The quest to find a promotional review system can be prompted for many reasons. Maybe you’re frustrated with your current system (or lack thereof), your organization is resource-constrained, or your leadership has put increased emphasis on digital transformation. Or, perhaps your peers have shared how they cannot imagine managing the promotional review process without a purpose-built solution.
No matter the “why,” the process of finding and making the business case for a new promotional review system comes with its own set of challenges. Where do you even start? Here are three steps you can take to find a promotional review system and convince your boss it’s the right selection.
#1: Identify and articulate your MLR process pain points
Commonly, MLR teams can sense when things aren’t going as well as they could be. People get frustrated, review meetings lose their focus, cycle times are long, and content is not getting to market quickly. However, when it comes to convincing your boss that software can help, you need to articulate your pain points in a language he or she understands.
Instead of griping to your boss that “things just aren’t going well,” consider how you can translate what you’re experiencing into talking points that crystalize the problem, such as:
- Reviews are experiencing bottlenecks or being held up by specific departments.
- Review meetings are taking up 20+ hours per week, and are not productive because time is spent tracking down claims or nitpicking over branded messaging.
- Review cycles are slow due to an overburdened team.
- Marketing complains that content is not getting to market fast enough to support product launches or sales.
Identifying the primary challenges of your current system and the impact on your business will help you make your case by: 1) focusing on what needs to be solved with a new system, and 2) getting early buy-in from your boss that your MLR challenges are critical enough to require a new solution.
#2: Do your research
In order to effectively convince your boss that your organization needs a promotional review system, you have to do your research. With your key challenges in mind, create a list of features or functionality that you are looking for or require in a system. Then, assess your software options based on that list to ensure a fair assessment. When possible, watch demo videos, review technical specifications and security information, and look for customer testimonials. The more you know, the easier it will be to make a strong recommendation on which solution to move forward with.
#3: Communicate the value of a new MLR system
Articulated pain points and well-researched options are only part of the equation to building your case for purchasing a new promotional review system; you also need to explain the value of a new system within the context of your current organizational ecosystem. Translating your goals (i.e. speed to market, collaboration, compliance, faster review cycles, etc.) into hard benefits (i.e. dollars and cents) is the linchpin in convincing your boss that your recommendation is the right decision for the business.
At Vodori, we know that quantifying the value you get from Pepper Flow® is essential in obtaining full organizational buy in and justifying the investment. We even created an ROI calculator so you can see, firsthand, how your organization can derive value from our modern software. Simply provide us with some data about your process and we’ll do the rest.
Convincing your boss that your organization needs a new promotional review system relies heavily on persuasion–and persuasion is most effective when derived from facts. When you come to a meeting prepared with clearly articulated pain points of your current process, in-depth knowledge about your solution options, and an understanding of how a new system can provide value to your organization, it will be hard for your boss (let alone anyone at your organization!) to ignore you and your business case.