“There has been courage and solidarity. A very different South Africa and world awaits us. The greatest test will be our willingness to embrace change. Let us rise to meet this challenge”.
– President Cyril Ramaphosa (13 May 2020).
As we said goodbye to 2019 and made our new year’s resolutions for 2020, few of us could have predicted where we would find ourselves now. Our places of work, education and socialisation as we know them, will have a very different feeling for a long time to come. Covid-19 has introduced us to a life of social distancing, masks and hand sanitizer, so what does that mean for traditional business models that have relied on face-to-face business to generate sales and run their operations?
The next few months will be crucial to the long term survival of many of these businesses, who have been reluctant to adopt a digital strategy in their business approach. The ability of these businesses to adapt to their current changing landscape will not only contribute to their long term survival, but will create new opportunities in industries that have been hesitant to adapt.
For many businesses, the thought of making changes to an existing winning formula is a difficult pill to swallow. However, the reality is that what may have worked last year may not yield the same results in the very different landscape we find ourselves in now. Businesses will need to guard against the ‘business as usual’ approach that has come with past success.
Adopting a digital strategy does not mean replacing your existing business model, instead it means enhancing your existing business models by following an innovative approach that will ensure the future success of your business. How then, does a business who has followed a face-to-face approach, go about adopting a digital strategy?
SEESA has compiled 5 Innovation Strategies to assist your business with digitising your offerings and standing out in 2020, the year of innovation:
1.Be innovative with your client relations
Before COVID-19, we were able to conduct
face-to-face meetings, presentations and networking. A multitude of mediums
helped businesses create instant relationships with their prospective and
existing clients.
Fast forward to 2020 and Microsoft Teams, Whatsapp Business & Facebook Messenger
are the new Microsoft Outlook.
There is no single way of building client relationships because client relations vary from business to business. One thing is certain, clients will always remember how they were treated by you, so utilise these platforms in such a way that they enhance your channels of communication with your clients.
2. Be innovative with your marketing & sales channels
Brochures, business cards and face-to-face meetings are now being replaced with E-Brochures & WhatsApp Quotes, Zoom meetings and effective marketing across digital platforms.
Using technology to increase the time from when a potential client finds your website/social media page to where the client signs up for your service is easier than you may think. With some innovation, you can transform a manual process to a digital one, making it easier and quicker for new clients to access your services.
3. Be innovative with your approach to change
Shifting from one challenge to the next requires being able to adapt to change. This ability to adapt, allows us to form new levels of thinking and open a multitude of possibilities. We as individuals, deal with change in different ways but right now, COVID-19 is encouraging businesses to adapt and adopt an attitude of innovation. This will be the key factor that sets your business apart.
4. Be innovative with how you streamline processes
Streamlining your business means you have one vision that filters through the entire organisation: efficiency and effectiveness. No process is ever perfect but being innovative, proactive and striving towards streamlined processes will ensure that your business stays responsive in these agile times.
5. Be innovative with your relationship to data
With accurate client data, you can create a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that can drive more sales and retain personalised relationships with your customers. Personalised e-mails, birthday cards and corporate rewards are a few examples of how you can use data to give your clients a personalised experience.
At SEESA we offer our clients the peace of mind that comes with adopting a digital strategy that ensures that your day to day business operations are taken care of.
With ProFile, you have an online and automated solution that is accessible from anywhere and anytime. This means you remain in full control of your day to day operations with a bird’s-eye view that allows you to manage your business remotely.
So how does ProFile help automate your business processes?
- Online integration with existing SEESA services
- Leave management of your employees
- Payroll that integrates with your leave management as well as time and attendance
- Labour guidance software that helps you follow procedural and substantive fairness
- Comprehensive labour library with easy to access labour documents
- Performance management software with remote employee clocking management
- Online file storage and document sharing
- Recruitment portal for easy access to job seekers
- Online communication software to communicate effectively with your employees or a SEESA Legal Advisor
With ProFile, it is now possible to automate your day to day HR and IR needs, saving you money and leaving you with time to innovate your service offering to drive business growth.
Adopting a digital strategy, does not mean you have to recreate what your business does. It simply means adapting how your business will approach its day to day operations, as well as its relationships with new and existing clients in a changing environment. The window of opportunity to digitise your service offerings is now open. Having an innovation strategy in place will guide you on this exciting yet promising journey towards a successful future.
Let us help you take your business to the next level with ProFile.
About the Authors:
Carli Erasmus is a Professional Multimedia Designer at SEESA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Design from Pearson Institute and a Business Systems Analysis qualification from UCT.
Lehande De Beer is a Client Relations and Marketing Officer at SEESA. She is currently studying Communication Science at the University of South Africa.