Sustainable growth requires technology that can help you scale
Scalability and growth are critical for business success. As a business owner, you want (and need) your customer base, reputation, and (of course) profits to grow. But for growth to be sustainable, it has to be scalable. You don't want to turn down contracts because you don't have the resources to handle them.
Scalable, sustainable growth hinges on using the right technology. Here are five technologies essential to business growth.
1. Artificial intelligence
No longer a technology of the future, artificial intelligence (AI) affects nearly everyone's life right now. This technology personalizes consumers' media-consumption recommendations. It determines which ads they see online, and monitors their bank accounts for signs of fraud.
But it's also critical to business growth. AI can automate workflows, make latent data actionable, and personalize the customer journey for existing and prospective clients.
This technology underscores popular productivity tools across a range of categories. It drives the customer-service capabilities of Zendesk and Gong.io. It safeguards productivity with TimeHero and Timely App. It improves HR processes through Zenefits. Business leaders leverage AI technology through multiple tools.
2. Machine learning
As you consider technologies to aid business growth, study machine learning. A subset of AI, machine learning allows tools to improve their processes. Thanks to the wide proliferation of Siri and Alexa, most people carry a machine-learning tool in their pockets at all times.
Machine learning allows tools to improve their performance. For business growth, consider using this technology to support sales and customer-service processes through chatbots.
A chatbot engages website visitors, answers customers’ questions, and collects information from leads. Then, it connects users to human representatives as needed. When outfitted with machine-learning capabilities, the longer you use chatbots, the more they improve customer engagement.
3. Data fabric
Businesses evaluate uncountable amounts of data that addresses customers, sales trends, website engagement, and nearly every other aspect of their business. Data has the potential to provide you with powerful insights into your business. But, you’ll first need to collect and organize it.
If you're not managing and leveraging data in your business decisions, you are missing valuable opportunities and may not be making the right decisions about your business. Data fabric addresses data-management challenges by integrating data from diverse databases, connecting processes, and identifying relationships between diverse data points.
Data-fabric platforms such as Atlan, Cinchy, and data.world can help you develop a deeper understanding of your data. Many leaders combine packaged solutions with homegrown, custom-built technologies that support growth.
4. Cybersecurity
When harnessed correctly, data offers unparalleled opportunities, but it also creates new responsibilities. If your data isn't secure, you risk becoming the victim of an attack. Data leaks can hurt your customers, damage your reputation, and create significant losses.
The answer: a strong cybersecurity posture. If you collect sensitive data from your customers — and every business that takes credit cards does — you need cybersecurity technology. At a minimum, you need a strong firewall to prevent access to your network, endpoint detection and response (EDR) to monitor phones and laptops for threats, up-to-date antivirus software, and staff training to protect your business from social-engineering attacks.
You can hire an internal team and invest in software with intense hardware requirements, but if you want this technology to be scalable, you may want to outsource your cybersecurity needs with cloud-based security tools that can scale as needed without a large infrastructure investment.
5. Cloud computing
The business world is moving to the cloud. Most people have been using the cloud in different ways for decades. Before most people were even aware of this concept, cloud-based technology made it possible to check your email anywhere. But now this technology has grown up and boosts your business.
Cloud-based technology provides critical capabilities while simultaneously saving money on IT costs. The cloud can facilitate remote collaboration, database storage, networking, and an array of other tasks.
Growth-oriented businesses utilize cloud-based productivity tools such as Office 365 and G Suite. Amazon Web Services (AWS) also offers productivity solutions, but it goes further and leverages the cloud for data and customer analytics, security, storage, and virtual reality. Cloud-based tools can help accounting, client-relationship management, and data organization.
The right technology is critical to facilitate and support the growth of your enterprise, but you also need the right people. Successful businesses balance technology and people by augmenting their team's processes, but they also invest in the growth and development of their teams.
Contact MetaGrowth to help you create a growth-driving sales team
At MetaGrowth, we help businesses find, create, and develop sales teams. Our coaching services create productive, consistent, and accountable teams. We can help you build the sales team that your business needs in as few as 45 days. Ready to move past into your next stage of development? Let us help you find the right path. To learn more, contact MetaGrowth today.
Written by
Joe Arioto