Investing in any technology comes with many challenges and some risk. One of the biggest roadblocks may in fact be internal, such as a management team that is averse to spending the money it will take to acquire, integrate and train, or a staff that is opposed to change.
Many of these concerns can be overcome if you create and implement a solid plan or approach to the entire process.
Getting buy-in from management
The first step to investing in new technology is getting buy in from management. Before adding a new solution to your tech stack, you must have a solid reason for doing so that fits in with the company’s business objectives
Begin by doing your due diligence, including identifying what problems you are trying to correct or enhancement you are trying to create with the new solution. Research every aspect of the technology, including the initial investment and ongoing costs, time and effort it takes to implement or integrate the software, and length of time and expense it takes to train the staff to ensure the solution is fully functional within your overall processes.
Use the information you have gathered to craft a narrative that explains the benefits of the new solution, backed up by facts. That includes having clear data – not just opinion – on what issue you are trying to address or what business objective this will help you meet, as well as making an economic case for how the new solution will save money in the long term or result in increased revenue.
In the context of presenting the narrative, be open to feedback and questions. If done diligently, your research should provide you with sufficient information to respond to feedback and questions, but if not, don’t be resistant to going back to the drawing board to gather additional information management needs to make a decision.
Getting buy-in from staff for implementation
If you have done your due diligence early on, you will have a thorough understanding of what it will take to implement the new solution and what resources are required to accomplish it. This includes not only resources from the IT side, but from your human resources department, who may be tasked with setting up training initiatives for the current staff as well as adding training modules for new hires.
Creating a step-by-step communication plan for how you plan to roll out the information to the staff is critical. Often managers assume everyone is going to be as excited as they are about the new solution but in actuality may run into resistance for a host of reasons.
Patience is the better part of valor in this situation, so avoid meeting resistance with insistence. Instead, be open to feedback, listen to objections and invite input into the process, whether that is adjusting the timing of implementation, or being open to suggestions for the rollout.
Most importantly, remember that your solution provider can be your greatest ally. At VizionX we collaborate with our customers to ensure a smooth transition.
At VizionX, we understand the pace of technological change in the real estate, lending and title insurance triad, and we are dedicated to developing technology that will help title agents grow their companies. Our soon-to-be-released TPS , VizionX TitleOS! will shortly be rolling out what we believe will become the gold standard for title production technology. Contact us today for more information.
