How do you evaluate software for your organization?

I was recently working to assist with the evaluation of a SaaS Management Tool with a San Diego startup.

The overall process felt like it could have been better streamlined...

We ended up:

• Going to G2/Capterra/Quora to see suggestions
• Schedule Demos with each of the top tools mentioned
• The features seemed all the same...so the differentiation came to Customer Experience throughout the process

Feature differentiation doesn't seem to be the one-and-done differentiator anymore.

Do you have a process/metrics that you follow to quickly identify and evaluate potential options? 

Thank you in advance!