The Power of Crystal Clear Decision Making

Crystal Clear Decision Making
Clarity of goals is key to
crystal clear decision making.

Are you the type of person who easily assesses all angles of a decision and calmly arrives at the point of clarity? Or are you the type of person who is overwhelmed by all of the information you need to consider, becoming frozen by indecision, as if you are a deer in the headlights? Does how well you navigate decision-making depend on the type of decision you need to make? Maybe you find making big decisions easy, but smaller ones, like what to order for dinner, leave you stymied.

Effective decision-making requires much more than just the ability to gather and process information. It requires focusing on the very core of the decision, rather than getting mired in the details that can so often derail good decision-making.

Jill Johnson, MBA is an award winning management consultant who has impacted nearly $2.5 billion worth of business decisions and she spoke on this topic at the ACA International’s 74th Annual Convention & Expo in San Diego, CA last week.

What impact does clear decision-making have on companies in the collections business? Let’s start with the decision of which collection software to use. Artiva, DAKCSCollectOneWindebt, Titanium ORE (DM9) and FACS are some of the most frequently used credit and collections software used in the industry. Which one is best for your company? Let’s answer that with a question. What is the single most important thing your business needs this software to do?  Is it:

1. Compliance
2. Process automation
3. Vendor integrations
4. User friendly

What’s key to making the right technology decision, is to focus on the mission critical business outcome.

Once you’ve identified the primary business goal for purchasing collections software, you evaluate each product’s ability to achieve that goal. Software bells and whistles that don’t help your company achieve the primary outcome are extraneous details that should be tossed out. Next, look at other key factors that will affect your company’s ability to execute on your core business. What resources does your company have available to integrate, implement and maintain and the software? Which software syncs most closely with your team’s capabilities?

Your company may have a few other key factors to include in the software selection process. Prioritize them and then score each software solution for effectiveness with those factors.

Finally, there’s budget. It’s last because addressing the primary goal and key factors are mission critical to a clear decision-making process. Without the information about implementation and resources required to maintain the new software, total cost of ownership (TCO) cannot be determined. Quantifying the TCO of software is far more accurate than the purchase price. Focusing on gathering the best information about the primary goals and key factors will provide the path to crystal clear decision-making.