Everyone's obsessed with scoring rubrics and weighted matrices. They're a waste of time for 80% of you.
You're not evaluating fighter jets. You're buying contact management software. The differences that actually matter aren't in the 100-point feature checklist. They're in the fine print and the monthly invoice.
Focus on these instead:
* The actual, final per-user cost after the "platform fee," "automation pack," and mandatory "success plan" are added.
* Data export formats. Try getting your data *out* of the trial. If it's a hassle now, it's a nightmare in 3 years.
* The true definition of "24/7 support." Is it a chat bot, an email to a queue, or a phone call that gets answered in under 10 minutes?
Your team won't use 70% of the features you're so carefully weighting. But they'll feel 100% of the pain from a bad contract, slow support, or a migration trap.
Read the contract