By Noah Nehlich
Finding the right tech solutions to improve the outdoor design process—without adding to the workload—helps designers create spectacular customer experiences. In some cases, incorporating cutting-edge technology can often create new challenges, but at the same time solve others. From software intended to streamline the design process to social media apps marketed as the efficient way for businesses to connect with clients, there are now many tech-based options available for designers, builders, and contractors.
For many designers, however, 3D designs and social media-based customer service are often just the start of what clients really want. As technology has become increasingly prevalent, researchers have found what consumers expect from businesses has shifted. Now, consumers often want the technology-based “seamless” experiences revealed in Google’s 2015 trend report: “people expect to get the answers and services they want, customized precisely for them, in the exact moment they want and need it.”
By leveraging technology to improve the design process, designers can create those seamless customer experiences and gain a competitive edge.
Potential for growth
Many designers and companies, however, are not yet leveraging technology to achieve the best possible results.
According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute study, many companies in many industries are not fully embracing technology. Compared to those that are more adept at leveraging technology, the research shows businesses that lag behind on incorporating innovative software and technology see markedly reduced growth and market share.
Companies that do implement digital strategies are seeing more than just increased profits; they are also “gaining the ability to reshape industries to their own advantage.”
Although the professional services sector has largely embraced technology, the rate of adoption is low in the construction industry. Even within the professional services, however, the best results are achieved when companies not only start using software, but also develop strategies that “integrate digital tools into an ever-widening variety of business processes.”
The growth realized by those companies that embrace technology in day-to-day business is often dramatic. As the McKinsey report makes clear, the companies that take the lead in shaping the industry and their own market are those who take advantage of innovative tech solutions—not only to improve their own processes, but also to create the seamless experience customers want.
