Business friction costs companies daily.
This article will explain business friction and how it affects customers, employees, and the bottom line.
What Does Business Friction Mean?
Friction resists. Physics defines friction as the resistance between two surfaces.
However, it refers to business process resistance.
Friction often refers to two business groups:
Customers Employees
Business partners and investors may need more friction.
However, customers and employees are often the most affected by business friction, so focus on them first.
Three examples of business friction affecting each group are below.
3 Customer-Oriented Business Friction
Most business friction discussions focus on customers because they’re a company’s lifeblood.
Reducing friction helps build customer loyalty, relationships, and lifetime value.
Three examples of business friction that hurts customers:
Bad service
Studies have shown that poor customer service can quickly lose customers.
In the US, one bad experience can drive away 17% of customers, and several can drive away 59%, according to PwC.
Customer service is essential. Like other customer experiences, it can be good or bad.
Consider these concepts to reduce customer service friction:
Simplifying experience
Optimizing speed and efficiency
being current
As we’ll see, many of these fundamental concepts apply across the business and customer experience.
Poor product onboarding
New software requires learning.
First-time users must:
Understand the product’s value.
Discover the product’s fundamentals.
Use the program effectively.
Onboarding should be easy and quick, like customer service.
After all, users are more likely to stick with a product that provides value quickly.
Several methods can improve user onboarding.
Some examples:
Email follow-up engages customers.
Self-service tech support
DAP-automated product tours
If done well, product onboarding can improve customer value, loyalty, and profitability.
Bad usability
Product usability measures ease of use. Easy-to-use products
Navigate Learn to Remember
Less usable products are the opposite.
They take longer to learn and make more mistakes.
An unintuitive software interface can cause frustration and friction. More users will leave the product, lowering its market performance.
Frictionless, simple products are the most usable.
3 Workplace Business Friction Examples
Business friction in employee experience is another key area.
Reducing workplace friction as much as possible makes employees happier and more productive.
Three workplace issues that can cause conflict:
Digital complexity
Workplace digital complexity is almost unavoidable.
After all, every business needs a variety of digital tools.
Thus, workers must frequently switch between systems and tools.
Digital workplace complexity is usually unavoidable.
There are ways to simplify.
Such as:
Software onboarding and training reduce learning curves and streamline workplace training.
DAPs can automate technical, customer, and business tasks.
Better business process design can simplify.
This last point is crucial because outdated software and poor business processes add unnecessary complexity.
Old business systems
As mentioned, technology complicates work.
However, not updating business processes and systems can cause complexity and friction.
Some examples:
Older software usually needs to be more efficient and relevant.
Legacy software may need to integrate better with modern solutions, causing waste and inefficiencies.
Older software solutions slow and waste business processes.
Compared to Excel, a handwritten account book is more efficient. Compare Excel to accounting software like QuickBooks.
Upgrading software requires new employee skills. New tools offer new business opportunities and reduce business friction and workplace complexity.
Bad training
Training workers is a great way to boost productivity.
Successful software training:
Accelerates software learning.
software frustration
Increases employee engagement, productivity, retention, and other metrics
Poor training, on the other hand, slows employee learning, productivity, and frustration.
Poor training can cause business conflict.
Poor training, like other business frictions, can hurt employee morale. That impacts employee, organizational, and financial performance.
