Who's Really Impacted by the Software you choose?

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Transcript

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This is Elevated the Snackable Weekly podcast, helping kitchen and bath designers build a better business. I'm your host Brandy Lawson, and in this episode we're playing a little game of. Six degrees of software impact because let me tell you that CRM you're considering, it affects way more people than you might think. You know how changing one thing in a kitchen design kind of creates a domino effect, move the sink, and suddenly you're rethinking the dishwasher location, the prep space, the traffic. Well, the software decisions work the very same way. Let me tell you about Alex's firm. She came to me thinking she just needed to switch CRMs because leads were falling through the cracks. Simple enough, right? But when we mapped out who was actually being impacted by their current system, there were some surprises to say the least. Grab your worksheet, fire effects.com/choose if you haven't already, and let's create your stakeholder impact map. We're going to use Alex's story as our example because it's a really good illustration of how deep this rabbit hole can go. First up, the obvious players. Alex started by listing her immediate team designers losing track of follow-ups. Admin staff manually entering the same info multiple times, and the team playing email detective to piece together to conversations. But here's where it gets better. What about everyone else? Let's follow the ripple effect. So next on to the Direct Impact club. First, clients trying to sign contracts and getting frustrated with clunky systems. Also vendors. Waiting for specifications that are buried in someone's email. Then contractors showing up to job sites with outdated information. And finally, strategic partners like architects and builders trying to coordinate timelines. So that's the direct. Now let's talk about the indirect impact squad. This is the group of players that I think is most often overlooked, those affected by your software choices without even knowing it. So clients. Might be wondering why their designer seems distracted. Spoiler, they're mentally tracking 15 different things because their software doesn't next. Interior designers you partner with, but they're getting incomplete information. Also, thinking about installers dealing with last minute changes or missing pieces because communication fell through the cracks. Here's what blew Alex's mind when we mapped out everyone impacted by her small CRM problem. Four designers were spending five extra hours per week hunting for information. Two admin staff, basically playing full-time detective. 15 active clients dealing with delayed responses. Eight strategic partners getting fragmented communications and three vendors receiving duplicate and sometimes conflicting orders. And finally, countless potential clients who never heard back from you because they got lost. But wait, here's the real kicker. Remember those indirect effects? Alex had a designer almost quit because she was so stressed out about missing follow ups. The designer wasn't mad at the crm, she was mad at herself. The classic case of good people being failed by bad systems. So let's talk about your clients for a minute. You ever have to say, oh, I'll have to look that up and get back to you during a client meeting. That's a software impact moment. Every time your systems make you look less professional or prepared, they're affecting your client relationships. So here's how to map your own stakeholder impact. First, start with your inner circle list everyone who directly uses a software. Then think about what are they trying to accomplish, and then how are they currently struggling. Second, follow the information flow. So who receives information from your system? Then who needs to input information? And then where are the communication breakpoints? Number three, look for the hidden impacts. Who's affected by delays here? Then where is the frustration showing up? And finally, what relationships are being strained. Remember those, uh, I'll get back to you in moments. Track those for week. Each one is a clue about who's being impacted by your current setup. Okay, here's the big revelation. What finally happened with Alex, once we mapped out everyone affected by their CRM issues, that$12,000 annual software investment suddenly looked like a bargain compared to 520 hours of wasted team time annually. Three missed partner opportunities, one almost lost designer, and countless stress and headaches for everyone involved. Your homework this week is to map out every single person touched by your software, and I mean everyone from your newest admin to your longest running contractor relationship. I'll bet you find some surprises. Next week we'll talk about solution evaluation, but trust me, this stakeholder map you're creating is going to make choosing the right solution so much clearer. If you're ready to discover who's really being impacted by your software choices. Head to fiery effects.com/choose. Grab that worksheet and let's start mapping because just like a perfectly planned kitchen makes everyone's life better. The right software can lift up your entire business ecosystem. I.