Save Money, Prevent Headaches, With Just One Powerful Question

Thus, trust and understanding are critical to the business relationship.  In fact, without it, relationships that should be mutually beneficial turn into something that drains you with anxiety and distress, and even worse, will probably end up costing you a lot of money needlessly.  When choosing a print catalog software provider, most companies know how to go through some variation of the Request For Proposal (RFP) process. They research the company, see a demo or two, read a few testimonials, and place their bets.

Consider the case of “Allen”.  He is a good businessman and knows the general RFP process. He followed the standard methodology to select a print catalog software provider. However, he failed to ask the potential print catalog software provider one critical question that could have saved him thousands of dollars and a few dozen stressful hours.

Can You Do A Discovery Analysis?

When Allen came to our first demo, throughout the session he drilled us like a man on a mission.  His previous vendor had burned him and, disillusioned by the entire process, he wanted to make sure that he would not end up in a similar situation.  Naturally, we sympathisized and inquired about his previous experience. Understanding what went wrong there was key to ultimately winning his trust.  Not only would it help alleviate his concerns, but it would help us determine what level of service his company would need and whether our print catalog software is even able to address his concerns.  Part of being successful is the ability to recognize that not everyone is a perfect fit.  We’d rather send someone off to a competitor that is more in line with the prospect’s needs than try to make an unworkable situation “fit”.  No one wins in that scenario.

Allen mentioned that he had spent well over $10,000 for another third party print catalog software service.  Since it was the first time he was setting up a PIM (Product Information Management) system, he was not sure what he needed but did his research and understood the basics. The company demos were very straightforward and the system seemed to work just fine when demonstrated with dummy data.  It even seemed to work well when the company uploaded a very small sampling of his own company data.  However, after getting the new system implemented, issues began to arise.  The servers constantly lagged and faced extended downtime, overall performance was terrible, and as a result Allen had to spend countless hours addressing bugs and quirks that were preventing him from adding data. In short, before he wouldcommit to a new print catalog software vendor, Allen needed to be sure that all his data would flow smoothly into the system, and that content updates and publishing were as easy as print catalog software vendors claimed them to be.

Just What The Doctor Ordered

A discovery consultation is something which some print catalog software companies offer which can save customers money and stress and was perfectly suited for Allen’s situation. The initial step in the discovery consultation is to offer intensive training that walks through the workflows for creating, modifying, and publishing products and catalogs in print and on the web.  Full support is provided to all our vendors but this intensive training allows our clients to get comfortable with the software before they have to commit.

The real value in the discovery consultation however, comes from the migration services.  Migrating has three main ways that it provides value:

• A discovery consultation sets up the framework to guarantees that the data will work flawlessly with the system and that any bugs can quickly be addressed before adopting the new system
• It saves money and time
• It encourages quick and immediate use of the new system

1. Guaranteeing that the data will load

Allen was wary of print catalog software vendors because his previous PIM system would not easily and fluidly load his data.  As part of our discovery consultation, we mapped out his entire data structure, developed a migration workflow, and finally loaded some of his data into our system. This showed him how he would migrate his data to our system, with no “magic buttons” or hidden behind scenes manipulation going on.  While this provided all the assurance that he needed to roll out yet another PIM system with confidence, it also helped Allen figure out what the next steps he needed to take.  Finally, he had all the information he needed to negotiate a detailed and sustainable SLA (Service Level Agreement).

2. Saving Time and Money

The eventual goal of a PIM system is to improve accuracy and consistency while saving time and money. However, migrating your product information into a professional database requires a significant amount of time and effort.  Even planning out the migration itself is no small task. This is especially true for first time print catalog software users who will probably need to learn by trial and error which methods are feasible and which are not.  Just as every company is different, so is the workflow from one company to the next.

A discovery consultation includes working with the client to produce a migration workflow, an implementation plan, a full breakdown and categorization of their data, and a detailed SLA. Leveraging the expertise of the print catalog software providers, the client can fine-tune the best implemention method to fit his or her needs while saving literally thousands of dollars in work-hours. Some print catalog software companies currently offer the discovery consultation for a very modest fee and offer to return the entire amount in the form of credit on the first invoice once the client enrolls in their services. Thus, using the discovery consultation can save you thousands of dollars from the moment you sign up.

3. Encouraging a quick and immediate transition

As if often the case when rolling out a new software implementation, there is a “critical mass” that must be reached before the new system can be used as the main system.  For example, think of the XLSX format introduced by Microsoft with Office 2007.  If you are like most people, it probably took you a while before you consistently decided to use the XLSX format as opposed to the old standard, XLS.  Although the new format is far superior technically, in terms of functionality and compression, it took a while for many to consistently use it.  This is because there were limitations on sharing with other people and applications who did not adopt XLSX also.  It needed some time to get more prevalent within the entire userbase.

Likewise with print catalog software, unless all of the relevant stakeholders can use the system to get what they need out of it, people will continue to rely on the old practices.  The discovery consultation tackles this problem through two approaches.  First, the print catalog software professionals map out and categorize the catalog data and develop a tailored migration and implementation plan so that data can be smoothly loaded.  Second, extensive individualized training with each of the relevant stakeholders ensures that the system can be used to complete their desired tasks and encourages the stakeholders to begin using the software.

The Takeaway

If there is one thing to take away from this article, remember to consider the advantages of a discovery consultation when implementing a new system.  While there is an upfront cost, it will ultimately save you time, hassle, and money and end up paying for itself many times over.  You’ll be better equipped to decide whether to adopt the system or determine that it does not fit your current needs.