- ERP decisions start long before the RFP, when the finance team starts to struggle.
- Finance hiring, outgrowing Tally, expansion and funding are the early signs.
- Give the CFO something useful, like a costing guide, before asking for a call.
The decision starts before the RFP
ERP deals are big and slow, and by the time a request for proposal goes out, the buyer usually has a favourite. The partners who win are the ones who were in the conversation when the finance team first started to feel the pain.
That pain leaves traces. Our job is to find them early.
The signals that come first
- Finance hiring. A third accountant in two months, a financial controller, a NetSuite admin or an ERP lead.
- Outgrowing Tally. Growing companies still asking for "Tally experience" in finance job posts, or running Zoho Books or Odoo past the point it fits.
- Expansion. A new plant, a new entity, a new country. More books to close every month.
- Fresh funding. A new round usually comes with a board asking for cleaner numbers.
- Competitor followers. Finance leaders following other ERP vendors and partners, or engaging with their posts.
- Current stack. What they run today, so the pitch fits what they actually have.
Quill Components is hiring a third accountantStill on Tally, 600 peopleHot1d
Brightlane Foods raised a Series BBoard wants monthly numbersTier 13h
Corvus Retail opens a second entityConsolidation starts next quarterTier 12d
New CFO at Tessera PharmaJoined 45 days agoTier 24d
Write to the month-end close
CFOs don't buy features. They buy a faster close, fewer spreadsheets and numbers the board trusts. The email names the pain they already feel, in their words, and leaves the product for later.
Split lists finely. Pharma APIs and pharma formulations buy differently, and a buyer who sees "21 CFR Part 11" or "FEFO" in the first line knows you've done this before.
Useful before asking
A NetSuite costing guide or a path-to-ROI playbook goes first. The CFO gets something to share internally before anyone asks for a meeting. LinkedIn outreach and ads run on the same accounts, so by the time they reply, your name is familiar.
For Connate People Technology, an Oracle NetSuite partner, this produced 98 qualified leads in the first 90 days, selling to CFOs and finance heads.
