Delays in internal budget sign off can be one of the biggest factors in derailing an otherwise well-planned legal tech project. During my career in sales I’ve often had clients run into the dreaded ‘what is this cost and why should I approve it?’ phone call at the last minute of getting a deal through – best avoided at all costs!
To help you avoid potential pitfalls, I’ve put together some practical hints and tips on how to make sure your internal sign off process goes smoothly, so you get the buy-in you need to support your teams in 2022.
Ask yourself the following questions as you prepare to go through the process:
Who needs to approve this expenditure?
The first step is to know who needs to approve the budget and make sure that they’re ready when the time comes. Try to touch base with everyone who may be a blocker – for example if you have the budget approved by your CFO, make sure to let your finance team know to expect the invoice, especially where it’s a large amount or a quick-turnaround needed.
Another common issue that arises is a team member being absent; without their input or sign off, a project can’t move forward, causing a bottleneck. You can avoid this by reassigning their work proactively if they have upcoming leave and reactively if someone is unexpectedly unwell.
What am I asking them to approve?
If you’re having to ‘pitch’ for the funding, make sure that you’ve got all the information ready and try to pre-empt questions from your leadership team. This will include details of the project timelines, projected costs, deliverables and the next phases of the project where appropriate.
Why do I need it?
Stakeholder buy-in is crucial. Do the relevant parties understand the value of the project and the ROI? Why does your team or business need to make these changes, how does it impact your team and potentially the wider business? Senior stakeholders don’t necessarily need to be aware of the full project details, but they do need to understand the importance to the business and an overview of deliverables. It will help if you can highlight how the project feeds into specific business objectives and goals (for example reducing risk in the supply chain by allowing easy access to certain clauses in contracts).
When is the deadline?
You need to ensure that the decision makers are aware of when they will need to provide sign off and the importance of sticking to deadlines. Clear communication of timescales from day one can help to avoid an eleventh-hour scramble to get sign off. Be particularly aware of timescales where large internal projects or national holidays conflict with timelines.
How do I make this happen smoothly?
Speak to your finance team early in the process to make sure that you don’t hit internal process roadblocks. If you have a purchase order system for instance, you’ll probably need to get the supplier set up on the system which might include due-diligence checks and take time to accomplish.
You may also need additional layers of approval depending on the costs, so make sure to factor this in to the ‘who’ question above. For example, although your manager has approved the cost, the actual PO may need to go to THEIR manager to approve, so make sure that person is expecting it to avoid further delays and questions.
There can be a lot of admin involved in getting projects signed off internally so making sure you’re taking charge of the process from day one can really help to make your own life a lot easier.
At SYKE we’re always happy to support our clients when it comes to getting internal buy-in for projects. We can provide statistics and projections to help you make the case for the spend internally, as well as providing personalised demos of new tech.
If you’d like to discuss an upcoming tech project, please contact amanda@syke.tech or get in touch.
Amanda joined Syke from FTSE100 prop-tech market leader, Rightmove, where she worked closely with large organisations to achieve their growth plans. Amanda’s focus as Sales Director is ensuring we uncover client needs and objectives to build strategies and provide a bespoke service that will deliver optimum ROI. Amanda is committed to building close client partnerships and to delivering a service that exceeds expectations.
