under control, the return to the office will never look like what it used to. Businesses that invest in ways to help customers tackle complexity with confidence add capabilities under the hood to make features and functions faster, more dependable, and scalable.