I’ve just won my first ever curling competition as a ‘skip’. 7 teams fought out a league, 4 reached the semis, and my team, with me as ‘skip’, eventually triumphed in the final. Joy oh joy unbounded!
If you’ve ever chanced upon a curling match on television, you’ll have seen the skip. He’s the guy standing at one end of the rink calling the ‘plays’ and screaming at his team to sweep or not sweep the stone as it slides down the ice towards the ‘house’. The house being the various coloured circles in which your stones and the opposition’s stones nestle. The more stones you have nearer the centre of the house, the more points you gain. ‘Marbles for grown ups’, my wife calls it.
There are four players in a team. The skip is normally the best player, and the first or ‘lead’ player is generally the weakest in the team. Though, whenever you play lead, a good skip will always enthuse about the key role that the ‘lead’ plays in building each ‘end’ i.e. each player throws 2 stones, 16 in all, makes one end of curling and a match will consist of 7 or 8 ends.
Why on earth am I blogging about this, rather than some business thing? Well, because there are parallels with coaching the sales staff and building their skills and confidence. This particular league competition is about reversing the normal rules of curling so that the not-so-good player has the opportunity to skip the team and develop his skills. I might normally play at lead or at second which, within my club of very experienced players, is my real level. But, by letting me skip and giving me a very experienced skip to play at 3 alongside me and offer advice, my playing skills and overall understanding of the game are improved. And, who knows, maybe one day I will be a ‘real’ skip?
We should all be looking for opportunities to take this into the workplace. For the next sales meeting you have with a prospect, take along one of your sales team and see if you can sit back, bite your tongue and let them lead the meeting.
And, only if things are going slightly awry should you find yourself screaming at the top of your voice - SWEEP!!
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Monday, 14 February 2011
Turnkey at Business Growth Show - Edinburgh Feb 23rd - tips and tricks for advisers
Our business software team will be attending and presenting at the Business Growth Show in Edinburgh on the 23rd February. The event is being held at the King James Thistle Hotel, at the east end of Princes Street, from 9am to 3pm. This presents a great opportunity to meet some of the people from Turnkey.
Importantly, if you're a business adviser involved in assisting clients to computerise their business - whether for the first time or as part of an upgrade process - it's also a chance to hear how working closely with a trusted supplier can actually help!
We've produced a useful guide for business advisers which takes you into the world of the supplier and explains some of the good, and not so good, practices you might encounter when seeking a new system.
So, rather than bore everyone to death about how great we are, we thought we'd use the occasion to talk about some of the things to look out for when choosing your new software and/or supplier.
The guide is free to independent consultants - just come along to the seminar. Or you can contact us directly using info@turnkey-bs.com for a copy of the guide.
Importantly, if you're a business adviser involved in assisting clients to computerise their business - whether for the first time or as part of an upgrade process - it's also a chance to hear how working closely with a trusted supplier can actually help!
We've produced a useful guide for business advisers which takes you into the world of the supplier and explains some of the good, and not so good, practices you might encounter when seeking a new system.
So, rather than bore everyone to death about how great we are, we thought we'd use the occasion to talk about some of the things to look out for when choosing your new software and/or supplier.
The guide is free to independent consultants - just come along to the seminar. Or you can contact us directly using info@turnkey-bs.com for a copy of the guide.
Friday, 21 January 2011
Turnkey as "The Good Guys" - why being one makes long term sense!
Having been involved with the supply of business software for some 30 years, I reckon I have a lot of experience to share. But how to share it with the people who need it most?
Well, firstly, who are the people who need it most? In my experience, it's the poor soul who finds himself talking to an aggressive software supplier, and as the market has become tougher, there are a lot more of them out there.
How is aggressive defined? Simple, he or she is a salesperson who is committed to one simple thing - commission. This manifests itself in a number of ways but the cancer this engenders is a lack of respect for the prospective customer's actual needs.
Typical actions will be:
- Overselling by quoting for higher level modules than the customer requires;
- Overselling by suggesting higher cost user licences when low-cost 'light' user licenses are available;
- Underselling (yes, I did say 'underselling') by casually omitting to mention that certain modules are required or that additional licences or infrastructure will be needed to run some of the functions proposed (you'll be billed for these later, trust me); or
- Locking a customer in to a protracted contract e.g. 3 years.
In my view, the last one is the worst offence since a customer doesn't truly understand how good, bad or indifferent the supplier will be in delivering or supporting the system as presented by the salesperson. The first year of delivery is crucial but, even if it's been a complete disaster and all of the 'extra' costs necessary to deliver the solution are then revealed, the customer has two more years of this pain to endure before he can escape to a more professional partner.
So, what advice can I give? I spent a lot of time thinking about this over the festive period, and have put together a publication which is of benefit to both the prospective system purchaser and his or her business adviser. The 'Guide to Business Advisers' is free of charge and available by sending me an email with your name and address. Or follow the link here to request a copy:
http://www.turnkey-bs.com/c_Contact.aspx
And why does doing it right and being the good guy make long term sense? Well, at Turnkey we've carefully analysed our business successes during 2010 and around 75% of our revenues from new business sales can be attributed to reference sales. Simply put, people choose us on the back of recommendation from our customer base. So, the more help we can give them to find us, the better!
Well, firstly, who are the people who need it most? In my experience, it's the poor soul who finds himself talking to an aggressive software supplier, and as the market has become tougher, there are a lot more of them out there.
How is aggressive defined? Simple, he or she is a salesperson who is committed to one simple thing - commission. This manifests itself in a number of ways but the cancer this engenders is a lack of respect for the prospective customer's actual needs.
Typical actions will be:
- Overselling by quoting for higher level modules than the customer requires;
- Overselling by suggesting higher cost user licences when low-cost 'light' user licenses are available;
- Underselling (yes, I did say 'underselling') by casually omitting to mention that certain modules are required or that additional licences or infrastructure will be needed to run some of the functions proposed (you'll be billed for these later, trust me); or
- Locking a customer in to a protracted contract e.g. 3 years.
In my view, the last one is the worst offence since a customer doesn't truly understand how good, bad or indifferent the supplier will be in delivering or supporting the system as presented by the salesperson. The first year of delivery is crucial but, even if it's been a complete disaster and all of the 'extra' costs necessary to deliver the solution are then revealed, the customer has two more years of this pain to endure before he can escape to a more professional partner.
So, what advice can I give? I spent a lot of time thinking about this over the festive period, and have put together a publication which is of benefit to both the prospective system purchaser and his or her business adviser. The 'Guide to Business Advisers' is free of charge and available by sending me an email with your name and address. Or follow the link here to request a copy:
http://www.turnkey-bs.com/c_Contact.aspx
And why does doing it right and being the good guy make long term sense? Well, at Turnkey we've carefully analysed our business successes during 2010 and around 75% of our revenues from new business sales can be attributed to reference sales. Simply put, people choose us on the back of recommendation from our customer base. So, the more help we can give them to find us, the better!
Monday, 20 December 2010
It's Christmas here at Turnkey so it must be quiz time.
It's started . We've reached the festive period and it's time to reflect on the past year and, inevitably, time to do a few quizzes. For businesses it's probably a chance to review what went right, what went wrong and what we can do to improve things in 2011. So, here's a quick quiz which is designed to make you consider whether you have the right business system to take you forward in 2011.
How many of the following statements have you made or heard your staff make in the last 12 months? You can check your score at the end.
“Our company is using multiple software systems that do not talk to each other, so we key in the same information many times (and make a few mistakes along the way).” YES/NO
“We have outgrown our basic accounting software, it just doesn’t have the capabilities we need; it is slow and it's increasingly unstable.” YES/NO
“We can’t get financial reports quickly or easily with the level of detail we want to make strategic business decisions.” YES/NO
“Our software system is no longer supported and we can’t get the help we need or it is too expensive to upgrade and maintain.” YES/NO
“Tracking new regulations/compliance issues is causing us headaches.” YES/NO
“Our sales and customer service reps constantly have to ask accounting for information—we need single screen visibility into sales, inventory, purchasing and customer history so we can give our customers immediate answers.” YES/NO
“I wish we had a system that was easy to learn to use and worked with programs like Word, Excel and Outlook, programs that we use every day.” YES/NO
If you answered YES to at least three of the above, then make a New Year's resolution to speak to Turnkey and see how you can achieve seven perfect 'NO's!
Meantime, have a nice festive break and don't dwell on it too much!
How many of the following statements have you made or heard your staff make in the last 12 months? You can check your score at the end.
“Our company is using multiple software systems that do not talk to each other, so we key in the same information many times (and make a few mistakes along the way).” YES/NO
“We have outgrown our basic accounting software, it just doesn’t have the capabilities we need; it is slow and it's increasingly unstable.” YES/NO
“We can’t get financial reports quickly or easily with the level of detail we want to make strategic business decisions.” YES/NO
“Our software system is no longer supported and we can’t get the help we need or it is too expensive to upgrade and maintain.” YES/NO
“Tracking new regulations/compliance issues is causing us headaches.” YES/NO
“Our sales and customer service reps constantly have to ask accounting for information—we need single screen visibility into sales, inventory, purchasing and customer history so we can give our customers immediate answers.” YES/NO
“I wish we had a system that was easy to learn to use and worked with programs like Word, Excel and Outlook, programs that we use every day.” YES/NO
If you answered YES to at least three of the above, then make a New Year's resolution to speak to Turnkey and see how you can achieve seven perfect 'NO's!
Meantime, have a nice festive break and don't dwell on it too much!
Friday, 26 November 2010
At Turnkey we're wondering if the IT industry pull a rabbit out of the hat in 2011?
2011 is being marketed as "The Year of the Cloud" meaning that the hosting of IT systems off-premise is set to take off. For someone who has experienced more 'The year of' stories than I would care to mention in my 25+ years in computing, I have become a tad cynical whenever the industry hypes the 'next big thing'.
However, when major suppliers like Microsoft tell you that the vast majority of their R&D expenditure for business software is targeted on making it available as a hosted solution, then you have to take notice. Taking notice not perhaps for the best of reasons i.e. that it's the right way to go, but more because a company with the clout of Microsoft will inevitably have a major say in how these things pan out.
That's not to say there aren't good reasons for moving to hosting - no upfront capital spend, identifiable and manageable expenditure, no expensive IT people to employ (and struggle to comprehend), upgrades and updates delivered seamlessly, you-focus-on-running-your-business-and-we'll-look-after-the-IT etc. It all sounds eminently sensible, but.... there are always the 'buts'.
For the number crunchers there's always this nagging doubt that it's actually going to cost them more. And for the business owners, the worry that 'their data' i.e. their customers, contacts, prospects, profitability, cash flow and so forth is not locked securely within their building but is floating about somewhere up in that 'cloud'.
2011, in Chinese terms, will be the 'Year of the Rabbit' which I have to say sounds a tad unexciting. So, is the Microsoft alternative, '2011 - the year of the cloud', likely to generate some excitement in the IT industry?
For it to really take off, we have to address these concerns and convince the sceptical number crunchers and business owners that we really do have a value for money, credible alternative to a roomful of servers and lots of sophisticated, expensive PCs scattered around the office.
And, perhaps most importantly, we have to convince them that it's not another of the IT industry's cunning ploys to part them from their money. I mean, it's 10 years on and they still haven't forgiven us for the Y2K debacle!
However, when major suppliers like Microsoft tell you that the vast majority of their R&D expenditure for business software is targeted on making it available as a hosted solution, then you have to take notice. Taking notice not perhaps for the best of reasons i.e. that it's the right way to go, but more because a company with the clout of Microsoft will inevitably have a major say in how these things pan out.
That's not to say there aren't good reasons for moving to hosting - no upfront capital spend, identifiable and manageable expenditure, no expensive IT people to employ (and struggle to comprehend), upgrades and updates delivered seamlessly, you-focus-on-running-your-business-and-we'll-look-after-the-IT etc. It all sounds eminently sensible, but.... there are always the 'buts'.
For the number crunchers there's always this nagging doubt that it's actually going to cost them more. And for the business owners, the worry that 'their data' i.e. their customers, contacts, prospects, profitability, cash flow and so forth is not locked securely within their building but is floating about somewhere up in that 'cloud'.
2011, in Chinese terms, will be the 'Year of the Rabbit' which I have to say sounds a tad unexciting. So, is the Microsoft alternative, '2011 - the year of the cloud', likely to generate some excitement in the IT industry?
For it to really take off, we have to address these concerns and convince the sceptical number crunchers and business owners that we really do have a value for money, credible alternative to a roomful of servers and lots of sophisticated, expensive PCs scattered around the office.
And, perhaps most importantly, we have to convince them that it's not another of the IT industry's cunning ploys to part them from their money. I mean, it's 10 years on and they still haven't forgiven us for the Y2K debacle!
Friday, 23 July 2010
Should we be so surprised when someone says to Turnkey.. 'thank you and well done'?
While out of the office earlier this week, I picked up an email on my phone letting me know that I had received a letter from a customer. Immediate reaction - something's gone wrong!
How pleased I was to read an extremely pleasant letter congratulating us on a job well done. The letter went on to highlight the fact that our perfomance had been measured on how well we had reacted to a difficult start to the project. To quote "The true value of a company, and the reputation it has, can often only be measured when things go wrong and how the company deals with the situation."
Now, you can probably read into this that we didn't exactly cover ourselves with glory early in the project but two key actions saved the day. First, we put our hands up and advised the customer we had made a mistake with the initial software proposed for them. We were wrong and we would now redouble our efforts to put things right. And second, we delivered on that promise such that the customer is now doubly impressed with us.
We all make mistakes and doing the right thing, being honest and accepting the blame is the best starting point for sorting things out. However, it is a sign of the times that so few customers do stop and sit down to write a well constructed letter, never mind a brief thank you note for a job well done.
How pleased I was to read an extremely pleasant letter congratulating us on a job well done. The letter went on to highlight the fact that our perfomance had been measured on how well we had reacted to a difficult start to the project. To quote "The true value of a company, and the reputation it has, can often only be measured when things go wrong and how the company deals with the situation."
Now, you can probably read into this that we didn't exactly cover ourselves with glory early in the project but two key actions saved the day. First, we put our hands up and advised the customer we had made a mistake with the initial software proposed for them. We were wrong and we would now redouble our efforts to put things right. And second, we delivered on that promise such that the customer is now doubly impressed with us.
We all make mistakes and doing the right thing, being honest and accepting the blame is the best starting point for sorting things out. However, it is a sign of the times that so few customers do stop and sit down to write a well constructed letter, never mind a brief thank you note for a job well done.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
NAV Customers have their say on Reporting and Analytics
A worldwide survey of Microsoft Dynamics customers has detailed their use of reporting and analytics.
Conducted by MSDynamicsworld.com, the survey’s 432 respondents offered insight into their desire for improved analytics, challenges in analysing and reporting Dynamics data, problems with offline spreadsheets, highlighted areas for organisational improvement, and barriers to business intelligence.
The survey reveals the challenges Dynamics users face in making better use of data, including reliance on technical staff, the time taken to perform this work, and not having the right tools. “Business users have a clear desire to perform analysis themselves, without relying on technical staff, but aren’t sure how to make this a reality,” the survey concluded.
Significantly, 84% of NAV customers agree their organisation needs to improve its analytical capabilities to remain competitive. 40% of NAV users say achieving growth and recurring business would have a big impact on organisational performance, with achieving operational efficiency, and growth and recurring business, also ranking at 40%. Currently, 25% of NAV customers use reporting tools to analyse their data, 25% use offline spreadsheets, and 18% a business intelligence (BI) solution.
Those NAV users without a BI solution say they don’t have the budget for BI (26%), and BI takes too long to implement and gain a return on investment. 55% of NAV users say using offline reporting and analysis causes problems with accuracy and data integrity.
ZAP Business Analytics has been written specifically to work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and this cuts the delivery time to days rather than months. To learn more, download our report here – ZAP BI
NAV Customers speak:
Does your organisation need to improve its analytical capabilities to remain competitive?
Top areas where improvements would have the biggest impact on organisational performance:
Important: Those NAV users without a BI solution say they don’t have the budget for BI (26%), and BI takes too long to implement and gain a return on investment. Yet, 55% of NAV users also say using offline reporting and analysis causes problems with accuracy and data integrity.
ZAP Business Analytics has been written specifically to work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and this cuts the delivery time to days rather than months. As a ZAP Business Partner, Turnkey can assist you to make the most of your data.
To learn more, download our report here – ZAP BI or call us for a demonstration using YOUR data!
Conducted by MSDynamicsworld.com, the survey’s 432 respondents offered insight into their desire for improved analytics, challenges in analysing and reporting Dynamics data, problems with offline spreadsheets, highlighted areas for organisational improvement, and barriers to business intelligence.
The survey reveals the challenges Dynamics users face in making better use of data, including reliance on technical staff, the time taken to perform this work, and not having the right tools. “Business users have a clear desire to perform analysis themselves, without relying on technical staff, but aren’t sure how to make this a reality,” the survey concluded.
Significantly, 84% of NAV customers agree their organisation needs to improve its analytical capabilities to remain competitive. 40% of NAV users say achieving growth and recurring business would have a big impact on organisational performance, with achieving operational efficiency, and growth and recurring business, also ranking at 40%. Currently, 25% of NAV customers use reporting tools to analyse their data, 25% use offline spreadsheets, and 18% a business intelligence (BI) solution.
Those NAV users without a BI solution say they don’t have the budget for BI (26%), and BI takes too long to implement and gain a return on investment. 55% of NAV users say using offline reporting and analysis causes problems with accuracy and data integrity.
ZAP Business Analytics has been written specifically to work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and this cuts the delivery time to days rather than months. To learn more, download our report here – ZAP BI
NAV Customers speak:
Does your organisation need to improve its analytical capabilities to remain competitive?
Top areas where improvements would have the biggest impact on organisational performance:
Important: Those NAV users without a BI solution say they don’t have the budget for BI (26%), and BI takes too long to implement and gain a return on investment. Yet, 55% of NAV users also say using offline reporting and analysis causes problems with accuracy and data integrity.
ZAP Business Analytics has been written specifically to work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and this cuts the delivery time to days rather than months. As a ZAP Business Partner, Turnkey can assist you to make the most of your data.
To learn more, download our report here – ZAP BI or call us for a demonstration using YOUR data!
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