5 Factors You Need to Consider While Choosing Business Software

Over the last year or two, I have written several dozen case studies for my company (LeadSquared) and more often than not, the case of choosing the wrong marketing software initially drove these customers to us. Statements like ‘that didn’t work for us’ and ‘it was a complete failure’ are just a few from the many that I have heard repeatedly.

Having interacted with several clients from various industries, I have identified a pattern on what businesses consider or fail to consider, as they make this choice. In most cases, their evaluation process isn’t thorough enough.

So here’s my list of 5 factors that would help you make an informed decision while investing in technology to accelerate sales for your business. It’s a cost to the company and considering that, you would want to know what I have to say.

1. Go For A Free Trial

I really recommend you take a trial before you invest in software. Most software websites will list feature after feature saying this will help you with “this” or “that”and it actually helps. But the question here is:

· How much effort do I need to put in to get that benefit? (Everything would need some human intervention, but how much is the question.)

· Does it work without any glitches? (Believe me, I have worked on comparison documents for software after software, and have seen that no matter how impressive the website looks, you should never take it for granted that the software would be just as impressive.)

I do not want to take names here (if you ask me privately, I just might); but I have ‘trialed’ several tools and seen that they are not at all easy to use. Sometimes the UI is the problem (not user-friendly), while sometimes the software is just too slow - It takes ages for the email editor to open or the dashboard to appear. These things should not be neglected while choosing software for your business. Remember, you would be using it on a daily basis and working with ‘an Internet Explorer’ might not grow your business at the rate you want it to.

2. Customer Reviews Are Vital

Personally, I think this is one of the most important factors that you should consider while choosing software. In fact, you should consider it generally for any kind of investment. I look up customer reviews on Zomato and other sites before going to restaurants. Okay, I don’t always do it but I do take these reviews very seriously and I’m sure there are several people out there who do the same - for hotels, salons, electronic gadgets, admission in colleges and pretty much everything else that involves money. Customer feedback should be every marketer’s Holy Grail!

There are tons of software review sites out there like G2 Crowd, TechnologyAdvice, TrustRadius, etc.
· Software Sellers: Get your customers to write reviews about you
· Software Buyers: Read reviews before you invest in anything.

3. How “Supportive” Is Their Customer Support?

Now I know this can be a problem because I have read reviews of unhappy customers, complaining about the lack of support from the team. (Read reviews on G2 crowd and see for yourselves.) I have handpicked a few as well:

· “And their support is their biggest, biggest problem. I personally do not care whether their support team is from the US, India or anywhere else in the world. If they are knowledgeable and are easy to communicate with, that is what's important.”

· “Very poor, outsourced customer service. If you only communicate in English, not the company for you...”

· “I no longer use this product but used an older version and in order to get support we were told that we would have to upgrade which was not very cost effective”

You see what I mean? An unhappy customer is unpredictable and volatile. They might even write a blog post about the company’s poor customer support, or bring it up on the company’s social media pages (I have done the latter as a consumer, so I can identify with that).

What I am trying to say is great support makes a difference. If the software company offers customer support not just via mail but also through chat, phone calls and even on the field and in multiple languages, nothing like it. Of course, there are other factors that you need to consider but this one should be in your top 5.

While you are at it, also look at their help portals and support websites. How helpful are the articles there? Are the support queries actually answered, or are they ignored? This would give you a good picture of how it’s going to be for you post-purchase.

4. It’s A Mobile World.

According to KPCB’s 2015 Internet Trends report from earlier this year, there were 5.2 billion mobile phone users in 2014, out of which, 40% were smartphone users. That automatically tells you that majority of that 40% would be using their phones to surf the net. This further explains the need for mobile-friendly websites and mobile apps for online businesses.

Even Google has been stressing on it for a while. Apart from SEO factors that you need to keep in mind, the advantage of going about doing your business on the go should encourage you to opt for a software that not only has a responsive website but also a mobile app.

Mobile internet usage has skyrocketed in the past 4 years and has now officially overtaken desktop internet usage. Keeping that in mind, it would only be wise to opt for software that is futuristic and ‘mobile’.

5. At What Cost?

It all comes down to this –money. No matter what your budget is, I would advise you to take into consideration the 4 factors mentioned above. All software platforms have different plans for those with a tight budget and those who have much to spend. The other important thing is to scrutinize the software thoroughly before investing.

If you have ever dug deep into the features offered and the pricing details, you would know that not all features offered on the website are included in the plan that you might be going for. Some come with additional costs. In most cases, the plan details would specific this (that ‘x’ feature would be an additional cost) but in some they don’t. That’s what you need to look out for.

If you are not clear on the cost standpoint for any feature, just ask them upfront – email them or check with the sales rep you are in contact with, and they would clarify it for you.

So here are my final thoughts:
ü Explore the software;
ü Pay attention to what your fellow users are saying;
ü Consider your options if you can’t get value out of the software on your own;
ü Be futuristic; and
Invest only when you have figured out and adapted to the 4 above.

(Author of this article is Nilesh Patel, who is the Founder and CEO of LeadSquared)