One thing I see repeatedly is printers who get hung up or stuck on a single missing feature. This feature isn’t always mission critical. It somehow gathers more momentum as the sales process progresses, until it is a “no deal without this specific feature” kind of situation. I’m not sure why printers—or, probably more broadly, all business software buyers—do this. I feel like it’s a way of keeping control of something in the overwhelming process of evaluating hundreds of features, as well as a negotiating tactic. 

The unfortunate part of this behavior is that the company looks over all the features that WILL PROVIDE VALUE and that will change the business for the better. This oversized attention to a feature that is not there sets up the whole relationship with the software to be a focus on what it does not do, rather than what is does do. This can have a negative impact on the overall ROI of the whole project.

If there is a feature that is not in the software today that you feel is important, I’m not saying you shouldn’t express that opinion. I’m suggesting that you NOT make it a huge deal. Software is going to have some features that are perfect for you, some features you had never thought of, and not some features that you think are just drop dead obvious. It is reality. Software keeps moving. Features get improved and added. Don’t judge it like it’s a marble statue—it’s a moving train.