We’ve been getting a great response to our PartnerPass offering and we’re very excited by the conversations we’ve been having about how subscription services make sense for organizations that invest in cloud software.
For customers that already have cloud systems and just want a better ongoing experience than traditional support contracts, the advantages of PartnerPass are clear – particularly given that they’re already thinking in terms of ongoing investment in their products.
But what if you don’t have a system, or you want to build out a new capability on your existing system? I’m sure you have a bunch of vendors trying to sell you a project agreement, and telling you that you can worry about “support” later. You’re also hearing that they can get you up and running in just a few weeks or a few months, and that sounds great, because you NEED these new capabilities NOW.
We’ve been providing business implementation services for over 15 years, especially CRM systems, and we’ve heard (and sang!) the siren song of the ‘Quick Start’. 15 years ago, it was a state of the art approach. The value proposition of business software that could be easily configured to meet your business needs was a big deal – slashing implementation times and dramatically lowering costs. Why go through a protracted, painful, complex business implementation when you could be up and running in a tenth of the time?
What we’ve learned since then is that, because of the capabilities inherent in these technologies, the implementation is the easy part. You’ll have meetings to envision the new capability, analysts will build you new workflows, and product champions will arise from your business teams to make sure that systems get put in place. You’ll imagine a whole new life for your business where complicated, manual, spreadsheet-and-email processes are replaced with a new, robust business system that will Make Everything Easier.
And it will! For a time, that is. And then you’ll realize that things are different. That process that you worked so hard to perfect will become obsolete because of a new product line. Your competitor will launch a new level of service that promises customers a better experience than yours. Your marketing team will develop a completely different way of communicating with your customers that dramatically improves customer loyalty. And you will expect your system, that was so easy to implement, to change.
The problem is that Quick Start cost you plenty. If you’re a typical small or mid sized company, paired with a typical system integrator, it probably cost you most of the money you could afford to spend. Sure, your system is up and running and everyone was happy for a few months, but there were a few things that never quite worked right, and probably one big idea that just never translated into the system.
Not to mention that in a cloud-first world, organizations like Microsoft and Salesforce are going to be pushing out more and more capability and better and better technologies that will create competitive advantage for you – IF you are prepared to capitalize on them!
But your budget? After that quick start, it’s gone, except for a few bucks allocated to old-style support — not nearly enough to retool your system to meet the challenges ahead.
And that’s a shame – because you already know how to retool your business, and your system can keep up with you. You just need the right model to get the right help at the right time. That’s why we built PartnerPass.
With PartnerPass, we know that the one thing we can count on in your implementation is change. Your needs will change, and the capabilities of your system will change. That’s why we shy away from quick starts – because we know you’re in a marathon, not a sprint. What good is a 3 month implementation if your team has their best ideas 6 months from now? PartnerPass teaches your organization the value of continuous improvement, and leverages all the investment that you’ve made in your software to make sure you’re prepared for it.
Every plan is designed for your particular needs, so we can implement, support AND improve your systems. We can get you started and keep you going just as well as we can help you handle today’s challenges and capitalize on tomorrow’s opportunities. Our model, which combines scheduled Product Roadmapping, unlimited advice and guidance, planned system improvements, and (for the occasional times you need it), traditional support, will get you up and running and keep your system relevant for the days ahead.
If you want to know more, give us a call; we’ve been implementing business systems for a long time and would love to help you out.