First recognize, then fix, three tech pains

Add the endless array of business solutions to these endless needs, and the possible combinations could give the average entrepreneur a migraine.

I’ve seen it firsthand. A prospect calls our company and asks us to implement the latest business solution they’ve heard about at an event or from another business owner. They think an out-of-the-box product is just the thing to make their bookkeeper stop bugging them or to speed up their sales process.

The job of the technology consultant is to keep decisions simple and pain-free for business owners. To do that, however, we have to understand their pain.

This is not the simple part. There are three primary pains of technology that are influenced both by your business and changes in the marketplace. Compare it to a medical condition and you can see why diagnosing the pain is so important before jumping right into treatment.

Before you spend thousands of dollars on business solutions, it’s worth the time to figure out the true source of your technology pain.

Latent pain
About 95 percent of businesses fall into this category. They may not even be aware that they have a problem, and if they do they don’t know that anything can fix it.

A common example of latent pain is when employees use their e-mail program as a filing system for important information. The owner doesn’t know they are doing it, it is inefficient, but employees continue to do it until an important piece of client data is lost or compromised.

The business owners who know that they have a problem could continue to place it on the back burner because so many other important issues take up attention. Like owning an old car, they see that it?s old but aren’t sure when they’ll replace it.

To find out if you have latent technology pain, take a look at your strategic plan. If your current or anticipated technology investment does not map to your business goals over the next five or 10 years, you will experience latent pain.

Technology can’t be an afterthought. It should be integrated with your strategic planning.

Active pain
When businesses realize that their technology is not mapping well to their business goals, they move into active pain. This comprises about 5 percent of all businesses.

They recognize the pain and are uncomfortable and unhappy about it. They may be actively seeking solutions, but have a lot of uncertainty about what will work best for them. Basically, they’re kicking tires.

A common active pain is when systems within the company do not communicate well or are not compatible with one another. The sales department can’t send orders directly to the warehouse or accounts receivable. The shift schedule doesn’t account for changes in production demand.

These business owners are sometimes the ones who call us and say they want a particular business solution, but they haven’t developed a true vision for how the technology will enhance their productivity, reduce costs or create a market advantage.

They might say, “Can you show me a demo?” or “How much will this cost?” But those are the wrong questions at this phase. Rather than focusing on one of 150 products that claim to do the same things, the business owner should be discussing needs, pains and goals.

Without this discussion, the business owner can diminish the chances of a successful implementation. Solutions providers can’t do their jobs well.

If you are shopping for technology solutions, you are probably in active pain.

Visionary pain
Only 1 percent of businesses reach and sustain a level of visionary pain. They have assigned a process to investing in new technology and have a direction that aligns with long-term business goals.

They know, for example, that in a year they will need a new server. They know that in two years they want to completely automate inventory management or offer portal services to clients and vendors.

They understand exactly how these technology goals support and match the growth projections of their company. Their technology enhancements are plotted into their budgets and aligned with revenue projections.

The speed of change in business and new technology dictates that businesses will always be in some form of pain. But successful solutions providers are those who help business owners create a process for understanding their needs.

When a business owner says, “I really want this”, the solutions provider should ask, “Why?” Before launching into the features of their products, providers should ask open-ended questions about the reasons behind the pain.

This takes time. That’s why the majority of business owners are in latent pain today.

By evolving into visionary pain, however, businesses will have a road map that makes each successive investment and implementation a simple and pain-free process.

Businesses that connect strategy to technology investment through the right partners are the market leaders of tomorrow.