5 Things to Look for When Choosing a Business Software

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5 Things to Look for When Choosing a Business Software

Jungo CRM Choosing Business Software

If you’re choosing business software, the number of choices can be overwhelming. As a loan officer, you may be shopping for a CRM, LOS, POS, auto dialer, or marketing platform. Even within the mortgage industry, there are many software options to choose from in every category.

Jungo CRM Choosing Business Software

So, how do you choose which software will best serve you and your team? There are a few software best practices that your chosen software should prioritize. Keep an eye out for these 5 factors. If a company is committed to these things, you will end up with a technology that actually solves your problems, instead of adding to them.

Software Company Best Practices:

  1. Proven track record of success  

  2. Committed to best in class partnerships 

  3. Prioritizes customer service 

  4. Offers robust training solutions

  5. Dedicated to improvement

Proven Track Record of Success

Although not every company has been in business for decades, it’s still important to see that the software has been successful. This proof could be found in the form of customer testimonials, or case studies. Seeing that the software has helped other companies similar to yours can be a great initial indicator of its capabilities.

Many software companies feature client testimonials and reviews on their website. However, if they don’t, start digging. You could ask others in your industry if they or anyone they know uses the platform. Additionally, if you Google the company, there are probably plenty of reviews from past and current customers.

What should you think about bad reviews?

What if a company you’re interested in has bad reviews? Well, most likely, that will be the case for any business! It’s important to look at how the company responds to negative feedback. Additionally, consider what about the system made the clients unhappy. Are these problems that would affect your company? 

Committed to Best-In-Class Partnerships

Chances are, one software won’t fulfill every single one of your business’ needs. Although that would be an ideal scenario, the world is not normally quite that simple. Because of this, it’s important to consider how the proposed software will integrate with other systems. The best technology companies are committed to industry partnerships that add value to their system.

One way to be able to tell if the software company values industry integrations is to check out their API. If they say that they have an “Open API,” this means that they have designed their platform so that it can be seamlessly integrated with other softwares.

It’s important that any software you choose for your business is pursuing partnerships with other technology solutions. Otherwise, you’ll be left behind as your competitors take full advantage of all the benefits of integrated software systems.

Prioritizes Customer Service

This point may feel a bit obvious, but don’t overlook it! There are bound to be implementation speed bumps with any software. So you should shop for a company that prioritizes their customer service strategy. It can be hard to determine what a customer service experience will be like unless you’re already a customer, so this is the time to do your research. Go back to the customer testimonials you found from the step above. Look at what people have to say about the company’s customer service.

Are they readily available to answer questions and concerns? Do they take product recommendations into consideration? Are the customer support staff friendly, educated, and engaged? These are just a few of the questions that you should ask as you search for the right software for your business.

Offers Robust Training Solutions

Much like customer service, training solutions are not something you hope you have to use, but they’re still vitally important. Even for ultra-simple technology solutions, you’ll still want to learn about the platform’s capabilities. Additionally, if you’re purchasing a software for your entire business, your team members will need to be thoroughly trained.

Because of this, the software company you choose should offer a well thought out and robust training platform. Especially for robust and multi-faceted software, look for complete training. This should include resources such as customer onboarding, and a library of video and text resources for instant help.

Dedicated to Improvement

You’re shopping for a business software to solve a problem you have in your company, so it’s important not to choose a system that will be outdated as soon as its implemented. Software companies should be dedicated to constantly improving their platform. This may present itself in different ways. Consider how regularly they release software updates or develop new products and tools.

If you’re having trouble finding out how a specific software company handles product improvements, just ask! The company should be able to provide a timeline of their product updates, as well as new feature releases. This can be a great way to benchmark how the company treats innovation and planning for the future.

Bottom Line

Choosing business software is an exciting but nerve-wracking task. You have the chance to revolutionize your business through technology-driven solutions. But you also risk losing money or valuable time if the platform you choose doesn’t work for you.

As the tech industry continues to grow, the sheer number of software providers presents you with a challenge. But don’t give up hope! Investing in a new software will always involve risk, no matter how much research you do. Your company and team have unique needs, so not every software will be the right fit for you. Consider how the business software you’re shopping for stacks up against these 5 best practices. Then, you’ll have a better idea of how your customer experience with the company may go.

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