Exactly what does it mean to become a “tech company” – if indeed this means anything any longer? Like just about any slang term that enters popular dialogue, “tech” and “technology” have began to get rid of their meaning through overuse. From bankers to ball bearing manufacturers, companies of just about all types have began to use the word – or even the broader lexicon around it – for their companies, with broadly different levels of relevance.
In a single sense, this trend is only the latest characteristic of a classic disease: the over-use of business jargon. Terms like “agile,” “solutions,” “focused” and “lean” took serious beatings recently as they have assumed permanent resident status in ads, brochures, taglines and annual reports. (Indeed, a fast Search for sites that contains all of those terms returns over 4 million results here’s wishing the very best of luck to another “agile, lean, solution-focused” firm that attempts to differentiate itself.)
“Tech,” though, is perhaps a unique situation due to being both so prevalent and being so inappropriate more often than not. Can there be really a benefit to as being a “tech” banker or ball bearing maker – or perhaps is it easier to simply offer better banking service, or better ballbearings? The motivation for adding the “tech” tag appears obvious enough: to take advantage of a present trend to make the company appear modern and relevant. The particular effect, though, is frequently something quite different. Bouncing around the technology bandwagon most frequently seems to become precisely that what’s worse, it serves to draw attention away from and confuse audiences who don’t know the particular the best-selling company’s service or product. “Tech” banking or bearings don’t mean anything reliable banking and precision bearings, however, mean quite a bit.
What a lot of companies do not understand is the fact that there’s an impact between as being a business that utilizes technology and as being a technology-based business. This is actually the twenty-first century: Customers expect – and also have every to expect – the companies they work with make use of the latest techniques and tools to conduct their business. That’s far from as being a firm whose core function includes performing the study, refining the processes and developing the ip connected with technology – a real “tech company.” Whenever a company that really will the former positions itself because the latter, confusion is easily the most likely immediate result – along with the appearance to be disingenuous.
Brand loyalty originates from brands who know who they really are, with whom they’re speaking and why they’re doing it. Inside a cluttered marketplace, the medium through which one delivers or supports its product is not what ultimately sustains them. Companies whose profiles go above all their competition is individuals who’ve purpose and provide something proposition that directly connects using their customers’ desires.
While integrating technology to produce a better customer experience is efficacious, slapping “tech” framing inappropriately onto a brandname only serves to decrease its core DNA. Because the digital world keeps growing around us, individuals are beginning to trap on. Regardless of the endless tech-hype in blogs and also the business press, individuals are still human and humans still decide according to feelings. In case you really wish to connect inside a certain marketplace, make certain you concentrate on values and character that inspire people.
