Last week I was presenting in person to a group of professionals on Digital Influence.
This was an interesting group as the ‘win’ for them is not sales as such, their organisation isn’t a traditional B2B set up. The win for them is increasing their membership, getting their message out, being understood, and recognised in an ever-growing digital marketplace.
I explained that we work with a diverse range of customer from across different sectors and each of their ‘wants’ are different.
👉About 75% are looking to restore faith in their pipeline to address revenue, profit and ebitda concerns.
👉15% are looking to create influence around topics such as recruitment or investment.
👉The remaining 10% simply wish to understand how to use digital channels to become influencers in their subject matter specialism.
‘Influencers…’
A word that makes many people cringe, and If you come into my office in 2017 and said that we needed to become Technical and Commercial influencers in our sectors, I would have laughed out loud.
But the world had changed, our commercial worlds have changed and are changing.
As professionals, we must get used to new terminology and get comfortable with it. If we simply resist and ignore, we will become isolated and left behind.
Digital networks, content plans, impressions, engagement, influencers, hashtags, digital dominance, multi-threading, algorithms. Multi channelling, digital identity….and more.
All words and terms that the modern leader needs to understand and be able to put to work.
Why?
Because we are facing commercial disruption and we need to understand everything that will help us.
The fourth annual AlixPartners Disruption Index, which surveyed 3,000 CEOs and senior executives to identify the impact of disruption – defined as the forces that displace businesses, markets, and operating models – on their organisations. As an economic downturn looms and geopolitical crises continue to unfold, business leaders at growing companies are taking action to combat such challenges. (link to the Disruption Index below 👇)
Simon Freakley, CEO of AlixPartners, said: “The pandemic forced business leaders to come to terms with the inevitability of disruption, but as we have seen subsequently, that was just a dress rehearsal. Today’s business environment is tougher and more disrupted than ever and that won’t be changing any time soon. For those who move decisively and at pace, there is a tremendous opportunity to adapt and thrive amid the relentless disruption.”
The headline...
98% of CEOs Say They Need to Overhaul Their Business Model Within the Next Three Years
"31% of business leaders are revamping their business model now, with 98% recognizing they need to change within the next three years in response to a multitude of internal and external disruptions. While supply chain and energy issues continue to present significant challenges, this year’s survey also showed that business leaders’ greatest areas of concern include":
👉Barriers to innovation: While 87% say their company has the resources needed to invest in new technology and digital solutions, 66% say their board of directors often impedes the process of deploying them.
👉Speed of technology: 56% say advancements in technology are happening at a rate their company cannot keep up with.
👉Meeting societal and employee expectations: Among the growth leaders, 52% say they have been very or extremely affected by environmental and social concerns, and nearly three out of four (73%) say that shifts in workforce values and preferences are driving disruption in their companies.
👉Skills crisis: 40% of global business leaders say filling the talent pipeline at their organization will be a challenge for the foreseeable future.
👉In addition to these specified areas of disruption, executives recognize the threat posed by a looming global economic downturn. 83% of survey respondents expect a recession or economic downturn to last more than a year. Layoffs have occurred at 21% of companies and almost half (46%) anticipate staff reductions or hiring pauses in the year ahead.
We are in the midst of the most significant shift in modern commerce since the industrial revolution – The Digital transformation. Add into that what some call a ‘Polycrisis’, described as the simultaneous and overlapping crises facing the world today: a health crisis, a mounting climate crisis, a war in Europe, an inflation shock, democratic dysfunction, and much more, and leaders must be looking for efficiency and effective means to stabilise their businesses.
The Digital Twin of your sectors is in build right now – the access point is via the strategic application of Social Media across your team. This Is not simply “doing a bit more on Linkedin”, this is a rewiring of the commercial processes, methods and culture within the organisation in order to help us now and prepare for the future.
The Alixpartner study went on to say:
“Growth leaders are way out in front
The growth leaders in our survey -- defined as those companies which set the pace when it comes to overall growth in their industry this year -- are doing just that. They are more concerned about disruptive forces hitting them and at the same time are much more likely to take action, reinventing their business models, making them more likely to overcome, harness, and in some cases, create disruptive forces rather than needing to react to them. More than half (57%) are changing their business models this year, while only 25% of their slower-moving counterparts are doing so. Across the board, we see them performing better, yet still trying to do more, whether that’s fixing their supply chain, or attracting the best talent, or transforming their business”.
Lets take this in…
Take action, reinventing their business models, making them more likely to overcome, harness, and in some cases, create disruptive forces…
Surely this is what we need and want to be? What is the alternative…?
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The closing statenent in this article goes Simon Freakley, CEO of AlixPartners:
“CEOs have faced unprecedented challenges leading their companies over the last few years and those who have prepared, are agile, and quick to act”.
“The pace of change is relentless, with little or no time to pause for breath or even to reflect on successful navigation of the pandemic. Those who remain slow to action will get left further behind, while those who have a bias for action and see opportunities will build an unassailable lead.”
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A serious statement and one that should be taken seriously.
If you are a Chairman, and investor, a Chief Officer, a Managing Director, a Director…or simply a concerned employee, ask yourself a question…
In your sector, are you a growth leader or are you slow to action..?
We are Digital Commercial Advisors and we are here to help.
Eric Doyle F.ISP
Live Digital ‘23
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