"If you ever sell something complicated to them again..."
I thought about it for a second while the business developer hung around the doorway of my office. And then I continued...
"Well, just don't do it. Don't sell anything like that to them ever again."
It wasn't the reaction my colleagues were used to hearing from me.
I loved it when they popped into my office with questions like "if we wanted to build this investment product, how would it be possible?"
Talk about dangling that carrot.
And the sooner they brought me in like that, the better off we'd all be bringing in that opportunity.
But this time, I made sure they knew I was serious.
I didn't care how many millions were on the table or how interesting it was. We were NOT going through that again.
Who's The Boss Here?
It's in the way you track your business progress... based on what the software tells you, not what actually indicates success.
Or the way you've built the client relationship process, to fit the limitations of your CRM, even if it means extra steps or missing key information.
It's in the way you train new hires on how to use the software rather than the actual business processes or the desired outcomes.
And it's in the way client communications or even internal meetings are dictated by what the tools can realistically do, not by what's most effective for client relationships or profit.
So I have to ask...
We all work with systems and tools...
But are you in charge of them... or are they in charge of you??
Without approaching systems in the right way, before you even know it, you're taking the best practices of your business and turning them into practices that fit the tool, not your goals.
Ironically, the more I see a business bend to a tool instead of using that tool to bolster their business, the more justification seems to ripple off them about the unimpeachable value of their "process."
This is just one way that outside perspective makes a big difference. Unless of course you appreciate being stuck, unable to see the forest for the trees because you're smack dab in the middle of it.
When Software & Systems Become The Sun
That client hadn't just decided to hold tight to a tool. They had built an entire business around a custom software and an internal team.
While their competitors were out there engaging specialty providers with world-class competencies, this client was entrenched in a legacy system supported by transfer pricing.
We hadn't seen the issue right away. Our first engagement with them was nice, easy, plain vanilla... and didn't seem to trigger any problems.
Of course, their system was initially built around plain vanilla… So that original mix wasn't going to create surprises.
It was only when we scaled the relationship, and added more complexity to the mix, that we started seeing the cracks.
For my relationship and ops teams, it was kind of like the client expected all their vendors to work around that legacy set up just as much as they did. Like the problem wasn't the infrastructure, it was us.
Things I'd never not been able to resolve before, even in incredibly complicated situations with other clients, became deal killers.
Oh, we funded the investment with them. We made it work.
But it was non-stop trouble.
Questions. Escalations. Quadruple checks done manually.
Either we had the data wrong or they did. Neither was acceptable.
We bent until we were just a hair's breadth away from fully broken.
That system was their sun.
But in the end, orbiting an entrenched process like that, for either party in this case, was never going to lead to a profitable, scalable, or sustainable business.
So as exciting as the future possibilities could have been, for my business developers and for me, that client landed on a one-client-long "no" list.
Letting Tools Be Tools
Tools, off-the-shelf software especially, aren't perfectly built for you. They're just... built.
Custom software can have its limits too - both in the cost of creation but also in the sunk cost of holding onto something way too long that no longer fits - similarly undermining the business just like the "this is how we've always done it" justification does.
And then there's that famous system called "The Way We've Always Done It" that edges out all forms of business improvement in the name of consistency and limited change.
Which is why the phases of discovery, process mapping, onboarding, change management and customization is so crucial to reaping your Return on Investment when you do have to make upgrades to your tools or process.
You have to make the tool yours, as much as possible, while also having to remember that this may not be your forever fit.
Because your business growth is the goal. Not the tool.
How To Put Your Business First
We've been critically aware of this with one client I'm currently working with.
As we've updated and documented their current processes, getting it all accurate and organized for staff to access on demand, we've identified a key software that may get replaced in the coming year or two.
Rather than make the training modules focus on the tool, we've made a conscientious effort to focus on the business process and business context instead.
Yes, the tool is important. It's not like we're ignoring its existence. Because your business isn't based on click here, now go there, next click here, right?
If and when the tool goes away (because it eventually will), some things will still be true for your business regardless.
And those things have nothing to do with click patterns and screenshots.
Like how you treat your clients.
What matters in getting them an effective outcome.
And to do that we need to identify the conversations-on-repeat and critical thinking necessary for excelling at the client delivery and supporting your business in all it needs to move forward.
Knowing that the business is the business and the tool is the tool helps ensure the approach is structured for longevity and easier accommodation when the change happens. So we're not just approaching it this way with the processes this tool touches, but with all aspects of which employees will access and train.
The tool is not the answer.
The tool is not your sun.
And you can keep the tool from becoming a burden to your business by keeping your business at the center of it all.
If a tool in your business has become a trap, or you want your next implementation to become a business upgrade, not a rework of the solar system, it's worth a conversation. Set up some time to talk with us here.
