Find Software-Tips for Buyers: Multi-part Series: Introduction

I recently went into a local Barnes & Noble and asked the help desk clerk to search for books with keywords, such as: Find software, Buying software tips, Software for Dummies, etc. The result was quite stunning…NADA!! I couldn’t believe it. Actually, I looked at my wife – an existing published author but full-time school teacher – and said, “Honey, you need to quit your job now because I just found a gap in the market!” This was a bit tongue-n-cheek of course, but I’ve decided to make an effort of this online. This won’t be anywhere near as comprehensive as writing a book but I truly hope readers of this content find value and choose to pass this blog along to other businesses. If so, I’m certainly happy to consider developing an e-Book and making it available online.

Series Introduction

A couple of posts ago I expressed frustration with journalists who write regurgitated material on how YOU should go about finding software for your business. It’s not that the information is bad per se, but rather old-school find software tips fail to consider today’s business environment and software markets. For instance, business leaders today realize more than ever that time management is vital to their success in an increasing competitive market. This is especially true for nonprofits, where resources are always tight. Therefore, many organizations and businesses are rethinking tasks that can be outsourced to specialists, such as social media strategy, virtual assistant services, and even finding the right software for their unique business needs.

Likewise, the software market has grown into an endless sea/ocean of solution options:

• Proprietary – owned, internal client/server or hosted, but you own it!
• FOSS – Free and Open Software Systems, aka Open Source
• SaaS – rent online space, pay-as-you-go, outsourced IT services
• Web-based – different than SaaS, typically an owned product but runs via Web services
• Other options – finance/lease purchases, no contract (cancel anytime), and so on.

As such, most buyers simply don’t have the required time and resources much less know where to begin and who is worthy of consideration. The tasks of analyzing your business needs, researching available software solution options, and negotiating with skilled sellers with increasingly complex contracts has developed into a daunting, risky, and time-consuming challenge for businesses.

When done effectively this is a time-consuming task – no, it’s a project – that when done internally typically requires 30-50+ hours and involves numerous interruptions of vital daily responsibilities. Note: this does not include the hours invested by the salesperson, technical consultants, even your other resources that are brought in at various points of discussion, etc. The point here is that finding business software is a PROJECT, and a large time investment at that. I realize that not every business will choose to outsource this project. Therefore, the purpose of this multi-part series is to provide some updated buying tips, more like steps, that you’ll want to be sure and consider. We will cover the following topics:

• Internal Discovery: Needs Analysis
• External Discovery: Research, Explore!
• Collaboration: Vendor Outreach, Presentations
• Negotiation: Pricing (product and services)
• Purchase: Agreements, Contracts

Although this list appears very general in nature it’s the content provided under these major headings that I hope you find refreshing. Much of this stems from what I’ve observed as both a software salesperson and now as an independent outsourced resource helping businesses and nonprofit organizations find software that meets their unique functional and budget needs.

In the meantime and ongoing I welcome your comments – from both software buyers and sellers – describing your experiences. Do you share these concerns? Are you willing to share some effective steps that you’ve taken before? Even if you have opposing views your comments will provide value to us all.

Image credit: Fotolia – Tyler Boyes

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).

1. Discovery—Needs Analysis

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.

“If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it’ll start taking more of our attention than it deserves.” – David Allen

This post will begin dialogue on a key component, YOUR T-I-M-E, to determining if your business should search for software solutions internally or outsource this task – call it a TIME cost:benefit analysis. In many ways, this is similar to deciding whether to purchase a proprietary client/server software application or pay an ongoing fee for a Saas (software-as-a-service, aka hosted) solution. In fact, as a business you have probably already made other similar decisions, such as hiring vs. contract labor, buy or rent office space, and so on. These are tough resource management decisions!

But here’s the question…considering the last time that you completed a business software search and purchase process, approximately how much TIME would you estimate was invested? As you consider an honest answer let me provide a broad list of common actions in the software search process:

• Discovery: Business issues assessment (aka Needs Analysis) – at least I hope you do this.
• Discovery: Explore (research via various information sources) potential solutions.
• Collaboration: Open dialogue with software vendors, call references and/or like-kind entities.
• Collaboration: Information sharing such as documents, features list, pricing, etc.
• Collaboration: Product demonstration(s), maybe even try a 30-day trial.
• Negotiation: Discuss purchase requirements, review agreements, request a proposal for product(s) and consulting services, etc.
• Purchase: Finalize pricing and agreement terms, agree on Statement of Work, send money!

OK, trust me when I say that these bullet points are very broad and yet represents a standard software search process. This ALL takes TIME…and lots of it. Are you ready now to provide an honest answer? For purposes of this post let me offer some observations based on experience. Admittedly, I have no scientific study support for this but I believe a standard software search will require a minimum of 50 hours from start to finish. Yes, I said a minimum, and that’s only your TIME. Does this surprise you? Do you agree? Strangely, this even applies to those searching for low end business software solutions. Of course, I’m excluding those folks that quickly buy something low cost online or stop by the nearest retails store to buy Sage Peachtree, Intuit QuickBooks, or something similar. These types of purchases are outside the scope of this discussion.

In summary, software buying and selling is time consuming, albeit necessary in the life of a business. Of course, keep in mind as you consider the information within this post that TIME is invested by the buyer (internal resources) AND usually multiple product salespeople (external resources). In some cases, software consultants get involved to help with technical matters and demonstrations. In larger purchases, TIME is required of lawyers, procurement managers, independent consultants, and so on. After all, most buyers want their business software purchase to be a 5-7 year investment, so you can believe they’re going to take precaution and work the process until they are completely comfortable proceeding.

What are your greatest TIME constraints today? Do you have a 2010 plan (or resolution) to improve on these? More specifically, as you consider the possibility of your next business software purchase, will you take on the project internally or consider outsourcing the project? If the latter, reach out to me for a complimentary consultation and we’ll discuss the possibilities. Until then, I welcome your feedback.

Series 1, Part 2 of 3 – Symptom: Distrust

Can software technology buyers trust sellers?

Well, at best, most won’t. It makes sense really. Sellers are in fact hired to “push” their product and/or service. They are often incented to increase sales – aka, a commission. Even in the instance that a genuine, well-meaning salesperson wants to have a professional, productive dialogue to determine if they are a good fit or not do they really have a chance? Unfortunately, predominantly speaking, NO they don’t. After all, how is a buyer supposed to distinguish the real deal from those who are just looking for the next sale?

It’s important to note that most salespeople are well-meaning. They really do believe in their product and services.

Even the professional, skilled salespeople struggle with this entrenched distrustful environment (symptom). They are trained to build rapport, ask open-ended questions, hold back information (esp. pricing), and get a commitment at each step. All of these instructions are sound. So, why haven’t things improved? Stated differently, why is there so much tug-of-war and so little cooperation?

I welcome thoughts from both buyers and sellers. To begin, below are some observations of characteristics in truly well-meaning, problem-solving salespeople:

• Ask relevant, probing questions
• Listener, rarely interrupting
• Maintains YOU as the primary subject, not THEM

What are some positive or negative characteristics that you have observed in either software technology buyers or sellers?