More shocking survey results
Posted by EFDMadmin on April 16th, 2009 with 2 CommentsIn this survey, Campbell Rinker asked a series of questions of non-profits about their primary donor/member management software. On page 3, the following question is asked:
“If an organization just like yours was thinking about adopting the product [you use] and they
asked for your advice, would you recommend they adopt it?”
The results were that 27% said “no,” and another 26% were “unsure.” That’s over half(!!) of the respondents saying no or unsure to whether they’d recommend the software they use to a like organization.
This is absolutely stunning! Can you imagine any other product where the “nos” and “unsures” for recommendation outnumber the “yeses?”
What’s amazing about this is that it really isn’t the product that is the problem; it’s the users. Yes, I know it’s sacrilege to suggest that maybe there’s a user problem here, but it’s simply not possible that HALF of the products on the market are bad. And that suggests that we’ve got a user issue.
Donor and member management programs are complex. They require serious attention and management to make them effective. And my experience is that too often, the reason a program is “failing” to work is equal parts software and user. I think this survey reinforces that view.
Wes, I think your read of the situation is probably close to reality. I’ll highlight your last point that the failure is equal parts software and user. I’ve experienced (and supported on the product side) software that made seemingly simple tasks arduous beyond belief. It assumed that EVERYONE was a mega-user. But then, the organizations who buy the software must understand that it is simply a tool and not a magic hat. There’s still the need for training and a plan for integrating it into everyday operations.
Here’s one aspect of this survey that should light a fire under someone in the AMS/eCRM space: how can we turn these lukewarm referrals for another product into WOWs for our software? What will it take to create a user experience that balances power, flexibility, and ease-of-use? Is it possible?
Chris, your key sentence: “There’s still the need for training and a plan for integrating it into everyday operations.” This is missed far too often in too many organizations.
And I agree that the vendors need to be looking for opportunities to demonstrate how much easier their product is to use.
Thanks for your comments.