Software selection can be very complicated sometimes. Software ratings are, of course, an integral part of this search since they can offer a pretty representative picture of a company’s true value. That’s why, you want to score high on them and manage to build a better name for your product. There are different parameters, though, that you should take into consideration, while doing that.
In an effort to make this procedure a bit easier and more comprehensible for everybody, we conducted an interview with a person that knows this field really well. Ankit Dudhwewala, CEO and Co-Founder of SoftwareSuggest, was really kind to answer our questions about the importance of good software ratings in an attempt to offer us a better understanding of the whole process.
1. What’s the biggest vision that you have about SoftwareSuggest?
At SoftwareSuggest, we want to increase the productivity of businesses around the world by helping them find the right software.
2. Have you noticed any remarkable changes on the way reviews are conducted now in comparison to the first day that you got to the business?
Business Software reviews have not been very popular until recently. People used to ask friends in the same business domain for help. However, has result in a plethora of software flooding the market. As this number grew, referring friends was no more an option. Â Â This led to the need for software review. Users, in turn, have also become much more responsive to writing reviews.
We had a really hard time getting authentic reviews in the beginning. Often we had to walk an extra mile to validate these reviews. Today all our vendors encourage their customers to put a review with us so that they can leverage us even better.
3. What are SoftwareSuggests’ selection criteria, when putting together a new list of rankings?
Well, it depends on lots of factors. First of all, the reviews on a software that we have listed matter the most when they are getting ranked on the top ten of any category. We talk with the customer on the phone and via email and try to assess the product’s . Moreover, we constantly keep on analyzing the performance of the software listed in a category. The best performing software are decided through that process then. Dedicated blogs and infographics are also shared to deliver standard information to the market about the existing trends.
4. Could you offer us an insight into the whole process?
SoftwareSuggest has in-depth information on multiple kinds of software. A business can do its own research using the data and the reviews available on our website on more than 200+ categories of software.
In case they want help, they can call our helpline. Our software analyst will be there to help businesses with their requirements and connect them to a wide range of software vendors that would fit their request.
5. Do you have any advice for those who want to see their company scoring high in your lists?
The only method that you should follow in order to rank well is to keep your customers happy. Â Software companies need to ensure they deliver what they promise. If they do that, I am sure that they will appear on the top of all software discovery networks.
6. In which ways can good ratings help a company?
Good ratings for a company are like the best foundations of your personality. A good rating determines how the prospects will see and remember you. It can speed up the prospects’ decision making process and hence shorten your sales cycle.
7. According to your experience, do poor reviews have the power to cause irreversible damage to the development of a company?
Yes, they do. Any business running online needs to present themselves in the most commendable manner. Poor reviews can be responsible for missing that potential business lead which bounced from you just because of this particular reason.
8. What’s the first thing that a user is looking for when evaluating a software?
Ease of use comes first and foremost. Except for very large organisations, most businesses spend less than an hour on the app, before taking a purchase decision. A software company can win the user by ensuring that its software is easy to use and that requires the least possible on boarding help.
9. Do you expect to see any changes on the way reviews are conducted in the near future?
Reviews on portals like ,Ìý, , will become a major factor in a software buyers decision making. As users will start searching more and more for such reviews, they will also start providing more reviews, too. That’s how they will be able to build a trusted community for themselves.
10. Any last tips for those who try to make their company get better reviews or for the users who are searching for reliable software?
Most software companies don’t ask their customers for feedback. A simple mail to customers asking for feedback/reviews can help them build an amazing profile on software discovery platforms.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt, then, that good software ratings can truly take your business to the next level. All you have to do, is to make sure that you invest some extra effort in them in order to establish a good name for your company.
Ankit Dudhwewala is the CEO and Co-Founder of . When it comes to software solutions, Ankit has a strong passion for helping people make the right choice. His past experience in the corporate world (Salud Care Pvt. Ltd.) helps also a lot towards that direction.