I develop elearning courses, amongst other things such as cat-herding. I’ve convinced 4 out of my last 5 employers to purchase the Articulate suite of products.
Why? Their community and customer service. Their products are customer-centric and easy to learn. They provide tutorials, and they talk to their customers.
I’ve used several other development tools – in one case, it took me 3 days on their website and the phone just to give them my money.
If a company makes it difficult to pay for their products, I’m wary. When it takes years for them to answer questions in their forums, I run.
So, what is my key factor in purchasing software? The people of the company. The service and responsiveness of the company. That’s it.
People trump features every single time.
Tree of Learning 