SmartThoughts Purpose: 

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The company was founded after witnessing first-hand the challenges in making sound business software purchasing and implementation decisions over the last decade in the nonprofit sector.

 

As a result of this experience, we are committed to an agnostic approach. We use our combined industry experience, knowledge of the products, and relationships with valued strategic partner resources to help educate and align our nonprofit clients with the proper vendor partner. 

 

It’s our primary goal that our organization will give nonprofit associations of all types and sizes the insights they need to meet their strategic objectives with technology automation well into the 21st Century. 

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SmartThoughts Mission:

 

Our mission is helping buyers, sellers, & service providers connect in the spirit of collaboration to provide solutions. This mission is due in large part because we believe that the software buying process is dysfunctional at best. Today, we have so much information yet making a good software decision is sometimes an elusive process.

 

Why? Here are a some of the issues we see today: 

 

• Inexperience: The average organization changes their software database every 5 to 7 years. Therefore, it's logical to assume that the typical nonprofit staff doesn't have the experience needed to lead a software selection project. Does it? Certainly, it's not that a nonprofit staff lacks the aptitude to do it. It's simply a lack of knowledge because it's not done very often.  

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• Internet Search: We visit with countless executives who have spent needless hours searching for the perfect solution. In fact, on average, executives who seek our counsel have spent 12 to 18 months on a search with no decision made. We live in a world where "Googling" Or "Binging" for answers is common. However, in regards to software decisions it can be time consuming and fruitless for many. 

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• Software review reliance: Peer reviews can be confusing. And, many organizations use them solely for insights on various products. Seeking advice from your peers is helpful but should be used as one element of an overall search process. 

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• Lack of trust: Unfortunately, buyers don't trust software vendors. This isn't knew or simply a software selling situation. It is just a sad reality faced by software vendors today.  

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• Cost of sales: Bear in mind, there are very few large software vendors who develop software for the nonprofit sector. Yet, these software vendors spend thousands of dollars to be found by prospective clients and how to sell more. Wasting a software vendors time with demonstrations without a firm grasp of requirements and expectations ultimately hurts everyone in the buy/sell cycle. And, translates into more costs for all parties involved long term. But, neither to the vendors who develop software for them either. As a result of sales and marketing spend, the average software vendor has less time and money available to research where there software best fits and how they should allocate time, resources, and effort in software product development and service.

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• Limited funds: Certainly, nonprofits do not have an unlimited bank to draw funds. As a result, price is always an issue. And, usually trumps everything else. Even though you may not have unlimited funds, you should still have access to solid options. 

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• Request for Proposals: Certainly, you need to understand how much an enterprise system will cost. But, most RFP's lack any true sense of what a client needs. Therefore, it's simply a guessing game for both parties. Traditional selection consultants make a lot of money in the process and sales vendors spend tons of time for very few sales. We believe that you have to "give to get" in the sales cycle. We have a better way! 

 

We have formed after listening for the past decade to the market's needs. We believe that there is a better way to assess technology needs and ultimately procure the technology to help automate a business. 

 

Our Software Selection Advisement services are designed to help nonprofits (501c3 and Associations) make sense of the software buying process.

 

We are striving to change the software procurement process each and every day. We believe that in order to help our buyer clients we must help the software vendors who deliver solutions too. Like software, there is no perfect solution. But, we are trying to make it better! 

 

Please reach out to learn more here.