Daxko | Software that makes a difference. People who make it better.

A few months back, I was preparing for a presentation I was giving for a technology luncheon of Tallahassee association professionals.  On one piece of it, I was trying to get the point across that an association and its AMS vendor should be considered a long-term, faithful relationship.  It wasn’t just slide-fill to take up time; it really was an important point of my message.  After tinkering with various things on Powerpoint, it finally came to me.  It simply reads “you should be monogamous with your AMS”.

That thought was the first thing that popped in my head recently when I read Rene Shonerd’s August ASAE article, “Fall in Love With Your AMS All Over Again”.   She cites Tom Lehman’s annual study, which seems to confirm our theory around the DAXKO halls that associations upgrade or replace AMS products about every five years.  In other words, in any given year, somewhere between a fifth and a third of the association market is going through an AMS upgrade or replacement.

Why does this happen?  After all, it’s software, not hardware.  It’s not a laptop that breaks down, a coffee maker that gives out, a lawnmower that mysteriously stops.  (I’ve had really bad luck with lawnmowers lately).  It’s code.  It’s capable of growing, changing, and improving at its core.  Software is not a planned obsolescence game.  So where does the relationship break down?  Is it the vendors’ faults?  Is it always looking for greener grass on the part of the staff?  Is it some of both?

That question of relationship is an important one because that’s what this is.  An AMS is essentially a commodity kind of product, but your relationship with your vendor–just like your relationship with your members–is not.  It’s unique and special.  It requires some good old 1:1 time.

“But Craig, we’re paying for the software.  Isn’t that our part of the bargain?  We pay, the vendor delivers.  That’s the equation.”  This is a very good point, but one that ignores the idea that things change over time.  Staff changes, needs change, revenue sources shift.  All these things imply that you have to have a good relationship with your AMS vendor so they at least have an idea of what’s going on.  This software touches almost every part of your operations.  It’s not a relationship you want to go stale and let the routine of business get in the way.  If you and your vendor start just saying hi to each other over coffee as one shuttles the oldest kid to school and the other checks homework, then you’re likely headed for the proverbial “five-year itch”.  Your eyes will wander towards that shiny new AMS with the flashy marketing and promise of new romantic spark.

Don’t get me wrong.  Sometimes it’s the right thing to do.  No amount of counseling or therapy or focused communications can repair something that is irrevocably broken.  If you’ve been asking for something for years, been forced into upgrade paths, or have had to deal with broken promises time and time again….maybe it’s time to move on.  There are newer, better fish (vendors) in the sea.

I encourage all of my customers to keep me on speed dial.  Call me up anytime.  Complain about us, hopefully compliment us, tell me how it’s going, how you’re changing or how you would like us or our service to change.  And I try to do the same with them, long after the sales cycle is completed.  We’re not perfect and I will tell you that.  The rest of my team will tell you that.  Heck, our CEO will tell you that.  But we listen and talk and tell you how we’re trying to get better and want to hear how you want to get better as an organization.  And people stay with us because of that.  It’s a relationship with us and in a subscription business model, it pays for me to focus attention on the relationship.

Have you had any 1:1 time with your vendor lately?  Could you if you wanted to?