STEP TWO:
Identifying your
team’s pain points

It’s time to start putting your case together

An important first step in your business case is looking at those closest to the problem the digital investment will solve. Most of the time this is your team – so, for brevity, we will continue to refer to them as “your team” even though there may be exceptions.

You need to articulate why things must change beyond the tiredness and frustration poor systems bring. Then you need to set out what the new solution will do to make things better.

This requires a deliberate approach. Let's look at how to make this easy for you.

At this early point, informally relay what your team’s issue is to your end decision-maker.
Let them know you want to look into solving this problem using a new digital solution.

Don’t think about this as jumping the gun. What you are doing is giving them an all-important heads up. They will then acknowledge there is a problem and be ready when you arrange a meeting to discuss the details. If you don’t do this, the newly raised problem will take centre-stage in your pitch meeting, not the solution.

Important

How to turn a problem into a quantifiable narrative

You need to tell the story behind your problem and help decision-makers weigh up its impact – as well as how the solution helps.

Get your team together and begin mind-mapping. Ask the following questions:

What’s the problem in a nutshell (inefficiency, not getting paid on time, struggling to keep up with compliance changes, and poor data handling)?

What are the specific, day-to-day challenges – how frequently do they occur?

Who does this affect in the team?

Are there any specific jobs where this problem became particularly serious for
you or your clients?

How much time does this
problem consume?

What do you estimate is the cost of
this disruption?

Make sure to include the ongoing risks of doing things the way they have always been done. Are you using Excel for legislation that you can’t afford to get wrong? A single mistyped formula could put you and your team at risk.

If your issue is around inefficiency, why not use our Time Leak Calculator to work out where the issue lies?

General issue – The numbers are down on last year.
Why are the numbers down on last year? Because the money doesn’t seem to be coming in.
Why does the money not seem to be coming in? Because customers are slow to pay us.
Why are customers slow to pay us? Because we’re slow to send an invoice.
Why are we slow to send an invoice? Because it feels like too much trouble to create one when we’re busy.

Struggling to pinpoint the problem?

Sometimes you know you have a problem, but it’s hard to articulate.

One powerful process is called “The 5 Whys”.

Here’s how it works: name the problem as you currently see it. Then ask “why” that is the case. Take that answer and – again – ask “why” that has happened.

Five “whys” later, you should be much closer to highlighting the root of the issue.

Here’s an example:

In this instance, you know you need a way to produce and send invoices faster.

But, once you’ve outlined the problem, what’s next?

Next, show how your proposed solution fixes the problem

Start taking each of those pain points you have documented and explain how they are opportunities for improvement.

Ask how your new digital solution will:

Fix the problem
Improve things for your staff
Make things better for clients
Save the team time
Save the firm money