Editorial
The Gist
- Tech reality. Technology adoption challenges are common with digital transformation, causing short-term disruptions.
- Innovation pace. Today's rapid innovation means rolling out new systems more frequently, leaving no room for outdated technology.
- Strategic balance. Striking the right balance in tech innovation requires careful planning, skepticism, and flexibility in budgeting.
A recent Wall Street Journal article stated, “emerging technology often enters the scene amid a blaze of excitement, only to disappoint in the short-term.” Perhaps it’s the novelty of the new shiny object that attracts all members of the customer experience (CX) team, until reality sinks in.
Let's take a look at some of the realities of technology adoption and implementation.
Challenges in New Technology Adoption & Implementation
Getting a new technology up and running is no easy task — compounded when the new tech requires massive digital transformation, such as AI, automation or cloud migration. Employees often must change the way they’ve always worked, and while they’re learning a new system, projects that they could do in their sleep now take hours to accomplish while learning how to navigate the system and all of its intricacies.
Related Article: 5 Tips to Augment Technology in Customer Experience
Technology Adoption: Disruption and Lost Productivity
Any type of digital transformation causes massive disruption to the status quo, and sometimes even lost productivity in the short term. This has always been the case, but tech adoption challenges are compounded today given the pace of technological change — especially within CX teams rolling out tools to better engage with customers.
The Rapid Pace of Tech Innovation
While companies previously have introduced new technology every five-to-10 years, today they are rolling out new systems every year if not more. An article published by Deloitte quotes Suresh Soundararajan, CIO at the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), as saying, “The pace of innovation is so much faster today that if organizations are using something they built 10 years ago, they’re probably falling behind.”
Balancing Tech Innovation and Risk
While embracing tech innovation is the key competitive differentiator, enabling greater efficiency, productivity and lower costs in the long-term, there’s no question that there’s some risk involved. Most notably, it can be expensive, with no guarantees that it will be accepted and successfully deployed.
Related Article: Three Must-Haves for Digital Leaders Who Want to Ride the Wave of the Ever-Changing Future
Strategic Approach to Innovation
So how can CX teams strike the right balance when it comes to being technology innovators? According to the Wall Street Journal article cited above, “The goal is to be a little bit ahead of the market, but not too much." Companies must be willing to take a risk, but they should do so strategically, carefully researching their options, testing them and deploying a carefully crafted rollout strategy.
Key Strategies for Successful CX and Marketing Technology Adoption
To ensure successful CX or marketing technology roll-outs and adoption that sticks, below are some key strategies.
Identify the Challenge
Identify the real business challenge. Before considering a solution, first gather all stakeholders to identify the real business challenge and what types of tech may be able to solve it and then consider the ramifications of not proceeding with tech transformation. It’s important to define clear business objectives and success criteria.
Be Skeptical
Don’t believe everything you hear. Every vendor is going to tell you how your business will change for the better by deploying its CRM, chatbot or other marketing tool. Before you can convince your staff why it’s a gamechanger, you need to believe it for yourself. Do diligent research by speaking to other users or market research professionals, and, when you’re ready to move forward, begin with a prototype that can be tested in the field before too much cost is incurred.
Especially when it comes to deploying AI solutions, many providers will first conduct an Innovation Sprint — short, two-week bursts of development — where the algorithm is trained on data-sets to determine how feasible it will be, and then the prototype is set loose on specific users or stakeholders to refine it. This not only ensures that you’re building the right solution, but it’s also a powerful way to convince finance teams and executive boards that the project is a sound investment.
Get on the Change Management Boat
Employ effective change management strategies. Instilling a culture of innovation is key to successful tech adoption. This culture is fostered when all team members feel like they’re part of the decision-making process and have a full understanding of the project and its goals. Technology initiatives should also be executed gradually and broken down into manageable phases, with ample time for employee training and time for staff to voice their questions or concerns.
Know What You Want to Know
Establish clear KPIs. Getting things done on time and on budget are the critical indicators of success, but KPIs also should include benchmarks for user satisfaction, productivity increases and other measurements that can indicate that the solution is driving meaningful value.
Establish Standards
Set governance and standards of use. This is especially true with adoption of innovative new tools, such as generative AI for content development. It’s important to set the standards of use from the outset. This may include designating how the solution can be used and how frequently, transparency about when AI is being used or what role humans must play when it comes to automation.
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Build in Financial Wiggle Room
Strive for a flexible budget. New advances in technology change quite quickly, yet securing a budget from finance teams can take time. When forming marketing IT budgets, it’s important to build in wiggle room that allows your team to seize new opportunities without missing out on technology breakthroughs that can boost your business and reinforce a culture of innovation.
Final Thoughts on Technology Adoption
Today it takes longer than in the past for CX teams to adopt new technologies, since there are many options, constant innovation and the need to integrate solutions enterprise-wide for the greatest impact. Yet for marketers who claim to be leaders in their industries they must be willing to bear the brunt of disruption, which is vital to successful tech adoption.
As business consultant and academic Clayton Christensen once said, “disruption is a process, not an event.” Embracing the process of digital disruption, is not always easy, but a sure-fire way to ensure successful technology adoption.
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