How to Embrace New Technology in Your Business

There is something comfortable about maintaining the status quo, especially when nothing appears to be broken or misaligned. However, when it comes to growing your business and improving relationships with customers, embracing change in the form of new technology is often a must.

Benefits of Utilizing New Technology

It is natural to be a little skeptical of new technology when you know nothing about it. You wonder if it lives up to its claims and what quantifiable impact it would have on your business operations. And while there are isolated situations where certain solutions fail to live up to the hype, adopting new technology is almost always beneficial to businesses that are trying to maintain a competitive edge in their respective industries.

For starters, technology makes processes more efficient. Take a marketing company for example. While using a project management solution might seem strange at first, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks. When the company is more efficient in communication and collaboration, the end product is better.

Technology can also lead to greater customer satisfaction—something that is important in the dental industry—among other sectors. Dr. Rohini Agarwal at Definition Dental has found immense value in using modern technology, like air abrasion services, to help reach patients who are fearful of painful or uncomfortable procedures. While it might be easy to stick with the status quo, the increase in customer satisfaction makes fantastic business sense.

How to Integrate New Technology

There are some benefits, but that is not the biggest issue. You are probably wondering how to integrate new technology into your organization without rocking the proverbial boat. Here are a few key steps:

1. Identify Needs

It all starts with recognizing a need. If you do not have a need, there is no point in forcing a specific piece of technology into your company.

When identifying needs, think about the biggest points of friction in your daily schedule. Are you constantly dealing with frustrated customers? Do you have serious communication issues that cause problems all down your supply chain? Are you unable to scale your business to the level it needs to be to stay competitive? The answers to questions like these will nudge you in the right direction.

2. Discover Technology

Once you identify some needs, you can start to research different options and discover what technology exists on the market. If the need is a common one, then you will probably have plenty of different technologies and vendors to choose from.

3. Get Buy-In

After identifying a few potential solutions, the next step is to get buy-in from the company. If you do not have buy-in, you will have a hard time extracting value from the technology.

4. Implement & Evaluate

You have identified a need, found technology to solve the problem, and ensured there is proper buy-in to make a move. Now it is time to implement the technology. A good implementation process will include adequate training and education for everyone who will be using the technology.

After implementation, shift your focus toward evaluation. As you monitor the progress and results, you will likely see areas where you are underutilizing the technology and places where you are making positive strides.

Make Room for Technology

Do not go looking for ways to integrate new technology into your business just for the sake of doing something. Be patient and look for real opportunities to satisfy palpable pain points within your business. While it is not always easy to do something different, positive change is one of the best things for a stagnant business.

Larry is an independent business consultant specializing in tech, social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.