Companies these days have access to a lot of technology. But are they really taking full advantage of it? 

‍Asa Hochhauser, the Senior Sales Manager at RollWorks, thinks not.

"People are buying technology, as we can all see. But really where people are struggling is using the full breadth and depth of the capabilities within their tech stack.”

To make things clear around how companies can use technology correctly and build the right tech stack, we decided to host Asa on our podcast. 

He gave many actionable insights and takeaways that sales leaders can take into account as they plan to buy new technologies.

Here are some highlights from the podcast:

A common mistake people make while buying technology

“The number one mistake I think is not mapping back to goals.”

According to Asa, a common mistake companies make while buying or planning for technology is not mapping it back to goals. They need to really understand what they want to achieve before implementing, or even evaluating, a technology.

They need to think if the technology actually aligns with what they’d planned at the beginning of the year or the quarter to achieve? Or is it just a distraction from that?

How to build a great tech stack?

“When you are planning for a technology implementation, hopefully it's because you've recognised that there is a big problem that you need to solve internally.”

Asa believes that it’s important to first determine who's going to be using the technology. And how it is going to get worked into the current day to day workflow. 

For example, many times the VP or the person in charge of the technology evaluation would make the purchase and then hand that off to someone else to start to implement. They don’t really consult the person who’s eventually going to implement or use the technology.

Another key thing is integrations according to Asa. He doesn't think teams spend enough time looking at the integrations. They might check to see if the technology integrates with their other tools but fail to consider what they’re looking to achieve through that integration.

Asa suggests companies think about how data flows from one system to the next and how it is actually going to show up in that system that you want to integrate with. They have to see if it’s in a way that's actually usable and if it’s going to allow them to do what they need to do.

In short, these are the questions you should ask yourself when you’re planning for a technology:

• Who's going to use it? 
• What does their day-to-day workflow look like today? 
• How is that particular technology going to change things?

How should tech planners go about buying technology?

“I'm a big believer in creating feedback loops and good cadence across departments, and with your team.”

Asa says that it’ll be a good idea to get everyone in marketing and everyone in sales and everyone in CS into a room together. Not everyday, but you can create a weekly or biweekly cadence. Even making sure that the leaders of each department are connecting on a regular basis would be helpful. 

And then collaborating on where they need to focus their efforts. 

When technology related ideas come up those leaders then need to talk to their teams about it. They should at least start selling the idea to their teams internally.

So you have to really spend a lot of time making sure you're considering how a tool impacts their day to day lives, says Asa. Definitely make sure you're thinking about the team, the social aspect of actually changing the way they're doing their work each day.

Want to hear what other information Asa shared? Check out the full podcast here.