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.
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