Thread by @brianoblinger

We recently completed our selection and contractual negotiation process for a community platform vendor. This is a topic that I get asked about quite a bit given my professional history. So let’s talk about it. #cmgr 1/

A little context: I grew up (literally) on community platforms. I used them obsessively as a nerdy little kid in the 90’s, worked for Lithium/@Khoros for a decade, and have gone through the vendor selection process at two organizations wtih big plans around community. /2

Given my tenure at @Khoros, the immediate reaction may be that I’m biased and this thread is just my way of pumping their tires. I’m going to focus on best practices and process that I think works well for most organizations. I’ll save my opinions on vendors for another time. 3/

First off, if you don’t have a community strategy yet, stop reading.🛑

👏🏻Do 👏🏻 Not 👏🏻 Mess 👏🏻 With 👏🏻 Technology 👏🏻 Until 👏🏻 You 👏🏻 Have 👏🏻 An Approved 👏🏻 Strategy👏🏻 And Budget 👏🏻

Read more about building a strategy here: 4/

https://twitter.com/brianoblinger/status/1146094300343787521

Some community platform vendors offer strategy as a service. Whether or not this is a good idea has a lot to do with the vendor and your ability as a community pro to know the difference between what serves the interest of your org vs. the vendor. Choose wisely. 5/

OK, let’s start thinking about how to understand who’s going to be the best fit for your strategy.

The first inclination may be to be to sit down and write out a list of a bunch of features and functions that you want to grade vendors against. Do this, but do it later. 6/

Most vendors are going to have the basics covered and a checklist of features isn’t going to help you differentiate them much. Instead we'll focus on these key areas:

1. Experience vs. Technology
2. Partner vs. Vendor
3. Roadmap, Services, Support

Let’s go one-by-one. 7/

1. Experience vs. Technology

Technology is the means to the end. Any vendor that spends more time talking about their technology than the experiences they help companies create for their customers should be ignored. This is about your customers’ experience. Period. 8/

Hopefully your strategy includes a list of communities that have successful elements that match what you’re trying to accomplish. What vendors are they on? How does the tech support the experience?

Not sure what platform they’re on? Plug their URL into builtwith.com 9/

Pay close attention to experiences related to integrations. What is the sign-in process like? Is there an integrated support portal? How is content from other systems represented in community? You’re looking for is flexibility to build what you need, not just what they offer. 10/

When you start talking to vendors, ask them about the flexibility and extensibility of their platform. Do they have robust APIs? Is it easy to change layout/look/feel of pages? What kind of cool experiences have other customers built? Can you access the data easily? 11/

Remember, you’ll want to be on this platform for a while (more on this later), so you’ll want to make sure the community can evolve and that you have good control to do so. If it doesn’t feel like you can create the experience you need, move on to the next vendor. 12/

2. Partner vs. Vendor

Some companies sell software ("vendor") and some companies sell success (“partner”). Those that do the latter well approach the relationship from a partnership perspective. Pay attention to who they send to meetings and the level of conversation. 13/

At my last company we held a one-day bake-off where we told both vendors to bring their A teams and pitch us on why we should go with them. One company brought 5 account/tech guys and demoed for 2 hours. The other brought executives and talked about our business. #2 won. 14/

Talk to these vendors’ customers and ask them about the relationships. Do they talk often? Do they come with regular feedback and best practices? How does the vendor measure success of the community/account? Is the relationship contentious? Get the dirt. 15/

3. Roadmap, Services, Support

Ask to see their roadmap. Get commitments on dates (fun!). What is their vision for their products 6/12/24 months from now? How often do they do releases? Can they paint a picture about how they’re investing to make sure your community scales. /16

Ask them about the services they provide and the value of them. What kind of in-house expertise do they have? How do they deliver that expertise? What’s included vs. add-on? Can you get custom engagements based on your needs? Do they even like talking to customers? /17

You probably chuckled at that last one, but seriously, it’s a huge differentiator. I consistently rank in-house expertise and quality of services highly when selecting vendors. Remember, you’re buying success (if not, wtf are you buying?). /18

What kind of support do they offer? How big is the team? Can you buy 24/7/365 coverage if you need it? What are the typical response times/SLAs? What recourse do you have if shit goes sideways on a holiday weekend? /19

Congrats, you’re through the basic research phase. Yeah. This is going to be a long thread. Strap in, chief.

Next up, we should talk about budget/scale and how it affects the platforms you can reasonable expect to afford. /20

Things cost money. I don’t make the rules.

Feverbee has one of the better tools for filtering vendors by the scale you hope to acheive and the general cost structure here: feverbee.com/communityplatf…

Don’t worry, we’re going to cover negotiation shortly. /21

If you’re going to build a community for hundreds of thousands of people, you should probably get the best, most robust platform you can afford. If your community is going to be smaller, it’s probably not worth spending a mint. Align with your strategy. /22

Most vendors charge on a hybrid model that includes base platform cost + usage. Make sure you get the details from them and understand how the usage piece works, because theat variable cost can get expensive if you’re successful. More on terms shortly. /23

At some point you want to whittle your search down to 2-3 vendors that you feel can meet your needs and you can potentially afford. Having more than one will allow you flexibility in negotiation and give you clear comparison points in the financial models. /24

Contact the vendors. Typically this takes place through a contact form on their website unless you know people there. It’s important to give them the same information and be consistent in your messaging to keep your ability to understand the differences in check. /25

You’ll likely be contacted by a lead development rep or some equivalent title thereof. These folks are going to want to talk to you to make sure you’re legit and not just going fishing. They’re going to ask you a bunch of questions about your strategy. 26/

Share as much as you’re comfortable with and not much more. If they’re good at their job, they’re going to ask you what kind of value you expect to generate with this community. Don’t directly answer that (sorry vendors). They’ll use it to price rather than what the book says 27/

You want to get an idea of how they value their software and services without polluting the conversation by telling them that you plan to save $20 million/year. Do you think they’ll charge you more or less if they know that number? This is good sales technique. 28/

Assuming you're a decent fit and they qualify you as a lead, you'll get passed on to an Account Executive or someone with equivalent title to begin the process in earnest. This likely consists of some calls, some demos, and some discussion about price. Do your thing. 29/

At some point it's going to be time to meet in person. Here's how I generally roll with this:

1. Meet at your office. They come to you.
2. Setup a bake-off. Have multiple vendors come on the same day or back-to-back days. Make sure they all know this. Competition is healthy. 30/

3. Tell them to bring their A-game. This is likely the first/last chance.
4. Set reasonable timeslots. Keep it short. No marathons.
5. Put together an impressive panel from your side to attend including execs if you can get them.
6. Seed the panel with good question askers. 31/

As I said in an earlier tweet, it's important to understand who showed up and the conversation that's being had around the table. Is it purely a tech demo or a conversation about the fundamentals of your business that you're trying to impact? Are they prepared? Do they care? 32/

A healthy amount of doubt sewn by a member or two of your panel is a good thing. Make sure these folks understand what your concerns are and where you think competitors may have a leg up. It isn't about being dishonest. It's about being real. It's OK. They do this a lot. 33/

Don't promise anything in these meetings, even if you're completely sold. You need to have a real conversation with the panel afterward and come to a consensus on how to move forward. Maybe you move forward with one or a few - whatever works. Do the needful. 34/

Tweet stream got cut off into a separate one here. Follow on:

https://twitter.com/brianoblinger/status/1149775192476016643