When “Paging In” Matters…
There’s a conversation going on over on Idealware I found quite accidentally, but found it worth sharing. Say you’re considering buying a new technology product and are trying to figure out who’s using it already, in order to ask real users what they think of the product?
The company who built the product has clients listed on their web site, and have likely given you some references. But the lists are never exhaustive, nor are they likely to put you in touch with clients who’ve ever had trouble with the product.
When you’re trying to get a realistic view of the product, it’s always good to have some dissenters to interview. That way you’ll get a glimpse into the service side of the business - which is essential to successful implementations.
Rachel started the conversation:
Rachel asks: Our org is looking into GiftTool as a solution for several of our needs. However, our senior management has requested recommendations from actual users of the product. Other than contacting them directly, do you know of any way we could get some further insight into what it’s like to use the product?
So - here’s the cool answer Laura at Idealware posted:
“….I actually do have a trick. If you’re looking at tools that are used to collect information online, or especially payment processors like GiftTool, you can often find a lot of organizations that are using it simply by Googling the name and paging in to the more obscure results. A lot of organizations will mention what tool they’re using in a privacy policy or as an explanation to their site visitors. For instance, I see a number of organizations using GiftTool on page four of the Google results for “GiftTool.” You can then click through to the site, find contact information, and send off an email. I’ve actually done this a number of times, and, surprisingly, gotten return emails from at least half the people I contacted this way.”
Even better, Robert Weiner recommended this tip for finding even more relevancy:
“Many search engines accept the “site:” qualifier. The search “gifttool site:.org” will only return responses from .org sites. That makes it easier to find donation pages that use the tool.”
