We all need a champion, don’t you agree?

Let’s cut to the chase: when you buy a new software tool, you need to make sure someone on your team can clear off 25 percent of his or her time (from here until eternity) to be the “champion” of the software. Let us explain.

Perhaps you’re looking for a new accounting system (moving from QBO to Intacct or Microsoft SL). Or, you want to start using a CRM (Salesforce or Zoho) or implement a project management tool (Asana, Trello or Basecamp) across the organization. That’s exciting! These web tools are super helpful — if everyone else gets on board.

When we think about moving to a different system — either for a fresh start or to convert already-existing data — it’s easy to get jazzed up about all the new features and efficiencies. But something we don’t often think through is what it takes to fully integrate and adopt the new system. 

We’re here to tell you: you need a devoted resource on your payroll to implement a new program or tool to its fullest potential. You want your champion to commit an average of a quarter of their time during the system’s first year of rollout. There are two phases of implementation:

1. In the beginning, your champion will get to know the data and manage data conversion and system set up.

2. Once you go live, this person is responsible for training others on usage, creating buzz about the new tool, and keeping up-to-date with all the features available. 

This is a never-ending job, and without a “Champion,” you’ll find yourself with a product that is not widely adopted, does not provide good reporting and lacks buzz. Your team will have forgotten about it, use it only on the surface and grumble at the water cooler about how bad a decision the product was.

Oh, and another thing: in two to five years, you’ll be saying you need a new system and you may not even know why. Stay tuned for a discussion on how to evaluate the systems that you currently use before you start telling everyone you need a new system.