GUEST BLOG: Returning to Work? Return to Revenue.
Returning to Work? Return to Revenue.
Return to Revenue During Covid-19
By Chuck Ingram, congruentX
Returning to Work? A Lot has Changed.
IT Spending Is Predicted to Be Down for the First Time in Many Years.
More Bad News… So Is Revenue…
Customer Expectations Have Shifted
Is your firm returning to work? For all kinds of reasons – business related and even mental health related – businesses are working to help their teams return to work. While that might not mean everyone sitting in an office all the time like before, returning to work safely in whatever format is obviously critical. Many companies like Microsoft have put together entire solution suites to help companies Return to Work Safely. That said many of us are finding things have changed as we’re arriving back at work.
For many of us, we have not been going into an office and have been for the most part home-bound for several months. While some (ok, most of it) has been maddening – we have gotten used to some of it. Employees and customers have been at home talking to Alexa and using contextual apps on their phones – to get nearly everything delivered by companies that know them and their needs – digitally.
In fact, experts say the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and customer expectations exponentially. Microsoft executive Charles Lamana recently stated in a blog “we have worked with customers during the COVID-19 crisis, where we have seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in just two months”.
Our customers who have been at home getting their needs delivered to them by communicating with apps that seem to know them have short patience with old school ordering processes. They do not want to explain their business to salespeople or repeat themselves about what they need on a customer service call.
Customers’ accelerating needs for experiences, insights, and outcomes from companies who already are resource crunched – have led to overwhelmed employees. And the monolithic systems in place are not helping.
Help! Our Technology Is Not Helping
Our employees returning to work are finding their systems and the way they interact at work are quite different than what they have gotten used to at home. Alexa is now replaced by a reply all email asking for information about a client. Their personalized experience on their mobile phone is now a never-ending (almost cartoon like) form that while at one time was thought to give them a “360-degree view” now seems horribly lacking in context for what they need to do now and frankly, overwhelming.
Revenue-focused technology solutions Like CRM are widespread but often viewed as a constraint. CRM is a 50 Billion dollar market and growing but with only a 50% satisfaction rate!
Pretty Important – Revenue (maybe a lot) Has Left the Building
I was talking to a client the other day who was re-opening their office. They were obviously deeply concerned about their team members safety. Right afterward the discussion turned to their concern for how they could recover revenue.
This particular firm’s revenue was at 2016 levels. In fact earlier this year a study by PWC said about 80 percent of CFOs and other finance leaders expect COVID-19 to decrease revenue and/or profits this year*.
Interestingly, firms’ in different industries revenue have been affected differently and will recover differently. A recent study by Goldman Sachs suggests that companies on the IT, consumer staples, healthcare, and government spectrum are affected less and may bounce back more quickly while travel, hospitality, and automotive will be much more drastically affected and have a slower road back.
What will Revenue Recovery Take?
It will take resources; but, we know we will have less. An article from PWC recently said “44 percent foresee temporary furloughs and 24 percent do not expect to have a sufficient workforce to accomplish critical work” so resources are overall a problem.
Additionally, the demand for digital apps and services to meet the new digital expectation of clients is expected to spike. Traditional monolithic systems are not nimble enough. Lamana said in his blog “Over the next three years, more than 500 million digital apps and services will be developed and deployed*. Traditional code-first development will be unable to scale to support this growing demand. Instead, code-first tools will need to be combined with low-code development tools like Microsoft’s Power Apps.”
Low Code Platforms like Microsoft’s Power Platform can help both your users with a better more connected, contextual experience and your IT team to go faster, plus extend the life of your line of business solutions. The idea of enabling the citizen app and developer with no cliff development is extremely compelling as well. We need to bring the Business and IT together to align people and tech around the goal of recovering revenue now.
Where do we start?
The Revenue Recovery Code involves Low Code – And a Method
The good news is we are seeing patterns and even hits at a roadmap for success. A recent article by McKinsey & Company says there are three basic steps to drive recovery.
First McKinsey says to Identify and prioritize. They focused on a core set of commercial activities with items that have the items that time to impact can be balanced with the level of EBIT Impact. The items are in the chart below.
McKinsey also pushes us to act with urgency. Slow moving political behemoths will have to make changes to either “act like startups” or may have a tougher time recovering revenue and adapting to the next normal than other firms.
McKinsey also recommends small squads focused on revenue areas.
So, startups are nimble. What else do startups look like?
They recognize that software is eating services and look more like software companies. They do not slow down for monolithic systems. While they are keen for systems to connect – they do not have to be monolithic. In fact, they are often better when they are not.
Revenue Recovery Roadmap to Results
If this makes sense, we have a roadmap on how to get started. Some folks like a workout plan like P90X or CrossFit. If you think you could use a plan and coaching – the congruentX team with its CRM and Power Platform expertise – has partnered up with a firm focused on revenue optimization called Magnetic Experiences to launch an offering that can absolutely help. The offering is a 30 Day Return to Revenue Challenge.
30 Day Return to Revenue Challenge with
Microsoft Power Platform and Artificial Intelligence
Amplify Revenue Recovery with Citizen Developers using Power Platform and AI with Technology You Already Own
Bring Business, IT, and Makers together to solve for key revenue related challenges quickly and measurably
Structured 30 Day challenge featuring Design Thinking, High Engagement, Hands on Maker Experience with Power Platform Low Code Apps, Rapid Sprints, and a planned path to measurable outcomes. Focused Revenue Recovery Initiatives with 10x or more ROI.
Week One | Onboard – Initial 5 Day sprint focused on identifying and solving for one key revenue generation related challenge.
Weeks Two-Three | Adopt & Optimize – Assisted build sprint, Think aloud testing and deploy for user adoption. Daily coaching calls.
Week Four | Achieve – Deploy and support your team as they engage with clients more successfully.
