So you’ve decided your building desperately needs new property management software. But now comes the hard part: convincing senior management. Since they usually aren’t close enough to day-to-day operations to understand why they need to invest in better technology, it can often become a “don’t fix what ain’t broke” situation.

Here are Four Tips for Pitching the Switch to Senior Management:

1. Explain the benefits of a switch for them.

Senior management may not care that you can manage work orders more easily or simplify inspections, but they will care if you can show them how enhanced insight can help you and them make more informed decisions.

• Show them how Operations Performance Management and executive dashboards can give them more clarity into the activities that directly impact tenant service and retention.
• Highlight the benefits that come from better reporting and the ability to analyze what’s happening in a building in real-time.

2. Tie a senior executive’s goals to the project.

• Is your CFO aiming to reduce costs this year? Explain the true cost of the existing system – software, people to run and maintain it, and the cost of maintaining the status quo. Then show how the long-term savings enabled by a newer system will quickly outweigh the up-front costs.
• Is maintaining asset quality to attract tenants a primary objective? Outline how the new technology will help improve the long-term value of the asset or investment.

3. Get senior management involved in the decision process.

If they’re not involved in the evaluation and selection process, they’ll be less likely to sign off on it.  Invite key executives to share their questions and concerns about the switch so you can directly address objections.

• Provide them with responses to common objections.
• Show them the key decision criteria they should consider when evaluating a solution with this “How to Decide” checklist.

4. Share success stories.

Hearing from another company in a similar situation is one of the best ways to convince an executive that a change will deliver long-term benefits.

• Use a case study, such as the Commerce Rapid Conversion & Deployment case study, to demonstrate the successes of others who have made the switch without a drain on resources.
• Encourage senior executives to talk to customer references or watch video testimonials.

By focusing the “switch” discussion around the goals and concerns of your senior management team, you are much more likely to get buy-in for the tools and new service provider you need.