Buyer’s remorse: avoiding insights & experience technology traps

“This is not what I thought I bought.”

Save time. Save money. Have more impact. Free your team to focus on strategic work. Be fitter, happier, more productive.

We’ve all been seduced by technology pitches. They are often compelling. We say yes in the belief that—this time—things really will be different.

Then, as we get to know what we’ve bought, the scales gradually fall from our eyes. Technology disappointments usually cluster around three factors.

Any color as long as it’s black

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platforms are designed for robustness, scale and efficiency. These ‘build-once-deploy-everywhere’ models have created the fastest-growing and most profitable businesses in history.

But for complex B2B organizations, such black-box approaches are highly constraining. The software needs you to adapt entirely to its model; but there is no corresponding flex in the software to fit with your needs.

It is rare to find a platform that combines the robustness of good technology with the flexibility to fit around an organization’s unique requirements, structures and workflows.

Mind the gap

It’s the best-kept secret of automation: you need plenty of human skill and time to get it right.

Many SaaS providers believe their tools can slot easily into Experience and Insights teams with minimal effort.

Maybe this is truly the very simplest of tools but most require expert services for setup and on-going support.

Tech platforms—funded with the expectation of high margin, low overhead operating models—are reluctant to hire experienced (AKA costly) Experience or Insights consultants. Instead, they offer Customer Success and Technical Support teams.

There is a sizable gap between this reality and the expectations of customers.

The expertise then needs to come from additional consultants, agencies or full-time hires; none of which featured in the original budget or business case.

Hybrid and partnership models help to offset this risk. In hybrid models, technology firms have the required ‘grown up’ expertise in-house; or they have strong research agency and management consultancy partners.

That bullet’s not silver

Technology products are never standalone entities. They interlock with an organization’s structure, workflows, culture and—above all —people.

For any technology to be effective, it requires some level of adaptation and behavior change.

Data visualization tools are a good example. ‘Self-service’ dashboards are now a staple output for Experience and Insights teams. Stakeholders can access data, run queries and create their own reports.

But—perversely—some teams find their workloads increasing after rolling out such tools. Stakeholders try the new dashboards; realize how much more data is available; briefly try to run their own analyses; but quickly exhaust their own patience or skill levels. Feeling frustrated, they ask their Insights or experience colleagues to run more analysis for them.

Technology roll-out or change projects should always include these environmental and behavioral aspects as part of the initial scoping work. Software doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Beating buyer’s remorse

Buyer’s remorse is a growing problem for Insights and Experience leaders as the number of technology options increases.

Forsta’s solutions are comprehensive, integrated, and adapt to the needs of our customers – not the other way round. Turn features on or off as you need them; only commit to what you need. 

At Forsta, we’re privileged to work with nearly 1,000 agencies around the world, from boutique specialists to the largest international networks. Nearly two million Customer Insights & Experience professionals use our technology.

Download this white paper to find out how your organization can reap the rewards of better-connected data: free up time, get more from your budget and improve the experience of your customers.

Check out our platform capabilities to find out more.