How to get management buy-in for a document automation solution

If you’ve made it this far in your quest for a document automation solution, you already know that automating your business-critical documents can help you execute a successful day-to-day strategy by accomplishing more in less time.  

Technology changes so fast that it can be difficult to keep up, but that also means that there are more solutions available than ever before. As companies struggle to hit goals and impact revenue, many teams may find themselves working longer hours and taking on more work.  

Implementing a document automation solution is a big investment—and company leadership may not fully understand the challenges your team is facing. So how do you get your managers to buy in on document automation?   

Toolkit for securing document automation buy-in 

Adopting new technology can be daunting because so many processes and people are involved. It takes careful planning and demonstrating the needs of many to the decision makers. Sometimes the hardest part of this process is knowing where to start. That’s why we’ve developed this easy-to-follow toolkit to guide your quest toward management buy-in for document automation.  

In this article, you will find:   

• A guided roadmap for identifying key decision makers and shaping the conversation   

• A templatized presentation deck to streamline your pitch preparation    

• A checklist of steps to take prior to meeting with your leadership   

• Research, resources, and information on Conga’s offerings to help you make the case 

5 milestones on the path to securing management buy-in 

Milestone 1 

Identify decision makers and understand their priorities
Consider who you will be pitching to; will you be speaking directly to individual leaders, or will you need buy-in from various stakeholders? Think about your request from their perspective, understanding how a document automation solution could positively impact the chain of command.

Milestone 2 

Involve key stakeholders and appoint a project sponsor|    
Determine your stakeholders based on the team(s) that will be involved throughout the implementation. Appoint a project sponsor who can champion your project and serve as a supportive voice within the leadership team. Be prepared to communicate often with your sponsor and do more listening than talking.

Milestone 3 

Define the problem(s) you’re solving    
Consider what brought you to Conga in the first place.  Some of the key challenges our document generation solutions can solve include:   

• Impacting revenue and reducing manual work by automating your business processes   

• Eliminating errors, increasing accuracy and consistency, and streamlining document creation   

• Increasing operational efficiency by leveraging templates and dynamic formulas   

• Lowering total cost of ownership and shortening onboarding and adoption timelines by working with a single vendor 

Milestone 4 

Conduct research and collect reliable data to prove your case    
Data doesn’t lie. Focus on metrics that demonstrate how your proposed solution will impact the priorities of your leadership (refer to Milestone 1). Be objective in building your case and lean on data to support your request. Here's some research and supporting data from Conga to get you started:  

1. State of Revenue Lifecycle Management transformation  

2. Conga Composer data sheet  

3. Getting started with Conga Composer  

4. 5 document bottlenecks and how to overcome them with Conga Composer  

5. Digital transformation strategy, customer expectation shifts, & more  

6. Why digital adoption is key in maximizing the value of your technology investments  

7. How digital document management can increase sales and revenue 

Milestone 5 

Identify and address implementation requirements    
Be proactive and aware of potential implementation challenges you may face if you get approval to move forward with your recommendations. Are there any foreseeable challenges with IT adoption? Are there special security or onboarding requirements that would need to be met? Addressing these implementation questions now will save time and effort down the road. 

Build and present your case   

Once you have completed each milestone, you’re ready to build your case for onboarding a document automation solution. For this step, Conga has created a templated pitch deck to help you prepare your presentation. 

Pitch deck    
You can use our templated deck to easily plug information into a presentation supporting your pitch for document automation. Make the deck your own, rearranging and deleting as necessary to customize the presentation. We’ve left several notes to help guide your case development. 

Project checklist    
Following is an example of a checklist you can use to ensure a robust pitch. 

You can download the project checklist here.

Conclusion    
Don’t waste another day on tedious, manual work. Start winning that time back! The right document automation solution can improve productivity for your entire organization and restore your work-life balance.