How Can Your SME Be Equipped to Compete? – Innovation & Differentiation

In an economy with ever-changing demands, how do you capture and keep your customers’ attention? With such tough competition, you probably feel the pressure to keep up on a daily basis. What is the key to getting noticed and keeping hold of customer loyalty? Innovation is a top growth strategy that is mostly fostered through technology. Using various tools to make potential buyers feel like they are part of a shared experience, like a feature that shows customers where and when other people are purchasing items similar to the ones they’re looking at online, is just one example of how technology allows you to watch what customers are doing. You want to be able to understand your customers’ habits and anticipate their next move.

Innovation will help your small to medium enterprise stand out in a globally competitive market. But, you also want to differentiate yourself from larger rivals. By creating a social aspect of branding yourself, you are able to communicate new products, create a community, engage with your customers through social platforms, and educate them on what products will solve their key business issues. Global markets and consumer demands are pushing the need for new ideas and the tools are there for you to utilize. It’s all about knowing how to utilize them in a way that will keep you and your customers competitive.

What are some key technologies that will enable your small to medium enterprise to achieve these goals?:

• Enterprise mobility – Enterprise mobility is a leading driver of competitive advantage and customer service improvement and in many cases can transform your business. It also benefits product and service development, supply chain, innovation initiatives, and cost cutting. By constantly keeping up with new mobile innovations, you will be able to transform your business.

• Business management software – An investment in business management software can support long-term growth in a global marketplace.

• Analytics – Can you measure how your business is performing? It’s crucial to be able to do so. Understanding which processes are working for you and which aren’t can be the starting point for change. It’s all about taking a deeper look into what’s driving cost efficiencies, and business analytics helps accomplish this while improving product and service development.

• Social media – Do you keep your customers in the loop through any social media platforms? Social media enables small to medium businesses to better maintain relationships with their customers, especially through customer service. Other key benefits of social media include improved product and service development. Social media gives the idea that you are constantly available to your customers, and in most cases is a technological innovation that does not get utilized as much as it should.

• Cloud – Do you want to enhance your business agility and increase organization-wide usability? Cloud computing, storing your data over a network and accessing it through a web-based browser or mobile app, is a valuable and cost effective way to make your system more manageable with less maintenance. Having your systems, business-critical or not, hosted by a company that specializes in Cloud solutions can save you money and valuable time.

You want to find the right mix of technological investments to keep your organization competitive. The common thread to all the technologies listed above is collaboration and communication. Once your small to medium organization starts to adopt new technologies and capabilities, you will set yourself up to easily adapt to change. Contact Third Wave today and find out how you can differentiate yourself by better servicing your customers through technological innovation.