What Can I Expect for Onboarding and Long-term Service? (Part 8)

When you consider new software suppliers, keep these key factors in mind:

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Start Up and Conversion

Its critical to ask suppliers about their processes for onboarding, conversion from existing systems, and long-term support. It’s just as critical to ask their customers how their experiences unfolded. Take the time to call customers to learn directly how the conversion and startup went, how quickly they resolve issues, and the quality of training provided.

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Partnership Value and User-Influence

It is important to know the partnership value provided beyond the products delivered. Do they involve customers in developing new features, functionality and processes to build a product users want vs. one they can easily profit from?

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Do they charge for extra training and/or trouble shooting? Do they provide insights and resources that will help you grow your business?

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Finally, do their contract terms favor you or them? Long-term contracts without termination clauses should be avoided. Getting stuck in a contract with a supplier that does not deliver on promises, or update its system to keep up with industry changes can be costly in many ways.

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A software decision is one you and your team will need to be happy with for a long time. Choosing a partner over just a supplier of a product is critical to the outcomes you will achieve.

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Read more: 8 Questions to Ask to Assure You Are Optimizing ROI

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