Who do you take advice from, particularly as a small business owner? I have a great network and often seek their input. But a wise mentor once reminded me to be careful about who I take advice from.
The internet is a fabulous place to learn and seek information – but my friend who had “crowdsourced” a diagnosis of bowel cancer was terribly relieved when an expert confirmed he just had haemorrhoids. This stark contrast between crowd wisdom and expert advice underscores the importance of knowing whom to trust.
Similarly, in the realm of business software, advice can come from many sources, each with its own biases and limitations. Here, we’ll explore the common pitfalls of taking the wrong advice and provide a roadmap to making informed, reliable decisions for your business.
So who should I be listening to? Or not?
Now I’m getting into nuts and bolts, who should you listen to when seeking technology advice?
The ones that drive me crazy are people who give advice from a position of self-interest. An IT support person who recommends software because that is what they know, and can help you with. A software provider, because, well, they want to sell you their software! These should be easy to avoid… and yet many of us are drawn in by this confident self-interest. These people have valuable information about what they know, but be careful about all the things they don’t know – about a better competitor product or a solution that they have never supported.
Or your business buddy tells you that you should do exactly what they are doing! But is your business exactly the same? That link to their accounting software that they love so much might not work for you if they are using Xero and you are using MYOB. This is a trickier one, as other businesses like you, in the same or similar industries, can give fantastic recommendations and give you some important “watch-outs” too. They can suggest good things to look into, but be careful to do your own due diligence.
The same can be true of a staff member who loved some software they used in a previous job. They may not be aware of the purchase or running costs or your business’s specific needs.
All of the examples above are real experiences from my clients (and even myself at times!). One client invested in some very ordinary security software, because that is what their IT support provider was used to using. I have certainly bought software because of a sales pitch for some bright shiny new capability, only to find it didn’t link up with anything else that I was using – even though it was amazing for a friend’s business.
And I can’t tell you the number of small businesses that considered (or even bought!) high-end corporate software because that is what they or their team were used to using in their previous jobs. The software was fantastic, but everything fell apart when the realisation hit that the software needed a corporate IT department to set it up and run it effectively.
So who can help?
There is nothing wrong with all of these sources of information as long as you have clarity about what you need and the impact of your decision. If the purchase is low-risk and easily changed, give something a go! Lots of productivity and project software fall into this category for a small business. If it doesn’t work for you, just cancel that subscription. Don’t forget to cancel the subscription though!
But when you are going to make a bigger investment, not only in the software but also in having all your data and history tied up, you need to look more deeply. Sometimes, if you have an urgent need but not a lot of money, you’ll make a compromise based on the lowest price that does the basics of what you need. As soon as you go even a little beyond that though, going through a structured software selection process can make a big difference.
What do you mean?
Many of you know exactly what I mean. You pull together a list of what you need and compare different products to that list. This is relatively straightforward if you know the software domain well and have done this kind of process before.
If you don’t know the software well, spend some time researching many options before even starting, to make sure you have a sense of what you are looking at. And if you haven’t done a selection before, seek help with a structured approach. I have a simple template to help you get started with a structured approach if you need it. Click here to get access to the template now.
Are you thinking of investing in new or updated CRM software soon? We are launching the CRM Game Plan course next month with pre-filled selection and implementation templates to guide you to the very best solution for your business. It is designed to help small businesses make a confident decision about what CRM to buy and then make sure they implement it to deliver the value they are expecting. Sign up here if you are interested in getting access the moment the course is available.