5 Ways To Convince Your Boss You Need New CPM Financial Software
You and I both know that your firm needs to upgrade your CPM financial software. You know why finance is rapidly moving to the cloud and you know why financial dashboards matter and how they can help your firm. You are fully aware of the ways in which spreadsheets are a weakness to your work-flow, and you have memorized the ways to improve your sales and operations planning — but maybe your management isn’t as aware as you.
You know they aren’t as aware because you and your team are constantly dealing with limited spreadsheet programs. Programs that are error-prone and a total drain on the time your team has to work with.
Here are some tips for convincing senior management that Corporate Management Software (CPM) is the best option to automate financial processes and enable the Finance team to perform better and be more proactive in planning.
1) Learn the lingo.
And in this case, the lingo is numbers. Use this language to communicate the problems you are constantly dealing with and the (almost) guaranteed efficiencies that will result when you start to utilize CPM. If you need a reminder, those include (but are not limited to): cost savings, return on investment, and faster close. So, to talk in the lingo, illustrate exactly how much time you and your team will save when working with CPM.
2) Remember the humans.
Or at least the human cost. When a firm is not utilizing CPM, they run the risk of wasting an incredible amount of human capital. By implementing and correctly utilizing the best CPM system, your firm can save on overtime costs, contract workers, and the cost of leave when the humans are too burnt out to look at any more spreadsheets. Show that it is your entire team, not just you, who are feeling the stresses and frustrations of not having CPM to automate financial processes.
3) Lay-out the pros and cons.
In the right lingo, explain to management the pros and cons of the current system you are using. Then compare those pros and cons with the pros and cons of CPM. During this exercise, it should become fairly obvious which solution enables your team to function with greater efficiency. Highlight how the new CPM system can allow for adding value across all lines of business with visual analytics, automated reporting, and integrated financial planning.
4) Refer to third-party opinion
There are plenty of software review sites and analysts that cover the performance management space. While our blog posts don’t technically count as third-party writings, we do often link to studies that prove our points! And, if you are interested in using Kepion in your firm, we will happily pass along industry research as part of the sales process. Whichever firm you approach, make sure to specifically ask for references in your industry, similar company size, or area of expertise. Then transfer this into a proposal to present to your senior management — obviously using the lingo!
5) Identify advocates
Identify other senior finance members whom you can pre-pitch your idea to and then (hopefully) have them join your cause as an advocate. Pre-pitching to other senior members of the management team, and then using their feedback to improve your pitch, can be extremely helpful for your main event.
In many firms it can be difficult to convince management to try something new, but using these tips should help you get on the right track.
No longer operate under separate planning & reporting processes. With Kepion’s Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Solution, you can collaborate on a single approach for integrated business planning. Designed for the business, by the business, Kepion’s Corporate Performance Management Software allows sales, finance, operations, marketing and HR to configure personalized planning apps specifically to how they work. Kepion’s Dashboards and Scorecards Software helps you visualize performance, plan for efficiencies and track your results.