10 Steps to Choosing Your Association’s Next AMS
Imagine, it’s your second day on the job when the CEO asks you to find a new AMS for the association. I mean, really, they couldn’t have mentioned that in the interview? You wouldn’t believe how often I’ve seen this happen to association staff who usually don’t know the first thing about selecting an AMS and don’t have the budget (or the inkling) to hire a consultant.
10 Steps to Choosing Your Next AMS
Whether you’ve been on the job for two days, two years, or two decades, researching and selecting an AMS is an enormous job. There’s a lot to do before you even think about contacting vendors for demos, so let’s walk through it.
#1: Gather Your Project Stakeholders.
Find a staff representative from each department that uses the AMS, AMS data, or data connected to the AMS or will use it in the future. Learn how they use the AMS and/or its data and what they think about that experience. You want them to start feeling a sense of ownership about this project. Typically, this group includes membership, accounting, IT, events, member/customer service, education, certifications, and marketing staff.
#2: Make the Case for a New AMS—if the Case Hasn’t Already Been Made.
To build a case for a new AMS, talk to these stakeholders about the pros and cons of the current software. Find and diagnose the pain so you can position a new AMS as the cure. Identify how the existing AMS is:
- Costing your association time and money.
- Impeding efficient achievement of strategic goals.
- Getting in the way of understanding member/customer behavior.
- Negatively affecting the member/customer experience.
- Preventing your association from taking advantage of opportunities.
Present your case to your boss or the CEO/executive director. Ask for permission to research options and for a budget range. After researching, you may need to request more money, but wait until you have supporting evidence.
#3: Gather Requirements.
Meet with stakeholders individually and as a group so everyone understands the bigger picture, not just their departmental needs. Document and prioritize your requirements—what the software has to do—including integrations and reports. Decide which requirements are must-haves and which are nice-to-haves.
#4: Document Complex Workflows and Integrations.
Stakeholder input is especially valuable for reviewing and documenting processes, reports, and integrations. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to assess and improve your association’s processes. Be willing to make changes if they lead to similar outcomes. I’ve seen associations lean toward customized software so they could maintain a few existing processes. But when they find out how much customization costs, not just at implementation but every time they want to download an update, they realize configuration is the way to go.
Changing processes is a delicate subject because no one likes change. But here’s something to consider: we see hundreds of associations using our software for all kinds of processes; we can help you look at your processes in a different way.
#5: Research and Contact Vendors.
Once you identify your requirements, research vendors on ReviewMyAMS and come talk to us at industry events like AMS Fest and ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition.
Be upfront with your budget range (for both implementation and annual licensing) and ask if it’s a good match for the vendor. Additionally, I always recommend digging deeper on pricing to catch hidden, extra costs like support, software upgrades and updates, and other items not included in the price. Give examples of anything that’s a deal breaker for your team.
Remember, your association must drive the requirements and selection process, not vendors. Your job is to educate vendors about your AMS requirements and processes, not vice versa.
#6: Schedule Demos With a Vendor Shortlist.
Narrow down your list to a handful of vendors whose software meets your core requirements. Share your requirements and a list of processes you want to see in their software demonstration—a demo script. Give each vendor the same script so you can compare apples to apples. Again, you’re in charge of the demo, not them. In my experience, a 90-minute demo is standard for the first two demos with each vendor. If you need additional demos, keep them to 30 to 60 minutes.
#7: Ask for a Proposal.
After asking your top contenders for a proposal, make yourself available to answer questions about your requirements. Often, we will bring up issues you haven’t considered. By learning more about your situation, we can provide a much more accurate, complete proposal and discuss potentially daunting subjects, like data migration and integrations.
Ask vendors to include in their proposal all possible costs for implementation, integration, data migration, reports, training, licensing, and updates for the first year and beyond. When you receive a proposal from a vendor, ask them to review it with you. This should only take about 15 minutes, but you will be surprised at what you can learn.
#8: Select Two Finalists.
Base your decision on your prioritized list of requirements. Sometimes, associations will give different weight to different requirements, including factors that have nothing to do with the software itself:
- Your rapport and confidence in the vendor’s team, not just the sales team but others ‘behind the curtain’
- The vendor’s configuration and implementation strategies
- The vendor’s approach to customer success
- Frequency of software updates
- The product roadmap
#9: Talk About Data.
Make time to get down to the crucial nitty-gritty. Discuss your data with the two finalists and provide examples of your data tables. Start thinking about which data sets you will migrate to the new software and which you will store in archived files. I always advise moving only the data you currently use or have firm (documented) plans to use. If you don’t have experienced IT staff to help with data migration, discuss your options (and associated costs) with the vendor.
#10. Make the Ultimate Decision.
Present your two final selections to the ultimate decision-maker (your boss, CEO/executive director, and/or board) along with your recommended choice. Be prepared to answer questions and talk ROI. Describe your requirements, research, reference checking, and selection process so they have confidence in your recommendation.
Choosing a new AMS is a huge project that requires many hours on top of your regular work. If your budget allows, I always recommend hiring a consultant to help you with requirements, selection, and/or project management. If you don’t have the resources for that, just know you will gain new skills and knowledge throughout the project, as well as long-lasting relationships.
As you get ready to go through this process, here are three free resources to get you started: AMS Requirements Checklist, 19 Questions to Ask AMS Vendors, and the Total Cost of Ownership worksheet.