While the people component is the most complex, the technology component can be the most intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few suggestions on how to get comfortable with a technology choice.
- Get a demonstration of the technology. Sometimes these are done personally in your office, sometimes it’s a live presentation over the web or it could be a pre-recorded web demonstration. This all depends on the cost of the product and the associated margin that can be used to finance the sales activity. Don’t buy something you haven’t seen in operation.
- Ask for a no-obligation free trial. See it in action in your practice being used by your team. Last week one of my “people” recommendations was to involve the whole team in the decision process. Here’s your chance to do that.
- Get references. Talk to the references and get their opinions. Did it meet their expectations? What were their difficulties? What were their successes? Make sure they are using the same model or release of the technology that you will be buying.
- Thorough training is as important as the technology itself. Find out how this is done and plan for its inclusion in your schedule. What about re-training for new staff? Does it cost?
- How is on-going support handled? The level of support should match the importance of the technology change to your practice. If it is a primary tool that is essential to your work, support should be readily available and competent. This is a good question to ask of the product reference.
- Are you comfortable with a long-term relationship with the vendor (sounds like a marriage)? If it’s not a consumable supply, your technology choice and its vendor will be with you for several years.
Looking at multiple solutions to a technology change by using the suggestions, above, should eliminate the intimidation from the choice.
Sometimes an obvious choice emerges and at other times you will find products that are strong in one area and weak in another area and their competitors may have the opposite strengths and weaknesses.
Establishing a scoring method prior to your review giving higher weight to those areas more important to your practice can help you work through this.
A measured, systematic approach to a technology change is a right click. Next week “the processes”.
