We are a relatively simple service business – ie there is no inventory management required etc. This is a brief history of which system we used, what the deciding factors were for using it, and the verdict.

A brief history:

2005, System 1 = MYOB

Deciding factors:

Just starting the business, we ran with the recommendation of our accountant at the time.

Verdict:

Good starting point but I found it difficult and inflexible to use.

2008, System 2 = Netsuite

Deciding factors:

Came highly recommended from trusted sources. Thought we were setting ourselves up with a system that we’d never have to change – it seemed to have scale, flexibility, detailed reporting, everything you could ask for. A huge plus was that it was web-based. It integrated CRM with Accounting which was really appealing.

Verdict:

Implementation was complex and expensive, the support was poor and the system was massively over complicated for our purposes. Too expensive for the additional payroll module so ended up having to run MYOB for our payroll. Not a good result

Despite that, we persisted for 2 years hoping that it would get better with more data in it, but ultimately the useability and a host of other minor headaches that turned into a major migraine.

2010, System 3 = Back to MYOB

Deciding factors:

In our desperation to get off Netsuite, we moved back to MYOB which saved us thousands in licencing fees. Unfortunately it still the same old clunky software but this time it had to be run through a VPN on our bookkeeper’s server because our new CFO, our accountant and I were all in Sydney.

Verdict:

Same as before and it really felt like taking a backward step not being web based.

2011, System 4 = Saasu

Deciding factors:

Aside from standard accounting functions, I had a list of things that I wanted the system to do (below). But there were 2 other factors that really appealed to me.

Firstly, we’re huge fans of 37 Signals‘ products and business philosophies. Lesley, one of our lead developers, had heard about Saasu through 37 Signals as an accounting package that integrated with Highrise. That was instant credibility in my eyes. Secondly and very importantly, Saasu were heavily involved in social media – they had responded quickly to my tweeted questions at the end of last year.

So my criteria, over basic accounting function, were:

Non-negotiables:

1. Web based
2. Multiple users
3. Fully integrated payroll
4. Significantly customisable invoice/statement forms

Highly desirable:

1. Integrate with Highrise (CRM – customer relationship mangement) and Basecamp (project management) by 37signals
2. Mobile phone access
3. Support

Verdict:

Blown away. I didn’t realise you an accounting system could make you happy! We’re now 3 months into our Saasu subscription and the improvement from the old systems is incredible. It’s so easy to use, the support is great and all the features are running really well.

[Side note: MYOB Live Accounts failed on integration, payroll and lack of social media responsiveness. Xero did well on the social media and integration but failed on my payroll criteria (at the time).]

In my next post I’ll go into more detail on our Saasu experience to date but please contact me if you’d like to discuss any of the above.

I heard from all kinds of ladies working in the industry – from musicians to publicists to label owners and the resounding message was this:

Work hard, be creative and take every opportunity you can.

If you do this, we heard, you’re likely to succeed.

Whilst that seems like pretty solid advice at first look, Original Matters Manager Cathy Oates took a somewhat difference approach when she put her success and the success of the bands she manages (Angus and Julia Stone for example) down to one simple thing: saying no.

It’s when we compromise, it’s when we change our focus for someone else that we are most likely to fail. And once we have, we’ll be worse off than before because not only will we have let someone else down, but we’ll also have let ourselves down.

For musicians it may be about surrendering control of their songs or imagery or supporting a band they don’t believe in. But it applies in our field too and as a result, we’ve learned to say no.

Some of the reasons we say no…

• If we feel that we aren’t the best company for your project we’ll say no.
• If you have expectations that can’t be met we’ll say no.
• If you’re not committed to your web strategy we’ll say no.
• If your budget doesn’t meet our price range we’ll say no.

But…

• If we say no it means we can do our absolute best work when we do say yes.
• It means we can meet and exceed the expectations of those who are committed to working together.
• It means nobody is disappointed by an over-promise and under-deliver scenario.
• It means we can help you find a web company or individual who may be more suited to your needs.

When have you turned down a new job, a new client or a new opportunity and why?

One case study particularly stood out which involved an interaction @NetRegistry had had with a fellow Twitter user.

How would you rate this example as a first impression for a business engaging a potential client?

Notice how NetRegistry were able to intercept this conversation and direct the user to the relevant product page in a clear and professional manner.

It is now becoming more common for brands to develop social media strategies to monitor and engage discussions about their products in the social web.

Why are they doing this? It’s because these companies see the value in delighting their customers with knowledge about their products who in turn are more than happy to share these positive experiences with their friends and networks!

By using social media tools that are freely available on the web, your business can achieve a higher level of customer interaction at the problem solving level, which for many, is usually their first step.

Check out Jonathan Crossfield’s slides at Slideshare.

How are you interacting with your clients via social media?  Tell us in the comments section.

Social Media Brisbane: Bluewire Media is a leading internet strategy, web design, online marketing company in West End, Brisbane, focusing on the property, finance & health sectors.

1300 258 394

]]> http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/2009/10/connecting-with-customers-in-the-social-web/feed/ 4 http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/2009/09/3-lessons-in-crm-big-to-small-language-mostly-right-execute-then-refine/ http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/2009/09/3-lessons-in-crm-big-to-small-language-mostly-right-execute-then-refine/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:39:49 +0000 Toby Jenkins http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/?p=1595 “Perfection takes infinity.”

“Strategy + Execution.”

“Ideas are free, execution is priceless.”

All pieces of business advice that I think are so important!!!

How does this tie back to CRM? Well, I recently finished a sales process consulting project with one of our clients Mandalay Technologies. I took away 3 key things that tie back to these principles:

1. Start big picture then break it down into manageable chunks

The CEO, Product Development Manager, Business Development Manager (BDM) and CRM administrator presented some huge goals for their Salesforce.com implementation. We all agreed (fortunately for all our sanity!) that we’d start with the sales process and if that went well, then start looking at other aspects of the business.

2. Get the language (mostly) right

Across several sessions and reviews, we realised the importance of using language that the staff were already using to describe aspects of the sales process. There was going to be enough change without making the staff rote learn a whole new vocabulary that meant nothing to them! (I’ll explain the “mostly” part in the next paragraph.)

3. Execute then refine

We went through the project, mapping processes, implementing them into the CRM, identifying documents, defining fields and language. It was great fun and I felt like we’d hit the nail on the head. So I was ready to present the final deliverable to the Mandalay team.

I see it as a victory that when I presented the beautifully designed final version of the processes and implementation, I was hit with another round of questions, with some new points of view and ended up scribbling all over the final deliverable, adding one last step and changing the language of the final 2 steps!

Reflecting on it, I really enjoyed working on this project because it highlighted 3 of Bluewire Media’s core values:

1. Strategy + execution: We had a huge vision, then got started on a small piece of it.

2. Communication: Talking through the processes then getting the language right will be critical to the system being useful.

3. Continuous improvement: Even at the final deliverable there were things to be refined.

CRM Brisbane: for advice on business processes & CRM implementation call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

The steps and cut off points in your sales process need to be clearly defined for 4 reasons:

1. so that your staff can understand what is required
2. to effectively forecast your sales pipeline by assigning success probabilities to each progressive step
3. to generate useful sales reports that are readily understood by all parties
4. to enable sales staff to follow up on opportunities to move them through the different stages

At the risk of sounding like a safety video on a plane, every sales process is subtly different. Please consider how yours would match up with these simple suggestions.

I’ll use our web design business in Brisbane as an example.

1. Define “Enquiry”, “Lead”, “Prospect” and “Customer”

Enquiry: Inbound communication of interest in our products or services.

Lead: Any company or individual profiled in our CRM that has no linked opportunity.

Prospect: Once an opportunity has been linked to a lead, it becomes a prospect.

Customer: A company or individual that has been invoiced.

2. Define “Opportunity” and break it down into the phases of your sales process

Opportunity: The total dollar value of the potential business. An opportunity can be assigned to sales staff and linked to either a lead, prospect or existing customer.

Opportunity phases:

1. Ball park figure – Rough dollar estimate given to a prospect – might be over the phone, email or in person
2. Quote – Formal quote presented ready for sign off by the prospect
3. In negotiation – A positive response to the quote with details being finalised

In most CRMs you will then be able to assign probabilities to each of these opportunity phases in order to calculate your pipeline. These probabilities can be tweaked overtime to mirror your experience with the likelihood of success.

Once you’ve defined these 2 areas implementing them into your CRM, inputting the right data and customising your reports becomes much clearer.

CRM Brisbane: for advice on business processes & CRM implementation call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

Definition.

Without understanding your desired outcome, no technology will ever deliver the information you need to run your business.

Once you have your sales process defined, then you need to find out what information you want to report on. This might be pipeline or performance, by customer, by sales team, by sales staff, by vertical, by item or by service. It could be any number of things.

The key is to define the custom reports that are the most important for your business.

Reports should do 2 things:

1. Help you manage the business and performance
2. Help the sales staff to do what they do best – SELL!

Keep in mind that different people have different styles of selling and reports need to reflect this.

5 key questions to ask your sales staff:

1. How do they approach the sales process and moving opportunities through the pipeline?
2. What information would they like to be able to see about an opportunity all in one place?
3. Do they use spreadsheets (or any other means) off line to sort the data? If so why? How can that data be sorted and extracted from your CRM?
4. What information about the opportunity and prospect is relevant at which stages of your sales process? Does it change?
5. Ultimately what reports would make selling easier for you?

This will help define and inform your report customisations and also give significant insights into what data inputs are required to profile your opportunities.

As I’ve said in previous articles, without the correct data inputs, the reports become irrelevant and useless at best and misleading at worst.

But knowing what you want to measure and then report, is the first step to guiding the data input.

CRM Brisbane: for advice on business processes & CRM implementation call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

]]> http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/2009/05/crm-implementation-5-key-questions-to-ask-your-staff-to-help-you-customise-reports/feed/ 4 http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/2009/05/crm-sold-the-dream-lived-with-the-agony-but-here-comes-the-light/ http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/2009/05/crm-sold-the-dream-lived-with-the-agony-but-here-comes-the-light/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 06:01:19 +0000 Toby Jenkins http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/?p=627 The true story of implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management tool in a web design business and 7 steps to reduce the agony.

“It can do anything!”

“What was your question? Oh yep – definitely can do that, no problem.”

“I’ve been through your list – all achievable. Have I shown you how Massive Company X is doing it? You can be just like them.”

If you’re looking for a customer relationship management (CRM) tool or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool, then you might have had these discussions with the various products’ sales staff.

When we bought our product we knew what we wanted.

The system had to be:

1. Flexible (multiple users, different permission levels…)
2. Mobile (accessed from anywhere in the world via the web)
3. Customisable (could be tweaked to match the way we do business)
4. Scalable (if we went from 10 – 100 staff, we wouldn’t need to change systems)

No doubt about it. The system we bought can do all of the above and a whole lot more that we will never need to use. About the only thing it doesn’t do is make my coffee – but we’re working on a plug-in for that.

Our massive mistake: We thought we were buying a set of systems.

The reality: We were buying a platform on which to implement our systems.

There is no doubt, that the tools available to small and medium businesses are incredible.

What the sales people don’t tell you is that if your systems are junk, the platform won’t solve those problems. The basic premise of a database still holds:

Junk in = Junk out

Poor data = useless reports

No systems to start with = an online business management tool that cannot succeed!!!

So what have we done?

Since we first set up the CRM/ERP, we’ve gone back to our systems and refined, refined, refined. We started from scratch in a lot of places and only now that they have been tested, we’re moving them into our management tool.

Just recently we re-engineered our sales process to ensure we were getting the reports we needed to track our pipeline, incentivise our staff, and ensure that no opportunity for business, slips through the cracks.

So my 7 tips (and make sure you do these in order):

1. Set your company goals
2. Determine how you will measure the goals
3. Define the reports you want to generate based on this measurement – this will inform everything you do.
4. Define exactly what data you’ll need to input to generate the reports
5. Map the process and assign the reports and the data inputs to each step of the process
6. Decide who in your company will take responsibility for each of the steps
7. Then choose a system to match your requirements

My final piece of advice:

DO NOT WAIT FOR YOUR SYSTEMS TO BE PERFECT BEFORE YOU CHOOSE A PLATFORM!

The beauty and strength of the platforms now available (eg Salesforce.com, Netsuite) are that they can be customised and tweaked constantly to improve reporting, increase efficiency and overall increase usefulness for the business.

I believe in the dream, but I am a realist when it comes to the process to get there. It takes time and effort, but now we look at our system and it is getting better and better, delivering timely and relevant business critical information on a daily basis.

CRM Brisbane: for advice on business processes & CRM implementation call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.