Intelligence From Intuition: 7 Lessons Tech Culture Can Teach Traditional Businesses
“What could tech culture possibly have to teach me?” If you own a brick-and-mortar business, it might seem strange to think that a field as different from yours as the tech industry can offer you any wisdom. Good businesspeople, however, know that sometimes, the best lessons are learned by the example of others. Here are seven lessons from tech culture that you can use to reshape your more traditional business!
1. Prioritize Your Customers!
Customer service is the bread and butter of the tech world. Online, you communicate instantly. If customers don’t get what they want immediately, they go elsewhere. As a businessperson, you can’t afford to “wait and see,” expecting customers to come to you. You need to engage constantly and prioritize your customers to survive.
Consider how the tech industry handles customer communication. Tech giants like Google, Apple, and others revolutionized communication with customers, imbuing feedback into their products. If you own a business these days, there’s no alternative: you must invest in social media accounts, website development, and engagement to create personalized customer experiences. Otherwise, you’ll always lag behind.
2. Act on Data, Not Intuition
In the tech age, the best step towards business success is relying on data. Intuition can only get you so far; you might be smart and understand the business world, but everything is flavored by your own opinions. Data is flavored by factual evidence.
The tech industry shows how data can be used to support decisions on product development, content creation, and marketing strategies. If you own a business, you have to keep track of key data such as your sales numbers, online engagement, and other metrics. Without them, you’ll have no clue what’s working and will make decisions blindly–a recipe for failure.
3. Develop Products in Stages
Traditional businesses have always practiced a simple product development model: create, sell, and gauge revenue. That model is fine for some industries, but the tech industry has revealed a new way to go about development: iterative testing. Tech giants routinely develop products in phases or stages, updating them until they reach near-perfection.
No matter the industry, you can put this method into practice. Be fanatical about details. Refine everything until it’s perfect, like fine-tuning a guitar. Also, don’t forget to make use of beta testers when you develop! Honest feedback might bruise your ego, but it’ll help you in the long run, more than simply putting out a product overconfidently.
4. Speed, Speed, Speed!
A brick-and-mortar business might move at a snail’s pace compared to the internet, but you can break the mold! We all have 24 hours in each day, but tech companies use them differently. They keep their noses to the grindstone for as many as 18 hours a day, addressing problems with alacrity.
You might not have to go as hard, but you can get faster! Think like a chiropractic patient in pain: do they want relief now, or later? Now, of course! That word should be your mantra in business. Don’t put off meetings or file away issues into the to-do list. Tackle them as they come for instant results!
5. Don’t Be Afraid To Automate!
The idea of automation is not new in any respect, but with the development of AI, it’s beginning to reach a new scale in business, and that can seem scary. However, you shouldn't be afraid to automate routine tasks that take up a lot of time. Think of the benefits AI can offer, and how much time it could save you and your employees for the things that really matter.
New tools and technologies cannot just be wished away. Because AI is not going anywhere, it’s on you as a business owner to do what you can to avoid having to play catch-up as the industry changes.
6. Improve Your Workflow!
You might think that tech culture is only impacting products and processes of development and manufacturing, but you’d be wrong. Tech culture is also impacting the way people work, and it can do so in any industry. The tech industry is always finding new ways to help employees sync up their minds, bodies, and workflows, and you can do the same!
Consider how you can shift your workflow culture away from daily meetings and regimented schedules. Take a page out of the tech industry’s book–allow your workday to be more flexible and determined by the employee, and invest in good healthcare. This can help enhance everyone’s productivity to maximum levels.
7. Make Technology Your Friend!
No matter the industry, technology always evolves and changes. Whether it’s in the form of new computers and software or new medical technology for surgeons, chiropractors, and others, something new is always in the pipeline. You can’t afford to be a luddite as a businessperson. Embracing technology is a key step towards sustained growth!
Follow the tech industry’s lead, since they’re always on the forefront of new technology and software. Read up on new innovations and think about how to use them. You’ll find that many technologies have applications beyond your expectations! You can use them as tools to accomplish your goals without compromising your values!
Final Thoughts
The path to success in business is always in your hands! With the lessons above, you can reframe the best habits of tech culture to serve you and get your numbers soaring! Don’t waste time! The business world is always moving–don’t let it leave you behind!
