Whether you make it, sell it, or use it, technology plays a significant role in day-to-day business activities. From the introduction of a new software tool for your sales team to the launch of a new tech gadget onto the market, technology affects every stage of your business process, whether you know it or not.
Unfortunately, more often than not, instead of a direct path to success, technology can puts obstacles in your way. Indeed, too many companies fail to make the most of their tech. While it may not threaten their position on the market, it can significantly slow down their growth. Here are the most common issues that stop you from maximizing your tech gains.
They misjudge their skills
You don’t need to run a tech startup to use technology in your everyday activities. Indeed, even small businesses and freelancers need to get familiar with tech tools to launch their digital presence. When you’re working with a limited budget, you can’t afford to hire experts to help you. Therefore, it’s not uncommon for them to look into web templates they can use to build their presence. A platform such as WordPress, for instance, offers a choice of elegant free or low-cost templates that can be the backbone of your website. Did you know that not all online templates are optimized for responsiveness? Failure to resize to adapt to all devices can not only affect your visitors but also render some web functions unusable. A non-responsive website, for example, will not be able to display booking forms on a mobile device. Knowing that over 50% of web traffic comes from smartphone users, not knowing how to optimize your site for mobile devices could leave half of your visitors unable to convert.
Their customer tools are too complex
There is nothing worse for a tech retailer that tests tools intensively in-house to experience a flop on the market. The issue, unfortunately, is not related to a lack of testing, but a lack of user experience. Indeed, the team involved in the creation of the tool is likely to have a better understanding of it than your typical layman. For instance, if you’ve created a software solution for the B2B sector but failed to include real user experiments, your product might be too complicated for the audience. Ultimately, if the feedback you receive from your clients is a mixture of anger and frustration on elements that are not related to a fault, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. A good way of avoiding the issue is to create a beta launch with a handful of selected clients – they can keep the tool at a discounted price while you can interview them for improvement purposes.
They don’t understand how to maintain it
What is the point of investing in complex machinery if you fail to maintain and service it regularly? Every year tons of money is thrown away by businesses that don’t keep up with their tool maintenance strategy. Something as simple as monitoring the contact feature functionality with an AC insulation /withstanding tester – you might want to check Hioki test instruments to build up your maintenance service toolkit – between the major tech components could save you significant repair costs. Sometimes, all your production chain is holding by a spark of contact, or a false connection between components. Are you ready to lose thousands for something you can test and identify in a few seconds?
Their customer service team is unhelpful
If you’ve called the customer service team in the past to discuss a tech issue, chances are, you’ve been through the pre-written script. Most customer service teams implement a script in an attempt to capture minor issues before disturbing their expert technicians. In theory, your CS agent needs to help diagnose the problem as clearly as possible, which is why the script is designed to narrow down potential causes. However, most customers have already gone through the first steps of troubleshooting on their own. They don’t want to waste time turning the device off and on again. They want a solution from the tech in charge. The more you waste your customer’s time through the troubleshooting script, the more likely they are to switch to competitors.
They are making things hard for people with disabilities
As innovative as technology can get, it can lack inclusivity in design, which leaves people with disabilities unable to use your tool. Walgreens website, for instance, didn’t let users with screen readers access the site. Some functionalities designed to show the text on screen in a large font for individuals with vision loss can mess up with the interface and render the site or the app unusable. The examples of accessibility issues are too numerous to list. But it’s important to note that only 40% of people with disabilities are working; their inclusion in the workplace requires assistive technology and adaptability. From their perspective, these are features their workplace has budgeted. When you strategically remove disabilities from your tech equation, you’re excluding an audience.
They don’t invest in training
Not every member of your team feels confident about technology. Investing in new solutions to bring the business forward need to be combined with dedicated training workshops. You can’t afford to save money by asking your team to train themselves on their time. Mistakes can happen, and even with the best of intentions, no member of staff can get confident using new tools unless they can have access to an expert who can answer their questions.
They don’t buy smartly
You can’t build growth without investing in tech, right? Wrong! Technology investments play an essential role in keeping your business relevant and competitive. However, unless you’re in a position of switching your entire tech tools and solutions, you need to think ahead before you commit to any purchase. It’s never a good idea to buy the latest shiny tools without considering how it will integrate with the rest of your structure and security network. If you don’t put compatibility first, you’re going to waste a lot of time and money.
As technology is an integral part of a business, it deserves a strategy of its own, both in terms of integration within the company and launch onto the market. With 7 billion people on the planet, it would be unfair to assume that everybody has the same understanding and use of technology. It’s its diversity that creates the strength but also the weakness of business tech.
