Questions to Ask Your Software Provider

As you strive to transform lives within your community, the right software provider can make all the difference in amplifying your impact. To choose the right software provider from a very saturated market, a game plan is a must. While there’s a lot to evaluate, these questions can help you get started.

How many people are on your staff?

When problems arise or there are questions about functionality, a good software partner should always have someone on hand to assist your organization.

What is your process for accepting product requests?

You need a software provider that can adapt to meet your changing needs, but you want to ensure there’s a long-term strategy behind what is developed. Find a software partner that’s dedicated to partnering with your leadership team to create new capabilities to power your mission.

What is your contract policy? Are you at risk without a contract?

While the word “contract” may seem intimidating, it’s important to remember that contracts go both ways. With a contract, you can rest assured that you’re covered with service level agreements that keep your organization running day in and day out.

How accurate is your reporting?

Knowing how your organization is faring regarding key performance indicators like check-ins, registrations and revenue is paramount to your organization’s success. Find a software provider that consistently delivers accurate reporting week-to-week and month-to-month.

Beyond member management, what other ways does your software help with member engagement?

Most software providers cover the basics of member management, but it takes a lot more than management to keep your members happy and engaged. Do they offer an integrated CRM and Lead Management platform to keep your members connected? What about text messaging to send reminders and updates?

Are all of your products fully integrated with your member management solution?

You know more than anyone how much it takes to keep your organization running day in and day out. A complete software solution will have the ability to streamline and simplify processes around each of the many jobs you do to keep pushing toward your mission including scheduling, digital analytics and document storage.

How protected am I against a data breach? Specifically, how is payment information protected?

Your members trust you with their most personal information, from their dates of birth and home addresses to their credit card numbers. Look for payment processing software that is PCI compliant, uses tokenization and includes an address verification tool. A processing system that integrates directly with your management software further lowers the risk of exposure by avoiding data transfer between multiple partners.