Your business might feel like it’s on the right track, and you’re getting close to reaching the amount of growth that you feel you can sustain. However, growing in the modern world means keeping up with changes, adopting technologies and making sure your business is a step ahead.
But this can be hard, especially with how many technologies are available. For example, how should you decide on which medium your business communicates with? It might seem simple, but there are tons of options – Slack, email, Google Drive, Asana, Basecamp – using all of them would be overwhelming, but picking the wrong one could inhibit your growth and communication.
The decision doesn’t need to be made with just communication. There are tons of things your business needs to address, and there seems to be a dozen solutions for each one.
This is what you call vendor fatigue. The more solutions to problems are offered, the more exhausted you seem to be by each one. Every vendor has a product they’re trying to push, and it seems like each one pushes a new product every few months. Keeping up with every change in their technology is stressful, tiring and pointless.
You might not be able to avoid vendor fatigue entirely, but there are some ways where you can make the process easier for you and your business.
Understand The Needs Of Your Business
Vendor fatigue only happens in you’re shopping for something new. Because of that, the easiest way to avoid vendor fatigue is to avoid new purchases entirely.
This might seem like a bad idea, but you don’t want to make things harder than they need to be. The larger your business gets, the slower the introduction new technologies are going to be. If you’re at a critical moment in your business then a new technology might be more of a distraction than an aide.
Simplicity can be great at times. Yes, your business is going to have to keep up to date, and you putting off any technological upgrades for too long would be equivalent to watching your business fall behind. But there’s no need to force change when the easiest way will work best.
The key here is to not get too fancy but to stay up to date. You might not need to use fanciest technologies no matter how cool they seem. Just understand the needs of your business and address those. Less can be more, especially when it comes to introducing new technologies.
Don’t Be Afraid To Try Something New
Another way to cope with vendor fatigue is to just take a chance and try something new.
Of course, this should be done with some sort of moderation. You don’t want to make an impulse decision to change an integral part of your business’ operations. This could risk success and growth.
But new technologies don’t always replace old technologies. There are some new ideas and programs that are completely different from anything ever created. They’re meant to disrupt the market and solve problems that you didn’t even know you had with your business.
If something seems new and fresh this way, it could be worth a try. If something seems like a repackaged version of something you already have, you might want to pass on it.
The key is to not get bogged down with re-invented tech but to reap the benefits of new tech. New technologies can take time to learn for both you and your business, but the upside can be huge.
This also comes down to understanding the needs of your business. If your business needs a better way to track all the data from marketing, a brand-new technology that offers different services could be the answer. Don’t be afraid to try something new with your business – just ease into it and see if it works for you.
Don’t Overwhelm Yourself
While dealing with vendor fatigue, you should always keep in mind that you can say “no” to anything.
Vendors are there to sell you things. This could be a slight update from a previous version of a program that your business uses or a brand-new platform that will help your business track a new area you’re just tapping into.
Just make sure not to overwhelm yourself with the options. If you need to find a new way to manage data, then don’t look at every single business that offers the service.
Also, don’t make too many changes too soon. Every time you introduce a new technology or change a platform you use, you put the pressure on your employees to learn the ins and outs of the technology. This can be a lot, and the longer it takes them to learn the new technology, the less work they’re getting done. Consider exploring a platform that incorporates many solutions into one. CoSchedule, for example, is an all-in-one editorial calendar platform that can manage the tasks of scheduling, team communications, performance analytics, and marketing automation in one place. Simplifying your processes by minimizing software programs — including only the most efficient and useful for your team — will increase productivity and organization.
New technology can seem exciting, but a lot of it can end up getting in the way. Technology should be there to facilitate your business, not create stress. Don't try to do too much for your business and understand what it needs. Maybe you could even survey your business to see what your employees want – after all, they might be using the new tech more than you.
Time spent on vendors is time that could be spent anywhere else. Cut back on the number of changes you make and give everyone a chance to catch up. Find out if the technologies you add are beneficial or not. Understand the shortcomings of tech you currently use and find the solution. Don’t make shopping for new technologies harder than it needs to be.