Finding Growth in the New Normal: A Roadmap for Mid-Market Companies

NASSCOM reports that mid-market enterprises (MMEs) contribute over 42% of India’s GDP, making this segment a major growth driver of the economy. While the Government of India has launched initiatives such as the Product Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and the Aatmanirbhar campaign to boost growth in this segment, the role of technology in helping MMEs scale has never been more critical.

Today, the way companies work and deliver value to customers has changed fundamentally. Companies across industries and sectors are pushing for digital transformation. While small businesses are onboarding certain quick-fix digital technologies, enterprises are accelerating their investment in technology R&D. But the mid-market segment stands in a unique position.

These are the companies that have already re-engineered processes, acquired technologies to manage these processes, and are focused on providing unique and delightful experiences for their customers, partners, and employees. But they also need to keep their costs in check by making calculated investments.

So, what can MMEs do differently to both recover from the crisis and achieve growth in the new normal?

Get priorities right

Changing consumer behaviour, remote working employees, and the rise of digital-everything are not just pandemic trends. These are the new realities, and businesses must prepare for them, no matter what their size or scale. But what varies across businesses is the list of priorities that will help them tackle these changes in a manner most conducive to both their survival and success. For a mid-sized company, these priorities will include:

• Lowering the time and cost to identify and acquire customers.
• Retaining customers with a laser-sharp focus on service.
• Consolidating disparate systems, both to reduce costs and to build consistent, connected employee and customer experiences. 
• Keeping employees, partners, and customers engaged.

Mid-market organisations must align to these priorities for optimum results. And only those technologies that are specially tailored to integrate into a mid-market company’s unique setup can enable such an alignment.

Reorchestrate the role of technology

As a mid-market company, you must have invested in multiple tools and systems to streamline your day-to-day operations. But that’s you treating technology as an enabler, working in the background somewhere while your business goals take centre stage. Not anymore! 

In the new normal, technology takes the driver’s seat. All business strategies will be infused with and led by the right technology for your company to stay relevant and competitive. 

Here are five key areas where the strategic use of technology will fast-track growth

1. Commerce – Limited physical contact, supply chain disruptions, and changing customer preferences have changed selling models forever. Irrespective of whether your business is B2B or B2C, every mid-market company that sells to customers or partners needs a solid e-commerce strategy in place – to scale customer outreach and strengthen brand loyalty. And to successfully execute such a strategy, you need simple, intuitive technology that lets you build branded e-commerce platforms that make purchase experiences super-convenient and interactive. For instance, with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, mid-market companies can quickly start selling across – mobile, web, and social media platforms – with its easy-to-use, plug-and-play e-commerce features.
2. Service – In the virtual world, businesses are expected to be open 24×7, 365 days a year. Customers are looking for instantaneous engagement and support round the clock across channels – mobile, social media, website, emails, and more. Leveraging digital technology for omnichannel customer service, self-service portals, AI-enabled chatbots, and live-agent support anytime-anywhere will enable you to win customer loyalty and referrals. And with technology streamlining and driving your service capabilities, mid-market companies can amp up their service quality even with small service teams.
3. Personalisation & intelligence – Now, more than ever, retaining customers means delivering exceptional customer experiences that are intelligent and personalised. Harnessing the power of AI and machine learning in sales, service, and marketing will arm teams with actionable insights such as – leads that are most likely to convert, the right marketing message, channel and time to reach out to a customer, and context-based next-step recommendations for customers on a service call. AI-enabled tools maximise team productivity and increase business revenue, leading to better results with smaller teams. 
4. Integration –  Disparate systems and outdated technology can hamper employee productivity and customer experience. Connecting all your systems, on-premise or cloud-based, on a unified platform will empower your employees with a single source  of customer truth, helping them to serve customers better and faster. Don’t want to incur the cost of a complete IT revamp to bring all your data onto a single platform? No problem. Integration solutions like MuleSoft can be the answer to a mid-market company’s data and system integration needs. This agile integration platform can rapidly connect any app, device, or data (even third-party data) on a unified platform using APIs. 
5. Collaboration – As hybrid work culture takes over, your employees will need the freedom and flexibility to collaborate in real-time and access all their data on the go. Support them with a complete suite of collaboration tools that make working from anywhere smooth and productive. Train and upskill your employees in the latest technologies, so they are ready to perform in a digital-first new normal, and you do not have to hire for new tech-facing roles and responsibilities. You can use the Salesforce myTrailhead digital learning platform and completely customise it to enable employees to learn from anywhere and to track their progress.

Empower CIOs to focus on innovation

CIOs and IT leaders at mid-market companies run from pillar to post to keep the company’s technology and solutions up and running, manage the vendors, and ensure no downtime.  To find growth in the new normal, MMEs will need to leverage their CIO’s time and talent judiciously. This means arming CIOs and IT leaders with the right tools and solutions that allow them to innovate with agility and at scale. Rich solutions that simplify technology development and streamline their work will free them up to focus on what the business is asking for. All the routine tasks can be best left to tools that intelligently automate, monitor, and streamline them, empowering CIOs to take the centre stage and focus aggressively on the alignment of technology and business value.

Salesforce Customer 360 is a cloud-based CRM solution that streamlines all key business functions on a unified platform to enable cross-functional collaboration, 360-degree customer view, and seamless customer experiences. Offering advanced technological capabilities like AI, data analytics, and customised reporting dashboards, Customer 360 is a mid-market company’s ticket to success in the new normal. Find out more.