As demand increases for cross media marketing services, more and more vendors (MSPs and PSPs) are anxious to acquire the best software solution to accommodate client needs… but as we all know, when anxious, we tend to make “not so ideal” or even bad decisions.

There are plenty of great software solutions available in the market, but there are things you should be cautious of when searching for a solution:

“Our solution is the only one that does this”
There is no single solution that exclusively provides a feature or function that no other solution provides. The level of quality, flexibility and price may differ, but there is definitely more than one solution that provides a particular function that you may be searching for. Take your time and shop around, before you make any decisions solely based on a particular function.

“Our solution does it all”
Here is another marketing scheme that you should be aware of. There is no one single solution that does it all. It may do everything you need it to do for a current project, but that doesn’t make it a “do it all” solution. Always think about other possible projects your clients may demand. They may only want emails and pURLs today, but what if they want social media integration, mobile marketing, and QR codes tomorrow? The key here is to pick the solution that best fits your client needs… not the one that does it all, because it does not exist.

Cross media solution… in pieces
When something claims that it is “a” solution, users shouldn’t have to purchase individual pieces (modules) of software and piece it all together. “A” solution should be a single software that includes multiple cross media functions. Module based software solutions may be the alternative if your primary software lacks a particular function. Cost is also something to consider if you are building your solution by piecing together different modules.

Over promising and under delivering
Just like any other product, there are too many people who fall victim to software solutions that are not capable to delivering what it promises. Always ask for examples of customer work or demo applications that demonstrate functions that are important to you. Always see it in action before you believe it.

Usability
Lets say you found the solution that does everything you need it to do, it is all-inclusive, cost efficient and comes with around the clock support. Sounds great, right? What about the usability? Is it user friendly or does it requires you to contact support for every little thing you do? Always ask for a demo of the user interface (UI) and see: if it is easy to navigate, if it is responsive, how easy is it to integrate assets or third party software etc…

The “best” solution does not exist!
It is important that you look for the solution that best fits your customer needs and not the “best” solution. Every solution is developed differently, and may be stronger for specific functions and not others. When the sales guy tells you they are selling you the best solution that you can find, just simply say you don’t believe them and ask them to break it down and draw examples that are relevant to the challenges you are facing. Jot down all the answers you get from all the different sales guys and compare them.

Hope this helps!

-Willv