In order to compete in today's market, businesses need to be flexible and agile, which requires taking advantage of different technologies. These technologies, while developed to streamline businesses, can be overwhelming because there are so many different apps and tools, and these new technologies may not easily integrate into your current platform. But through CPaaS and the use of APIs, these various apps and tools seamlessly converge, helping your business run more efficiently. So how do you take full advantage of this convergence, propelling you ahead of the competition? Here are five tips that can help you be successful in this digital transformation.

 

 

Although it may seem counterintuitive, opening up APIs gives you great opportunities, both in functionality, by delivering value to your users, and in revenue. In a report by MuleSoft Inc, thirty-five percent of today’s technology leaders generated more than a quarter of their organizations’ revenue as a direct result of APIs. 

 

By opening APIs, developers can spend their time creating new solutions rather than repeat work that’s already been done, which empowers them to deliver new tools and functionality to your customers. Open APIs also allow you to share what you do best with a broader audience, expanding your customer base and generating new market opportunities. As a recent Hubspot

blog post explains, "In this way, APIs are not only changing the way companies do business,

they’re changing the way companies think about business."

 

 

Many businesses forget this simple idea–know your customer. Knowing and understanding customer needs is at the center of every successful business, whether it sells directly to individuals or other businesses. And once you understand your customers and their workflow, you can build around your customers' needs to create value and stickiness.

 

As you come to know your customers’ needs, you can help them build anything they want. And by developing new solutions, you can help your customers eliminate the need for several different vendors, enabling them to simplify their communications. 

 

 

As we've seen in this market of mergers and acquisitions, one of the difficulties is that communication platforms are becoming increasingly indiscernible. There’s nothing that sets one solution apart from another, so price is becoming the only differentiator, leading to a race to the bottom — which isn’t a productive way to grow revenue. And with this M&A shift, customers can become frustrated and experience business setbacks if communication consolidation is not seamlessly integrated.

 

To set you apart from the industry, you need to embrace a new mindset: hire developers and create a niche. As you become closer to your customers, you and your developers can create custom solutions and help solve problems, providing a clear niche. This niche is key in business development and in creating solutions to help end users work more efficiently, be more productive, and provide superior customer service.

 

 

Collecting user feedback is one of the most important aspects of running a business that often gets overlooked. By collecting feedback, you show your customers that you value their opinions, and you involve them in shaping your product/solution. In doing so, this helps them feel more attached to your company. 

 

This customer feedback is especially valuable to you because it helps improve product development, marketing, and operations, and these opinions allow you to align your product offering with exactly what your customers truly want. If you simply move on to other business projects without taking feedback into consideration, this could result in an offering that is a poor market fit.

 

5. Have Courage 

 

Rather than thinking of courage as meaning leadership needs to make all of the tough decisions, you should seek for an environment that is unified, safe, and inclusive. Nurturing an environment where teamwork and group synergy take precedence is courageous, and this allows you to seek the potential in others to help solve problems. This courage also means you have the curiosity to seek out those who can help find solutions. Developing courage acknowledges the talents and abilities of your employees, creating an inclusive and productive work environment.