Consultant quality matters a lot
Imagine you decided to get in better shape. You could find a local gym, figure out a workout plan, and try eating more vegetables. But the DIY approach takes a lot of time, results are slow, and you’re never quite sure if you’re making the right choices.
Instead, you could ask that friend who goes to the gym five times a week for advice. But they don’t have the experience or qualifications to give you sound advice, so you still might end up with an ineffective workout plan and a diet that doesn’t suit you.
For the fastest, most effective results, you’d find a qualified fitness coach. They can tailor your workouts, create bespoke meal plans, and track your progress. Why do you think all the top athletes have the best personal trainers?
The same concept is true in business.
You could take the DIY approach when it comes to business software implementation. We’ve seen dozens of clients work with poorly-qualified software consultants or self-implemented solutions, only to watch their systems fail and have to revert to their old processes. It may seem like the most affordable solution now, but it costs far more time and money in the long run.
We’ve also seen how significantly the quality of the coach you work with can influence success.
In fact, we investigated the quality x-factor and concluded that coach quality matters a lot, which is why it’s included in the Tech Roadmaps manifesto.
We collected data from 2,000 businesses with 5 to 100 employees about the software consultants they hired in the last year.
Interestingly, certified consultants charged just 6% more than non-certified consultants. However, the performance of certified coaches was dramatically better. 66% of certified consultants earned the business’ confidence to recommend them to other businesses, compared to just 51% of non-certified consultants who would be recommended and 49% who wouldn’t be.
For a slightly higher cost (6%), businesses get better results more often (66% to 51%) – quality matters.
More recently, we collected data on how nearly 800 businesses implemented their new ERP or core system. We split the data into three groups: (a) certified software implementation consultants, (b) self-implementations (including software provider assisted), and (c) implementation by non-certified software consultants.
We asked businesses to rate the success or failure of the implementations, and the results speak for themselves:
Choosing an experienced, qualified consultant for your software implementation is essential, and it comes with a number of benefits:
- Deep expertise and technical knowledge.
- Efficient problem-solving skills to overcome challenges.
- Expert insights into the latest technologies and trends.
- Better risk mitigation strategies based on experience.
- Effective communication and collaboration.
By investing just a little more now, you can save your business time, money, and software failures in the future.
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