Whoever invented the coupon was a very smart person. The psychology behind coupons makes them effective. Sure, if there is something you were going to buy in a certain store anyway, a coupon just saves you money. But many people will buy something they weren’t thinking of buying before, just to “save” money with the coupon, or they will go to the store offering the coupon without checking to see if another store has lower prices. And once in the store, they might even buy other things at full price. In the end, people usually spend more money on that particular trip at that particular store than if they had not gotten the coupon at all.  And this is why stores give out coupons in the first place.

It’s not just coupons—the word “SALE” also has an effect. Even I have been known to see a pretty top on sale in a local store and decide to make a spontaneous purchase. Did I need that top? No. Did I plan to spend that money when I woke up that day? No. Yet, I end up feeling good about the money I just saved.

The fact is we like saving money. Coupons and sales give us that immediate feeling of having gotten a good deal. By contrast, it is much harder to feel good about spending money now in order to save money down the line. Yet the money saved by investing in resources can be so much greater than the money saved on buying things you didn’t need in the first place.

Consider accounting and project management systems, such as the Spitfire Project Management System. A comprehensive and integrated system such as Spitfire does not provide instant savings for a company. There are upfront costs involved. Our clients understood this when they chose to purchase and implement Spitfire. Yet those who have been using Spitfire for years saw and continue to see a major savings in their bottom line. We know this because they tell us. Some examples:

One client says, “We have developed reports that can be produced on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This has help[ed] our Management Team review the financial progress of our projects on a frequent basis, with timely reporting of costs, revenue, cash-flow and production analysis. Without these tools in place, our managers would have had a very difficult time keeping track of the project financials in real time; thus making it very difficult to ‘see’ the changes that may be required to improve our project’s profitability.”

Another client states, “Since implementing Spitfire Project Management System, we have seen a great Return on Investment…. From freeing up accounting personnel from pulling files and being interrupted to Project Managers being able to watch job costs in real time and catch problems  proactively and save the company a significant amount.”

A third client acknowledges the savings in time (and we all know that time is money): “Before Spitfire & Dynamics, the Accounting Department would spend weeks preparing for an Audit—now, with an integrated system, this preparation is complete within a matter of days.”

The point is that while words such as “only,” “sale,” “bargain,” and “save!” sometimes motivate us to “save” by buying, the real savings come when we invest in the proper tools, resources and solutions for the long term. There won’t be any instant gratification, but when the solution is the right one, the good feelings and actual savings will indeed come and continue for years thereafter.

For more information about the Spitfire Project Management System, contact us for a free demo.