The Digital Transformation Challenge for Traditional Businesses
At what point does a non-digital business owner give in to the digital push?
Digital transformation is a necessary evolution that a business must follow to remain relevant. Pigeons carrying signals to communicate is no longer the answer.
For most non-digital businesses there is a dilemma on how to create a tradional sales transformation using technology. They rely heavily on person-to-person engagement where the traditional ‘in-person’ conversation or personally written emails was the thing that built the trust in the relationship.
They are typically characterised by having sales teams who regularly visit clients, or perhaps the model is complex B2B solutions, and/or telephone-based customer support to create the opportunity for the problem to be understood and the solution provided.
The activity is personal and is a part of relationship building strategy and an intentional and traditional sales model. This is now being threatened by a digitalB2B evolution with the lure of efficiency and more profits.
The challenge with this approach is that it creates a customer experience that doesn’t support the sales model.
Let me explain by highlighting the frustration I experience (in 2025) of trying to solve a problem, being led down a digital solution, only to become more frustrated with the process.
How the goal of improved efficiency misses the human-centric automation target.
Traditional B2B businesses often rely on
- Face-to-face client meetings
- Personal relationship building
- Complex solution discussions
- Direct customer support
When Digital Transformation Fails - A Real-World Example
You may have experienced this yourself. I wanted to close a bank account. This should have been a simple process.
I used my Banks customer service app to close an account. It asked me a series of questions and the answers were not only unsatisfactory but irrelevant.
After about 10 minutes I asked to be connected to a real person. I eventually gave up and rang the bank; voice prompted to better understand my problem and told the App is the answer.
But I persisted and finally spoke with a Customer Service Operator (20 minutes on hold). I explained my problem and they helped close the account.
I then asked if there was a place in my account that I could have done this ‘online’.
The answer was “OH no, you have to call us to do that”
Be wary of the unintended consequences
According to recent studies, while 82% of B2B buyers prefer digital interactions, 76% still value personal relationships in complex purchasing decisions.
Businesses are being urged to adopt digital marketing and AI-driven customer service automation to remain competitive. While these strategies promise efficiency and scalability, they often lead to unintended consequences, such as customer frustration with irrelevant marketing or impersonal automated systems.
The Push for Digital Transformation
Marketing experts advocate for digital tools and AI to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and improve ROI.
Digital marketing enables businesses to reach broader audiences, while AI-powered customer service systems promise 24/7 support and cost savings.
According to McKinsey & Company’s research, “Unlocking the Frontier of Personalized Marketing,” businesses that effectively leverage personalisation can achieve 5-8 times the ROI on marketing spend and increase sales by 10% or more.
However, the key lies in how these tools are implemented.
The Customer Experience Dilemma
Despite the potential benefits, many customers report dissatisfaction with the shift toward automation. Automated systems often fail to address complex queries, leaving customers frustrated.
Additionally, the influx of irrelevant marketing messages, driven by poorly executed digital strategies, can alienate clients.
McKinsey’s research highlights that while personalization is critical, it must be done thoughtfully to avoid overwhelming customers with irrelevant or intrusive content.
The Value of Human Interaction
For non-digital businesses, the human touch remains a cornerstone of their value proposition. Sales representatives build trust and foster long-term relationships through face-to-face interactions.
Complex B2B sales often require nuanced discussions that cannot be replicated by AI. Similarly, telephone-based customer support provides a level of empathy and understanding that automated systems struggle to match.
Striking the Right Balance
To successfully integrate digital tools without compromising their core strengths, non-digital businesses should consider the following strategies:
Human First Digital Strategy
The Human Touch
As your people interact with their customers record information that is specific to that person. It doesn’t need to relate to the product or service they buy. They could have children, a love for a sport, a hobby, or how they spend their holiday.
The Digital Transformation Tool
Use a digital note recording tool that transcribes your voice notes immediately after the conversation and save it to the client’s CRM record.
Analyse emails to summarise the key points using an AI Bot
Data-Driven Personal Relationships
The Human Touch
Attach notes to a customer’s order. The content is not as important as the consistency of recording the information.
The Digital Transformation Tool
AI Agents are able to conduct complex data analysis from your CRM, warehouse management system, logistics management systems.
For example:
You can analyse the number of customer engagement made over a 12 month period to determine the correlation between the engagement and an order being placed.
You can prepare a Report based on customer complaints and the effective time orders are being taken and delivered.
Strategic Planning, Capacity and Capability Planning
Equip your teams with digital tools that complement their efforts, such as CRM systems enables them to be more efficient at what they do and delegate to AI the repetitive or inefficient processes that frustrates them and the client.
The Human Touch
Have each employee do traditional skills assessment based on description of their role and the skills needed to be effective.
There is no need to digitise these as AI and LLM can analyse the documents.
The Digital Transformation Tool
Engage with AI to analyse the data from all aspects of your business to prepare a 3 years strategic plan. This is a data analysis of your marketing collateral, sales activities, operational information (digital or document based).
Ask AI and LLM to outline a 3 year sales and marketing plan, a budget, and prepare a workforce plan on delivering these goals.
AI-Enhanced Customer Experience
Design digital systems with the end-user in mind. Ensure that automated systems are intuitive and provide easy access to human support when needed.
The Human Touch
Collect feedback from customers through in person conversation with the explicit intention of ‘asking for help to improve the process’. This can be done by the existing team or by a 3rd Party.
Ask prospective clients to participate in a ‘market survey’ conducted through a 3rd party. Provide a valuable ‘gift’ as an incentive for their feedback
The Digital Transformation Tool
Record these conversation (with permission) and have them analysed for trends, common words or phrases used.
This is the real power of AI and LLM in that you can use the information to segment your market, create a whole communication strategy based on a specific type of customer or prospect.
Final Word
The future of B2B sales lies not in choosing between digital transformation and human connections, but in strategically combining both to enhance customer experiences and business efficiency.
What is the experience you want your customers and staff to have when they are engaged with your business?
Do you hope they enjoy being a customer or employee, or are you worried that you’ll end up like the Bank in my experience, and turn off more than you turn on.
I hope you can see how any business that has a Sales and Marketing Model built on human connections can utilise the value of technology.
The path to modernisation does not require an abandonment of their traditional strengths. By thoughtfully integrating digital tools and maintaining a focus on personalised, human-centric interactions, these businesses can enhance their competitiveness while preserving the trust and loyalty of their customers.
As McKinsey’s research underscores, the future of marketing lies in striking the right balance between technology and the human touch.
Inspiring Business offers a complimentary Exploration Call where you can ask questions on how this strategy could assist you to improve your business valuation and prepare you for a business exit or succession plan.