How Do You Know What You Don’t Know?

One of my favorite clients sent me an email this morning that asked for my assistance with the following:

“One of my goals is to find out from you what is in [Sage 100 Contractor] that we can use for more effective results for this next year.  I don’t know what I don’t know.  I am familiar with what I use all the time but I believe there is more available that I am not aware of.  We will experience great growth this year.  We will be hiring additional staff but I want to make sure we are effective and efficient with the tools we have in hand to maximize our results.”

This client has used the program for decades and might be described as a “power user,” but she has a nagging suspicion that there may be more functionality in the program than what they are currently using.  This is a pervasive problem with many of the users that I come across.  This is often understandable since initial implementations are often geared toward getting a new user up and running with the basic accounting capabilities they had with their previous accounting package. Too little time and attention is devoted to identifying and learning new functions that can benefit their organization.

How did I respond to my client’s request for assistance? My reply included the following:

“There are a couple of ways to assess the "not knowing what you don't know" problem.  I could spend a day nosing around your office, observing and asking questions to try to identify areas that can be improved.  Or you and your staff (accounting and project management) can make lists of things that annoy them, things that they spend valuable time doing in Excel or Word, things they wish they had, things they suspect the program should do but they just don't know how to do, etc. The lists can be compiled and sorted and a [training] plan can be developed.”

Many clients have purchased modules of the program and then left those modules unused for years! I often see Estimating, Document Control, Equipment Management, Scheduling, Change Orders (!), Insurance Certificates (!), Credit Card Management, ACH/Direct Deposit Payroll and Vendor Payments, and similar modules forgotten and unused, or perhaps just underused.  Wise clients will take a little time to scan through the program menus just to remind themselves in general sense of what the program can do, and then call us to ask if it might be of use to them.

Clients are always calling with requests for a report that shows certain information that they need to run their business.  Often the report already exists in the program and we can point them in the right direction and give them pointers on how to use report selection criteria to hone in on their specific need. If a report doesn’t already exist, we can usually create a custom report to meet their need.

If you wonder what you don’t know, take the time to jot down notes about those things that annoy you about how you use the program, what tasks or reports you spend too much time preparing with Excel or Word, what things you wish the program could do for you, or what data you want from the system that you currently aren’t receiving.  Then give us a call and talk it over with us.  It may cost you some consulting fees, but the end result is usually well worth the investment.