Were you the unfortunate victim of making a bad choice for your Cloud CXM/CRM vendor? Maybe many of the underlying components with the desired functionality are V1.0s and aren’t ready for prime-time? Or maybe you got a surprise message; “Sorry but it is going to be six months before we can deliver your order!”. Whether you are the decision-maker in Procurement, IT, Marketing, Customer Service or Sales – This major blunder could be a career limiting move as well as the cause of major damage to your brand.
Tips to Help in your Decision-Making Process
- What is the culture of the perspective vendor? Long-term, Short-term?
- How are they funded? —> Public? Private / Holding Company / Investment Firm?
- How many acquisitions have they made in the last two years? Are the functions you are interested in available via one of those acquisitions?
- Have those acquired capabilities been assimilated into the overall solution portfolio?
- Are some of the components V1.0s?
- Were you able to get references by functionality?
- Was the underlying technology of the platform originally built to be an on-premise solution vs. cloud? Is it multi-tenant and how will that impact your business?
- Is the technology overly complex with partial or hybrid component requirements that may or may not work?
- How much of the overall solution is powered by 3rd party OEM components?
- Is your Account Representative passionate and an expert in the field or is he there just to make his numbers by going over your head with pre-existing relationships?
- Did you check Glassdoor.com for overall employee satisfaction and retention?
- If the company is public, take a look at the debt that is being serviced and if they are making money. A healthy company is making money, paying it debts and has money leftover to reward performance and continue to innovate products and services.
Scary Realities
Most competent software companies can quickly skin-up a demo that is amazing, compelling and professional! But is it just “Smoke & Mirrors“? How do you really know?
Recommendations
- Make sure the selected vendor has the resources to deliver!
- Make sure the products are mature and innovative with a clear road-map for future functionality.
- Make sure you thoroughly check references by functionality and by business vertical! If they don’t have any business in that vertical…..ask why!
In Conclusion – Looking for the Right Solution
“When you can’t see the forest for the trees”, even in the water!
Make sure you follow a thorough process with all the right tactics!
Don’t be afraid to use some finesse and strategy!
Have some Fun!
Inspect your Catch!
It’s what’s for dinner!
Thank you for reading my post!
Enjoy more at www.BillCookCX.com and check me out on
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/billcook
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