You’re a technology manager at your company and you want to deep-six your old technology and onboard the proven technology that will drive your business into the future.
“What is it going to cost?”
Those will be the first words you hear when you approach your boss, the CFO, the CEO, or the other suits on the top floor with a technology concept.
So, answer their question in a qualitative fashion…
Your response: “Compared to what it gains us, almost nothing.”
These 8 words can motivate your CFO to lean forward and take notice.
Follow that by saying, “It will cost at least 1,500 hours in employee-hours saved, dozens of more satisfied customers, thousands of dollars in reduced paper consumption, less work for you and the CEO…”
You get the idea. If you start by expressing the cost in terms of savings and benefits to him or her and the company, you now have them understanding things that are important to them at the outset, and more open to learning more and putting the dollar-amount of the technology in its proper perspective.
Think of it as a sort of verbal Jujutsu where you are using your opponent’s force against himself. Only here, we are not trying to put them on the mat, rather we are trying to get them to INVEST in a technology that will pay for itself again, and again.
You need to have the CFO, in this case, what the cost of failing to act will be. Obviously, the cost is important, but more important are the possibilities of increasing productivity, reducing labor hours, getting ahead of the competition, getting rid of outdated processes, improved staff morale, and more. Of course, investing in technology will result in a hard cost up front, but the long term benefit should more than make up for the initial cost.
Important factors in evaluating technology:
Cost is one of many factors when considering a technology investment. Here are key indicators that every CEO, CFO, CIO or company officer should consider in technology investment.
- Will this improve customer satisfaction?
- Will this improve customer retention?
- Will this improve customer acquisition?
- Will our productivity improve?
- Will our employee morale improve?
- Will our income improve?
- Will this differentiate us from the competition?
- Will this help reduce overhead?
- Will this help reduce costs?
- And finally, What is it going to cost?
So, when you are pitching your boss on technology investment, use the 8 words that motivate them and make sure that you consider the qualitative factors, as well as the, quantitate ones. Technology should not be regarded as a necessary evil. Technology should be regarded as a method of keeping up with the competition, but it should be looked like a way to separate yourself from and move ahead of your competitors.
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If you are ready to take your business to the next level, contact us to see how we can work together and help you succeed.