Come on. You know you want it.

You’ve been watching it for months. It caught your eye when a stack of purchase orders turned up missing, and each department pointed fingers at the other. Yes, it’s time. But before you call up a Salesforce consultant and sob over the phone about the broken dreams and lost opportunities from relying on Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, here’s an important tip: Be prepared. And don’t make any big decisions until you understand these three important points.

1. Bigger isn’t always better.

Don’t get me wrong; Salesforce will dazzle, and the potential of its implementation is irresistible. The coding team here at Simplus can design an interface that does everything from turning off the bathroom lights to starting the breakroom coffee pot in the morning. I know, the power of technology is head-spinning, and although it’s tempting to simply order up the epic deluxe package complete with virtual bells and automated whistles that resemble your favorite song from the Hamilton soundtrack… don’t.

A Simplus consultant will be the first to tell you not to do too much too soon. And it’s that kind of honesty that reinforces the business relationships we’ve maintained for years. For Simplus, it’s not about selling as much as we can in one shot. We understand that if a new system is too overwhelming, you won’t use it. Instead, it’s more important to discuss options with a customer and suggest the best integration strategy that will satisfy a company’s need without drowning them with too much technology in one sitting.

Related: Back to the basics: Understanding key implementation concepts

2. Identify the solutions to your company’s challenges.

“Sure, spend as much money as you want. We’ll make more,” says nobody’s boss ever. The truth is, upgrading is expensive. So a company needs to decide which upgrades will provide the most bang for one’s corporate buck. And that will require some preliminary research on your part. Fortunately, the Simplus team has helped all types of work environments, and we can offer insight on what has worked best in similar situations.

One thing to remember is that the interconnectedness of most departments means problems are never truly isolated. For example, heavy data input requirements in sales can delay the finance department’s ability to invoice within 30 days. Rather than trying to make an executive decision, invite other departments to voice concerns about their pathways and pinpoint the areas that may affect other departments. Those are the areas that need upgrading. And those are the conversations you can share with your Simplus consultant. In this case, Simplus can suggest upgrading to a Quote-to-Cash interface that transforms cumbersome sales data entry into one click, automating sales transactions, inventory information, purchase orders, and invoicing.

“Once your processes are all automated, you’ll be amazed how much faster everything is,” said Gilles Muys at Simplus. “Surveys find that QTC systems on average lead to 28 percent shorter sales cycles. Spend hours instead of days or minutes instead of hours generating that quote.”

3. Recognize what current processes you like.

As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And the same holds true for work processes. In many cases, Simplus will talk with a customer whose desire to modernize ends up complicating what were once simple processes. While part of the conversations with other departments should involve concerns about workplace log jams, it’s also helpful to know what systems work well. The customization capabilities of Salesforce mean companies can retain the systems they like and integrate more modern applications for the archaic and problematic ones.

When the people at Verified First realized they had outgrown their existing system to manage data, they knew company growth was in jeopardy. It’s not that they didn’t like Excel. Instead, their needs were outgrowing Excel’s capabilities. For a company that depends on a fast, accurate, and comprehensive database to serve their customers, the Simplus team was able to design a Salesforce-based system that took all of the elements of a spreadsheet, but customized it with a slick automated customer ranking system, based on SIC code and workforce size, that helped Verified First provide quick responses to customers and better prioritize prospects by industry and size. Better yet, this system can easily upgrade as the company’s needs grow.

Automation upgrades are good. But automation upgrades based on informed decisions are even better. When you know it’s time to upgrade your office processes, consider the size, the ultimate need, and what you envision as the solution. Then, call us! We can help. We are Simplus: where success is simplified.