What Customers Want from ERP Software and What ERP Vendors Want

Next, we’ll examine what most customers want from new ERP software and what most ERP vendors want. While there are many layers to the topic of what customers want from new ERP software, the core answer of what businesses want from new ERP software is Business Results – business owners want to reduce costs, increase revenue, improve operational efficiencies, and make it easier for their customers to do business with them.

Beyond Business Results, companies also want the following from new ERP software:

• Efficient software evaluation leading to a successful result – companies want to make excellent decisions in the most efficient manner possible (unfortunately, when businesses aren’t aware of how this process should work, it becomes very inefficient).
• Efficient, successful implementation – companies want their new software to deliver the functionality they expect, and for the implementation process to be delivered on-time, on-budget, and on-scope.
• Good long-term customer/vendor relationship (“win-win”) – companies want to be able to work with their software vendor, have continuity of relationships with personnel at that business, and be able to understand how best to utilize their software and to resolve issues as they arise.
• Ability to grow with the solution – companies want a solution that will last them for an extended period of time, in many cases this is 10-15 years or more. To be able to do this, the software must be flexible, robust, and have sufficient functionality to be able to be leveraged as the customer’s business continues to grow and evolve.

So, what do ERP vendors want? Probably not surprising, they likewise first and foremost want Business Results.

Additionally, ERP vendors also want the same things the customers want:

• Efficient software evaluation leading to a successful result – while ERP vendors would love to bat 1.000 by winning every deal they touch, they know that’s not practical. They want to compete in deals in an efficient manner where they can win and it is worthwhile to win.
• Efficient, successful implementation – vendors want their customers to receive the business benefits they desire from their software, and want the implementations to be delivered on-time, on-budget, and on-scope.
• Good long-term customer/vendor relationship (“win-win”) – vendors want to work with customers who are easy and fair to work with, have continuity of relationships of personnel, and are able to understand and internalize how best to use the software they’ve acquired.
• Ability to grow with the solution – vendors want customers to continue to leverage more and more of their software’s capabilities over time. This helps vendors to continue to grow their solutions for existing and new customers as well.

While said somewhat under the covers above, I’ll also explicitly state the following which ERP vendors also want:

• Efficient sales cycles (winnable deals, no “tire kickers”) – again, vendors want to focus their time on evaluations where decisions will be made and customers will move forward. There is no time to be spent with "perennial prospects" that go through the same evaluation once a year and never decide to move forward to do anything.
• Happy, referencable customers – there is nothing better from a vendor’s perspective than having happy customers who are willing and able to act as references on their behalf.

You’ll note that to this point in time I’ve mentioned these things apply to most customers and most ERP software vendors. That is because there are still people, including those who set the cultural tones of their businesses, who believe that the only way for them to “win” is if the other party with whom they’re working is to “lose.” This “win-lose” mentality unfortunately still exists in the customer/ERP vendor intersection.

Speaking from an ERP software vendor’s perspective, when it is determined that a potential customer is focused on establishing a “win-lose” relationship, we walk away from those deals as rapidly as possible. Likewise, if potential customers determine that an ERP vendor is attempting to establish a “win-lose” relationship, those customers need to eliminate those vendors from further consideration as rapidly as possible.

The most prevalent situation where ERP vendors attempt to establish a “win-lose” relationship is where the functional and/or cultural fit between the vendor and potential customer are low, and the vendor is so hungry for new sales (i.e., Business Results are far more important than any of the other desires) that they continue to press on to close the sale. This will lead to an implementation where none of the other desired benefits from either party's perspective can be achieved.

Those who are unfamiliar with how to structure and perform an ERP Software Evaluation are more likely to be bitten by a vendor attempting a “win-lose” transaction. In these cases, those companies who are not experienced at performing these evaluations on their own are highly encouraged to find and engage experienced, independent assistance to help with the evaluation.