Show me the money! 5 steps to funding mobility projects.

How can someone from the shop floor convince senior management to part with hard-earned company cash for a much needed process improvement?

The short answer is to pitch a business case with a strong Return On Investment (ROI) to the right person.

Operations staff at the sharp end of the business need senior management to fund business improvements (in a tough economic climate). However, the language and culture of the boardroom are different from the warehouse and the shop floor.

Here are 5 steps to closing the communication gap and delivering a successful pitch for replacing paperwork with mobile apps:

1. Find a sponsor

Who is the budget holder and final decision maker for technology investment within your organisation? If you do not have an existing relationship with the decision maker (often the Managing Director or Finance Director) and the executive team, then find someone within operations who does.

Explain the problem you are trying to solve, why you want to present a business case for investment and ask their advice on who to contact and how best to approach them. A good sponsor will also help you shape your idea to match the business and emotional drivers of the decision maker.

2. Build a business case

The backbone of your pitch is evidence. What are the expected measurable benefits of implementing new technology, based on reasonable assumptions about your operation?

Spartan’s customers operate in industrial markets where there is a growing need to efficiently manage the balance between staff, equipment and customers orders.

Some of the clear and measurable benefits that have been achieved by replacing paperwork with Phalanx mobile apps include:

• More efficient staff who can now spend more time managing customers, work and equipment and less time filling in and chasing paperwork.
• Higher equipment utilisation and increased revenue by removing the delay and error in paper-based processes.
• Better equipped field service technicians that can deliver orders to customers first time and have all parts in stock to complete necessary service work.

Build a long-list of measurable business benefits and agree the top three with your sponsor. Once agreed, work with your colleagues to build a basic spreadsheet model with your assumptions and expected benefits.

Once the basic model is in place, ask your sponsor to review and validate. You will need implementation costs to complete your model but, if your expected benefits are strong enough, this information can often wait until after your initial pitch.

3. It’s not just about money – highlight the intangible benefits

Our customers benefit from replacing paper with mobile apps in ways that are difficult (or impossible) to quantify in a spreadsheet.

For example, companies in the Oil & Gas and Utility sectors put health and safety and a “zero incident” culture at the heart of their operation. Introducing mobile apps into the depot, warehouse or field, allows companies to centrally define, rollout and monitor ‘best practice’ across all operations staff.

Other intangible benefits to consider are:

• Improving customer service
• Growing the business faster (without growing costs at the same rate)
• Winning new business

For more examples check out our white paper on building a business case for mobile apps.

4. Reference success stories in similar industries

It always helps if you can reference successful implementations of similar solutions in companies that your decision maker would recognise and understand. Don’t be afraid to discuss the success of a direct competitor as senior executives will not want to be ‘left behind’ as a wave of technology based process improvements sweep across their industry.

For a case study on how Balfour Beatty replaced paper with mobile apps, barcodes and RFID tags, download by clicking here…

5. Practice, practice, practice – then make your pitch

So you are happy that the basic business model is strong, supports an urgent and important board objective and is supported by persuasive intangible benefits. The next step is to work with your sponsor to outline your reason for a meeting and set a date and venue with the decision maker.

Given the limited time you can expect from a senior executive, I would advise setting an initial meeting for a maximum of 20 minutes (including 10 minutes of questions at the end). You should therefore script your presentation to 10 minutes and selectively choose the information you want to highlight. If it’s clear from an early point that they’re not interested, they’ll at least appreciate your passion and the fact that you haven’t taken up too much time. If however they are interested, you’ll be asked to stay on.

By this point you will know the business model inside out, and should be prepared to defend any of your assumptions and calculations, but please resist the urge to explain the model in detail! Practice the full presentation on your own at least five times over a few days until its perfect and at least once with your sponsor.

Following these steps will greatly improve your chances of securing funds to improve your operation, as well as increasing your profile within the organisation. You will at least be visible and might even get promoted as someone who cares and has the passion to get things done.

Good luck on the day, and if you need any advice on presenting a case for industrial mobile apps please mail John Glen, Operations Director, Spartan Solutions Ltd at: john.glen@spartan-solutions.com or call on: +44 (0)845 450 6902