Questions to Ask When Choosing Software
Questions to Ask When Choosing Software
Now more than ever picking the right software is a must. With so many choices out there, it can be overwhelming finding a software that does all you need it to do at a cost you can afford. With the extra time we have on our hands right now this is a great time to do a bit of research. “Where do I start?†I am sure is your first question, well hopefully this will help you a bit.
It is easy to get caught up in the sales pitches from the software companies, it is their job to make their software look the best. To avoid this, we suggest going into your research with a list of questions like these:
- Does it speak with your donor data base? Does it use a Donor ID#?
- How easy is the transfer of your Data?
- How does it communicate to your Guest/Donors, does it use Email, text or printable letters?
- Can you group families together? Couples? Kids?
- Can you assign bid numbers?
- Can it hold credit card info? Processing fees?
- What kind of training and support do they offer? What is the cost for that?
- Can multiple people work in the software at the same time? Is it web based or hosted?
- If you will be hiring an event management team, do they work with this software?
- Can it hold images for items? How many?
- Can you print bid sheets, item descriptions and catalogs straight from software or is it done by data pull?
- Does it have mobile/online bidding capabilities?
- Is the check in process easy and volunteer friendly? Check out process?
- What reports are offered? Historical data?
- When the event is over do you have access to your data?
Once you have your questions look it that list and decide what things are deal breakers. These should be things you cannot live without, things that are not just wants but needs. If the software does not offer one of your deal breakers, stick to your guns and move on you will find one that does.
If you need help wading through all the choices out there give Auction Event Solutions a call and we can walk you through it because software can be the most important decision you make. So, take your time and do your research in the long run a good software will be worth the time and investment.
