We are nearing the end of the year and deals are heating up, so we thought it would be a good idea in this week’s post to point out a few things that everyone who needs to setup a virtual data room can do to enhance the experience and make their life easier:
One: Get a Fixed Price
Charging extra for guest users that log-in and view files or for the number of pages in a document is a hassle. In most cases it will be impossible for you to even estimate these ranges when you are negotiating a price and the last thing you want is an incremental bill for your client at the end of the deal.
Two: Access to Support
You would be surprised how many data room providers on the market do not offer 24/7/365 – even though they are offering the convenience of an online service. If someone on your team, a client, or even a buyer has questions at 3am on a Sunday morning, you need the peace of mind to know that everyone will get the help they need.
Three: Prepare
Bells and whistles aside, a data room enables you to share documents with people. You can significantly reduce the time and effort it takes to go live with a data room if you collect and organize your documents and the names and email addresses of the participants ahead of time. This information will inevitably change over time, but the right virtual data room solution should make this easy to manage.
Four: Maintain Control
Many data room providers will set up the data room for you, manage it and charge you and your client dearly for it. Choose a data room that is easy to use and one that provides free training and assistance with set-up so you do not have to rely on the vendor for minor changes going forward.
Five: Test First
Human error is your biggest risk factor when setting up a data room. Leave yourself enough time so that you can log into the live environment, preview the set-up online, and verify security permissions before inviting outside users.