How to Get Idea Management Approved
You have seen what Hives can do. Now you need to get your organization on board. This toolkit gives you everything you need: a clear pitch, a business case framework, answers to the objections you will face, and a step-by-step guide through the buying process.
Your 60-Second Pitch
When someone asks "so what is this tool you want to buy?" you need a clear, confident answer. Here are three versions depending on who you are talking to.
For your manager
We collect improvement ideas and suggestions from employees across the organization, but right now there is no structured way to handle them. Ideas get lost in emails, suggestion boxes nobody checks, or they just never get shared. Hives gives us one place to collect, evaluate, and act on ideas. It is used by organizations like Halfords and VINCI Energies. It connects to Teams and Slack, so people can submit ideas where they already work. The result is more ideas that actually lead to action, and a clear overview of what is happening with each one.
For a senior leader
We are sitting on untapped value. Our employees see problems and opportunities every day, but we have no system to capture and act on them. Hives is an idea management platform that gives us a structured process: collect ideas, evaluate them transparently, and track the ones we implement. Halfords tracked over 750,000 pounds in value from employee ideas in their first year. We could run our first campaign in a week and have measurable results within a quarter.
For IT or procurement
We want to roll out an idea management platform called Hives. It is a cloud-based SaaS tool, hosted in the EU on AWS Frankfurt, fully GDPR compliant. It supports SSO via SAML and Azure AD, uses AES-256 encryption, and integrates with Teams and Slack. Implementation takes one to two weeks, no custom development needed. Annual cost starts at 8,340 euros. We have shared the IT security brief and vendor assessment so you can review the details.
For your manager
We collect improvement ideas and suggestions from employees across the organization, but right now there is no structured way to handle them. Ideas get lost in emails, suggestion boxes nobody checks, or they just never get shared. Hives gives us one place to collect, evaluate, and act on ideas. It is used by organizations like Halfords and VINCI Energies. It connects to Teams and Slack, so people can submit ideas where they already work. The result is more ideas that actually lead to action, and a clear overview of what is happening with each one.
For a senior leader
We are sitting on untapped value. Our employees see problems and opportunities every day, but we have no system to capture and act on them. Hives is an idea management platform that gives us a structured process: collect ideas, evaluate them transparently, and track the ones we implement. Halfords tracked over 750,000 pounds in value from employee ideas in their first year. We could run our first campaign in a week and have measurable results within a quarter.
For IT or procurement
We want to roll out an idea management platform called Hives. It is a cloud-based SaaS tool, hosted in the EU on AWS Frankfurt, fully GDPR compliant. It supports SSO via SAML and Azure AD, uses AES-256 encryption, and integrates with Teams and Slack. Implementation takes one to two weeks, no custom development needed. Annual cost starts at 8,340 euros. We have shared the IT security brief and vendor assessment so you can review the details.
Objections You Will Hear (and How to Handle Them)
Every internal buying process comes with pushback. Here are the most common objections and how to respond to each one.
"Why not just use Microsoft Forms or a shared spreadsheet?"
Forms and spreadsheets can collect ideas, but they cannot manage them. There is no way to route ideas to the right evaluator, track status, notify submitters, or measure results. You end up with a list that nobody maintains. Hives is purpose-built for the full lifecycle: collection, evaluation, decision, and follow-up. Organizations that switch from forms typically see three to five times more ideas reaching implementation.
"We tried a suggestion box before and it did not work."
That is actually the strongest argument for Hives. Traditional suggestion boxes fail because there is no feedback loop. People submit ideas and never hear back. Hives solves this with automatic status updates, transparent evaluation, and visible outcomes. When employees see that their ideas are being taken seriously, participation goes up. Linköping Municipality went from a dead suggestion box to over 200 ideas with a 66% reduction in admin time.
"We do not have the budget for another tool."
Hives starts at 695 euros per month. Compare that to the cost of one process improvement project that never happens because nobody captured the idea. Halfords tracked over 750,000 pounds in documented value from employee ideas in their first year. Most organizations see ROI within the first quarter. The question is not whether you can afford it. The question is what it costs to keep losing good ideas.
"People will not use it."
Adoption depends on two things: making it easy to submit and showing people their input matters. Hives integrates with Teams and Slack so people can submit ideas without leaving their daily tools. And because every idea gets a visible status and response, people learn that participating is worth their time. Start with one focused campaign on a topic people care about and you will have participation from day one.
"IT will never approve another SaaS tool."
Hives is designed to pass enterprise IT reviews. It is hosted in the EU on AWS Frankfurt, supports SSO via SAML and Azure AD, uses AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit, and is fully GDPR compliant with a standard DPA. There is no custom development or on-premise installation needed. Share our IT & Security guide with your IT team and they will have every answer they need.
"Can we not just build this ourselves?"
You could build a basic form, but idea management is more than collection. You need evaluation workflows, scoring, notifications, reporting, integrations with Teams and Slack, role-based access, and ongoing iteration based on how people actually use it. Building and maintaining that internally costs far more than 695 euros per month, and it takes your development team away from your core product. Hives is ready to go in one to two weeks.
"Why not just use Microsoft Forms or a shared spreadsheet?"
Forms and spreadsheets can collect ideas, but they cannot manage them. There is no way to route ideas to the right evaluator, track status, notify submitters, or measure results. You end up with a list that nobody maintains. Hives is purpose-built for the full lifecycle: collection, evaluation, decision, and follow-up. Organizations that switch from forms typically see three to five times more ideas reaching implementation.
"We tried a suggestion box before and it did not work."
That is actually the strongest argument for Hives. Traditional suggestion boxes fail because there is no feedback loop. People submit ideas and never hear back. Hives solves this with automatic status updates, transparent evaluation, and visible outcomes. When employees see that their ideas are being taken seriously, participation goes up. Linköping Municipality went from a dead suggestion box to over 200 ideas with a 66% reduction in admin time.
"We do not have the budget for another tool."
Hives starts at 695 euros per month. Compare that to the cost of one process improvement project that never happens because nobody captured the idea. Halfords tracked over 750,000 pounds in documented value from employee ideas in their first year. Most organizations see ROI within the first quarter. The question is not whether you can afford it. The question is what it costs to keep losing good ideas.
"People will not use it."
Adoption depends on two things: making it easy to submit and showing people their input matters. Hives integrates with Teams and Slack so people can submit ideas without leaving their daily tools. And because every idea gets a visible status and response, people learn that participating is worth their time. Start with one focused campaign on a topic people care about and you will have participation from day one.
"IT will never approve another SaaS tool."
Hives is designed to pass enterprise IT reviews. It is hosted in the EU on AWS Frankfurt, supports SSO via SAML and Azure AD, uses AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit, and is fully GDPR compliant with a standard DPA. There is no custom development or on-premise installation needed. Share our IT & Security guide with your IT team and they will have every answer they need.
"Can we not just build this ourselves?"
You could build a basic form, but idea management is more than collection. You need evaluation workflows, scoring, notifications, reporting, integrations with Teams and Slack, role-based access, and ongoing iteration based on how people actually use it. Building and maintaining that internally costs far more than 695 euros per month, and it takes your development team away from your core product. Hives is ready to go in one to two weeks.
Build Your Business Case
Most purchases over a few hundred euros need a business case. Here is a framework you can adapt to your organization. Keep it short: one page is better than ten.
The problem (what is happening today)
Describe how ideas and suggestions are handled now. Be specific about what is broken: ideas lost in email threads, no feedback to submitters, no way to track impact, manual processes that take too much admin time, no visibility for leadership into what employees are suggesting. Use real examples from your own organization if you can.
The solution (what Hives does)
Hives is an idea management platform that gives you one place to collect, evaluate, and act on employee ideas. It replaces scattered processes with a structured workflow: employees submit ideas through Teams, Slack, or the platform itself. Ideas are automatically routed to evaluators. Every idea gets a status, a response, and a decision. Leadership gets a dashboard showing what is being submitted, what is being implemented, and what value it is creating.
The ROI math
Conservative estimate: if you collect 100 ideas per year, implement 15% of them, and each implemented idea saves or generates 5,000 euros, that is 75,000 euros in annual value. Hives Core costs 8,340 euros per year. That is a 9x return on investment. Halfords documented over 750,000 pounds from employee ideas in year one. Even if your results are a fraction of that, the math works.
The cost
Hives Core: 695 euros per month (8,340 euros per year). Hives Pro: 1,495 euros per month (17,940 euros per year) for advanced evaluation workflows and analytics. Hives Enterprise: 1,995 euros per month (23,940 euros per year) for SSO, API access, and dedicated support. All plans include unlimited users. No per-seat pricing. Implementation takes one to two weeks.
The problem (what is happening today)
Describe how ideas and suggestions are handled now. Be specific about what is broken: ideas lost in email threads, no feedback to submitters, no way to track impact, manual processes that take too much admin time, no visibility for leadership into what employees are suggesting. Use real examples from your own organization if you can.
The solution (what Hives does)
Hives is an idea management platform that gives you one place to collect, evaluate, and act on employee ideas. It replaces scattered processes with a structured workflow: employees submit ideas through Teams, Slack, or the platform itself. Ideas are automatically routed to evaluators. Every idea gets a status, a response, and a decision. Leadership gets a dashboard showing what is being submitted, what is being implemented, and what value it is creating.
The ROI math
Conservative estimate: if you collect 100 ideas per year, implement 15% of them, and each implemented idea saves or generates 5,000 euros, that is 75,000 euros in annual value. Hives Core costs 8,340 euros per year. That is a 9x return on investment. Halfords documented over 750,000 pounds from employee ideas in year one. Even if your results are a fraction of that, the math works.
The cost
Hives Core: 695 euros per month (8,340 euros per year). Hives Pro: 1,495 euros per month (17,940 euros per year) for advanced evaluation workflows and analytics. Hives Enterprise: 1,995 euros per month (23,940 euros per year) for SSO, API access, and dedicated support. All plans include unlimited users. No per-seat pricing. Implementation takes one to two weeks.
ROI Calculator
Plug in your numbers and see the estimated return on investment.
Number of employees
Ideas per 100 employees / year
Implementation rate (%)
Avg. value per implemented idea (€)
Annual platform cost (€)
30
Ideas implemented per year
€150,000
Annual value generated
18x
Return on investment
The Buying Process: Who You Need and When
Most champions discover too late that they need more people involved. Here is the typical buying process so you can get ahead of it.
Step 1: Build your internal case (week 1)
Use this toolkit to prepare your pitch and business case. Identify the key problem you want to solve and one or two specific campaigns you would run first. Talk to your direct manager to get initial support before going wider.
Step 2: Get your manager on board (week 1-2)
Share your pitch and business case with your direct manager. Ask them to sponsor the initiative or introduce you to whoever controls the budget. You need a budget holder who can say yes to the annual cost.
Step 3: Loop in IT early (week 2-3)
Do not wait until the end to involve IT. Share the IT & Security guide with them early so they can start their review in parallel. Most IT reviews take two to four weeks. If you start this in week two, it will not become a bottleneck later.
Step 4: Handle procurement (week 3-4)
If your organization requires a procurement process for software purchases, share the Procurement & Vendor Assessment guide. It covers pricing, compliance, contract terms, and a vendor checklist. This saves weeks of back-and-forth.
Step 5: Get the final decision (week 4-6)
By now you have your manager's support, IT has reviewed security, and procurement has the vendor details. Present the business case to the economic buyer with everything already in place. The decision becomes easy because you have removed every obstacle.
Build your internal case (week 1)
Use this toolkit to prepare your pitch and business case. Identify the key problem you want to solve and one or two specific campaigns you would run first. Talk to your direct manager to get initial support before going wider.
Get your manager on board (week 1–2)
Share your pitch and business case with your direct manager. Ask them to sponsor the initiative or introduce you to whoever controls the budget. You need a budget holder who can say yes to the annual cost.
Loop in IT early (week 2–3)
Do not wait until the end to involve IT. Share the IT & Security guide with them early so they can start their review in parallel. Most IT reviews take two to four weeks. If you start this in week two, it will not become a bottleneck later.
Handle procurement (week 3–4)
If your organization requires a procurement process for software purchases, share the Procurement & Vendor Assessment guide. It covers pricing, compliance, contract terms, and a vendor checklist. This saves weeks of back-and-forth.
Get the final decision (week 4–6)
By now you have your manager's support, IT has reviewed security, and procurement has the vendor details. Present the business case to the economic buyer with everything already in place. The decision becomes easy because you have removed every obstacle.
Share These With Your Team
These pages are designed to be shared directly with the stakeholders who need them. No marketing fluff, just the information each person needs to make their decision.
FOR YOUR IT TEAM
IT & Security Compliance Guide
Hosting, GDPR, encryption, SSO, integrations, and SLA details. Everything your IT team needs to approve Hives — no marketing, just technical facts.
Read the guide →
FOR YOUR PROCUREMENT TEAM
Procurement & Vendor Assessment Guide
Company overview, pricing, compliance, contract terms, references, and financial stability. Pre-filled vendor assessment ready to go.
Read the guide →
Need Help?
If you get stuck at any point in the process, we are here to help. We can join calls with your IT team, provide custom ROI calculations, or help you prepare your internal presentation. Just reach out.
How to Position This Internally
When you bring this up with your boss or leadership team, frame it the right way. Here are tested scripts you can use word-for-word.
Start with the problem
"Right now, employee ideas go into email threads or get raised in meetings and forgotten. We have no way to track them, prioritize them, or measure their impact. I think we're leaving real savings on the table."
Make it about efficiency
"I found a platform that gives every employee a simple way to submit improvement ideas, and routes them to the right evaluator automatically. No extra meetings, no spreadsheets. It replaces the manual process we don't really have."
Address the cost upfront
"It's 695 euros per month, flat — no per-seat pricing. If even a handful of the ideas we collect save us time or money, it pays for itself many times over. The ROI math is simple."
Propose a low-risk start
"I suggest we start with one team or one topic — maybe continuous improvement in operations. We'll see real results within weeks, and it doesn't disrupt anything. If it works, we expand."
Close with confidence
"Worst case, we learn our employees don't have improvement ideas — which I doubt. Best case, we unlock a pipeline of savings and better processes that compounds every quarter. Companies like Halfords documented over £750,000 in value from employee ideas in their first year."
What Our Customers Say
Don't just take our word for it. Here's what teams using Hives have to say.
“We went from sticky notes and spreadsheets to a structured pipeline of employee ideas. In the first six months, we implemented 47 ideas that saved us over €200,000.”
[Title, Company]
“The biggest surprise was how many ideas came from the shop floor. People who never spoke up in meetings suddenly had a voice. Management could see it all in real time.”
[Title, Company]
“Implementation took less than two weeks. No IT involvement needed. We launched with one department and within a quarter, every team wanted in.”
[Title, Company]
“What I love is the transparency. Every employee can see what happened to their idea — whether it was accepted, in progress, or why it was declined. That alone changed our culture.”
[Title, Company]
