The business world stayed pretty much the same for a century or so after the Industrial Revolution, but it's safe to say that will never happen again. The exponential rate at which technology is developing, mutating, and adapting (especially throughout the 2020s), is so fast. You can't help but be swept away in a tidal wave of progress—whether you're ready for it or not!
You might not think we've come that far, but if you had access to a time machine that went back 15 years, you'd be shocked to see:
- A lack of centralized work communications to maximize efficiencies, regardless of location (think Slack).
- The relative non-existence of new formats for marketing businesses (like TikTok or Twitch).
- No Internet of Things or voice searches for products and information.
- No use of short-form video sharing for business outreach.
Technology has changed every aspect of the way any business operates, and never before in history has that change occurred so fast.
Below you’ll find eight ways in which technology has fundamentally changed business, for better or worse. (And we’ve added two bonus technology changes too.)
1. The Way We Communicate + Share Information
Today's environment offers more ways than ever to communicate—and the technology available makes it faster, easier, and more efficient. With applications like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, social media platforms, chatbots, and more being leveraged daily, the options feel endless.
But business communication needs to cut through the noise, or risk being drowned out. It is most effective when technology can pair messaging with existing customer information, helping to create personalized messaging. Automating communications across a variety of channels can play a part to help businesses boost marketing productivity and reach customers, as well.
But we need to be mindful that, taken too far, we can lose the human touch in our brands.
Layering in sales enablement solutions provides the ability to elevate buyer-seller conversations and tune into user behaviors. Deeper intelligence makes it easy to enhance the customer experience.
2. Mobile First Business Environments
Mobile first is here to stay. Smart devices or tablets allow for remote management of every aspect of your business. Everything from sales enablement, content marketing, and customer relations through back-end processes like shipping and invoicing are all at the click of a button. But mobile isn't just for you—it's also for your customers. With the rise of Generation Z, people depend on mobile devices to buy, sell, find businesses, and share their retail experiences with friends, acquaintances, and possibly their favorite subreddit every day.
This new paradigm has rewritten the book on marketing to prospects. Modern tech has also increased the ease with which we can all stay in touch. Whether it's having your co-workers and employees available via text/video chat at a moment's notice, or being able to send targeted promotional email blasts to prequalified customers when they're shopping at nearby businesses, the rise of mobile technology has blended almost seamlessly with communication software to create a hyper-real web of instant information.
3. Enablement of Remote Working
Although remote work has grown steadily over the past 15 years, the last few years forced companies not already promoting a remote work environment to make the transition more quickly than expected. And it's likely a good thing that it's (mostly) here to stay:
Companies of all types—private, public, nonprofit, or startup—continue to recognize the bottom-line benefits of integrating remote work into their business strategies," said Sara Sutton, founder and CEO of FlexJobs. "With improvements to technology and increasing demands from employees in a tight labor market, we fully expect to see the momentum around this important workplace continue to grow."
Companies had to pivot quickly in 2020 to ensure their teams had access to the right technology and infrastructure to support remote log-ins, the bandwidth to handle video conferencing, and project management tools so teams could continue to work on projects. Instead of managing hours spent in the office, leads shifted to measuring employee output.
We still see the benefits of all that hard work today. One interesting two-year Stanford study showed an incredible productivity boost among remote workers equivalent to a full day's work each week! And there's more; it's saved high costs in real estate, cut back on carbon emissions, and makes companies more agile and scalable.
4. The Rise of AI
AI is reshaping the world in business and consumer markets, while becoming entrenched in mainstream daily living. This application of technology has changed business processes in nearly every industry and has become an imperative strategy for those wanting to maintain a competitive edge. There are many things AI can do, from machine learning (massive amounts of data are computed quickly and put into digestible context for people), to natural language processing, to everyone's favorite—generative AI.
In the sales enablement space, AI is used to track buyers and predict their intent to purchase by looking at their search patterns, what they view and open, and more. Some worry that AI could eventually have an impact on current job roles, but the more optimistic see a need for job creation and new roles emerging to facilitate the transition to this new environment. AI is coming along at lightning speed, and although the lasting effects are unknown at this point, it will surely have a significant impact on the economy in the next decade.
5. Decreasing Cost/Increasing Functionality
Two things have come together to create a "buyer's market" when it comes to software solutions for your business. First, the hardware and software necessary to develop these solutions have become increasingly easy to use and afford.
Secondly, the number of tech-savvy and entrepreneurial minds who can exploit such crumbling barriers has multiplied exponentially. In the not-too-distant past, a back-end inventory system that once took a multi-million-dollar company a year to create takes a couple of weeks for a few recent college graduates to put together. These solutions are offered at affordable rates, and are often simple enough to use that businesses don't need to hire dedicated employees—or sign long-term service contracts—to make use of them.
6. Buyer Enablement
With buyers spending the first 60%+ of the buying journey on their own, with a magnitude of content and stakeholders and decision-makers, multiplied in different business groups, buying in today's world has become complicated. The newer tech-driven buyer enablement approach, done correctly, allows the buyer to be a champion of the product inside the organization.
This requires the seller to partner alongside the buyer, helping them determine the ultimate business problem that needs solving—and offering up the most relevant information at precisely the right time. If sellers keep their buyers' needs as their top priority throughout the buying journey, and position themselves as a trusted advisor, they are nailing buyer enablement.
7. Increased Collaboration
With remote workforces, the inability to chat in the break room, walk down the hall to a co-worker's office, or even gather together in front of a whiteboard, has drastically increased the need for collaboration. A McKinsey Global Institutes Report found that over 60% of work time is spent collaborating, gathering information, or responding to emails.
With this in mind, there is no shortage of collaboration tools that companies have glommed on to like Google Drive/Docs, Slack, Asana, Microsoft SharePoint, Monday.com, and many, many more. These simplify how we can work together for team discussions, file sharing, project collaboration, tasks, and storage. Alignment of people and goals is the primary responsibility for these tools, and they are here to help provide real-time insight into projects and help us become more efficient.
8. Cloud Computing + Digital Transformation
The rate of change is accelerating faster than ever before. Digital Transformation:
"Drives foundational change in how an organization operates, optimizes internal resources, and delivers value to customers. Cloud technologies provide the foundation for becoming more agile, collaborative and customer-focused."
Cloud computing allows businesses to move much of their operations to third-party servers accessible via Internet connectivity. This allows for variable data packages, and rapid (on-demand) expansion and mobility—without the fear of downtime, crashes, or permanently lost data. Companies adopting the cloud can innovate quickly, scale efficiently and even bring new market capabilities more quickly. This has allowed small to medium-sized businesses access to resources that would have been cost-prohibitive for them in the past, and evened the playing field when competing against corporations with far more funding.
Bonus #1: Increase in Business Ops Productivity
Teams are working more closely together toward the common goals of meeting or exceeding growth targets. Through the alignment of service, sales, marketing and IT, business operations evolve and implement more streamlined business processes to bridge organizational gaps. As mentioned above, digital transformation has been critical to increasing a business' productivity. Adding new tech to the stack helps decrease costs through time savings, speed to market, inventory management, and reduced production costs. This helps businesses optimize, bring value to the enterprise, and generate revenue. Forbes says:
The companies that do invest in this function (Business Operations) can make better use of automation technology and increase their efficiency and engender happier, more inspired employees as they're safeguarding themselves with greater adaptivity. Those who aren't are only taking on more risk."
Bonus #2: Decreased Downtime
The rise of technology does have its downsides. It seems like there isn't any downtime for individuals to recuperate anymore. Even the coveted American tradition of vacation is in danger of becoming a thing of the past. Most workers have constant access to email and messaging—as well as a host of mobile applications. And while your intention may be to get away from things for a while, it's more likely than not that you'll succumb to the temptation of "checking in" at least once. And when you do, it's over.
Technology is a Wave: You Can Either Ride or Wipe Out
Regardless of your personal opinion—Luddite or technophile—the rapid advance of business technology will not slow any time soon. Companies that fail to adapt will find themselves left behind, while the savvy ones who learn to keep up will reap the rewards.
You don't have to rebuild your business from the ground up—there's some kernel of merit that's allowed you to enjoy success thus far. You have to understand how technology affects your business (for better or worse) and how to apply advancements to play them to your advantage.
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in December 2013, and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
