/ Page 3 - Articles by Kyle Rich

Digital transformation projects hinge on a lot more than just technology. “What I learned a long, long time ago is that it always comes back to people. It's about relationships, it's about trust, it's about people,” relates Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, a global leader in accounting and finance who has been through the digital transformation process many times.

We’ve all been there… Navigating a company’s phone system or website searching for an answer to an urgent question. When we ask for help, we’re introduced to an AI-based chatbot. It probably has a name. Hi, there, says “Cynthia,” How can I help you? If your question is a relatively simple one, say you want to track an order, Cynthia can pull it up immediately.

The equation is simple: To grow your business, you need to keep current customers while also adding to your customer base. Working against that, though, is the “leaky bucket theory.”

Everyone is frustrated by martech. That’s a given, according to Pam Didner.  We had a lively conversation with Didner, a B2B marketing thought leader, on how to choose the right tech tools to execute marketing campaigns. We got a plethora of insights, much of it belying conventional wisdom. But Didner knows of what she speaks, having spent time in the marketing trenches with Intel, Southwest Airlines, 3M, Sunstar, Cisco, TE Connectivity, and many other leading global companies.

If you’re old enough, you may remember the first time you purchased something from Amazon and then received an email with a message along the lines of: “Based on your recent purchase, we thought you might be interested in these products,” or “People who bought that product also purchased these products,” followed by recommendations for products that matched your preferences.

Why are B2B companies so afraid to show some personality, to have some fun? It’s a question we asked marketing strategist and bestselling author David Meerman Scott, who knows something about marketing and letting his personality shine through in his work.

What does the future of work look like? And how can forward-thinking human capital executives, particularly at small to midsize businesses, prepare their companies to succeed with the workforce of today and tomorrow?

After all the stress and strain of the pandemic years, are small and midsize businesses (SMBs) headed toward a renaissance of creativity, productivity, and profitability?

Has technology reached a tipping point where it's fundamentally changing relationships between businesses and their customers?  We sat down (virtually) with Dr. Mark van Rijmenam—a leading strategic futurist, keynote speaker, five-time bestselling author, and founder of the Digital Futures Institute—to explore the technology available now and what may emerge in the future that will change how businesses and customers interact.