On World MSME Day, Ajay Sehgal, EVP- Enterprise Business (Channels & SOHO Business) passionately drums for how MSMEs could rebound despite facing several hurdles.

Did you know that online spending in India is expected to rise rapidly at 25% CAGR to $130+ Bn in 2025? Or that in 2020, India’s digital advertising and marketing segment witnessed a  15.3% increase with an ad spend of ~INR 15,782 crores and that this is estimated to grow at a 22.47% CAGR by 2022? Prior to the pandemic, businesses were struggling to drive the adoption of their digital tools, and now, they are evolving ways to manage overwhelming traffic on these tools. A pivotal shift!

Before the pandemic hit, I rarely consumed more than 5GB of data a month. To my amazement, last month alone, I struggled to not use up the monthly data usage limit of 500 GB. How the tables have turned! We have an unlimited data plan at home because my entire family now eats, drinks, and sleeps with data! My house dons many hats – it’s an office, a school, a virtual playground for my son, as well as an entertainment unit. In spite of being confined indoors, we end up consuming more restaurant food, watching more movies and shows, spending more time meeting friends and family (virtually), and to my surprise, clocking in more time at work than I did in the pre-pandemic era. I have also been using at least a dozen more apps on my phone than I did a year back.

In the present environment, most successful businesses are those that have morphed into a ‘phygital’ nature, that is, providing the experience of shopping physically that is facilitated digitally. These businesses offer a strong customer experience, provide value-for-money products and services, and the best product quality – in other words, they give customers the opportunity to undertake a seamless physical buying experience without the hassle of stepping out.  

In the B2B segment, too, a similar situation has emerged: customers now prefer virtual interactions over in-person meetings and expect businesses to offer digital experiences for the buying and life cycle. To meet these evolving requirements, enterprises are building their digital infrastructure by investing in digital assets. While this is easier for larger players, small Indian businesses (SMEs), who contribute to 30% of the GDP, must also adopt clear digital strategies to stay in the game.

Let’s look at some ways through which SMEs can engage with and service customers digitally:

1. Have an ‘Inside’ sales engine – A step away from the traditional call centre, companies have now moved on to digital platforms where agents can engage with customers after comprehending buying patterns based on size, segment and complexities. These platforms can complete an entire buying cycle over the phone or email, including providing a digital experience of the portfolio, negotiating and closing the loop.

2. Online Presence – Millions of SMEs don’t yet have an online presence, making it difficult for them to connect with, and retain consumers. Since most consumers prefer exploring needs via online channels, it is imperative for SMEs to have a digital presence through a website. For instance, an interior designer based out of Chandigarh used our market leading product Vi Website Builder  to create a professional online presence for his business, and he leveraged this to compete with bigger players. This included custom email addresses and enhanced security features such as anti-spam and anti-phishing. This has helped him engage with consumers across the country.   

In addition to an online presence, SMEs also face challenges with outreach. Most SMEs need to continuously build a strong online presence by using focus keywords, optimising their digital content, and posting regularly via social handles – all to optimise their online search ranks

3. Social engagement – SMEs should take advantage of social media to engage their customers with tools to create buyer personas and increase the depth of customer understanding. Based on the data collected, the digital media can help SMEs create databases of potential customers, then help target these users with hyperlocal marketing within a specific geography.

4. Connected workforce – Small investments go a long way in fostering team collaboration, especially in a remote work environment. SMEs should invest in tools and workflows that connect a remote workforce digitally. This enables employee tracking, customer engagement, real-time productivity, and the collation of knowledge or customer databases through fully integrated internal platforms, to carry out digital marketing seamlessly, with a strong focus on ROI. Vi Business offers cloud-based workforce solutions that help businesses control their workforces anytime, anywhere. Through a real-time dashboard and Cloud Telephony solutions such as Lead Management and Auto Receptionist, businesses have the power to automate their lead management and IVR processes.

I know of LED manufacturers in Kerala and car service providers in Mumbai who have been using IVR solutions so that their customers can engage with the concerned department seamlessly.

With several tools available for SMEs to adapt to digitisation, the need of the hour is a strong shift in mindset at the executive management levels. Businesses and their start-up founders need to take up the duties of a CDO to drive automation agendas internally.

At Vi Business, we are excited to drive digitalisation internally and help Channel Partners. To enable this, we have launched a digital marketing excellence program, Saksham, through which we foster digital mindsets for partners, proprietors, and business owners and help them realise their digital potential and witness ROI-driven results. We strongly believe that SMEs form the backbone of our economy, and helping them accelerate towards digitisation is imperative. At Vi Business, our portfolio of services helps SMEs become game changers and make an impact in their industry.

Here’s how we helped so far:

Global messaging and voice solutions provider, Kaleyra, was able to simplify operations and minimise downtime – by digitalising their processes. Get the full story here.

Meetra, a fresh grocery retailer, delivered groceries right to the doorsteps and expanded beyond their local reach, just by going digital. Get the full story here.

And these are just two businesses that have gone ‘phygital’. We have many more success stories lined up for you – in case you’re looking for tried and tested examples. Get inspired here.

MSMEs are the driving force of the Indian economy. At Vi Business, we believe in equipping them with the right digital tools and technology to thrive in today’s business world.

Our ReadyForNext assessment helps MSMEs gain insights into their digital readiness and access India’s largest MSME study. 

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