As a sales operations professional, you know how important it is to have the right tools and technologies to support your sales team. But how do you decide when to upgrade your existing tools or invest in new ones, and when to maintain them or optimize them? In this article, we'll explore some factors to consider when making this choice, and some best practices to follow.
The first thing to think about is your business goals and how your tools align with them. Are you looking to grow your revenue, expand your market, improve your customer satisfaction, or streamline your processes? Depending on your objectives, you may need different tools or features to help you achieve them. For example, if you want to increase your conversion rate, you may need a tool that helps you track and nurture leads more effectively. If you want to reduce your costs, you may need a tool that automates some of your tasks and reduces errors.
The next factor to consider is your budget and the return on investment (ROI) of your tools. Upgrading or buying new tools can be expensive, and you need to make sure that you can justify the cost and the value. You can calculate the ROI of your tools by comparing the benefits they bring to your sales performance, such as increased sales, reduced churn, or improved efficiency, with the costs they incur, such as licensing fees, maintenance fees, or training costs. You should also factor in the opportunity cost of not upgrading or buying new tools, such as losing customers, market share, or competitive edge.
When looking at ROI and Budget on software upgrades, a major consideration has been "If we don't upgrade, how much time is our team spending doing things the manual/work-around way?" There have been two costs/values to consider. 1. The payroll cost mentioned above and then 2. How many incremental deals can we close-win if we got all that time back? If there is a chance you could increase annual revenue by 2-4%, how does that revenue stack up against the cost of the tool upgrade?
Another factor to consider is the feedback and adoption of your users, i.e., your sales team. You want to make sure that your tools are user-friendly, intuitive, and compatible with your sales processes and workflows. You also want to ensure that your sales team is using the tools effectively and consistently, and that they are satisfied with them. You can gather user feedback and adoption data by conducting surveys, interviews, or focus groups, or by using analytics tools that measure usage, engagement, or satisfaction. Based on the feedback and adoption data, you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your tools, and the gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Whether you choose to upgrade or maintain, you should always superpower your users. Yes, look at the data to see what they are doing, but also build direct user feedback into your tool. Give users the best chance at adoption by listening to their needs at the moment it matters, all while providing documentation, learning and updates where they are working rather than sending them to another resource.
The last factor to consider is the market and industry trends and how they affect your tools and technologies. You want to stay on top of the latest developments and innovations in your field, and see how they can enhance your sales operations. You also want to monitor your competitors and see what tools and technologies they are using, and how they are differentiating themselves. By keeping an eye on the market and industry trends, you can anticipate the changing needs and expectations of your customers, and adapt your tools and technologies accordingly.
When deciding whether to upgrade, maintain, invest in new tools, or optimize your existing ones, you must consider your specific situation and goals. Generally speaking, you should upgrade your tools if they are outdated or incompatible with your current or future needs, and if the benefits outweigh the costs and risks. On the other hand, you should maintain them if they are still functional and compatible with your needs, but the costs and risks of upgrading are too high or uncertain. Investing in new tools can be beneficial if they offer significant advantages over your existing ones. Lastly, you should optimize your existing tools if they can be improved with some tweaks, customizations, or configurations.
Finally, once you have decided whether to upgrade or maintain your tools, or whether to invest in new ones or optimize your existing ones, you need to have a clear implementation and evaluation plan. This plan should outline the steps, timelines, resources, and responsibilities for executing your decision, as well as the criteria, metrics, and methods for measuring its impact and outcomes. You should also communicate your plan to your stakeholders, such as your sales team, your management, your vendors, or your customers, and get their buy-in and support. By having a well-defined and well-executed implementation and evaluation plan, you can ensure that your tools and technologies are aligned with your sales operations goals and deliver the desired results.