The ROI on Expertise

Expert button on a keyboard

As the Sales Director at DCAC, I frequently have people question whether they need a renowned IT expert to achieve their goals and worrying if the cost of hiring one will run too high. Truth? You will likely save money, time, and personal agony by hiring an expert, and end up with a better product than you originally envisioned.

So, while you may need an expert, you should also want one. Because the Return on Investment (ROI) is high.

You Will Save Money

Yes, believe it or not, you will save money. While the hourly rate is higher, an expert will get the job done within a shorter time frame, more reliably, and utilizing fewer resources. An expert knows how to size a Statement of Work (SOW) correctly. They need fewer people to do the job. They have the skills to deliver what is needed, and, due to heavy demands on their time, they have a drive to deliver on schedule.

Equally, you will save money on licensing and/or cloud spend. An expert will architect your solution knowing exactly how to size your project and marry it with your goals to scale. Sometimes an expert will even point out other places you might save money as they review your environment, even if it’s not included in the SOW.

You will also save money on training. An expert designs a solution with your team in mind, knowing you needed to outsource this challenge for a reason. They deliver the project knowing explanations will be required, and they’re experienced teachers, thanks to hundreds of hours at speeches with Q&A sessions. They can explain clearly to your team how to use the solution, as well as how to spot potential problems.

You Will Save Time

Time is money as the old saying goes. In most cases, you’ve likely gone to the trouble of hiring a consultant so you can save resources, increase processing speed, increase uptime, increase visibility into operations, or launch a new product or service, because any of those objectives will better enable your business. It stands to reason that the sooner your solution is implemented, the sooner you reap those rewards. An expert ensures the project stays on schedule, and you see those benefits in Q2 rather than hoping to see “some” savings in whatever is left of Q4.

In many cases, delays enable your competitors as well. Especially if you’re waiting on an outsourced solution before you launch a product or service. Any delay risks your competition potentially launching something similar while you’re still waiting on this one critical piece.

Grow Your Reputation

An expert helps grow the reputation of your business. While we’ve all experienced delays or disappointments as a customer because the website is down, the payment processing falters, or the material we paid for didn’t deliver as expected due to a bug, let’s at least admit that didn’t reflect well on the seller in our eyes. An optimized production environment goes a long way to creating happy customers, and with every success, you grow your business’ reputation. It’s hard to put a price tag on that.

In Conclusion

At the very least, it’s safe to say a cheaper hourly rate is not an adequate measure of what is or isn’t the most frugal choice for your company. Here’s a tip when you’re evaluating proposals. It’s always worth at least getting a quote from an expert because the estimated time for completion is a GREAT tell for how long your project will take at a minimum. If it’s going to take an expert 6 weeks, anyone lacking that level of expertise, yet claiming they will do it faster, is probably a pretty risky bet. And from there, you can gauge how much longer the project will realistically take your other bidders, based on their skill set, and whether you’re going to save any money going with a cheaper hourly rate.

I appreciate that it’s not always possible to hire an expert – they’re booked out. (I know because I book them on a daily basis.) If you can get an expert, good for you. Our customers tend to come back when the job is done, eager to commit to new projects on their wish list. But if you can’t get one for the job, try to at least get their opinion, their quote, any thoughts, or recommendations they’re willing to offer. Because they mean what they say and what they say, you can take to the bank.

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