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7 ways to evaluate expenditures with precision

October 4, 2013 by Terrina Rishel — CEO, ATM Authority, LLC

It seems that everyone has an opinion about how to spend budget dollars and achieve strategic goals. As a leader, you have the responsibility of weeding through the agendas and staying focused on initiatives that achieve results worth investing in.

In today's economic environment, it's even more critical to evaluate products, services and solutions, with a special emphasis on how they affect your overall goals. In order to be successful and demonstrate solid leadership, it's important to place a comprehensive strategy at the center of new initiatives.

Evaluate new initiatives and expenditures through these seven filters:

1. Operational: Will this solution improve processes that in turn affect my bottom line? Does it address inefficiencies and result in improved costs? Can operations become more centralized? Will a centralized process induce other issues?
2. Physical structure: How will this potential solution affect the physical environment? Will there be hidden costs and capital improvements needed? Will it require a new approach to future build-outs?
3. Human and capital resources: Will my employees feel more engaged? Will it provide an improved experience that can be quantified? Can I achieve cost-savings through decreased attrition? Is this is a long-term re-occurring investment and what is the lifecycle?
4. Customer experience: Can this improve the customer experience to the level that it promotes engagement? What is the customer point of view? Does this solution address current customer issues and will it decrease churn?
5. Revenue: Will this initiative support a sales-focused culture? Can it free up staff to focus on product sales? What impact will this have on other areas if sales increase?
6. Brand enhancement: Will I be able to capitalize on being a market leader? Will my investment be viewed as a premium solution by the marketplace? How can this be used to differentiate our brand?
7. Technology: Are we able to optimize technology in a way that improves security, streamlines processes and capitalizes on automation? Can we create a custom ROI based on our situation, not just a standard model?

Gone are the days when larger, more generous budgets made it easier to spend money on products that simply sounded like great ideas.

But with a comprehensive strategy and a clear set of expectations around deliverables, you can begin to develop confidence that you're making a sound investment that ultimately improves your bottom line and optimizes your funds.

About Terrina Rishel

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