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It’s true that CFOs spend far too much time looking at numbers, but many have sat elsewhere in their organizations and base their big decisions solely on numbers and budgets. I know there are times when it shouldn’t.
This is especially true when it comes to digital transformation. Because the project itself is not black and white. How you present it is important.
So when you seek buy-in from your CFO (or other leader who manages the company’s budget), your plan should include more than just a dollar offer. Ultimately, digital transformation is all about storytelling, articulating what will happen before it costs a lot of money.
Here are three things your plan should include to ensure buy-in and ROI from digital transformation.
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Analyze the approval process and decide who becomes a player
To start your digital transformation plan, we recommend taking a deep dive into your current organizational processes.
Ask yourself questions such as:
- How are large projects managed today?
- Where are the bottlenecks and inefficiencies?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of your current system and processes?
This helps you plan your digital transformation and ensure a seamless process. One of the biggest mistakes companies can make is skipping this step. As a result, the project will be stagnant or postponed because the prescribed system is not in place.
In addition to analyzing internal processes, you need to know which departments should be involved in the digital overhaul. Who are the “players” in ensuring a successful project and, just as important, what are their goals? IT has very different wants and needs than marketing and sales. Therefore, it is important to identify from the outset who the parties will be.
After analyzing your current approval process and determining which departments have a voice in your digital transformation, the next step is to designate approvers. For example, reducing from 6 to 1 or 2 he eliminates redundancy, streamlines and avoids bottlenecks as you navigate your digital transformation.
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Create KPIs that are tracked as the project progresses
Another common mistake companies make when creating a digital transformation master plan is to create KPIs to measure after digital transformation is complete, but deploy KPIs in real-time to pre-assess effectiveness. Not thinking about it.
This is also a great way to get your CFO buy-in by creating milestones as you go along. That way, along the way he can not only help keep the CFO updated, but also show his KPIs that have been achieved, making it easier to ask for additional amounts on change orders. It is also useful if you have
And now that various features are available online, you can start using these KPIs to show the sum of your actions and how they lead to the end result (ROI). increase. Time spent on site and number of pages visited are very good measurements, and once you see the dollar conversion, the other data points can tell their own stories. Best of all, measuring the business impact of new features helps you align your project backlog and prioritize features that deliver the most value.
Never cap your budget from the start and monitor in real time
Never go to your CFO and say, “I need a million bucks and then nothing.”
This only causes frustration (and potentially slows down the project) when unforeseen needs such as ongoing support, licenses and updates undoubtedly arise. A successful digital transformation project should have no defined endpoints.
Instead, planning should focus on continuously improving digital processes, onboarding new employees, and introducing new technologies to adapt to changing business conditions. Each ongoing change requires ongoing requests for funds and resources, so make sure this is included in your plan from the beginning. This is where real-time KPIs come into play, making your job easier when requesting more funds.
Finally, once the digital process begins, real-time monitoring becomes essential to identify emerging issues that may impact transformation. However, proactively addressing potential issues can reduce risk and ensure the continued success of your digital projects. With real-time monitoring, you can continuously optimize your processes and even improve your ROI.
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way to proceed
Getting buy-in from your CFO is a lot to consider, but using the tips above will ensure a successful digital transformation, ultimately leading to a new influx of happy, lifelong customers.