Any time you’re looking to find a technology-based solution for your business, the search can quickly become overwhelming. Going down wrong paths, falling into rabbit holes and being attracted to "shiny objects" can lead to a lot of wasted time and overwhelm. What starts out as the search for greater productivity, efficiency and profit leads you nowhere.

These pitfalls can be greatly diminished by having a solid action plan in place before embarking on the search for your technology solution. Include the following in your plan to maximize the effectiveness of your technology evaluations:

Clearly - and pointedly - define your need - For instance, rather than simply stating that you need a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM), consider some underlying issues that will help you find a system that addresses your particular pain points. Ask yourself such questions as:

• Ideally, what information do we want to capture?
• What do we want to be able to do with that information?
• Into what categories might we want to be able to segment the information?
• What does our current system of handling contacts hinder us from doing?
• How much more quickly and easily can we access this information with a better system in place? In other words, how much time/effort is currently lost by not finding a better solution?

Prioritize features - Many technology solutions are jam-packed with features which, at first glance, seem impressive. Avoid being bowled over by an abundance of bells and whistles, however; focus on your specific needs. More features doesn’t necessarily indicate a superior solution for your business. Referencing the needs you’ve defined, list out the features that will make the biggest impact on the issue at hand. This way you don’t waste your time evaluating something that is designed to do more than you need it to do now and into the foreseeable future. For example, in CRMs, there can be functionality to manage a knowledge base/Wiki and/or internal messaging; these may be fantastically useful elements to some workplaces, but not necessary in yours.

To guide you as to prioritizing features, focus on those which will make the biggest impact here and now so you’ll be able to reap the benefits sooner rather than later. When you become aware of different functionalities among solutions, create a list separating your "must-haves" from your "nice-to-haves" so you won’t be steered off course from your original objective by ultimately superfluous system features.

Consider how it will fit within your current workflow - Integrating new technology is often challenging. Think about how you will gain user adoption of the new system. How can it help streamline or automate your current procedures? How can it help avoid common stumbling blocks to productivity? Is the interface convenient and intuitive so that its use has a natural - and not strained - flow?

If you predict resistance among employees at the adoption of new technology, imagine explaining how and why it was selected and how it is intended to build upon existing workflow to increase overall efficiency. This is a good exercise to help you ascertain whether any system you’re evaluating is a good fit for your company.

Is there a learning curve? - Consider the tech-savviness of potential users of the system and make sure there’s a match. A system that’s overly complicated will frustrate employees and be a hindrance to the very productivity you’re trying to improve upon. Allow for some upfront time for adoption and to gain familiarity, but it should not be a steep hill for employees to climb to integrate the new technology into their workflow.

How much time will it take to deploy? - Bear in mind that it will take some time for new technology to be implemented. There are decisions that will need to be made as to its usage in your particular business in addition to the physical set up. In the case of a CRM, decisions include:

• What sorts of communications will be necessary?
• Defining your customer journey through the sales cycle
• Tagging contacts
• Segmenting groups
• How will employees be trained and how much time will be allotted for it?

Physical setup considerations include such things as:

• Importing a database
• Connecting to other systems
• Ensuring the new system will work on existing equipment

Ensuring a successful implementation - Not everyone acclimates naturally to new technology. Make sure everyone is thoroughly trained and has easily-accessible resources. It’s often good to assign "champions" - those with facility with the new system - as human resources to other employees who may be slower to adapt, struggle or have questions.

Can the cost be justified? In determining this factor, consider the cost of not implementing a new solution. You are no doubt losing money paying for wasted or inefficient hours on the clock as employees work around inefficiencies and cobble-together solutions to accomplish their tasks and support your processes and procedures. Of course, don’t needlessly overspend - but do consider the technology as an investment in the behind-the-scenes foundation of how your business "machine" operates. That’s why it’s so important to do your research and work off a plan so the investment pays off quickly and its costs are rapidly absorbed by greater efficiency and productivity.

Although the example of choosing a Customer Relationship Management system was used throughout, the basics of making well-considered, prudent decisions based on your own business’ needs can be generalized to any technology solution you may want to implement - and help avoid the overwhelm that so often accompanies such decisions.

How do you make business technology decisions?