Key Takeaways:
- 1Rarely do you know what you need without first doing an assessment.
- 2It's best to work out any process kinks on paper before jumping into the tech tool.
- 3It's too easy to fall into the rabbit hole of technology.
Don't want to watch? You can read the transcription below.
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TRANSCRIPTION:
[00:00:00] Samantha: Hey everyone. Samantha Pointer Foxx here with Samantha Pointer Enterprises for another #TechChat with Samantha. And today I want to talk about why you shouldn't jump into the technology tools first, when you're ready to implement automation in your business. I see this a lot. When. Business owners come to me.
[00:00:27] They usually ‘know what you know, they're like, oh, I want to try this tool. Or I heard about this tool and, or I started using this tool, but it's not doing what I thought. So that's how business owners usually approach me. And so and I'm like, Hey, slow down, wait a minute. Let's dial it back. Right. So the reason, one reason why you shouldn't start with the tech tool when it comes to automation is number one, you rarely know what you mean and your business.
[00:00:59] It's so easy that there's so much software and tech out there that can be used for automation. And so. It's easy to get overwhelmed quickly and to get in over your head quickly, when you just dive right into the technology you waste a lot of time doing trial and error when you do it that way.
[00:01:24] So the best thing for you to do first is to find out what you need. That's the first step. The first step is not just grabbing any and everything out there. It's to find out what you need. Because again, because technology is changing so much and it's, you know, real easy to get overwhelmed, you need to do.
[00:01:49] Stop. Think about what you need, think about the system or process you're trying to automate. And go from there. Number two, why you shouldn't just jump into the tech two is it's, it's easier to work out any kinks, any gotchas that you'll run into, it's easier to do that outside of the tech tool. So when I'm.
[00:02:14] Starting an automation project. I like to map out first what we're going to do. I like to map out, you know, how the automation should flow. And I do that on paper first. I don't do that in a technology to first, I do it on paper first, and then I transfer that to my mapping tool. And then from there, then you can jump into whatever tool you decided to use, but I always start on paper first and.
[00:02:42] I say you should do that too. Don't again, don't just jump into the tool. It's easier for you to work through the logic and work through, you know, see ahead of time if something's gonna work out. Or if something is, you know, if, if you're going to run into any other issues, if you've done that on paper first and again, that saves you a lot of time, a lot of time trying to dismantle.
[00:03:10] What's your hat, you know, trying to dismantle something, you spent time building up, or, you know, inputting stuff into only to run into a major problem, whether it's with an integration or, you know, anything like that. Now you gotta take everything back out of the tool, find a new solution, put it back in.
[00:03:32] And that's a lot of time wasted. And as a business owner, you don't have that type of time because your time cost you money. So it's best again, to work out those kinks on paper first to map it out first, and then only then do you start thinking about the tech tool and the third reason why you shouldn't start with technology first is because it's too easy to [00:04:00] fall into the rabbit hole.
[00:04:02] Of technology. Again, there's tons of technology out there. You have guru after guru telling you what you should use and why you should use it. And you know, again, you, you fall into that trap. Like, man, I should get this man. I should get this. And the next thing you know, you've bought all these tools. You don't know how to use them, you know?
[00:04:24] You don't, if you do kind of know how to use it, you're probably not using it to its absolute most capacity. And I've see a lot of business owners who run into, they have a tech tool that someone recommended to them and they've they're using it, but they didn't know all these other things it could do because again, they just jumped straight into the tool.
[00:04:48] So it's easy for you to fall into the rabbit hole of the newest greatest thing, because again, technology is evolving, it's changing all the time and there's [00:05:00] always going to be something new or better coming out. So if you don't start with your technology tool first and you take the time to really strategize of what you're trying to do.
[00:05:11] When it comes to your technology, I mean, to your automation and what your particular business needs, and then map that all out on paper, then it's easier for you not to fall or get distracted by those shiny objects of technology. You know exactly what you're looking for. It doesn't matter what comes out next.
[00:05:34] You already know what you're looking for, and it's easier for you to go ahead and get that implemented. W, you know, correctly the first time, get all your information in there, again, efficiently, smoothly, and then, you know, go from there. You can grow with it. Instead of going through this vicious cycle of putting stuff in trying this out, it doesn't work in tearing everything back down and starting that process again.
[00:06:03] So get laser focused, really figure out, you know, When it comes to automation, what do I want to do first? What am I trying to automate? And what process or what system am I trying to automate? And why am I trying to automate that? Ask yourself what goal, what outcome do I want from this automation?
[00:06:26] When I automated, what am I looking to do? Save time, get more customers, get more clients. Help my employees execute their job quicker, faster. What is the goal of this automation? Okay. Think about those things. Then I want you to pull out a sheet of paper, plain sheet of paper. Doesn't have to be fancy, or you can use a whiteboard or you can use index cards.
[00:06:51] I mean, I use index cards. I have sticky notes, you know? Use your paper and start to map out what it needs to look like. I need this and I need it to do this for the outcome of this. Go ahead and put that on paper. Then you can start the process of which technology tool do I need. And actually when you go searching, it's going to be better and faster for you because you have.
[00:07:25] Your considerations unique to your business of what you're looking for. Now, it's easier to evaluate the technologies out there and see how that stacks up against your stuff. So again, Don't jump directly into technology. I know it's so easy to do that because so much is out there, but you really need to take time to figure out what you need, why you need it, and the outcome of what you're looking for.
[00:07:59] Now I help business owners do this every day. I help them strategize, implement, and maintain marketing and sales systems. So if that sounds like something you need help with something you want to explore more. I encourage you to go ahead and book a technology breakthrough session. And I'm putting it up on the screen.
[00:08:23] You can go to organizing guru.com/15 and grab a session. This session is not for free advice. It's not a working session. I'm not going to be building anything for you. It's strictly for us to talk about what you need in your business your vision what systems you might need or lacking, or you want to improve upon.
[00:08:49] And for me to find out what your goals are around implementing marketing and sales automation. Okay. I also, this is a way to see if we're even a good fit to work together. So that's what this technology breakthrough session is. And if you would like to grab one again, go to organizing guru.com/15 and grab your session.
[00:09:16] So I hope this is helpful for you. If you have been thinking about getting automated in your business and, you know, maybe you were in the process of about to hit that download button or hit that buy button for the new latest tool that you will stop and think first about why you need it. What you're wanting it to do.
[00:09:37] How does that fit in with your business and the outcome you want? That you'll stop first. Do those things, map it out on paper first, and then only then should you go look for a technology to, to match your criteria for your business? So that's tech chat for today. Thanks for joining me. If you have any questions, feel free to comment down below.
[00:10:02] I'll be happy to answer them. And if you're a small business owner who is ready to get automation going in your business, make sure you grab a technology breakthrough session at organizingguru.com/15. And I will see you next week for another #TechChat.