15 ‘Must Ask’ Questions When Selecting Subscription Vendors

What to consider and plan for before you sign a contract

No matter what kind of vendor you are selecting, from a software solution to an accountant, there are important things to consider before you sign on the dotted line. Here is our list of 15 must ask questions to help you make the most of your vendor decisions:

Who is the project/vendor owner on your team? Your vendors need one point-person to coordinate the relationship between vendor selection, implementation, and the ongoing relationship. That does not mean that others on your team will be involved and responsible as key decision makers , key support people and even budget and legal sign-off. Make sure you have identified who is responsible for what in your organization for a given vendor.
What is the total cost of ownership? What is the cost of licensing or subscribing to a tool or service on an annual basis? What are the set-up and implementation fees? Are there fees for other add-on services, tools or other things during set-up? is there a maintenance fee or other fees on an ongoing basis after your initial set up?
What is the implementation plan? What is the typical time from contract close to go-live? What resources will be needed on your side to implement a technology or solution? (Do you have those resources ready?) Do you have a detailed project plan, mutually agreed to, between your vendor and your company?
Have we done our financial due diligence? Are you getting the best deal? What have others paid for the same service or solution? (This is where contacting other clients come in handy.) What are the hidden costs? Ask if there are set-up or cancellation fees, per-transaction fees, or other items not included in the up-front pricing. Is there a way to restructure the deal and get better financial terms? Give the salesperson a scenario and ask them to quote exactly what it would cost you.
Is the company you are doing a deal with financially stable? From working with early-stage companies to mature companies that may be at the end of their run, what is your plan contractually and operationally if your vendor gets bought or worse, files for chapter 11?
Can we have a test drive? If you’re spending big bucks, especially on software, you should have every opportunity to have a hands-on experience with the product the vendor is offering. Ask about trial periods and money back guarantees. Are there protections if you are not happy after signing the contract?
Are we clear on who owns the intellectual property? If you’re hiring someone to create intellectual property, you want to be sure to own the copyright. If your software or content is being distributed on a third party service, be clear who owns the copyright.
What company is in the lead for SEO attribution? If your service or content is going to appear anywhere other than your own URL, get clear on how follow-tags, publisher tags, attribution, and other SEO factors will be handled up front to avoid SEO penalties and duplicate content negative ranking. This is even important for mobile apps, as they can be indexed as well!
How secure is our customer data and security of the vendors solution? If the solution involves customer data, do you own that data and what can the third-party do with it, especially if you sever your vendor relationship? what security and confidentiality measures are in place? Is the data/work secure and properly backed up? Also, be sure you have the right to transfer data to another provider Verify PCI compliance.
Who else uses the vendor? Some vendors may be contract-bound by privacy laws from disclosing their customers, but you can usually figure out some of them by hook or by crook. Don’t just review them from afar — pick up the phone, be a pest and get to the right person who can talk to you about their experience with this vendor. This is where your personal network, industry groups and associations can help.
Have we searched Google for background information, recommendations and other information? Don’t rely just on what the salespeople tell you. Check out the message boards, chat rooms, do public searches to figure out the reputation of the company. What do people like and dislike? What are the specific complaints, and do those complaints touch on an area which is critical for your business?
Are we being overly influenced by slick marketing and a slick sales process? Some of the best products have the worst marketing. The opposite also applies. If a vendor has put a lot of effort into a slick sales presentation, be sure to dig under the surface to get to the meat of the product and determine if it meets your needs. Likewise, don’t immediately discount a vendor with poor marketing. One widely-used and often recommended WordPress membership plug-ins often has typos and poor grammar in their customer support emails. But you know what? They’re not in the business of good grammar — they’re in the business of good paywall software.
have we done our scenario planning? Be prepared for the unexpected!No matter how many questions you ask and how much research you do, there will be something that comes up which takes you by surprise. Get together the key people on your team and make a concerted effort to brainstorm then rank your decision criteria. Then, after making your decision, have time built into your scheduling tool, figure out a work-around for something that didn’t occur to you.
What is our on-going support plan? If something goes wrong, is there a person to help you or are you own your own? have you met the team (especially if you will be investing a lot of money into a vendor?) One of our members says her membership software solution leaves some functionality to be desired but won’t even think about switching because the customer support is so good. She says she always gets answer within an hour or two of sending an e-mail to technical support.
Have we set up ongoing business reviews? Working with a vendor is a two-way street. Conduct quarterly business reviews and prepare a dashboard with key performance indicators that will judge the success of why you hired a vendor in the first place.