If you’ve shopped online at a site that really has the process nailed, you were probably impressed with the polished user experience and the speed and efficiency of the transaction.

Now, imagine if, instead of making a few clicks and getting your stuff in a day or two, the process of placing an order looked like this:

If this sounds familiar, it’s most likely because these are the broken processes your customers face every day. Many of them are just stuck in a time warp — they rely on 25-year-old tools such as email, spreadsheets and phone calls to manage day-to-day operations. Every time one of these outdated tools is used when a better alternative exists, another process goes unoptimized and inefficiency proliferates. With no way to track, update and monitor these processes, they will continue to be an administrative burden that causes a drain on productivity and introduces undue complexities into the business.

This lack of digital modernization is how fast, nimble companies like Uber decimate a market.

You can play a big role in helping your customers let go of the manual tools of the past and make a change. Help guide them through the implementation of modern software solutions and processes. Otherwise, they will continue to experience work delays, reduced productivity, increased chance of errors, and perhaps most importantly, lack of time for innovation and strategic initiatives. 

Bring the Right Tools to the Table

It’s important to remember that every customer is different. One size doesn’t fit all. When it comes to implementing a new technology for a given customer, make sure you understand their overall business goals, day-to-day operations and core challenges. Once you’ve established these, it’s time to choose a technology. 

It’s no surprise that cloud-based solutions are becoming the norm in forward-looking organizations. By harnessing the power of the cloud, even small customers can affordably automate processes that have become unwieldy. 

Yet, for many, “the cloud” is not well understood. Customers have concerns about security, cost and performance. With your expertise, you can answer questions and bring to bear the right tools that will not only save them time and frustration, but will also give you better insight into how their businesses run. With smart solutions, problems become opportunities.

Here are six ways to help your customers on the path to working smarter, not harder:

Grow Your Business While Growing Theirs

As you help your customers transform their organizations, you may also benefit and experience a change in the way your own business grows. For example, a successful solution you provide your customer will begin to spread organically, allowing your services to be further embedded into the day-to-day operations of their organization. 

Finally, don’t forget to practice what you preach. As you help customers transform their businesses, look inward. Are you working as efficiently as you could be?

Dave Wright is chief strategy officer at ServiceNow, and serves as the company’s evangelist for how to improve workplace productivity. He enables ServiceNow customers to eliminate their reliance on email, spreadsheets and other manual processes so their employees can work smarter, not harder.