Emerging technologies are how your organization will stay competitive in 2023, and are at the heart of everything your organization does.
Whether it is used to acquire new customers, enter new markets, launch new products, or streamline your organization and processes.
And as competition increases, you must be able to adopt new technologies to stay ahead of your competitors quickly.
Even more important is that you offer your customers technologies they have come to expect and even demand.
But the truth is: It’s not really about the technology; it’s about what it can do
While emerging technology allows you to keep up with your larger rivals, it also enables you to serve your clients and pioneer your innovations.
Here are 3 of the most exciting trending technologies for 2023
- Automation
- Business Intelligence (BI)
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Even though these three technologies provide amazing opportunities, the leadership teams for many small and mid-sized businesses need to prioritize them.
Leaders Must Engage with these Emerging and Important Technologies – NOW!
Mangers and leaders in every leadership meeting need to start considering these opportunities. They need to dive in and form a set of questions that will allow them to see if any of these technologies could benefit their business:
Those questions include the following:
Are there tasks within the business that are repeated every day or every week?
- If so, this represents an automation possibility!
Does data flow through the business in a regular pattern?
- For instance – when a new employee is hired
-
- They fill out a job application
- An application is received and reviewed
- Manager decides if an interview is needed
- The interview is scheduled and conducted
- Perhaps a 2nd interview is scheduled
- A decision is made regarding the candidate
- An offer letter is written and presented
- The offer letter is accepted
- And on and on …
- This process is repeated EVERY TIME a new employee is needed … and the back end of this very common HR process could be AUTOMATED
How many processes like this are hiding in small businesses across the USA?
- Are spreadsheets used to track processes or collect data through the organization?
- Does the organization have an accounting program with historical data?
- It is likely that there are incredible insights within this historical data that are not being mined and analyzed by the business. Enterprise organizations are doing this every day with teams of analysts. These same capabilities are now available for SMBs!
Suppose SMBs need to be aware of the possibilities of using these extremely powerful technologies. In that case, wait toy will not start the discovery process to see where this tech might drive growth in the organization.
Emerging Technology #1 – AUTOMATION
Automation technologies can bring a range of benefits to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs).
This automates routine tasks using software, process examination, and artificial intelligence enables businesses to accelerate processes, drive efficiency gains, reduce costs and free up resources.
This allows businesses to focus on more strategic initiatives that will help them grow while delivering faster responses to customer requests and improving customer satisfaction.
Further business opportunities include improved data accuracy due to fewer manual data entry errors and increased security, as automated processes are less susceptible to human error.
Automation Increases Productivity and Efficiency
Small businesses increasingly turn to automation to drive productivity, efficiency, and growth. Automation technology allows SMBs to complete tasks with minimal human input or guidance quickly. For example, companies can automate repetitive processes like customer service inquiries, order processing, data entry, and accounting.
This frees employees’ time and resources for more strategic activities that bring value and help gain traction in competitive markets. In addition, automated tools can help SMBs automate mundane tasks in a fraction of the time and cost it would take humans to do them manually.
Scale Business Operations
Technology enables SMBs to scale their operations as they grow without adding additional staff or sacrificing quality control. For example, instead of hiring an employee (or remote employees) each time, there is an increase in demand, automation technology productivity production, and cut costs.
Businesses can respond quickly to customer needs as they arise, allowing them to deliver superior customer service. Automation also helps SMBs reduce operational costs by streamlining processes and reducing errors that can lead to costly rework or delays.
Automation Facilitates Business Growth
Automation can help small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) drive business growth by reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Applications and software programs can perform repetitive tasks for end users, saving time and money by eliminating manual labor.
Automate Mundane, Repetitive Tasks
The right technology can automate mundane tasks like customer service inquiries, data entry, accounting functions, inventory control, scheduling, and more.
By streamlining processes with automation, SMBs can reduce their overhead costs while ensuring quality results are achieved quickly and reliably.
Automation Enhances a Business’s Security
In addition to cost savings and increased efficiency, automation also enhances security management. Business owners no longer need to worry about manual mistakes or human error when securing their data. In addition, automation allows for more secure business operations, as automated processes can be tracked and monitored more accurately than manual ones.
Small business owners can also set up encryption protocols that protect their customers’ data from misuse or theft. By using automation to improve efficiency and security, SMBs can maximize their growth potential while minimizing costs associated with security concerns.
Streamline Critical Processes
Technology investment in automation can help SMBs achieve faster growth by streamlining critical processes such as inventory management, customer service, marketing, and sales operations.
Automation Allows for Better Business Decisions
Additionally, automation provides business owners with valuable data insights to make informed decisions about their business activities. Automation also helps small businesses be more competitive in the marketplace by improving customer experience, enhancing customer engagement, and accelerating product development cycles.
Overall, automation can help reduce operational costs and improve efficiency. But, with growing digital information and ever-changing customer demands, businesses need all the help they can get – and automation is one way to stay ahead of the curve.
Emerging Technology #2 – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE (BI)
Business Intelligence is a set of tools and techniques used to analyze data and make strategic decisions based on the insights gained from it. Businesses leveraging BI can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, market trends, competition, performance metrics, and more.
This allows them to identify areas of potential growth or improvement and make informed decisions about their strategies. Then, with the help of an experienced BI expert (or outsourced) team, businesses can use this data to optimize their processes and make sound decisions that will lead to improved results.
BI Provides Customer Behavior Insights
Business Intelligence (BI) can provide invaluable insights into customer behavior for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Through data analysis and reporting tools, BI enables SMB owners to understand their customer’s preferences better.
Powerful BI tools are now available to SMBs. These tools were far too complicated and expensive for SMBs to consider 3+ years ago … but today, they are part of business platforms like Microsoft 365.
Businesses can track customer behaviors such as purchase history, browsing activity, product recommendations, and more to make informed decisions about products or services.
This improved decision-making allows SMB owners to focus on the areas of their business that will benefit the most from investments in emerging technologies.
Insights Increase Efficiency
The insights that BI provides can also increase efficiency within an organization. Business owners can use BI to identify areas where processes can be streamlined and costs reduced. These intelligence tools can also help businesses uncover potential opportunities for growth by identifying trends in customer behavior that can inform future decisions.
BI Helps Reduce Costs
Another advantage of Business Intelligence is that it can help reduce costs. By collecting, analyzing, and managing data more efficiently with the help of BI tools, businesses can eliminate wasteful spending on manual data entry and other labor-intensive activities.
This can result in significant cost savings over time, allowing companies to allocate resources toward long-term investments or higher-priority tasks.
BI Paves the Way for Business Growth
By leveraging the insights provided by business intelligence, small and mid-sized business (SMB) owners can make informed decisions about how to best use emerging technologies to drive business growth and increase profits.
Businesses that invest in BI will better understand their customer’s preferences, allowing them to target products or services and optimize the customer experience.
By making data-driven decisions, SMB owners can maximize their investments in emerging technology solutions while eliminating waste and improving overall performance.
Understand Market Trends with BI Insights
Business intelligence (BI) can provide invaluable insights into market trends and give small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) the edge they need to stay ahead of their competitors.
These tools allow SMBs to quickly access large amounts of data, analyze it for meaningful patterns and insights, and then use this valuable knowledge to make informed business decisions.
By understanding the customer base’s needs, spotting potential opportunities in the market, and predicting potential threats from competition, BI can help SMBs launch new products or services that maximize their growth potential.
Business Intelligence allows for Better Customer Engagement.
In addition to helping SMBs collect and analyze data from internal sources such as sales records and staff performance reports, emerging technologies are now enabling these organizations to understand their customer’s preferences and behaviors better.
Business intelligence tools such as sentiment analysis, predictive analytics, and machine learning can help SMBs understand customer trends better. This, in turn, makes it easier for them to develop tailored marketing strategies that speak directly to the needs of their target audiences.
BI Supports Product Development and Innovation
It can be used to inform decisions related to product development and innovation. For example, business intelligence solutions allow SMBs to gain insights into customer feedback on existing products or services and identify new features that customers may be interested in. Tata can create customized solutions that meet the organization’s goals and customers.
BI Provides Competitive Advantage
Business Intelligence’s insights allow small and mid-sized businesses to stay competitive in an ever-changing market. Business intelligence gives SMBs access to valuable information about their own business. In addition, it gives them insights into their competitors – allowing them to keep up with industry trends, save money and develop winning strategies for success.
BI Promotes Quick, Accurate Decisions
Another benefit of Business Intelligence is that it allows small and midsize businesses to make decisions more quickly and accurately by providing access to timely data and insights.
Business owners can leverage smart technologies such as predictive analytics, machine learning, and AI algorithms to analyze large volumes of data and gain actionable insights into customer preferences, market trends, product performance, financial health, and more. This helps SMBs accelerate decision-making processes to address small business trends specifically.
In summary, business intelligence is an essential tool for SMBs looking to take their business to the next level. Business intelligence can help SMB owners create a clear path toward growth, allowing them to make informed decisions that will benefit their bottom line.
Business intelligence is one of the top tech trends for small and mid-sized businesses – helping them stay competitive and grow. Business Intelligence is essential for any SMB looking to succeed in today’s business landscape.
Emerging Technology #3 – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
In many ways, Artificial Intelligence is a more advanced form of Business Intelligence. AI systems can perform complex tasks such as data analysis and predictive analytics much faster than humans. As a result, many businesses now leverage AI-driven tools like Machine Learning (ML) to automate tedious tasks and uncover valuable insights from large datasets.
AI can be used for various purposes, including fraud detection, customer segmentation, marketing automation, and more. In addition, businesses can use these insights to drive growth and digital transformation.
AI Fosters Intelligent Decisions
AI is a rapidly advancing technology gaining traction and allows machines to understand data better than humans. Businesses are already using AI in many ways, such as automating processes, optimizing the customer experience, and fraud detection.
It can help SMBs, by allowing them to save time and money on mundane tasks while also providing insights into customer information, customer behavior, and preferences.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) automate critical business processes, increasing their efficiency and allowing them to focus on other operations.
Automate Mindless Tasks
Businesses can use AI to automate mindless tasks such as data entry or customer service management, freeing up resources for more strategic goals. AI can also improve existing processes by gathering insights from large amounts of data, providing predictive analytics, and making intelligent decision
For example, AI can be used in marketing automation tools to analyze customer behavior and create personalized content based on their preferences. In addition, businesses can leverage the power of AI to grow faster and leverage big data like large enterprises.
AI can also assist with decision-making related to finance and operations. For example, businesses can use AI to generate insights and provide personalized recommendations related to pricing, customer service performance, lead generation, and more.
Predict Future Market Trends
Predictive analytics can help businesses anticipate future market trends or address potential problems.
This type of analytics can provide small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) with the insights they need to stay ahead of the competition and anticipate market trends. By using predictive analytics, SMBs can identify patterns in customer purchasing behavior and make informed decisions about where to focus their marketing efforts. These analytics foster better decision-making.
Utilizing predictive analytics is an invaluable tool for SMBs looking to grow their business by staying on top of ever-changing customer preferences and industry trends.
By utilizing these insights, SMBs can stay ahead of competitors entering the markets while they attend to their client’s needs and concerns.
Streamline Business Processes
AI is an invaluable tool for SMBs looking to streamline their business processes and grow faster than ever. With the right implementation strategy, businesses can leverage this technology to automate mundane tasks and gain valuable insights into their customer base.
Businesses can use AI to make more informed decisions, increase efficiency, and ultimately achieve greater success.
Optimize the Customer Experience
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful technology that can be used to optimize the customer experience for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). AI allows SMBs to access more advanced customer data insights, automate repetitive tasks such as email responses, and use predictive analytics to provide personalized experiences.
With AI, SMBs can better understand their customers’ needs and preferences by analyzing data from various sources such as website visits, surveys, reviews, and social media. They can then use this information to create engaging content or product recommendations tailored to their target audience.
AI Powers Chatbots and Virtual Assistants
Businesses can also leverage AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants to answer customer queries quickly and accurately. By leveraging AI technologies, SMBs can gain invaluable insight into customer behavior, provide a better customer experience, and ultimately drive business growth.
AI can Schedule Appointments and Collect Data.
SMBs can also use AI to improve operational efficiency by automating mundane tasks such as scheduling appointments and collecting data.
Businesses can use AI-powered automation tools to automate routine activities such as customer segmentation, content recommendation engines, and lead scoring. This allows companies to focus on higher-value activities, such as developing new marketing strategies or optimizing product offerings.
Furthermore, AI technologies can be used for predictive analytics that enables SMBs to forecast demand for products or services and adjust their supply chain accordingly. By taking advantage of AI technologies in this way, SMBs can significantly reduce costs while improving overall performance and customer satisfaction.
AI can help Predict Fraud.
Businesses of all sizes have begun to explore the potential of AI for fraud detection, with smart algorithms capable of detecting suspicious activity more quickly and accurately than ever before.
Artificial intelligence is an invaluable technology that can help automate fraud detection processes, saving time and money while protecting customer data. Businesses should take advantage of AI’s capabilities to keep themselves and their customers safe from fraudulent activities.
AI can help identify fraudulent activity by analyzing large datasets and using predictive analytics to spot patterns indicative of fraudulent behavior. Businesses can leverage AI to detect better payment fraud, online identity theft, credit card fraud, and more.
With AI-driven tools like Machine Learning (ML), businesses can create custom models to pinpoint suspicious transactions or activities.
CONCLUSION – Two Critical Questions
1. What Opportunities Are Ahead of Your Business if you Adopted these Technologies?
Are there mundane tasks that could be automated to allow your team to focus on more important things? Is there insight within your existing data that would give you an advantage over your competition? Is there a process that would allow your relationship with your customers to be more solid?
2. More Importantly, What Happens if Your Competition Starts to Use these Technologies to Drive Their Businesses?
FOMO (fear of missing out) is real when it comes to the adoption of new technologies. There are many examples of progressive companies who “invested” (mostly time and energy) into new technologies that allowed them to dominate their competition. However, these new technologies are affordable and accessible for all businesses today
These emerging technologies are transforming how SMBs operate, enabling them to keep up with larger organizations while maintaining the agility that makes them unique. Businesses that embrace these technologies now will be well-placed for long-term success and growth. By leveraging Automation, Business Intelligence, and Artificial Intelligence, small and medium-sized businesses will gain a competitive edge and secure their future in the global economy.
