Scott Harris, Founder and CEO of Experience.com (Formerly SocialSurvey), recently spoke this past month at the Lenders One Summer Conference. He contributed to the MarTech panel, providing strategies on how to choose and adopt new technologies for your company’s success.
Choosing a vendor is a difficult decision. When it comes to technology, companies are often split between “build it or buy it”. With hard-earned dollars on the line,it’s often questioned: How do I avoid the pitfalls? What are the best ways to adopt new technologies for my company? How do I execute? Whether you’re taking notes, attending conferences or obnoxiously asking for success stories, every movement is essential in order to get the deserved value from each vendor relationship.
Let these steps frame your checklist for making important vendor decisions:
- Start with the Demo. The demo equals accountability. Take good notes on every feature. How is this tool being used by your competitors? Who’s getting the best use out of it? Consider the highest and best outcomes for you. This will become your checklist later if you adopt this tool.
- Collect User Stories. At Experience.com (Formerly SocialSurvey), we’re in the user story business. Write down the technologies you’re thinking of purchasing and at the next conference, ask everyone: Have you ever used this product? Yes? Great! Can you tell me your story? If you get lots of stories from lots of folks, that’s a great signal whether or not your should make that decision.
- Finish. It’s your dollars, and you should get the maximum value out of them. We are all busy people—we want that victory but have to get on to the next thing. Instead, assign someone to follow through until it’s deployed and used by all. Make sure your company is getting the highest and best use out of that tech in every possible way.
Remember the three steps: demo is accountability, collect user stories, and if you choose the company, then FINISH.
[note size=”medium”]L1 Panel: Generate New Business Through Martech[/note]
