Is competition the real threat? Think again!

I’ve dealt with hundreds of enterprises in a little over two decades of my career I and often I’ve found that the bigger threat comes from within – Underperformance! No matter how compelling your offering is, a small issue (could be anywhere) can lead your customer out of the door, without a sale. This is what under-performance can do to you; hit you hard, much worse than your competitors.

“Performance” is the key to growth. This correlation can be as simple as:

High Performance -> Exceptional User Experience -> Revenue Growth and Loyalty

Today’s customers or users are accustomed to conveniences of working and interacting online and they prefer an app-based channel (web or mobile) over any other mode (phone or physical) of interaction including shopping. Even the smallest of issues, whether at the front-end (browser), or network, or at the back-end (app server or the database) may hamper user experience.

This may eventually result in loss of business opportunity and may even displace loyalty of the user / customer. The threat or the risk associated with these kinds of performance issues is much greater than those arising out of a competition. Opportunity or revenue isn’t the only thing an enterprise can lose, reputation is also at stake.

Your enterprise systems or applications are ultimately intended to either make money or to save money. If performance issues become a roadblock in achieving revenue or profitability then it defeats the whole purpose or your digital business transformation or customer experience initiatives.