One such remarkable tool is the Digital Transformation Maturity Assessment Tool at dxreadiness.com, created by our company Lumen Spei Ltd, and optimized by our CEO Krunoslav Ris, a seasoned expert in leading organizations through the digital transformation maze.

The Digital Transformation Tool is designed to measure an organization’s digital maturity across various critical dimensions. It does so by delving into six key areas, each represented by a set of questions aimed at uncovering the depth of your digital integration and readiness for the future. 

The journey begins with just a few clicks but leads to a profound understanding of where you stand in the digital readiness level and what steps are essential to lead you forward.

Digital Transformation Assessment Maturity Tool

Let’s dive into the eight steps that constitute the core of our tool:

1. General Information (4 questions): The assessment begins by gathering basic information about your organization. Though brief, this segment lays the groundwork for a personalized analysis.
2. Customer Experience and Relations (14 questions): Here, the tool explores how digital initiatives have been employed to enhance customer interactions and satisfaction. It’s about understanding the digital touchpoints that impact customer journeys.
3. Strategy (16 questions): This segment scrutinizes the alignment between your digital initiatives and organizational strategy. It delves into how well-prepared your strategy is to harness the digital wave.
4. Technology (15 questions): Technology is the linchpin of digital transformation. This step evaluates your technological infrastructure, its alignment with your goals, and its readiness to support future advancements.
5. Operations (15 questions): Here, the focus shifts to operational processes, assessing the integration of digital technologies in streamlining operations and fostering agility.
6. Culture (15 questions): A digital-friendly culture is crucial for transformation. This segment evaluates the organizational mindset and readiness to adapt to digital changes.
7. Data (15 questions): In the digital realm, data is king. This step evaluates your data management practices, analytics capabilities, and how data-driven insights are utilized for decision-making.
8. Compliance and Risk Management (15 questions): This segment assesses your compliance and risk management practices in a digital environment, ensuring that digital initiatives meet regulatory standards and are secure.

Upon completing this detailed assessment, the tool calculates your Digital Maturity Score, a numerical representation of your digital readiness. But it doesn’t just stop at providing a score; it offers tailored recommendations to bridge the gaps identified during the assessment.

These actionable insights are instrumental in fine-tuning your digital strategies, ensuring that every digital investment leads you closer to your organizational goals.

Recommended ➜ Read about drivers of digital transformation

Moreover, the tool provides an opportunity to schedule a one-on-one consultation with our company’s CEO himself. With 25+ years of experience in the tech industry, the insights that you will receive for free, are extremely valuable and exact guiding light in navigating the often blurry waters of digital transformation.

In addition, the assessment paves the way to both action and education plan – with the exclusive book titled “Digital Transformation Cheat Sheet: Book for Executives and Managers“. This book, available on Amazon, is a “shortcut” manual designed especially for C-level executives who are leading their organizations through the digital revolution. Like a crash course, but with information that is not at all basic and “googlable” ” it will provide you with all you need to know about digital transformation, including a roadmap for executives to create a digital-friendly culture, streamline operations, and ultimately achieve digital maturity of their businesses.

What is DxReadiness?

The Digital Maturity Assessment Tool is more than just a diagnostic instrument; it’s a partner in your digital transformation journey. It’s about having a clear mirror that reflects two things. 

• Where you stand as a company with an in-depth analysis of your digital readiness.
• The clear path toward achieving digital excellence. 

The insights you receive from this free tool are invaluable when writing your company’s digital narrative that both resonates with your organizational capabilities, culture, and market dynamics.

Embracing the Digital Transformation Tool is embracing a future of endless possibilities, growth, and a solid competitive edge in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

The journey toward digital maturity is a strategic one. With guidance from Lumen Spei and the data-driven insights from the assessment tool, you are well on your way to becoming a digital powerhouse in your industry. At the end of the assessment, you can easily schedule a free consultation, and for those who are in a hurry and know they need one – we are giving you the link for a free consultation right away! 

Start your digital assessment now. 

The post The Power of Digital Maturity Assessment Tool first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Understanding Digital Transformation in Higher Education

Digital transformation in higher education includes a series of different technologies and procedures that are used in order to enhance learning experiences, increase accessibility, and improve educational outcomes for students. It includes using various digital tools, data analytics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging technologies to improve the overall experience, both for students and teachers.

Empowering Higher Education: A Brief Overview of Education Technology

Education technology, often referred to as EdTech, is a broad term that includes the use of technology to enhance and support various aspects of education and learning. It involves the integration of digital tools, software, hardware, and internet-based platforms to improve educational outcomes. EdTech includes online learning platforms, learning management systems (LMS), educational apps, and collaborative tools which will be talked about later on.

The Benefits of Digital Transformation in Higher Education

1. Increased Access and Flexibility

Online education and remote learning opportunities made possible by digital transformation provide access to education for students who might otherwise be unable to attend traditional on-site education. This includes synchronous and asynchronous learning. Synchronous learning refers to a model of education where students and teachers engage in real time and where both can get immediate feedback from one another. On the other hand, in asynchronous learning, students engage with learning materials, activities, and interactions at their own pace and schedule. 

2. Interactive Learning

Digital tools such as interactive simulations, virtual labs, and other forms of learning management systems encourage learning in an enjoyable, interesting and understandable way. There is a lot of benefits of Interactive Learning and some of them are:

• critical thinking and problem-solving – Students are required to analyze, evaluate, and apply information through activities that involve solving complex problems or discussing questions 
• collaboration and communication – Interactive Learning often involves working in groups with other students. By working in a group students learn to express their ideas and listen to each other in order to reach common goals

Recommended ➜ Read about digital transformation tools in 2023

A few of the most popular tools are Moodle, Zoom, Google Workspace for Education, and Kahoot!

3. Global Collaboration

Global Collaboration refers to the process of individuals, institutions, and organizations from different parts of the world coming together to work on shared goals, projects, or initiatives. Global Collaboration can take many forms and include a wide range of activities, but some of them include international conferences and workshops, research, and innovation.

Attending international conferences and workshops can be useful for both students and teachers because it is a place where they can come together, present their work, and make connections that can open many doors for them in the future. The second, but no less important benefit is research and innovation where researchers from different countries can work together to share expertise and achieve innovative breakthroughs.

4. Personalized Learning

Personalized learning refers to an educational approach that can be fully customized in order to meet the individual needs, interests, and abilities for each student. Some of the benefits consist of:

• Individualized Pace – Students can go through their materials and assignments when they want and at their own pace. Advanced students can move faster and explore more challenging content, while struggling students can take the time they need.
• Individual Support – Students can receive more personalized attention and support from their teachers which includes feedback on assignments or one-on-one discussions.

5. Environmental Impact

Ecological sustainability is a concept that is talked about a lot nowadays. Digital Transformation provided us with the possibility of reducing the carbon footprint associated with traditional education methods by reducing the need for printed materials and physical resources. 

Challenges in Implementing Digital Transformation in Higher Education

1. Digital Gap

Regardless of the widespread use of technology, the digital gap remains one of the biggest challenges in higher education. Students from low-income backgrounds or rural areas may experience some trouble keeping track of classes. Unreliable internet connection and inadequate or outdated devices can make the learning experience difficult.

2. Quality of Online Learning

As more courses move online, higher education institutions must work on ensuring the quality of education in the digital world. Online learning must be as effective as learning in a traditional way. On the other hand, even if online learning has the same quality as the standard form of education, there may be a lack of engagement on the part of students. While some students thrive in an online education environment, others can feel isolated and disconnected by the absence of the same level of engagement and interaction as in-person classes which can lead to reduced motivation and participation.

3. Digital Literacy and Training

Both faculty and students need to be trained on how to effectively use new technologies. In this day and age, hardly any student that attends classes (online or in person) doesn’t know how to use new technologies or at least basic ones. The problem appears when older teachers are forced to hold an online course but are not familiar with technology. In order to overcome those challenges, faculty and students need to be trained on how to effectively use new technologies. Without proper training, the benefits of digital tools might not be fully realized. 

Examples of Digital Transformation in Higher Education

In this segment, we explore a diverse series of cases about how technology is giving traditional education a high-tech makeover – from online courses and virtual classrooms to AI-powered study buddies, These examples showcase the dynamic impact of digital transformation on modern education.

1. Online Courses and Virtual Learning – This mode of learning breaks down geographical barriers and while it requires self-discipline and effective time management, virtual learning encourages a dynamic and interactive learning experience through multimedia resources and real-time communication tools.
2. AI-powered study buddies – There are several AI-powered study buddy platforms and tools available that cater to different learning needs and styles.

• • Coursera – open online course provider that works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in various subjects.
  • Quizlet – Quizlet uses AI to help students create and access study materials such as flashcards, quizzes, and practice tests. It adapts to a student’s progress and provides spaced repetition for efficient memorization.

Unlock your institution’s potential for digital transformation! 

Digital transformation in higher education is an ongoing journey that holds endless promise for learning’s future. By embracing technology and prioritizing accessibility, institutions can unlock digital transformation potential to deliver better learning experiences.

This will increase access to education for diverse learners. Overcoming challenges related to the digital gap, the quality of online learning, and information literacy and training requires a collaborative effort from all of those who are involved.

If you want to start a digital transformation process or learn more about what we do to help institutions, reach out!

The post Unlocking the Potential of Digital Transformation in Higher Education first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Key Areas of Digital Transformation in the Food and Beverage Industry (with real-life examples)

1. Operations and Supply Chain

In the realm of operations and supply chains, digital transformation is revolutionizing the way businesses in the food and beverage industry operate. By utilizing technology for efficient inventory management, implementing automation and robotics in production processes, and optimizing logistics through data-driven solutions, companies can achieve greater efficiency and agility.

For example, McDonald’s has been implementing digital transformation in various ways. One of their examples is that they have integrated self-service kiosks and mobile ordering options in their restaurants to streamline the ordering process. Additionally, McDonald’s has made investments in automation and robotics for tasks like beverage dispensing. These initiatives contribute to their digital transformation journey and enhance their operations and supply chain.

By integrating an AI platform with menus and inventory systems, companies like McDonald’s can promote or withdraw items based on stock levels, optimizing demand and preventing shortages. This real-time data-driven approach minimizes waste and ensures an optimized supply chain. Furthermore, it empowers personalized recommendations, leverages global distribution centers, and effectively manages stock levels, especially for new or seasonal items.

For more insights into McDonald’s digital transformation initiatives in operations and supply chain, you can refer to these articles by Grubbrr, Wavetec, and Future Supply Chain.

2. Customer Experience and Engagement

Enhancing customer experiences and engagement is a crucial aspect of digital transformation in the food and beverage industry. By leveraging technology, businesses can provide personalized and convenient experiences that resonate with their customers.

For example, Starbucks, a leader in digital transformation, has implemented various initiatives to enhance the customer experience. Through their mobile app, customers can order and pay ahead, collect rewards, and personalize their beverage choices. Starbucks’ digital investments have resulted in increased customer engagement and loyalty.

To learn more about Starbucks’ digital transformation journey and how they have elevated customer experiences, you can refer to these sources:

• “Starbucks’ Mobile Apps: How They Drive Customer Engagement” by Indigo9 Digital
• “Starbucks: Winning on Rewards, Loyalty, and Data” by Harvard Digital

According to the mentioned Harvard Digital article, Starbucks’ Reward Loyalty Program boasts an impressive 16 million active members (as of March 2019) and has contributed 40% of the company’s total sales. The mobile app enables seamless payments, order-ahead functionality, and personalized offers based on user data. Customers can earn stars (rewards) that translate into free drinks, food, and merchandise. Starbucks’ investment in digital technologies has transformed its relationship with customers and generated substantial value.

Through the Starbucks app, customers enjoy the ease of payment, the convenience of ordering ahead, and a range of rewards and benefits. The app integrates with other platforms like Spotify, enhancing the overall coffeehouse experience. Starbucks keeps its members informed about new releases and offers special member events. This comprehensive digital strategy has elevated customer experiences, driving loyalty and satisfaction.

By studying Starbucks’ digital transformation initiatives, businesses in the food and beverage industry can gain valuable insights into enhancing customer experiences and engagement in their own operations.

Recommended ➜ Read about how Web 3.0 technologies impact digital transformation

3. Data Analytics and Insights

Data analytics plays a pivotal role in digital transformation, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and optimize their operations. In the food and beverage industry, companies can leverage data analytics to gain insights into customer preferences, forecast demand, and streamline processes.

1. Noteworthy Example: Coca-Cola’s Utilization of Predictive Analytics

Coca-Cola, a leading player in the food and beverage industry, demonstrates the power of digital transformation through its use of predictive analytics. By accurately forecasting demand, Coca-Cola optimizes production and inventory management. This data-driven approach helps streamline operations, minimize waste, and ensures that Coca-Cola products are readily available to meet consumer needs. Forbes provides valuable insights into how Coca-Cola utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to drive success, while Harvard Digital also offers an in-depth analysis of Coca-Cola’s data analytics-driven innovation.

2. Noteworthy example: Starbucks’ Perfect Blend of Data Analytics

Building upon the previous example of Starbucks, another notable instance of its digital transformation efforts can be seen in how they have leveraged data analytics to create a seamless customer experience. Their digital transformation journey, as highlighted in Harvard Digital’s article, “The Perfect Blend: Starbucks and Data Analytics“, showcases how Starbucks uses data analytics to gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. By analyzing customer data, Starbucks tailors their offerings, develops personalized marketing campaigns, and optimizes its operations to meet customer expectations. This data-driven approach has contributed to Starbucks’ success and continued growth in the industry.

By studying these real-life examples of Coca-Cola and Starbucks, businesses can gain inspiration and insights into the strategic implementation of data analytics for informed decision-making, enhanced customer experiences, and operational optimization.

Recommended ➜ Read about the role of big data in digital transformation

4. Food Safety and Traceability

Ensuring food safety and traceability is a critical concern for the food and beverage industry, and digital transformation can help address these challenges. By implementing technologies such as blockchain, companies can establish transparent supply chains and enhance traceability.

1. Noteworthy Example: Walmart’s Implementation of Blockchain for Food Traceability

Walmart, a prominent player in the food and beverage industry, sets a remarkable example by utilizing blockchain technology to enhance food traceability. With a blockchain-based system in place, Walmart ensures transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain, allowing for efficient tracking of products from farm to store shelves. This innovative solution helps improve food safety, quality control, and consumer trust. The utilization of blockchain technology in the food industry has the potential to revolutionize food safety practices and enhance the overall integrity of the supply chain.

By examining Walmart’s adoption of blockchain technology, companies in the food and beverage industry can gain insights into how digital transformation can strengthen food safety practices and traceability, ultimately benefiting both businesses and consumers.

Technological Advances Driving Digital Transformation

Technological advances such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cloud computing, and big data analytics are driving digital transformation in the (food and beverage) industry.

These technologies enable businesses to gather real-time data, automate processes, and derive meaningful insights to drive innovation and efficiency. The integration of these technologies empowers enterprises to optimize operations, personalize customer experiences, and uncover new opportunities.

The Impact of Digital Transformation on the Food and Beverage Industry

Digital transformation has a profound impact on the food and beverage industry, with various benefits for businesses. By embracing digital strategies, companies can achieve improved operational efficiency, cost savings, enhanced customer experiences, increased agility, and the ability to adapt to market changes.

These transformative efforts allow businesses to stay competitive, meet customer expectations, and drive growth in a dynamic industry.

Recommended ➜ Read about the impact of digital transformation on business growth

Common Challenges and Considerations in Digital Transformation

While digital transformation offers significant opportunities, it also comes with challenges and considerations.

Data security and privacy concerns, integration of legacy systems with new digital solutions, workforce upskilling, and change management are some common challenges faced by businesses in the food and beverage industry. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensure a successful digital transformation journey.

Recommended ➜ Read about the challenges of digital transformation.

Embracing the Digital Shift in F&B Industry

In conclusion, digital transformation is reshaping the food and beverage industry, empowering businesses to remain competitive and meet customers’ evolving needs.

Through optimizing operations and supply chains, enhancing customer experiences, leveraging data analytics, and ensuring food safety through traceability, businesses can unlock tremendous growth and innovation potential.

Is Your F&B Business Ready for Digital Transformation?

The food and beverage industry is currently experiencing a profound digital transformation, revolutionizing the way businesses operate and engage with customers. By embracing digital strategies and adopting emerging technologies such as inventory management systems, automation, data analytics, and traceability solutions, businesses can position themselves for long-term success in this rapidly evolving landscape.

At Lumen Spei, we understand the significance of staying ahead in this dynamic industry. As a leading digital transformation agency, our dedicated team of experts is ready to guide your (food) business on its digital journey, implementing innovative solutions tailored to your specific needs.

We believe that by embracing this transformative journey, your business can achieve sustainable growth and thrive in today’s competitive market.

Ready to embark on your digital transformation journey? Reach out to us and discover how we can support your food business in embracing the industry’s future.

Let’s drive your digital transformation and business to new heights!

The post Exploring Digital Transformation in Food & Beverage Industry first appeared on Lumen Spei.

So we talked to our QA team and gave them questions to answer. Here’s your guide through QA – from A to Q . Learn all the different types of testing in QA and the key roles and responsibilities of QA, and BONUS tips for successful QA in software development, including testing in different environments and popular technologies and tools. Let’s get going! 

What is quality assurance (QA) in software development?

Software quality is one of the most important things when developing software. It is related to all areas of software development, from the initial idea to the actual implementation of the software by the end user. A QA engineer’s job is to guarantee or ensure that product quality meets or validates the business and technical requirements of clients or software users. It focuses on the quality of processes that can improve quality control and testing.      

Key roles and responsibilities of QA

There is usually an opinion that a QA engineer is only responsible for detecting bugs in some software, that is, testing the software. However, the position of QA is much more complex and includes all phases of software development, which distinguishes a QA engineer from a tester – from the initial idea to the actual implementation of the software by the end user. The following are all the steps of the software development process divided by 6 stages:

1. Analysis of requirements – involves reviewing the product documentation and determining which types of testing are necessary and to what extent the software will be included in those tests. This phase also involves deciding which part of the tests will be automated (which will be discussed in more detail below).
2. Test planning – during this phase, the test plan strategy, the time required to conduct the test, and the estimated cost are determined. It is also decided on the environment in which the tests will be performed, as well as the technology in which they will be used.
3. Test case development – tests and scripts are verified through documentation after the planning is completed. Relevant data for testing is found and documentation is written. It is also during this phase that automatic tests are written for individual modules.
4. Setup of the test environment – the phase in which the software and hardware conditions for testing a product are determined. This phase can be done simultaneously with developing test cases in some cases.
5. Test execution phase – the tests written in the previous phases are executed according to the plan and cases created. Testing involves executing test scripts, adjusting them, reporting possible bugs, and re-testing after they are fixed.
6. The phase of closing the process – the tests are completed, the results are analyzed, and plans for further testing are made.

Types of QA testing

Manual, automatic, functional, non-functional, black box, white box, etc., are the most basic divisions of testing. Here are the main types. 

Manual testing

Manual testing is most often used during “smoke” tests, that is, when it is necessary to test something short and quick. 

It is also used for tests that cannot be automated, such as comparing the front-end part of the software with the design. The purpose of manual testing is to cover as many scenarios as possible that cannot be automated and thereby ensure software quality. After development, when a new functionality comes for testing for the first time, manual QA checks its compliance with the specification and designs and writes test cases that can later be automated.

Automatic testing

Automatic testing is used due to the frequent repetition of the same tests. Because of the complexity of the product, when developing software and adding new parts, it is necessary to test the previous parts that were already made and were correct until then.

 The QA engineer’s role is to manually speed-test the new feature before writing the automatic part to cover the news permanently. This will shorten the retesting process. When the developer adds a new version of the software next time, automatic tests (CI/CD) are triggered to check whether the new software version does not compromise existing functionality.

Functional testing

Functional testing checks whether the functionalities provide the expected results. These include “Smoke”, “Regression”, “Retesting”, “Exploratory”, and “Negative”.

After the functional testing is completed, it is switched to non-functional testing. It focuses on application performance. Types of non-functional testing are: “Performance”, “Usability”, and “Security”.

One type of testing is rarely performed, instead, it is combination according to the requirements and the time allotted for testing.

Best tips for successful quality assurance in software development

One of the good practices that I would like to mention on this occasion is testing in different environments.

To better test the software before it reaches the end user, we use several environments. In our company, a team of experts decided that the optimal number of environments for the software we produce should be three.

In the first environment, developers upload software to the development environment, which is only used to test the software and is not visible to users. The second environment is staging, in which versions of the software are ready for showing to customers or users and for testing by potential users. Lastly, we have the production environment, where the finished product is placed and used by end users

Popular technologies and tools used in QA

We have witnessed that many different frameworks and tools for automatic testing can be found on the market.

Selection is made concerning which technologies and languages ​​are required for testing. Considering that there are many of them, we will refer only to those that our company carefully selected and implemented in the process of automatic testing.

1. Rest Assured – is a framework used for testing API calls with the help of Java libraries. It is very useful for testing HTTP calls due to easy response validation both in the body and in the response header. In it, we usually validate the status of the request, the speed of the response, the validity of the data, and the structure of the response. It also allows developers to write tests in combination with other testing libraries, such as JUnit, TestNG, Cucumber, etc.
   
2. Selenium – is a framework that we use for the automatic testing of web applications. It can be used to write test scripts for different browsers. This tool simulates user interaction with a web page. With the help of the catchers it uses, it binds to the web elements and performs the functions that we assigned to it (for example clicks on the link, presses the button, scrolls, and fills in the input fields). It also uses the catchers to validate whether the expected behavior of the application has occurred (whether it went to the intended page or the data from the input forwarded to the place where it’s needed).
3. Appium – is a framework used for the automatic testing of applications for mobile devices on platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows. Its biggest advantage is that we don’t have to do any test modifications when testing on different platforms. We can write tests in various programming languages: Java, JavaScript, C#, and Python.
4. Jmeter – is an application that is used to test the performance of an application. It is used in such a way that the tool itself simulates a group of users, the size of which we determine, sending requests to our application, and from that, we get the statistical data we need to measure performance.
5. Postman is a tool used for testing API calls, that is, for testing the backend. Both manual and automatic testing can be performed with it. Its main advantage is that it is done in a GUI environment and is quite user-friendly.
6. Cucumber is a tool for writing tests so that non-programmers can understand them. It is combined with Selenium and Rest Assured in Lumen Spei, so we get tests that are easy to understand and adaptable even for non-programmers.
7. GitHub Actions (CI/CD) is a tool used for the continuous integration of tests on the server. When a new version is pushed, it runs tests automatically. The new version cannot be uploaded until the tests finds errors and they are corrected. 

The main reason for using this tool is that when changes are made to the application by a developer, there is a possibility that they will conflict with previous parts of the application or with parts added by others.

Recommended ➜ Read about web 3.0 mindset changes..

Benefits of including QA in the software development process

Modern software companies utilize QA knowledge and skills for the many benefits they provide. The main benefits of QA engineers and why it’s smart to have them on your team – speak for themselves. 

1. Detecting software defects early, allows the development team to have enough time to adapt the software before it reaches the end user!
2. Software testing reduces software development costs!
3. The time required for software release is reduced, and user security is increased!

Lumen Spei always includes a QA in its design and development process. If you need help with your next’s project quality assurance, we got you – contact us!

The post Why is quality assurance a key to software development success? first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Innovative solutions are making a splash, managing sales and marketing tasks with ease, and letting real estate agents focus on what their job actually is. In this article, we will explore what SwaS is and its significance in revolutionizing the way real estate agents and agencies manage their digital transformation. 

What Is Digital Transformation In Real Estate?

Digital transformation in the real estate industry is essentially the adoption of digital technologies into all facets of the business – from sales to marketing to operations and customer service. The whole point of this shift is to bolster performance, increase the bottom line, and improve the customer experience. 

The National Association of Realtors has reported that digital transformation is revolutionizing the way real estate agents and organizations function, resulting in improved competitiveness and better results for customers. 

The report further states, “digital technologies have the capability to upend established business models and open up new prospects for growth and success in the real estate industry”. However, let us not forget how things used to be before this change.

Today we will focus on sales and marketing and look at how the digitalization of the real estate industry took place and what is coming in 2023.

Real estate sales and marketing before the internet

Let’s take a walk down memory lane and remember that before the internet became widespread. In the past, real estate sales and marketing relied heavily on traditional methods such as print media, direct mail, and open houses. Realtors would also network to find clients, other agents, and their brokerage. These efforts were usually targeted at the local area, making it difficult for agents to showcase their listings to a wider audience.

To summarize, the entire process of real estate sales and marketing was long-winded, pricey, and mainly depended on personal ties and face-to-face meetings. But things became easier when the internet first arrived.

How the real estate industry adapted to the first internet

Real estate professionals were one of the first to realize the potential of the World Wide Web when it began to become more widely available in the ’90s and 2000s. They saw it as a great way to reach a greater number of people and promote their listings and services. 

The initial websites created by these professionals were basic. They had limited details about the properties and agents, yet this was a major leap forward for the industry. As technology progressed, real estate websites became more sophisticated, featuring virtual tours, multiple images, and comprehensive information about the properties. 

This enabled agents to promote their listings in a more immersive way, making it easier for potential buyers to get a better idea of what they were looking at.

The availability of data and the convenience of digital property searches have revolutionized the real estate industry, giving agents more options to connect with customers and boost their sales.

Real estate statistics on internet leads, sales and marketing

At the start of the internet era, real estate agents heavily depended on online promotions to get leads. Initially, these promotions were plain banner ads that were placed on prominent websites. 

As the technology surrounding online promotions advanced and with the introduction of social media, agents started using more sophisticated tactics. These tactics included activities such as SEO and PPC advertising. These allowed them to get their message to a bigger audience and target potential customers correctly. 

At the start of internet marketing, the conversion rates were quite low with only a small fraction of leads produced through online ads resulting in sales. Thereafter, as technology improved and more people got comfortable with the internet and the concept of buying a home online, conversion rates began to rise.

By 2015, studies showed that real estate leads generated through online advertising were increasingly likely to result in actual sales, with conversion rates reaching as high as 20-30%. This demonstrated the increasing effectiveness of online advertising for real estate agents and the growing importance of digital marketing in the industry.

The year when it all went downhill

After 2015 however, the conversion rates of real estate ads started to decline. The industry became saturated with digital advertising. As more and more real estate agents adopted digital marketing, competition for online real estate leads increased, leading to declining conversion rates. 

This was due, in part, to ad fatigue or “banner blindness,” where internet users became immune to the constant barrage of online advertisements. Additionally, many real estate agents struggled to effectively reach and engage their target audience through digital advertising, resulting in low conversion rates. 

This was especially true for social media advertising, where algorithms and constantly changing platforms made it difficult for real estate agents to maintain a consistent and effective online presence.

According to recent studies, the average conversion rate for real estate ads hovers around 1-2%, with only a small percentage of leads generated through online ads resulting in actual sales. This low conversion rate highlights the ongoing challenge real estate agents face in effectively reaching and engaging their target audience through digital advertising. 

Despite this, however, digital marketing continues to be an essential component of real estate sales and marketing, as the internet remains the primary source of information for home buyers and sellers.

Example of digital transformation of sales and marketing in real estate

An example of early digital transformation in the real estate industry is the widespread adoption of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software in combination with many other digital transformation tools. That allowed real estate agents and agencies to manage their sales and marketing activities in multiple platforms, including lead generation, email marketing, and follow-up. By automating many manual tasks, CRM and automation software helps real estate agents save time and increase their productivity.

One of the key benefits of CRM software is its ability to provide real-time insights into the sales and marketing activities of an agent or agency. With real-time reporting and analytics, agents can track their progress and make data-driven decisions to improve their performance. This can result in a higher return on investment for their marketing spend, as well as a better overall customer experience.

By embracing digital transformation and implementing these technologies, real estate agents and agencies can remain competitive in an ever-changing industry and continue to grow their businesses.

How Is The Real Estate Industry Being Transformed In 2023

The real estate sector is witnessing a revolution, with a strong emphasis on automation and artificial intelligence. The usage of CRMs is now the norm. Equally important, the key to success in the realm of housing sales and marketing is making the most of smart automation to create more efficient and productive workflows. 

The principal idea behind this change is to enable real estate professionals to connect with potential clients in less than 5 minutes, and to have an automated appointment scheduler. Curious to find out what’s driving this transformation? 

Agents and firms are utilizing a multitude of advanced technologies, such as AI-driven lead generation, chatbots, and marketing automation, that allow them to automate mundane activities such as follow-ups, appointment scheduling, and lead nurturing, thus leaving them with more time to concentrate on other parts of their business. 

Furthermore, these tools assist agents to become more aware of their clients, including their shopping inclinations and activities, enabling them to customize their sales and marketing strategies to better suit the requirements of their potential customers.

To sum up, the digital revolution in the real estate business is leading to more proficient and successful sales and marketing operations, greater productivity, and improved customer experiences. 

As technology persists to progress and becomes more available, it’s likely that we will observe even more progress in the real estate market and the way that agents and agencies carry out their sales and marketing activities.

Digital transformation: agent perspective

The Digital Revolution is making a huge difference in the real estate business and all its stakeholders, notably agents and agencies. They’re able to use technology to: 

• Extend their influence
• Streamline operations
• Open up doors to a much larger pool of potential customers
• This leads to greater productivity
• Better customer experience
• Higher conversion rates
• It’s a win-win situation!

Digital transformation: customer perspective

With the help of technology, real estate agents are able to serve their clients a more special and customized experience for their clients including:

• Custom approach to locating the perfect property for the client 
• Transforming the way that customers and agents interrelate
• Efficient and smooth client journey from lead to close

Recommended ➜ Read about the drivers of digital transformation.

Key Elements Of Digital Transformation

The real estate sector is undergoing a tremendous shift due to digitalization, which is completely changing the landscape of how real estate transactions and promotions are transacted. According to an article from integrio.net, key elements of this transformation include: 

1. Improved customer journey
2. Personalized client experiences 
3. Creation of complex sales and marketing ecosystems
4. Informed choices
5. Use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models
6. Business process automation

By having these components in place, real estate companies and brokers can make their operations more smooth and more productive, while providing clients with a tailored and top-notch service. This has generated a more interconnected and educated industry where customers can make better decisions and agents can offer quick and quality service.

Digital Transformation Challenges

Embracing the digital age in real estate can be a tricky process. Agents and agencies may come across a few difficulties while making the shift, including:

1. Adoption of new technology: Agents and agencies may find it challenging to embrace the latest technology, including modern CRM applications, automated processes, and digital systems.
   
2. Integration of systems: Ensuring that new technology integrates seamlessly with existing systems is a challenge for many agents and agencies.
3. Data privacy and security: As the real estate industry is inundated with digital technology, it’s essential that agents and agencies take steps to guarantee the safety and confidentiality of customer data.
4. Cost: Making the switch to more modern digital systems can be a costly endeavor for agents and agencies, particularly for smaller companies.
5. Staff training: Ensuring that staff is trained on new technology and systems can be a challenge for agents and agencies.
6. Resistance to change: Some agents and agencies may resist the move toward digital transformation due to a lack of understanding or a fear of change.

If the right steps are taken these difficulties can be tackled. Dedicated planning, quality instruction, and a willingness to accept change are all needed. By dealing with these obstacles, agents, and agencies can gain the advantages of digital transformation.

Recommended ➜ Read about the challenges of digital transformation.

Why Is Real Estate Digital Transformation So Important 

In the coming years, the real estate sector needs to embrace digital transformation to remain competitive. Clients are looking for rapid responses and access to all the information they need, and the digital transformation of this industry can help agents and agencies offer a more efficient experience. 

Keeping up with the latest technological advancements will create a competitive edge and help real estate professionals stay at the top of their game. So why is it so important to get on board with digital transformation by 2023?

You have 5 minutes to get in touch with a prospect

The speed at which real estate agents respond to leads is a key factor in securing potential clients. Today, the standard within the industry is to contact leads within five minutes. Can your agent do that? For every lead that comes in? What if they send a request at 10:30 PM?

Those who are slow to respond run the risk of losing clients to their competitors who will have already made contact. Roy Harmon, owner of Advertoscope, emphasizes the importance of being the first to reach out, as waiting longer than five minutes could lead to missing out on opportunities.

78% of prospects buy from the first agent that responds

Aspiring real estate professionals should be quick to reach out to potential leads. Responding within 5 minutes is the benchmark, as research has revealed that 78% of customers will go with the business that responds first. 

If you don’t act fast enough, you might miss out on the chance of signing up a new customer as your competitors may be quicker in reaching out to them. That very first communication between your agent and the prospect can have a significant impact on how reliable they think you are, as well as how they will perceive any possibilities. 

By being the first to reach out, an agency can differentiate itself, highlight its unique features and benefits, and create a lasting impression. As noted by Leif Peters, a Senior Account Executive at IntelliChief, the first vendor to engage a prospect has a golden opportunity to mold their opinions and create a memorable experience.

In the first minute sales conversions skyrocketed to 391%

Lead Connect has shown that if you respond to inbound leads within a minute, your sales conversion rate will soar by 391%. It isn’t just about scheduling property viewings, but actual conversions. If you can do this, you’ll join the elite 1% of B2B selling organizations and reap the benefits of their hard work.

As noted by Karl Norman, Business Development Director at Lead Connect, the ideal time to contact a potential customer is when they have just entered their phone number into the form, as they are available and thinking about the seller’s services. If the response time is slow, the prospect is likely to find another supplier.

80% decrease in lead qualification if you respond later than 5 minutes

If you take longer than 5-10 minutes to contact a lead, the likelihood of making a successful connection drops dramatically – a decrease of 80%. This clearly emphasizes the need to be quick in reaching out to prospects. 

Given that there are so many elements in the B2B world that you cannot regulate, it is essential to capitalize on the ones you can. Otherwise, your company may experience severe opportunity loss.

Today about 55% of real estate agents take up to 5 days to respond

A study revealed that 55% of the organizations in the survey took more than 5 days to answer leads and an astonishing 12% never replied. This is especially worrying taking into account that these leads could have been produced through paid promotion, which is now fairly costly. 

It is shocking that organizations would let these leads go without a response for an entire business week or even be lost totally. To remain competitive, companies should quicken their lead reaction time and make sure they don’t let these important leads escape.

Where is the industry going to achieve this?

The real estate industry is adopting new business processes which are aimed at addressing the issues of lead response time and prospect qualification. This involves the integration of new revolutionary SaaS CRM platforms powered by three key components: 

1. All top sales and marketing tools in one place
2. Battle-tested industry snapshots and assets. All are branded to your business.
3. Account manager with industry and tech knowledge.

Let’s not kid ourselves, there are plenty of SaaS platforms out there that can get the job done, but wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to dwell into tech and marketing at all?

With SaaS solutions, there’s no one assigned to your business specifically with tech and industry expertise. This third component is what actually makes it Software-with-a-Service (SwaS). 

With SwaS, the problems of slow lead response time and poor prospect qualification are solved. Freeing up agents and agencies to focus on their job, while the platform takes care of the sales and marketing aspects with proper follow-up automation. This new model is set to revolutionize the way the real estate industry operates and improve the overall experience for both agents and customers.

SaaS vs SwaS

To better understand SwaS let’s make a quick comparison to what we already know. SaaS, or Software-as-a-Service, is a model where software is hosted and managed by a third-party provider and accessed over the internet by the end-user, i.e. agent or agency. This allows companies to leverage software solutions without the upfront costs and ongoing maintenance of traditional software models. 

Whereas, SwaS, or Software-with-a-Service, takes this concept a step further by incorporating the human element relevant to the industry, in this case real estate. With SwaS, the provider takes care of all the sales and marketing processes, including creating a complex lead response and qualification system. 

This removes the need for companies to worry about setting up technology, automation, and other technical aspects, enabling them to focus solely on their business goals.

Is Your Business Ready For Digital Transformation?

There’s no doubt – as a result of the introduction of SwaS, the real estate industry is undergoing a digital transformation. It solves the problem of lead response time and prospect qualification by taking care of sales and marketing, leaving agents and agencies free to focus on what they do best.

By combining the convenience of SaaS with the personal touch of human interaction, SwaS offers a comprehensive solution to the challenges faced by the real estate industry.

As a leading digital transformation agency, Lumen Spei is committed to helping real estate agents and agencies with their future digitalization. We invite all those who are looking to enhance their sales and marketing efforts to reach out to us and experience the benefits of our SwaS solution.  

With our team of experts, we are confident in our ability to help you achieve your goals and grow your business.

The post Digital Transformation in Real Estate Industry: Sales & Marketing first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Customer Expectations Continue Growing

Compared to only a decade ago, today’s customers are much more empowered than they used to be. They are becoming increasingly savvy and expect a truly personalized experience from businesses and organizations. More importantly, this personalized experience needs to be consistent across all used communication channels, from the website and social media to direct messaging tools.

Today, customers prefer to spend their money with brands that understand the importance of a personalized shopping experience and will get frustrated when their identity and action have been loo when switched to another communication channel.

The reason behind these growing expectations lies in companies that dared to be the first to create customer-centric platforms, such as Amazon, Uber, and Netflix. Every time a customer interacts with one brand more engagingly, their expectations will immediately grow and be applied to other businesses as well.

 A more radical view of these digital transformation drivers names today’s customers “digital predators”. Because they have the power now, customers can change the markets as we know them by leveraging the power of technology to raise customer expectations to an even higher level. For companies, this means that digital transformation must be a high priority if they wish to avoid becoming “digital prey”. 

Speed is Crucial

One of the customer expectations that need to be improved is speed. Companies must prioritize becoming faster in interacting, serving, delivering, and re-engaging their customers because the digital race can only be won by the fast ones, not the big ones as used to be the case before.

The biggest obstacle to velocity is the current mindset the companies have. Digital transformation is not linear, and providing solutions with a linear perspective will not bring the desired results. To be faster across all phases of the customer journey, businesses have to change their linear approach. Once they have determined their perspective or the way to respond to an opportunity, things will change again, and they will need to restart the process. The major challenge is learning to move rapidly toward the future without stopping when any digital disruptors appear.

Recommended ➜ Read about the challenges of digital transformation.

Strong Focus on Customer Insight

The ability to respond rapidly to all customer expectations will always start with a firm focus on customer insight. Those companies that are considered successful are inventing and designing to demonstrate how deeply they understand their customers and their needs. To develop this intuition, they will spend an immense amount of energy on studying and understanding the relevant aspects of the lives of their customers rather than the basic information they get from superficial surveys.

Customer insight needs implementation at several levels, from understanding the entire customer base to understanding the relevant needs of each customer to ensure they get a personalized experience when interacting with your company. However, achieving that level of insight takes a lot of work. Companies need to develop customer intuition, gather anecdotes, and leverage data to continue being aware of their customers’ preferences.

Everything Revolves Around AI

Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the fastest emerging priorities. Siri and Alexa, the pioneers of the conversational interface based on AI, set an example for other companies to follow when implementing a solid AI strategy to respond to the demands of their customers. Yet, the meaning and the potential of AI still need to be clarified to many.

What value AI provides and how it could be applied will significantly depend on the industry and the nature of the business itself. Regardless of how a company decides to use AI to introduce improved customer experience, the successful implementation must be sensing, comprehensive, guided, actioned, and with great analytical features. There are already numerous Ai interaction models that serve as an inspiration to those considering implementing this technology.

Recommended ➜ Read about useful digital transformation tools.

Digital Transformation Equals Business Transformation

Those who see digital transformation as the fundamental shift in how a company delivers values and drives revenues are tomorrow’s industry leaders. Most digital transformations need the business perspective when evolving because the true digital value proposition goes beyond the digital. To succeed, it needs to reinvent numerous aspects of the business, including core technology systems, business models, and vital operating processes. 

Digital transformation comes with consequences; sometimes, the positive ones will outshine the ones requiring additional effort. For instance, when Hilton created a mobile app that allows their customers to unlock doors on their own, besides facing a software development challenge, the company had to change dozens of thousands of locks at their properties and retrain the team on the repair and maintenance of the new locks.

Get in the driver’s seat of your digital transformation with Lumen Spei

Lumen Spei is here to help companies navigate the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation by providing expert guidance and support throughout the journey. Whether it’s understanding the needs of customers, implementing new technology, or rethinking business models, we are here to help you succeed. Reach out if you want to talk about your digital transformation goals!

The post Disrupt or be Disrupted: Drivers of Digital Transformation first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Digital products have become increasingly dependent on user experience as technology advances.

It’s important to understand the difference between UI and UX design. UI or User Interface design is focused on the visual elements and layout of a product, while UX or User Experience design is concerned with the overall feel and functionality of a product. UI/UX design combines user interfaces and user experiences to create visually appealing, intuitive, and easy-to-use products.

A well-designed user interface can make all the difference in providing a seamless and enjoyable experience for end-users.

The 5 fundamentals of UI/UX design

UI/UX design should always come before development, as it lays the foundation for the success of the final product. It is also a crucial part of every product development process because it ensures that the finished product meets the needs of the user.

We talked to our UI/UX designers and asked them to share what they think are the fundamentals of their work.

We’ll go through the key principles of good UI/UX design, the five fundamentals, and how they can be used to create effective user interfaces.

Whether you’re a designer, developer, or simply interested in the topic, we hope this article provides valuable insights and inspiration. Let’s get started!

#1 Usability

Usability refers to how easy it is for the user to accomplish their goals with the product. A usable interface should be easy to understand and navigate, with clear and consistent layouts and design elements.

One of the key benefits of usability in UX/UI design is that it improves the user’s experience. A product that is easy to use and navigate will be more enjoyable for the user, leading to greater satisfaction and loyalty. In contrast, a product that is difficult to use will cause frustration and may lead to users abandoning the product altogether. This is particularly important for e-commerce websites, as a poor user experience can lead to a high bounce rate, which can have a significant impact on the website’s bottom line.

To ensure that a product is usable, designers should follow a number of key principles. One of the most important principles is to keep the user in mind at all times. This means understanding the user’s goals, needs, and behaviour, and designing the product accordingly. This can be achieved through user research, which involves gathering data from users through methods such as interviews, surveys, and usability testing.

#2 Accessibility

Accessibility in UI/UX design refers to the practice of designing products that are usable by people with disabilities. This includes individuals with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. Accessibility is an important aspect of UI/UX design because it ensures that a product is inclusive and usable by a wide range of users, regardless of their abilities.

The information and user interface components must be presented in a way that users can perceive, whether through sight, sound, or touch. This includes providing text alternatives for non-text content, captioning for videos, and providing sufficient contrast between text and background colors.

The user interface must be operable, which means that users can interact with it using a keyboard, mouse, or another input device. This includes providing keyboard shortcuts and making sure that buttons and links are large enough to be easily clicked or tapped. The information and operation of the user interface must be easy to understand. This includes providing clear instructions and labels and making sure that the navigation and layout are consistent and logical.

For more information on accessibility standards, visit W3C’s (Web Accessibility Initiative / WAI ) website.

#3 Learnability

Learnability is the ease with which a user can learn how to use a product. A learnable interface should be simple to understand and use, with simple instructions.

This can be accomplished by employing well-known patterns and conventions, as well as providing clear labels, tooltips, and other forms of guidance. Designers must consider the user’s prior knowledge and experience when creating a learnable interface and design the interface accordingly. Designers must also consider the user’s motivation and goals, and design the interface to support these goals.

#4 Aesthetics

Aesthetics refers to the visual appeal of the product. Aesthetics is important because it can affect the user’s perception of the product, and it can also help to create a sense of brand identity.

To create an aesthetically pleasing design, designers must select colors, typography, and imagery that are visually pleasing and align with the brand. To create an aesthetically pleasing design, designers must consider the product’s target audience and the emotional response they want to evoke. Additionally, designers must consider the product’s context, such as the environment in which it will be used, and design the interface accordingly.

#5 Effectiveness

Effectiveness refers to how well the product meets the needs of the user. To create an effective interface, designers must conduct user research and testing to gather feedback and make any necessary adjustments.

It is also important to continuously iterate and improve the product based on user feedback. The effectiveness of the interface can be measured by analyzing key performance indicators such as user satisfaction, task completion rate, and error rate. By considering the effectiveness of the interface, designers can ensure that the product is meeting the needs of the user and achieving its goals.

#6 Bonus: Way of thinking

An important aspect of UI/UX design is user research and empathy, but it is also the mindset of a designer. Design solutions are centered on understanding users’ needs and addressing them through understanding their needs.

UX/UI designers with a strong focus on user research and empathy will constantly strive to understand the users’ needs, goals, and behaviours, as well as their perspectives and pain points. This mindset is reflected in the way the designer approaches the design process, from conducting user research to testing and iterating on the design.

For UI/UX designers, empathy and user research are also essential to adapting to users’ changing needs. In an era where technology and user behaviour are constantly changing, a designer who understands the users’ needs and adapts to them will be able to design interfaces that are both visually pleasing and effective.

Recommended ➜ Read about the the digital transformation challenges

Lumen Spei UI/UX designers are here to help you.

Our team of experienced designers is dedicated to creating intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that will help you stand out in the crowded digital landscape.

We know that our clients want results, and we’re confident in our ability to deliver them. But that’s not all we do.

We choose the dedicated approach not only in the end product but also in the process.
That’s why we always keep our clients informed and educated throughout the process. We want to ensure that you’re not just satisfied with the end result but also understand the reasoning behind the design choices we make.

The user experience is constantly being improved and enhanced by our team. In turning our knowledge and expertise into exceptional experiences for our clients, we achieve our mission.

You can elevate your digital product with a top-notch user experience with Lumen Spei. As your product development partner, we are here to help you achieve your goals. Get started today by reaching out.

The post Designing for the user: Understanding the fundamentals of UX/UI first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Diverse businesses and sectors are experiencing the emergence of new business models that are changing old value chains and dissolving sectoral silos. Additionally, we have seen how unanticipated rivals—startups and even businesses from unrelated industries—have been disrupted by fundamentally altering how they were doing things.

What is stopping the legal industry from digitally transforming?

The legal industry has experienced the same thing. Legal professionals can now lead the way in enabling more secure, practical, accessible, and client-centric legal services based on digital transformation solutions thanks to disruptive technology. Additionally, firms are reinventing themselves by turning data into valuable assets.

Lawyers must understand how technology affects various industries and consider how law, business, and technology are intertwined to compete in this new environment.

Lawyers can devote more time and effort to client service and higher-value work thanks to the effectiveness and support of new technology and operating systems.

However, individuals with a history of success following “what has always been done” find it particularly challenging to understand the concept of actual disruption. That is true for most large firms and organizations in the legal industry, where there is a conflict between lawyers who want to protect the “profession” and consumers’ requirements and an industry that wants to provide those needs.

Recommended ➜ Read about the impact of digital transformation on business growth

Digital transformation in legal firms

Law firms pride themselves on putting clients first. Most firms’ employees, including the managing partners, client-facing attorneys, and numerous support workers, have functioned outside the technological realm. Besides email, customer databases, and online document signing, the legal profession must be more active in embracing digital transformation.

What does digital transformation look like in legal industry firms?

The process of implementing technology across the entire organization to increase efficiency, decrease errors, expand capabilities, deepen insights, and strengthen customer relationships is known as digital transformation.

In furthering corporate digital transformation, which has as its end goal value creation and improved consumer experiences, legal has a vital but underappreciated role. Like technology, the legal function now influences every aspect of business and is no longer vertical.

Automation is a must-have!

Several types of legal automation can be implemented by any firm looking to improve its efficiency:

1. Electronic signature of contracts. A digital agreement has become commonplace thanks to the development of secure, globally recognized electronic signatures, much of which may be automated.
2. Contract automation. Lean legal teams usually implement contract automation workflows over scaling expensive workforce for low-complexity legal agreements.
3. Contract review. When faced with thousands of unstructured Word or PDF contracts, legal teams frequently use AI contract review companies to determine what is in their contracts. In the near term, this does fix a problem, but in the long run, it would be better to stop producing unstructured PDFs. 
4. Automated billing management. One of the main goals for many in-house legal teams is to keep spending on outside counsel under control. Numerous recent companies have provided automated solutions to assist in cost monitoring and reduction.
5. Automated workflows. To make standard procedures scalable, no-code automation builders assist legal teams and law firms in fusing numerous manual processes. That could resemble the receipt and triage of new inquiries, which aids in giving legal problems the appropriate priority.
6. Automated risk and compliance management. There are several ways to assess and manage a company’s risk and compliance exposure, especially in highly regulated sectors like fintech.
7. Knowledge management. Although knowledge management (KM), used by in-house legal teams and law firms, is a reasonably mature product area, workflow automation’s influence has grown, making it faster and more effective for information to reach the right people at the right time.
8. Obligation management. For both large and growing organizations, post-signature contract administration, mainly dealing with contract renewal, can be a severe problem. This procedure can be automated to save time and lower danger.

Technology, in particular, can significantly improve productivity and efficacy for lawyers. Workflow automation and digital procedures have significant advantages in the legal industry. These tools, for instance, can speed up the process of filing paperwork, monitoring case status, and automating lawyer-client contact. Automated systems can also assist lawyers in understanding case data and making better conclusions. 

Recommended ➜ Read about how Web 3.0 technologies impact digital transformation

Automation benefits in the legal industry

This technology increases a legal team’s capacity and the caliber of their service by allowing them to concentrate on challenging issues and face-to-face interactions with clients. Automation can also refer to software robots or bots that perform essential tasks much more quickly than employees would. Bots may execute numerous tasks, like sending and receiving emails, filling out forms or scanning documents, logging into programs, creating reports, and much more. They are the ideal remedy for businesses where staff members waste time on monotonous tasks.

Data management and processing are complicated subjects, especially when laws like the GDPR are involved. Professional secrecy is another obligation for legal professionals.

Customer experience management

Since the Covid-19 epidemic began in early 2020, a lot has changed, and a lot will never be the same after it is over. Customer experience management for law firms is one of the things that have altered for good. One of the benefits is the capacity to provide clients with real, ongoing, and palpable empathy through outstanding digital experiences. When they have experienced it, there is no turning back.

We are seeing the fourth industrial revolution, which experts have long recognized. If your company is keeping up, it will eventually stay caught up. Keeping up with the times may be the subject of a book, not just a quick post, but a few critical components that need immediate attention and vastly enhance the client experience.

• Using a digital-first strategy,
• Putting in place a website that is responsive to mobile devices,
• Obtaining thorough client information to provide customized service,
• Using AI technology wisely and strategically.

The ability to provide virtual feedback has evolved over the past 18 months and has become a vital component of this process. Recent studies show that timely, user-friendly virtual feedback methods are more valued than in-person alternatives by both present and potential customers. Therefore, businesses that offer these services attract this clientele. Those businesses that are most effective at converting leads are familiar with the notion of customer journey mapping.

A modernized grasp of customer experience mapping is just the tip of the iceberg. Reflecting modern ways in the client research tools decreases the time and money typically spent on stale techniques. Customer experience management must now be a lean, focused division of your business, just like your legal services, and it cannot be bloated or wandering.

Customer experience management is something other than what law firms are educated in. Your lack of experience becomes a bigger liability since the success of law firms depends more and more on customer-centered business strategies.

An expert legal consultant can assist businesses in changing their strategy and make sure that they focus their time and resources on offering the highest quality legal services.

Recommended ➜ Read about the role of big data in digital transformation

Artificial Intelligence

Technology can provide lawyers access to information beyond what they can learn from endless documents. Solutions are available that “read” papers using natural language processing, finding errors, contradictions, and even emotions or forgeries.

The software can sift through data to look for patterns that could provide significant knowledge and insights. Advanced, AI-driven software can also assist lawyers in developing a case or restructuring a contract in ways otherwise wouldn’t be able to do or in much less time.

Artificial intelligence advancements are opening up fresh opportunities that will increase technology’s usefulness in the legal industry and possibly lower the cost of getting legal assistance. Now that artificial intelligence has been developed expressly for the legal sector, it can accomplish activities that previously required human intelligence.

It offers the possibility of a sector transformation, which could alter the lawyer’s function.

The application of artificial intelligence by lawyers and within the legal sector is only now starting to take off. Artificial intelligence adoption, especially by in-house lawyers, will drive a transformation in law practice during the next few years.

What effects will this artificial intelligence have on the legal industry?

Comparatively to how email revolutionized conducting business daily, AI will spread like wildfire and become every lawyer’s necessary assistant. Those who resist the change and do not adopt it will fall behind. Those who succeed will eventually discover that they have more time for the two activities of thinking and giving advice, for which there never seems to be enough time.

The simple explanation for the steep rise in AI spending is as follows: Humans may focus on tasks that bring value, those that computers really cannot do or do effectively, by dismissing them from regular tasks that computers can perform, resulting in significant productivity gains and cost savings. 

AI enables the search for concepts, such as contract review and analysis for due diligence, to detect changes in email communication tone. These include searching for code words used to conceal the true nature of the conversation and even mapping out where the computer comprehends what needs to be drawn and prepares the adequate document.

Benefits of digital transformation in the legal industry

Law firms today confront many business issues, such as increasing competition, client demands for higher value, pressure to increase profitability, slowing revenue growth, and cybersecurity risks that could damage their and their client’s reputation.

Many legal firms and in-house counsel believe that digital technologies like cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) hold the key to innovation, better utilizing new market opportunities, boosting business productivity, and lowering risk.

There is no requirement for user-owned hardware with cloud computing. It is replaced by a cloud service that requires a monthly subscription but offers cost savings and better protection for the company and its customers. Additionally, it facilitates seamless file exchange and collaboration between attorneys working on the same issue, eliminating the need to send endless reams of paper back and forth between offices.

If you need help implementing advanced tech into your legal firm, let us know! Reach out to us via email or schedule a call with us!

The post How Can Legal industry be Digitally Transformed? first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Reach out to us and we’ll help you choose and implement various digital transformation tools your business needs!

Essential tools to support digital transformation

Organizations must equip themselves with efficient and innovative digital tools. Those organizations that are successfully transforming their businesses have proven how modern platforms and numerous communication and organizational tools are becoming indispensable parts of digital transformation and business success. A variety of tools can help improve a digital workplace if they are not considered as only expenses. Using the right tools is a long-term investment to stay ahead of competitors and enhance the organization’s sustainability.

The next-gen tools to improve digital transformation in 2023

Technology transforms how employees collaborate, communicate with customers, complete tasks, and manage operational processes. It’s also allowing organizations to meet the evolving needs of their customers.

Using the right tools saves you time and increases your team’s engagement at work. Here are 11 tools you need to use in 2023 to make that happen.

Digital adoption platforms (DAPs)

We intentionally start the list with digital adoption platforms. Digital adoption is the biggest challenge in digital transformation.

One-third of all ERP implementation projects fail.

Without a good adoption strategy, you can expect similar success rates for adoption in other areas than CRM, such as ERP, project management, or collaboration tools. Companies should take more time to train their employees on the new technology. Digital adoption platforms solve this problem.

A digital adoption platform allows your L&D and digital leaders to create custom-made app guidance, such as walkthroughs, smart tips, task lists, and tutorials to help users navigate the app. DAPs are particularly effective at onboarding employees, customers, and users.

Best of all, DAPs let you monitor how users interact with tools and see which features users typically struggle with. With DAP, you can track user behavior within applications and the usage history of specific help content.

Organizations can create product tours, provide contextual tips for each user type, control the visibility of help widgets, and more. Instead of explaining workflows over and over or helping with troubleshooting, embed Whatfix’s self-help widget into your apps – so employees or users can search for answers to their questions and find support documents when needed.

To help you with digital transformation across the board, Whatfix integrates with CRM systems, HCM platforms, knowledge base software, collaboration platforms, and other tools used by your teams.

Besides Whatfix, there are a few more tools you’ll want to pay attention to, like Appcues and Userlane!

For example, Appcues fully integrates into your product, making its guidance native. This enables customers to have a consistent experience throughout your product. And Userlane can help you with in-app communication so you can send messages directly to users to provide support, get more feedback, or promote something new in your app!

Only 8% of companies worldwide achieve their intended business outcomes with their digital transformation investments.

Recommended ➜ Read about the impact of digital transformation on business growth

Digital Workplace Suites

76% of organizations have already moved to a hybrid workplace model. Likely, your company has as well. If so, you need a digital workplace tool. 

Digital workplace suites provide digitized alternatives to face-to-face office environments for distributed teams. Not only do they take on the role of physical offices, but they also go beyond what a traditional workplace can provide. Tools like the eXo Platform enable effective cross-company communication, provide a high level of data security, allow effortless knowledge management, and offer innovative employee rewards programs.

The breakroom has gone even further. The Metaverse platform provides an immersive digital workplace experience. Instead of offering 2D collaboration tools, the platform enables fully customizable 3D workspaces.

Recommended ➜ Read about the process of starting a DAO

Team communication and collaboration tools

Team collaboration and communication platforms are more than just messaging apps – they’re digital workplaces where most business processes occur.

Your business can be fully distributed, hybrid, or on-premise; either way, an online collaboration tool is critical. Even if your employees work from one room, it’s counterproductive to distract the whole team when they want to ask a question or discuss a project.

However, small, hybrid, and on-site companies need to approach the digitization of internal communications differently. While remote companies rely entirely on their online collaboration tools, companies that follow a hybrid working model need to find a way to keep everyone updated on ongoing discussions both offline and online.

Simple communication tools like Slack suit companies of all sizes and types. These tools are usually chosen by fully remote or hybrid teams and complemented by a dedicated project management platform. Within the platforms, companies can set up separate channels for different teams and projects, share files, create custom bots, etc.

There are also more complex tools, such as Microsoft Teams, which hybrid teams prefer. The alternative to whiteboards where hybrid teams can collaborate in real-time best option will be Miro.

Out of many tools available, one must be noticed – cloud-based suites. These collaborative suites allow employees to access data and resources anywhere at all times. For organizations seeking to make the most of their digital workplace, collaborative suites are crucial to successful adaptation.

Best online collaboration tools that we are using in Lumen Spei ltd. daily to boost our productivity:

1. Asana
   The web and mobile “work management” platform is designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work.
2. Clocky
   The most popular free-time tracker for teams
3. Slack
   Slack is an instant messaging program designed by Slack Technologies and owned by Salesforce.
4. Calendly
   Modern scheduling platform that makes “finding time” a breeze. When connecting is easy, your teams can get more done.
5. Google Workspace
   Collection of cloud computing, productivity, collaboration tools, software, and products developed and marketed by Google.
6. Microsoft Teams (part of Office 365)
   Online Meeting Platform
7. Zoom
   Online Meeting Platform
8. Figma
   The collaborative interface design tool.
9. Intranet tools

The intranet tools are next-level collaboration tools. These platforms connect your applications to an intranet portal and permit you to access your documents through a dashboard. It’s a custom channel for internal use.

Many say intranet software portals are outdated; they’ve been the only way to consolidate businesses’ devices and channels. You can build a robust and employee-centric intranet by using an intranet tool in combination with a communication platform like Sharepoint, Slack, or Microsoft Teams.

Workplace by Meta, Honey, and LumApps, are good examples of intranet tools for emerging teams and businesses. 

For example, here is why LumApps is a good choice!

• Newscenter with company, news, updates, and PR activities
• Leadership Corner – the communication tool for a C-level;
• An HR portal that displays information, FAQs, job boards, surveys, and more.

Recommended ➜ Read about how Web 3.0 technologies impact digital transformation

Cloud CRMs

Introducing a cloud CRM solution is an inevitable part of the digital transformation process. Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms help companies do just that:

• Generate and store leads
• Plan sales funnels
• Shorten sales cycles
• Manage customer interactions
• Align marketing and sales teams
• Cross-selling and upselling customers
• Increase customer retention, etc.

In most cases, the features of enterprise CRM systems are broader than just one CRM. With tools like HubSpot, you can access all the features necessary for marketing, sales, and support teams through a single interface. Even CMS software is integrated into the toolkit

HubSpot CRM is great for businesses that want to use the free version and large companies willing to invest heavily in building a custom solution with the HubSpot API. But as a small business or startup in its early stages, you’re better off opting for a less complex solution like SugarCRM or SuperOffice.

For large enterprises, there are more powerful CRM platforms you should consider. Platforms like Salesforce CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, and Freshworks CRM are all excellent solutions for large enterprises. Like HubSpot, enterprise CRM software can act as an ecosystem of tools that provides a foundation for an entire company’s marketing, sales, and customer support teams.

Although 90% of companies with more than 15 employees use CRM tools, CRM adoption among end users still needs to grow. The problem is rooted in the complexity of the solutions and the lack of product-specific training.

Recommended ➜ Read about the role of big data in digital transformation

HCM platforms

Companies must invest in HCM software to empower the HR department’s digital transformation process. HCM stands for human capital management. It involves streamlining and improving the following processes:

• Workforce planning, onboarding, training, recruiting and hiring, 
• administration, analytics, reporting, etc.
• Workday, Zenefits, and BambooHR are the most popular HCM platforms in HR.

These platforms help organize all the data throughout an employee’s lifecycle – from hiring to leaving. Onboarding, payroll, and benefits can be managed directly through a single interface.

Cloud storage

Cloud storage is the only way to avoid data loss and access the resources you need whenever you or your team members need them.

You must require all your employees to upload everything they are working on to the cloud. With this, it’s possible to complete the digital transformation.

There are free and paid tools that offer cloud storage services:

• It will be the best case if you have an option for Companies private cloud.
• Google Drive – starting at $8 per user per month (free plan available);
• Dropbox – starting at $12.50 per user per month (free plan available);
• Sync – starting at $5 per user per month (free plan available);
• IDrive – from $69.50 per year (free plan available)

Digital accounting tools

Digitizing finance and accounting is a challenging but essential step for any business in 2023. If you still need to do so, it’s time to select, implement and, most importantly, adopt a digital accounting tool.

Many digital accounting tools could meet the specific needs of your accountants. When selecting such a tool, consult with your finance department. What tasks do they solve every day? What do they struggle with? How is payroll currently handled?

Small businesses and freelancers looking for a user-friendly interface and simple features use Freshbooks, a user-friendly accounting software. On the other hand, fast-growing companies that need a scalable solution often opt for QuickBooks Online and Xero. These tools provide an overview of your accounting, automate invoicing and reporting, manage payments and invoices, and more.

Recommended ➜ Read about the data silos and their impact on your business

Drive adoption of all your next-generation digital apps with Lumen Spei ltd.

As we mentioned, digital adoption platforms are at the heart of all digital transformation efforts. DAPs help facilitate change, drive the adoption of new digital tools, and provide on-demand performance support for ongoing training and support for employees, customers, and users.

While it’s true that all of these platforms offer great intelligent solutions for businesses – with a proper adoption and end-user support strategy, your employees and customers can move on. They will feel overwhelmed and frustrated with the new processes, which will impact productivity and performance and result in customer churn.

Support your digital transformation efforts with the Lumen Spei team. to provide contextual software guidance to your internal users. Drop us a call or reach out to us over email and let’s talk about your digital transformation!

The post Digital Transformation Tools in 2023 first appeared on Lumen Spei.

Digital pricing sets prices for products and services using real-time digital tools and techniques. Using algorithms and automatization, prices are selected based on the current market conditions.

Definition of digital pricing

Digital pricing is a process in which companies use digital tools and techniques to reshape their pricing strategies. This can range from building new pricing models to enforcing automated pricing systems. The ultimate goal of digital pricing is to improve business performance through more efficient and adequate pricing.

Digitizing pricing can offer numerous benefits, including increased accuracy, transparency, and speed. In addition, digital tools can help companies better understand customer needs and behaviors and enable more customized pricing.

Companies should consider digital pricing as it can help them tailor their pricing strategy to their specific goals and needs. Some digital pricing tips that all companies should consider are:

• Use data analytics to inform your decisions: Gather data about your customers, products, and market conditions to make more informed pricing decisions.
• Be transparent: ensure your prices are straightforward and easy to understand, so customers know what they are paying for.
• Try different digital pricing strategies and find what works best for your business. Review your pricing regularly and adjust as needed.

If you need help implementing digital pricing into your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us! We have worked on numerous highly-complex projects and we never shy away from an exciting challenge!

Recommended ➜ Read about using Web 3.0 technologies for digital transformation!

How technology is changing the pricing process

Technology with A.I. is adjusting the way companies price their products and services. In the past, companies relied on manual processes for pricing. However, thanks to digital technologies, companies can automate pricing by leveraging data analytics and pricing models integrated with sales tools such as CRM and price quote generation (CPQ) software.

This allows companies to approach pricing more strategically and better understand the impact of pricing on the bottom line.

Digitizing existing pricing processes

Today, digital technology is rapidly changing how businesses operate, and pricing processes are no exception. Many companies use digital solutions to streamline their pricing processes and increase efficiency.

Digital pricing solutions offer many advantages over traditional methods. They can help reduce costs, speed up decision-making and improve accuracy. In addition, digital solutions provide greater flexibility and transparency, which can boost customer confidence.

Choosing the right digital pricing solution for your business requires understanding your needs and goals. Here are some factors you should consider:

• Cost: How much are clients willing to spend on a pricing solution?
• Ease of use: How easy to understand is the solution to use and implement?
• Features: What features are essential to clients and their businesses?
• Flexibility: How flexible does the solution need to be to meet your changing needs?
• Support: What level of support does the merchant provide?

Recommended ➜ Read about the most important challenges of digital transformation!

Digital pricing models

Companies can choose from several digital pricing models, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

The most common digital pricing models are:

1. tiered
2. pay-per-use
3. subscription
4. freemium:

Tiered pricing is standard among SaaS companies. Different features are offered at different prices depending on the level of service desired. Additional features are unlocked when the user pays more

With usage-based pricing, customers are charged for each digital product or service they use.

With digital subscriptions, customers pay a monthly or annual fee to access a digital product or service.

With digital freemium pricing, customers can access a digital product or service for free but must pay for additional features or content.

A typical online fashion retailer has an assortment of seven million items, while the big multi-category providers like Amazon have many more. Moreover, the most successful online retailers change their prices on individual items every 15 minutes. How is that possible?

Suppose you’re trying to figure out how many employees have to work tirelessly in their offices to analyze price elasticity trends and how they affect individual prices. In that case, you’re barking up the wrong tree. 

Dynamic pricing is fully automated, with computers calculating and processing vast amounts of data about competitors’ prices, sales promotion figures, potential customers’ search trends, product reviews on Internet forums, and even comments on Twitter and Facebook. Depending on the company’s strategic goals, be it maximizing market share or profit, an algorithm calculates the optimal price on demand, sometimes updating every minute.

Dynamic pricing is critical in improving both consumer price perception and retailer profitability. Dynamic pricing, introduced by Amazon and others in 2005, is saving online retailers’ profit margins as online shoppers have become savvy bargain hunters.

Price comparison websites and review communities have enabled unprecedented transparency, and aggressive new retailers often blow up existing pricing structures with low introductory offers. Dynamic pricing can quickly generate a 3 to 8 percent return on sales and represents a tremendous competitive advantage.

Retailers counter with two different versions of dynamic pricing: one version optimizes prices for an entire assortment, which then applies to all customers. This is ideal for products that are easy to compare, such as branded items. The second version calculates an individual price for each customer. This works better when direct comparisons, such as for insurance products or travel.

Recommended ➜ Read about how big data reveals digital transformation opportunities!

Algorithms find the best prices

Fortunately for retailers, the best price is sometimes cheaper than competitors’. As local retail experiences also show, customers form opinions about whether a store offers good value for money or is expensive Digitization is disrupting the traditional ground rules of retail pricing based on relatively few prices for specific products.

In supermarkets, for example, prices on frequently purchased items such as milk, butter, and laundry detergent are usually marked up, so retailers select these products for their aggressive special offers.

And it’s no different online. It comes down to knowing the products that customers base their opinions on value for money. The best example, once again, is Amazon: The e-commerce giant defines essential value items in each category that it consistently offers at lower prices than its major competitors. For example, in ink cartridges for printers, Amazon knows that most shoppers look first at the price of a double pack of black ink.

In 2016, Amazon undercut its two strongest competitors by more than 20 percent on this product. However, Amazon was slightly below its competitors on the single pack of black ink, which is also frequently purchased. However, these low prices are more than made up for by the prices of colored ink: yellow, blue, and red ink are between 33 percent and 57 percent more expensive than Amazon’s competitors.

The great thing about digital pricing is that the company is constantly learning.

Computer programs track customer and competitor reactions to a new price in real time: are sales developing as planned? How many prospects did not buy? Where do the new customers come from price comparison sites, competitors’ websites – or did they come to our website specifically?

All findings are immediately incorporated into the pricing model, which is constantly updated and adjusted.

Companies that optimize their prices according to this formula even do away with the old 80/20 rule, of which 20 percent of products account for 80 percent of sales and profits.

Let us take the example of Amazon with its cell phones: About 80 percent of its revenue comes from selling devices, which account for about 20 percent of the business in that category. Accessories such as chargers, connector cables, headphones, and smartphone cases account for the remaining 80 percent. Although they account for only 20 percent of sales, they contribute 50 percent of profits.

These are typical long-tail products. They remain in the range for years, even if the corresponding cell phone has long since been superseded by newer models but is still used. Stocking such an extensive range of accessories in stationary retail is not profitable because the storage space is too expensive.

Online retailers, however, with their vast and inexpensive warehouses, can healthily increase their profit margins with just these items.

All major online retailers have now introduced dynamic pricing systems, and the idea is also catching on in brick-and-mortar retail. For example, U.S. retail chains Sears and Home Depot can directly change their in-store prices at the touch of a button after installing electronic price tags in some departments of their stores.

Once electronic pricing becomes widespread, opportunities for dynamic pricing will also open up for multichannel retailers that started in the physical space. After all, today’s customers expect a consistent offering across all channels, including prices.

Recommended ➜ Read about data silos and their impact on your business results!

Customized pricing

Customized pricing goes one step further.

Here, the retailer tries to classify individual customers by analyzing, for example, which device they use to access the website. If an expensive iPad is used, the system will immediately display a higher price than for another customer using a cheaper product with an Android operating system. A more reasonable offer is also displayed to customers who were redirected to the vendor’s website from a price comparison site.

For a long time, systems had remembered whether someone had visited the website before and was interested in an offer. If the customer looks at the same item on the website again, the system forces a decision by promising a discount for immediate purchase or offering free additional services.

When customers see through these pricing strategies, they often need to be more enthusiastic, which is why many travel companies have given up on differentiating customers by the devices they use. Too many customers have expressed frustration at being shown a higher price after glancing at their expensive iPhone than they were later shown at home on their old PC. However, price differentiation by route to the website is still very much in place among the leading players in the travel industry.

The concept of customized pricing is of interest to companies in many industries. Insurers are working on better pricing individual risks, while energy companies are looking to incorporate personal consumption habits into their offerings. And it’s not just in retail that dynamic pricing is catching on; companies are also experimenting with the concept, for example, in the chemical and steel industries.

Steel trader Baosteel’s online marketplace Ouyeel has created price transparency not previously seen in the industry. And BASF now trades on the Chinese trading platform Alibaba, selling chemicals to thousands of primarily mid-sized customers in Asia.

Five modules of dynamic pricing

Dynamic pricing is critical in improving both consumer price perception and retailer profitability. A robust dynamic pricing solution should consist of five modules, all working in parallel to generate price recommendations for each SKU in the assortment:

1. The Long-Tail module helps retailers set the introductory price for new or long-tail items through intelligent product matching. The module determines which data-rich products are comparable to new things (with no history) or long-tail items (with limited historical data).
2. The Elasticity module uses Big Data analytics and time-series methods to calculate how a product’s price affects demand, taking into account various factors.
3. The Key Value Items (KVIs) module estimates how each product affects consumers’ price perceptions using actual market data rather than consumer surveys. This allows the module to identify which items consumers perceive as KVIs automatically.
4. The competitive module recommends price adjustments based on competitors’ prices updated in real-time.
5. The omnichannel module coordinates prices between the retailer’s offline and online channels.

Although a best-in-class solution includes all five modules, companies can often start with just the KVI and Competitive Response modules. These help companies respond quickly to competitive changes on key items while adding the other modules.

Companies that want to lay the groundwork for a functioning dynamic pricing system know that it can be done – and that the effort is worth it. Some e-commerce retailers have increased their margins by two to three percentage points – in an industry where margins are tight. This can make the difference between an industry leader and a follower.

And with results like that, concepts catch on quickly. Over the next few years, dynamic pricing will likely become a core business competency. The next wave will affect the B2B sector, where pricing still needs to be transparent in many industries. This new openness could send shock waves. Just think of the current practices in industries such as steel or chemicals. In the B2C sector, the trend is increasingly toward customized offers, including tailored prices.

The big question is whether customers will rebel. Just because something is technically feasible does not mean it will be accepted, as the example from the travel industry shows, where companies have had to abandon price differentiation depending on whether a customer uses an expensive Apple product or a cheap no-name device PC.

But there are other ways of setting prices that will pose an exciting challenge for creative companies.

If you have need to build a dynamic digital pricing system, please drop us an email at info@lumenspei.com our reach out to us via our contact form! 🙂

The post What is a Real Time Quotation and Dynamic Pricing first appeared on Lumen Spei.