Another ‘How to Buy Accounting Software’ article – Yippee!
Solution Explorers on January 23rd, 2010. Under Discovery: Needs Analysis, Problems, Solutions, Symptoms
Web 2.0 – Marketing 2.0 – Sales 2.0 – Social Media craze – our first black President – women succeeding in business leadership roles that used to be “glass ceilings” – and so on. We clearly live in a progressive generation. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell journalist who write predictable, annual reviews on how to buy software.
I read last week another article by a journalist claiming to understand the best way to find accounting software. Actually, the content was regurgitation of software buying tips we’ve all seen many times over the years. Here are the article’s main points:
Understand Your Accounting Needs
Talk to your accountant and staff
Know your budget limitations
Reach out to other businesses and software consultants
Create your wish list
Make your business accounting software decision
Look, not searching, but re-searching business software is a major task. Reference my blog – http://blog.solutionexplorers.com/?p=67 .
This article mentioned numerous times “the next step you need to take is…” Question: Do YOU internally have the time or knowledge resources to take on yet another time-consuming task? Some businesses do, possibly a nonprofit with volunteer assistance, but most folks I talk with are struggling to find work-life balance. Are you really willing to invite numerous sales calls, marketing packets, and demos into your already busy work life? At the same time, turning to glass half-empty sites like FindAccountingSoftware.com or AccountingSoftware411.com (two sites referenced in the article as good resources) are not the answer either. That’s right, I’ve used these. Why do they fall short in helping businesses find the right software for their needs? Because after you complete their form and talk with the rep for 10-15 minutes then all they do is write up a summary and wa-la, you are handed off to multiple vendors that start sending literature and calling/emailing on a regular basis wanting to talk about how great they are. Really? Is that a good use of your time? Is that good resource stewardship? In most cases, no, it’s not. Remember, these find software resources are FREE to you. As you know, we consumers generally get what we pay for.
Admittedly, I’m just a little passionate about this. In fact, I’m building a company designed to “transform the software technology buying and selling experience.” But as I write please understand that I too am a small business owner, former software reseller, and I’ve had to make outsource decisions too. If you want things done right the first time and as efficiently as possible so that you can remain focused on your client needs and business growth then outsourcing is a very viable alternative…especially in the area of business software research. Below are brief summaries of Solution Explorer’s comprehensive 3 step process…let me know if I can be of service (Contact link at top of page).
We analyze your needs (as opposed to pointing you to a standardized two page questionnaire). We look at what problems you are trying to solve, what type of software would help, and then dig deeper (probe) by interviewing the key members of your team and learning what their needs and pains are.
2. Solution Exploration
We research the world of software solutions (as opposed to referencing only vendors that pay membership fees) based on the needs analysis completed in Phase 1, and come up with a short list of viable options that we review with you.
3. Presentations, Negotiations & Agreements
Your team sees proof-of-concept product presentations (not dog-n-pony demos) and decides which solution best matches your system requirements and selection criteria. We help you negotiate the terms of the contract and review Agreements.
If you’re willing to set aside old-school, DIY software buying tips then contact me (Contact link at top of page) and let me help you take the Time and Hassle of finding the right software for your needs off your To-do list. The ROI alone is a good reason, but even more so you will outsource a grinding task to an expert so that YOUR focus can be on customer service and business development. This next step you need to take is…schedule a complimentary one hour session to discuss outsourcing your next business software research project.
