The global software market is projected to grow by 10% from 2019 through 2025! That growth is being supercharged by 2020 which has pushed industries online.
Whether 2020 challenges have inspired your business to go on a software hunt or you need to integrate software into your workflow as part of your natural progression, you need to be aware that several companies make huge mistakes when purchasing business software.
Those mistakes can be costly.
If you’d prefer not to frivolously part with tens of thousands of dollars, our team has you covered. Below, we share 6 of the most common mistakes we see organizations make when software shopping so you can avoid them!
1. Buying Software Just Because
Buying business software has long been a superficial trend for small and medium-sized businesses. When things are going well, organizations needlessly make sizeable investments in a suite of business software features that they feel will theoretically help them scale faster.
That’s a mistake.
Buying business software should be an intentional process that’s aimed at solving obvious problems. Not something you do because it’s what other companies are doing and “it couldn’t hurt”.
2. Banking on Promotional Pricing
If you find you truly do need a software solution to a glaring problem, buyer beware. Several software providers lure commercial clients with low-pricing that doubles or even triples when their service contracts renew.
When you buy into software, make sure you can still make ends meet if you’re forced to pay its full price. The last thing you want is to integrate your software only to have to migrate away from it because of cost after a year.
3. Not Requesting a Trial
No matter how great software looks in a presentation, you never know how it’ll integrate into your workflow until you try it. The good news is that most software offers trial windows that let you test functionality before making large financial commitments.
Take advantage of those offers.
4. Forgetting to Talk to Your Team
Your team knows better than you what their day to day workflows look like. So, it makes sense to include them in conversations surrounding potential software pick-ups.
You don’t want to commit to software to then get feedback that it doesn’t help your team work through their daily challenges. Discovering that information via feedback on the front-end can save you a lot of money and time.
5. Forgetting Tomorrow
Purchasing business software is primarily about solving problems today but what about solving them tomorrow? Is the software you’re considering robust enough for you to scale into?
Prioritize tools that you can imagine yourself leveraging 5 years from now so you can avoid needing to swap out software every time you get a little bigger.
6. Forgoing Conversations With Experts
As you can see here, technology consultants offer great information on operating systems, software integrations, and more. Consider talking to one before purchasing to make sure you’re understanding all of the up and downsides that are going to accompany your choice.
Consultations with consultants are usually free or low-cost.
Purchasing Business Software Is an Exercise in Patience
Patience is the name of the game when purchasing business software. The more you’re able to wait for real problems and take slow steps to find real solutions, the better off you’ll be.
We hope our tips on software purchasing help you make great purchase decisions. If you’d like more guidance on software, common cyber threats, and other tech topics, check out more content here on our blog.
