This is great. The part I'm really curious about, maybe for another post, is how the discussion with the leader wanting to buy a tool goes, whether they really need to have a business case, and how much you poke at it. Do you end up having conversations like whether you really need Tableau or Miro, and how does "really need" end up getting defined? Do you diplomatically call BS if someone says the company growth rate will be 1% higher if you buy Podium (just picking an example out of the hat)?
In my experience, leaders often have pretty optimistic business cases. Many times, they're also difficult to define or measure. How can we tell if we're collaborating better with Miro?
Anyway, I know this topic could fill a book, but I'm mostly curious about the war stories.
I used to not be comfortable with asking the leader a lot of questions, because as an FP&A manager they were more senior than me most of the time. But eventually I learned that being in FP&A is a license to ask questions and get to understand the business.
For your podium example, I’d wrap it into a larger discussion around CAC Payback period and all the other program and tooling spend
I would also say hey we agreed that we were shooting for a mix of x% people and y% programs budget. Within that program envelope approx z% is tools. Is this really what you want to eat that budget up with? If so, go for it
Great advice! Out of curiosity, what do you think about ‘free’ tools that proliferate inside the org but don’t have an immediate budget request / approval tied to them?
That’s a hard one. But honestly I think it’s shadow IT where we just haven’t gotten straight with the lord yet. I know that if a free tool is taking off it’s only a matter of time before an invoice or budget request that we didn’t anticipate gets dropped on my desk
Working in Procurement and Contract Management, these are my go to questions when a new request comes through - even when there is exec level approval of the spend.
I've seen Monday, Asana, Trello and MS Planner all being used in thew same way and requests coming in to increase the licenses of each - with people having multiple seats across the piste.
One insight I wanted to share was on your Fine Print point.
If the solution your buying has a good vibe and is a tool that you can use to promote "this is how we work here" it could be worthwhile letting them use the logo...BUT. I always get a discount for this. Easy discounts are 15% of first year fees. But I've often tied this into the full term regardless of the payment structure.
I've put in place contracts that ensure we get up to 25% discount for the term with the lowest I'd consider sitting at 10% (and that supplier has to be incredible and the benefit to us incredible).
One last though - implementations. You nailed this. So true.
Amazing post CJ! Super helpful for founders to understand how finance influences companies buying products!
Thanks, it was all written from first hand experience, good and bad. I appreciate your support and thanks for the shout out in snack bites this week
This is great. The part I'm really curious about, maybe for another post, is how the discussion with the leader wanting to buy a tool goes, whether they really need to have a business case, and how much you poke at it. Do you end up having conversations like whether you really need Tableau or Miro, and how does "really need" end up getting defined? Do you diplomatically call BS if someone says the company growth rate will be 1% higher if you buy Podium (just picking an example out of the hat)?
In my experience, leaders often have pretty optimistic business cases. Many times, they're also difficult to define or measure. How can we tell if we're collaborating better with Miro?
Anyway, I know this topic could fill a book, but I'm mostly curious about the war stories.
I used to not be comfortable with asking the leader a lot of questions, because as an FP&A manager they were more senior than me most of the time. But eventually I learned that being in FP&A is a license to ask questions and get to understand the business.
For your podium example, I’d wrap it into a larger discussion around CAC Payback period and all the other program and tooling spend
I would also say hey we agreed that we were shooting for a mix of x% people and y% programs budget. Within that program envelope approx z% is tools. Is this really what you want to eat that budget up with? If so, go for it
Great advice! Out of curiosity, what do you think about ‘free’ tools that proliferate inside the org but don’t have an immediate budget request / approval tied to them?
That’s a hard one. But honestly I think it’s shadow IT where we just haven’t gotten straight with the lord yet. I know that if a free tool is taking off it’s only a matter of time before an invoice or budget request that we didn’t anticipate gets dropped on my desk
Amazing write up here, CJ.
Working in Procurement and Contract Management, these are my go to questions when a new request comes through - even when there is exec level approval of the spend.
I've seen Monday, Asana, Trello and MS Planner all being used in thew same way and requests coming in to increase the licenses of each - with people having multiple seats across the piste.
One insight I wanted to share was on your Fine Print point.
If the solution your buying has a good vibe and is a tool that you can use to promote "this is how we work here" it could be worthwhile letting them use the logo...BUT. I always get a discount for this. Easy discounts are 15% of first year fees. But I've often tied this into the full term regardless of the payment structure.
I've put in place contracts that ensure we get up to 25% discount for the term with the lowest I'd consider sitting at 10% (and that supplier has to be incredible and the benefit to us incredible).
One last though - implementations. You nailed this. So true.
This is A+ perspective thanks for sharing with us. And I like your points around asking for discounts