The Shocking Fact Why Small Businesses Are Scared to Invest in CRM Solutions

The Shocking Fact Why Small Businesses Are Scared to Invest in CRM Solutions
George Ishee

What I have found is that most small business owners watch their cash like a hawk and they protect it with their life but they still need new clients. There are a lot of companies who market to the mid to small businesses and spend a lot of money on advertising and talk a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Sales Force Automation (SFA) game, but remarkably, there are few who can actually deliver results which is what the small business needs. The bottom line for small business owners is to generate more revenue coming in than going out. This takes an affordable process that will increase the number of leads, referrals and more sales. Most CRM companies just don’t get it because it’s all about the results not about software or customization.

But in their defense, it’s not their fault. Most CRM/SFA software manufacturers and consultants have good intentions, but lack the complete understanding of all the skill sets required for a small business to be successful. Those skills are: (Sales + Marketing + Copy Writing + Human Nature + Technology + Process). They are very good at some of the skills, but not experts at all of them, and that is what a small business owner needs.

What makes matters worse for you as the owner, is that most CRM or SFA vendors (consulting firms) are in the pocket of one or more of the large software manufacturers. Manufacturers leverage the good will of consultants who direct you under the guise of consulting, as to which products you need to buy to better manage your customer relationships or automate your selling activities; based on which software they are aligned with, not the process you need.

Here’s an example: Most small businesses use some form of accounting software; Peachtree, QuickBooks, MAS90 etc. and the accounting software has automated processes built in that maps the whole accounting system out for them. The ability to produce accurate accounting is not as dependent on who you use as your data entry or accounting person, it’s controlled by the process.

So why shouldn’t it be the same for the sales and life cycle of a prospect to client to repeat client?

Please understand, the goal of the �consultant� is usually to get you to purchase more software, and most of their consulting time is spent configuring that software for you. (It takes months and years and can get quite expensive).

There are two basic types of CRM solutions available; the big expensive solutions and the affordable solutions. Some of the affordable solutions available to you can be found at http://www.salesforce.com http://www.plumtreemarketing.com and http://www.netsuite.com

What you should be looking for is someone that has a proven turn key system that is inexpensive and comes with a high degree of �certainty� that you will increase your sales and better managing your customer relationships, using inexpensive off the shelf contact management software

Remember, it’s all about one simple fact: You need to be making more money coming in vs. going out. Keep this in mind as you investigate the different solutions. Ask the vendors how they will accomplish this and demand they help you calculate a return on investment (ROI) to make sure you can recoup your investment within 1 year.
George Ishee is known as the sales funnel guru and helps mid to small businesses implement a sales automation solution. To learn more, visit http://www.plumtreemarketing.com or review the on-line brochure at http://plumtreemarketing.digbro.com

How to Select and Implement an ERP System

How to Select and Implement an ERP System
Michael Burns
WHAT IS ERP?

ERP is a term that is widely used yet probably not well understood. It stands for Enterprise Resource Planning and although it was initially targeted to manufacturing companies, today it encompasses any product that can be used across an enterprise. When implemented effectively, ERP enables companies to break down traditional organizational silos, replacing them with a tightly integrated horizontal structure in which strategy, organizational structure, process and technology are closely aligned. Applications can include financial, distribution, manufacturing, human resources, payroll, and project costing.

There is a lot of confusion between an accounting system and ERP. In the past, an accounting system was limited to just Continue reading How to Select and Implement an ERP System

The top 20 ERP implementation tips

We ran across an interesting article on the things you should do during an ERP implementation. Worth a read:

The top 20 ERP implementation tips
By Jan Stafford, Site Editor
22 Jun 2005 | SearchOpenSource.com

An enterprise resource planning (ERP) software project can be daunting for first-timers or veterans handling a migration. Get started on the right foot with the top 20 ERP implementation tips from Linux users, consultants and vendors.

Planning

1. Know your goals for your ERP implementation. Choose the product that promises to meet those goals and put measurement tools and processes in place to gauge your success, advises Lance Williamson, engineer, Engenio Information Technologies, Inc., Wichita, Kan. In particular, he said, set goals for performance, response time and downtime.

2. Don’t do any project without a plan, particularly an ERP project which touches almost every part of your organization, said Bernard Golden, CEO, Navica Inc., a consulting firm in San Carlos, Calif. Create process with regular milestones and participation from affected organizations. And be sure to test, test, test, all the way through. “All of these things seem like ‘nice-to-haves’ rather than critical elements in a project, but can make the overall project much more successful,” Golden explained.

3. Involve users in your ERP project planning phase, said Andy Klee, president of Klee Associates, Inc., a consulting firm in Cedaredge, Colo. “The software is not going to do you much good if you don’t have employee buy-in,” he added.

4. Don’t do the planning and implementation alone if you don’t have the in-house skills to make it happen, said Jorg Janke, president of open source ERP vendor Compiere Inc. in Portland, Ore. “Determining which options and features to use requires experience,” he said. If the in-house team doesn’t have that experience, Janke advises, find a local ERP expert who is trustworthy and who collaborates well with your team.

Read the rest of the article here…

Having RICE with your ERP Implementation

When I first heard the term RICE, during a large ERP implementation, I thought it was a joke. What do you mean you want RICE? Do you want it with butter or soy sauce?

It was explained to me later that RICE stands for:

  • Reports
  • Interfaces
  • Conversions
  • Extensions

Come to find out, I was used to dealing with these, but using the acronym helped clarify and organize these key implementation functions. You need to properly plan for RICE and you need to address these elements during your implementation for the project to succeed. All RICE aspects need to be tested and validated by the users of the system. If they are not, then there will be problems. Let’s look at them one by one.

Reports

First, you have Reports. All of your business reporting should be examined to ensure that you go live with at least as much information as you use today. The question is though, do you need the report or can you live with the new systems processes and online lookups? Often reports are generated to support a manual process that takes some human intervention. For example, a min-max report was printed to help the buyer make purchase decisions. “Not with the new MRPII system; the system provides suggested buys through an online lookup.” So do you need that old report?

The best thing to do is to catalog all of your current reports and go through each of them and determine what the business need for that report and working with your implementation consultants, find out if there is a better way to get the same information. If there isn’t, then mark that report as a necessary report for going live. (Chances are it is already in the system.) If the report is not currently in the new software, then a custom report will need to be made. These too should be prioritized. Some may not be critical to going live and are “nice-to-have” reports. There are many reporting factors to consider in a Successful Packaged Software Implementation.

Interfaces

Second is Interfaces. How many other systems will be linking with the new ERP solution? Interface development takes some software architecting, but you can see which software will be replaced by the new system and which software will remain. Does the legacy software have a need to be integrated into the new ERP? What is the cost of integrating that new solution, versus a manual entry? These are some of the decisions that you will face.

Linking two systems together can be as simple as a data export and data load, to as difficult as a synchronized data movement between the systems. Often it is the first option. Export the data from the external system on a set schedule and then import the export file into the ERP system. There is usually an intermediate program that does the task automatically of file format conversion. This is common in EDI. The EDI data is downloaded, is run through a translator, and then uploaded into the ERP system. The reverse also happens (as in the case of shipping notices). A data file is exported from the ERP to the translator, which then maps and prepares the upload file to the EDI system.

Conversions

Third, you will need to look at conversions. Conversions are one of the most deceiving areas of an implementation. It might seem simple at first. “Oh, we just are converting the Items, Customers, and Vendors.” Okay, simple enough. But do you have all of the data fields that the new system requires? Do you have good and valid data to be brought over? One of the key factors of implementations (regarding labor) is the data clean up. Most ERP implementers have a standard data import template. You can then map your data fields to that model. Sometimes it is even in Excel. You just cut and paste your exported data into Excel. But what if your legacy system is an old green screen with the only export are reports written to a file? Then you have to have a program written to parse that text file to pick up all the correct data. Even then, there will be dirty data that needs to be cleaned. If you have a lot of records, then this will be very time-consuming.

The other option is not to even export and import. You can manually enter data too. The rule of thumb I go by is if there are less than 500 records in a data file, then it should be manually entered. If it is more than that, then you should look at an automated data load.

Extensions

Extensions are additional programming functionality. Sometimes referred to as Enhancements they provide functionality that doesn’t exist in the core ERP package. Often this is due to a very particular task that the old system did to satisfy a customer need or to meet a legal regulation that is specific to a niche industry. These custom programs are not written into the core ERP since that will break the upgrade path in most cases. Instead, a separate program is developed using the same tools that the ERP system uses and data hooks are created to link the extension to the core ERP.

Extensions should be avoided if possible, but if there is a unique functionality that cannot be handled by the system, then an extension is the preferred way to address it.


RICE Summary

In summary, Reports, Interfaces, Conversions, and Extensions are key aspects of any Successful Packaged Software Implementation and should be properly scoped in the initial planning phase. Insufficient time or resources can have a detrimental impact on the overall implementation budget. If you are about to embark on an implementation, be sure to look at all aspects of RICE before you begin.

My ERP supplier has been acquired – now what?

With all the ERP consolidations going on (look at Infor, Sage, Oracle, etc.) it is hard to know what to do. This interesting article points out the issues surrounding the client of an acquired software.

My ERP supplier has been acquired – now what?
By Quocirca

Published: Monday 5 February 2007

If your ERP vendor is acquired, don’t panic. Quocirca’s Sharon Crawford explains how to decide whether to jump ship to a new vendor or stay the course with your newly merged supplier.

Given the recent abundance of mergers and acquisitions amongst the mid-market ERP vendors, IT directors managing an ERP system may feel uncertain about the future of their incumbent system. Yet it is critical to be able to assure the board the product wont disappear – or at least warn them if its time to switch vendors. Read more…