10 Questions You Should Be Asking Software Companies - But Aren't

Transcription

1 10 Questions You Should Be Asking Software Companies - But Aren't JANUARY 20, :00 4:00 PM Presenters: Erik Cofield, CGA BuilderTech Consulting LLC, Houston, TX Dan Devol Dan Devol Custom Builders, Dayton, OH

2 How to Buy Software-Accurately, Profitably Builders lose money every day by making uninformed software purchasing decisions. In this session, you'll hear from one experienced builder who thought he was asking all the right questions in purchasing software, while a technology insider explains why those questions were exactly the wrong ones. Through a lively and fun presentation, you will gain valuable insight on how you should engage with prospective software companies from first inquiry all the way through the decision process. You'll learn what questions to ask, what answers to look for and which to reject and accept. This 60-minute session could save you hours of misspent time, and more importantly, thousands of dollars in misspent money.

3 Learning Outcomes Learn how to "peel the layers of an onion" to detect brochure-ware vs. software. Get the 10 key questions you should be asking that will give you the upper hand in purchasing software. Explore the strategy of how you should connect to the answers, not just get the answers. Discover the subtle ways to tell fact from fiction and amateur from professional.

4 The wait time for this ride is 0 Minutes! Software companies want you to focus primarily on the software itself, no matter what industry you are in. Many builders also focus on the software system and the features and benefits. But one of the most important features is the company itself. Imagine buying a house without even asking who the builder is, or perhaps, was, as in past tense. Don t do that. The correct software system buy has to include what or who THEIR company is. Who you are and what you build is part of what you need.

5 1) What is your MONTHLY churn rate? Talk about sensitive. How many customers do you lose, is a big deal and a very touchy question. Good reasons. Bad reasons. The average MONTHLY churn rate (customers leaving) for cloud based software is 2 to 4%. Psycho: What they say, but also How they respond.

6 2) Have you been involved in lawsuits? It s a Trap! Sub Question: Have you ever filed a lawsuit against a builder? Sub Question: Have you ever had a lawsuit filed against you by a builder? Psycho: What they say, but also How they respond.

7 3) When I call tech support, who will I talk to? It s actually a big deal. Common answer: dedicated support rep or an assigned manager Stronger answer: team of support The not so obvious -- Why? Psycho: How difficult is the system, really?

8 4) What is your Support Satisfaction Rate? Trick Question. Perfection isn t attainable. 90% is not really all that good 95% is more reasonable & probably minimum expectation 97-98% is excellent Now you know. Don t get fooled Psycho: If you struggle with intuition, as many men do, ask a woman to be part of your decision making or questioning and data gathering team. NEVER underestimate a woman s intuition! If it sounds like they were making it up.

9 5) How many hours per MONTH is your system down? What goes up, must come down, but not much. Average = 1 hour per year! Don t be fooled by: I don t know / Couple of hours - amateur, dumb, liar, u-pick Psycho: Use month to allow them, to slip in to telling you a number that seems small. If they are not stable, you won t be either!

10 6) What are your 2 primary user profiles? Typical answer: All Builders Maybe, probably not. Better answer: Custom Builders, Production Builders or something more specifically targeted. Alternative Question: Who are most of your customers? Psycho: Ask them before they know who you are

11 7) Do you turn down or not accept customers, and if so, why? Nobody wants to admit they turn down customers. But that is not true. They do. They should, and you should too, at least for the right reasons. Psycho: Get from them the true answer without them determining if you are a right fit. That s for you to decide, not them.

12 8) What is your ratio of sales people to support people? What sounds better? Oh a lot. You will never wait for a support person. Oh about 5 to 1 I would say. There are plenty 1 to 1. We have 4 sales people and 4 in support Trick: Do you have at least one tech support person for 100 companies? The amateur sales person will just walk in to your trap and respond with something like, Oh yeah, at least. That s way too high. Psycho: A lot of support people is not good. It s bad. Why do they need so many? I know why. Now you do too.

13 9) Will you Price Match Your Competition? Will you? You shouldn t. In the case of software, there is no such thing as exact apples to apples. If your software company is racing to the bottom, is that a company you want to trust your world to? Psycho: The psychology of price matching is not really in your interest. Ask what their best deal is. Many software companies have affiliation pricing, show specials, or something to discuss. Flaky Pricing = Flaky Processing

14 10) How often do you roll out new features? Reverse psychology- Amateur sales person, All the time. Well, All the time is the exact wrong answer. Why all the time? Is the system new, basic, buggy, what? 3 Bears of Software Development: Not too Much, Not too Little, Just Right Psycho: What are the next two things coming out? Shouldn t they want to tell you?

15 We Hope This Helps. Q&A Next Our intent: - To help builders run a better business - To raise the bar for professionalism in our industry Remember, if you have no system of record, you will have a record of no system.

16 Speaker Contacts: Erik Cofield Builder Tech Consulting Dan Devol Devol Custom Builders Head Shot Head Shot Houston, TX Bellbrook, OH