With the feedback she got from employees, Colleen and team set out on the quest for something powerful and simple. Something ‘cool’ was on the wish list, too!
“We did a ton of research. We brought in five vendors to present to our leadership team. One of those vendors was a small startup we thought had it all. I remember thinking to myself ‘this is what we need––a platform where easy, simple, integrated, and social come together and intersect with great data and reporting.’”
But that system was missing some critical pieces. For starters, they couldn’t comply with Life is Good’s Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements, and that was a deal-breaker. “I was pretty dejected, but my optimism won. I believed there were smart people out there who were solving the same problems we were facing. I was right.”
She eventually met Kevin, an Account Executive at Namely. “I told him about our pain points and gave him our wish list, figuring if we hit 80% of it, we’d be delighted. He asked if I’d considered Namely. I told him, ‘No, because I have no idea what it is!’” Kevin guided her through the Namely strategy and product features. It was love at first sight. “It was Harry Potter time. We had our magical solution.”
When it came to getting leadership buy-in, Namely was an easy sell. “Our team was so tired of struggling with ADP, they would have said yes to any improvement that didn’t cost more.” Fast forward a year, after the Namely HRIS was implemented, and it was a natural to add the Namely payroll and benefits modules. “This was a much more significant challenge because my Finance partners had a greater role in the decision this time, and they had a lot of confidence in the tried-and-true reputation of ADP. Namely was a start-up and they were hesitant to switch to a solution that was still so new to the market.”
Colleen arranged three reference calls through the Namely sales team––people who had made the same switch from ADP. “Once our VP of Finance and Payroll Manager had a chance to voice their concerns and ask their questions about practically everything, they got much more comfortable. The users’ first-hand experiences were compelling, and were instrumental in getting the buy-in we needed to continue building out our Namely platform.”
