When you’re looking for software solutions that can truly benefit your business, you need to account for your expenses. After all, if you’re investing large amounts of money into mobile device apps, software platforms, and asset tracking, you need to make sure you’re getting a quality ROI. No matter the vendor or sales team you work with, you need to make sure your software selection functions as an integral part of your operations.

Whether you’re looking into an asset management solution, a mobile app service provider, or a CPQ platform, you want to prioritize a high ROI. If you have yet to invest in the right software solutions for your brand, this is what you need to know.

CPQ solutions benefit your workflow.

These days, many businesses work with large numbers of spreadsheets, barcodes, and configurable products. When you’re trying to process work orders, track a product life cycle, and verify analytics tied to QR codes and barcodes, sometimes a spreadsheet doesn’t cut it. Configure, price, quote (CPQ) helps you increase efficiency, boost productivity, and make real-time changes that adhere to pricing best practices throughout the sales cycle. If you invest in SAP CPQ (that is, CPQ designed for SAP solutions), it’s easier to adjust work orders, gain insight into pricing trends, and adjust the pricing accordingly, given the proper approval. With the right administrator permissions, SAP CPQ can provide alerts and notifications and better enable sales agility.

SAP CPQ boosts your ROI through time and resource enhancements. It’s also easier to handle complex product configurations. By leveraging the SAP sales cloud’s reliability, it’s easier to handle upkeep, empower your sales reps, and navigate complex product adjustments with ease. You want to look for SAP enhancements that work with variant configuration and offer ease of use. After all, when you’re working with valuable assets, you need to ensure your software platform’s utilities for maximum benefit. This approach aids administrators, facilities managers, and sales reps throughout your organization. The total cost of ownership pales compared to the efficiency gains across the board, particularly for your sales process.

If you’re looking for the right software licenses for a product configurator, it’s a good idea to tap into your industry contacts. Refer to your close network to see if any of your colleagues have an adequate referral. Some brands even offer referral discounts or bonuses. However, while this is a perk, it shouldn’t be the cornerstone of your buying decision. If you’re struggling to find a license, you can turn to research publications like Gartner to review some of the top players in a given market. The Gartner Magic Quadrant, in particular, is a snapshot of brand performance and leverages a variety of metrics.

An asset management system enhances scalability.

If your brand relies on an outdated asset manager, you’re probably not in a position to scale your brand. Older asset manager tools have the capacity to track limited IT assets and critical assets. Without a modern asset tracking dashboard in place, you won’t be able to manage larger numbers of attributes, which makes your brand less mobile. That’s why it’s important to use the right product setup at the right price. Enterprise asset management, in particular, grew significantly over the past few years and offers great workplace applications.

For technology users, the perfect solution for asset tracking allows you to quickly view the asset life cycle in less time than a manual process. Many asset management solutions offer a free consultation to review their support services and their compatibility with your existing systems. Since the right mobile solution can boost sales opportunities and customer relationships, it’s important to make the right upfront investment. Even though some solutions that offer custom fields and document templates may initially cost more, it’s typically worth it as time goes on.

If you’re unsure of the designation of asset management software, you’ll likely need to review your business model and see if asset tracking software can fulfill a particular purpose for your brand. When you’re ready to invest, you need to take the time to weigh initial expenses against value. In some cases, it helps to look for solutions with the highest ratings. However, these may also be the most expensive options on the market. To start, select two or three applicable solutions and compare them. What features does each platform offer? Are there any key features that are missing? How do the price points stack up for each platform? These are all critical questions that can help you make the most informed decision possible.

Continued education is a must in any industry.

Continuing professional education (CPE) is a hot topic for many markets across the globe. Since certain enterprises and organizations are dependent upon CPE compliance, it’s critical to find systems that can help you scale to meet your brand’s needs. Similarly, if you don’t currently invest in ongoing education, it’s more likely than not that your business could fall behind the competition. Especially these days, as industry competition continues to grow, it’s more difficult than ever to stay abreast of all the global developments that can impact an enterprise’s knowledge base.

CPE often requires a modern maintenance approach. With CPE solutions, it’s easier to verify brand performance, review deadlines for ongoing compliance requirements, and maintain the necessary hours each year. In many cases, you’re also going to want to invest in custom training solutions that allow you to tailor your CPE investment to meet your specific requests and growth demands. However, custom training content often comes at a price. Typically, though, it’s well worth the investment. Certain CPE solutions are more than willing to develop unique training courses that conform to your brand. They’ll even offer options between both on-site and remote training solutions to fit trainee needs and margins.

It’s also a good idea to maximize your value by looking for a brand that offers a suite of self-study courses. While structured training is beneficial for most employees, others may want to take the time to process information at their own pace and explore other education options that might not be part of the given curriculum. In some cases, these are offered on a subscription basis. Hence, it’s important to assess the length of a subscription period, the subscription cost, and the applicability of any long-term subscription offers or discounts. These attributes benefit most any level of technology use and facilitate a stronger connection to the CPE process.

Combine solutions for the best ROI.

It’s not enough to spur on efficiency gains in a single field. Instead, you want to be able to ensure that your brand’s efficiency scales as a whole. The best way to do this is through a multi-platform approach. Depending on your needs, the combination of platforms you use could look wildly different from those suggested. However, it can also offer the greatest benefits to your brand. When your organization’s ROI is in question, you need to make sure that you’re investing in solutions that give you an edge over the competition. Whether these provide insight into your maintenance history, showcase sales opportunities, or help you verify asset tags, it’s important to secure value. It can elevate your business in ways you’ll surely applaud.

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