Making a Strong Internal Case to Purchase New Tech

If you’ve ever felt lost trying to purchase a tech solution, you’re not alone. 

From the endless options available today to being able to get executive buy-in and budgets approved, the road is paved with one too many challenges. 

Enter Buying Bottlenecks, a fortnightly newsletter where we share practical ways to help you navigate such challenges!

In each edition, we tackle one bottleneck that B2B buyers face today, with solutions from industry experts.

Buckle up, because we’re about to address a tricky one today!

As budgets get slashed and the pressure to ‘do more with less’ grips every B2B organization, it’s critical today to get your internal stakeholders on board–and early in the process–if you wish to purchase a tech solution. 

If you’re thinking, ‘that’s easier said than done’, you’re right. Which is why we address this in today’s Buying Bottlenecks:

Keep reading to see 5 ways you can handle this challenge!

Ask Brett McGrath (VP of Marketing, The Juice) how he’ll make a strong case and he turns to the power of content. 

“Fortunately, there's a correlation between the leading technology and great content.

Brands who are building industry-leading products are likely creating great content, too. Buyers should always be using the content from their future technology partners to help educate internal stakeholders along the decision-making path”.

Vikas Jha (Founder, Alore) believes that a good proposal should ideally have three subsections:

• Pre-state
• Post-state
• Bridge

“Let's start with the pre-state. 

The problem is clear: your current workflow is causing inefficiencies and bottlenecks, leading to a loss of time and money. Quantifying these losses is essential to building a rock-solid internal business case. 

Calculate the hours lost due to these inefficiencies and estimate the amount of money lost as a result. Be sure to present both of these figures to the decision-makers in your company.

Now, let's look at the post-state. 

The ideal workflow should be efficient, streamlined, and optimized for success. You want to paint a picture of a workflow where tasks are completed in a timely manner and everyone is working at their highest potential.

So, how can you bridge the gap between the pre-state and post-state? The answer is the tech solution you are proposing. While the solution might not be perfect, it is a step in the right direction toward reducing bottlenecks and time and money lost.

Example - By implementing this tech solution, you can automate processes, reduce errors, and increase productivity. Use concrete examples and case studies to show how the solution has helped other companies and can help yours”

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Luka Kankaras (Senior Product Growth Specialist, Usersnap) proposes a very practical 4-step process:

1. Start with the goal you want to achieve and the problems that prevent you from achieving that goal. Once you’ve identified these pain points, discuss them with your relevant colleague(s) in a 1-on-1 conversation to get a fresh perspective, validate the issue, and introduce the topic early so it’s easier to get approval later.

2. As a next step, move on to understanding the costs. Answer the following question: If I don't solve this problem, what will the cost be one year from now? 

3. When you have this answer, research different vendors who can solve your pain point. Most of the time you can't figure this out by looking at the website, so depending on the company, you can book a demo call, experience an interactive product demo yourself, sign up, and do a Proof of Concept for free (viva la PLG), etc. 

4. Once you've identified the main contenders, create a use case and present them for a second round of feedback from relevant colleagues. After you've addressed their objections and taken their feedback into account, you can present them to key stakeholders. 

“Take this approach with a grain of salt - this also depends on the company size, internal policies, etc. but this should be the framework, more or less”.

‍Mohammed Sajjad (AVP Revenue - US, Pepper Content) has five crisp pointers that can come in handy. 

1. Present a current landscape of things without the tech
   
   
2. Create a "what if" scenario with and without the tech
   
   
3. What changes if we implement now vs later?
   
   
4. ROI - How much time would it take to break even on the investment?
   
   
5. Can we pilot it initially to prove the tech works & then go long term?

‍Rory Sadler (Founder, Trumpet) is a big proponent of personalized microsites to do the convincing. According to him, when you’re making a case to purchase a tech solution, you’ve to include:

• What is the business problem this will solve?
• Why do we need to solve this problem now?
• Solution description
• Cost overview
• Case studies
• Timeline
• Benefits

With ROI and impact, focus on:

• Increasing revenue
• Reducing cost
• Reducing risk

“Sure, you could send a deck but you'll have no visibility into the engagement.

Leverage microsites to create an engaging and interactive experience for your internal stakeholders whilst unlocking insights into the async buying behavior so you can forecast better and have informed and relevant follow-up conversations”

✏️ In Summary:

• Leverage great quality content from the vendor to get internal buy-in
• Pre-state without the tech > Post-state with the tech > Bridge to reach post-state
• Identify pain point > Understand cost > Shortlist vendors > Get peer & executive buy-in
• Present a before / after contrast around the tech solution
• Appeal with strong arguments and a trackable microsite

Planning to use any of the proposed solutions in your next software purchase? Join the conversation on LinkedIn by using #BuyingBottlenecks and let us know!

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