As I’ve blogged before, we selected Theikos as our Salesforce implementation partner. It was a tough call. I researched 6 consulting firms, solicited proposals from 3 and ultimately struggled on the final choice. Pricing was consistent, so it came down to a selection on other factors. Ultimately, I have to say it was an instinct call.

I went with Theikos because compared to the other finalist, they are a larger company with more resources and in our conversations, the sales manager “got” us faster than the competition. The other was essentially a 2–man shop that brought in contractors on projects as needed. I guess I’m more critical since I used to be one of those single-person operations that brought in contractors as needed so I know exactly why I don’t want it for this particular project.

Amazing how things worked out… when I was asking questions and looking at firms I was continually drawn to one small consulting firm whose principal has an incredible resume of dealing with nonprofits. Her name kept coming up in conversations that I had, and the only reason I didn’t solicit a proposal from her was the reason I stated above.

Turns out that this nonprofit/Salesforce wonderwoman also works for Theikos and they assigned her to be our Project Manager! Kind of like having to choose between the cheesecake and the chocolate ice cream, picking the cheesecake and having it served with a scoop of chocolate ice cream on top.