Software And Coffee

Last week I ordered a pound of sliced turkey from the Walmart deli. The deli-slicer-guy brought out a sample. I nodded in approval. He offered it to me, saying he’d have to throw it out if I didn’t eat it. This triggered some strange clean-your-plate mental reflex and I gobbled it down.

This week I went through the same process at Publix, except the Publix deli-slicer-guy didn’t trigger that reflex I was waiting for. He smacked the sample right back into my package. I even asked if he’d have to throw it away after he proffered it. Nope!

Now realistically, I can’t see any difference in the two situations. However, I can’t help reflecting on this issue when toasting my turkey sub for lunch.

What can you do in your business to differentiate your services from your competitor? Even in a recession, higher service can conquer lower costs. What good is having a pound of cheap turkey in my “meat” drawer if that package is infested with negative thoughts?

Get a leg up on your competition:

• Make the customer feel comfortable. Assure them their privacy will be protected, and that you will treat their data (and credit card) with the highest security practices possible.
• Process your customer’s order ASAP. This will elate your client, and elicit a positive referral to their friends and family.
• Keep your customer updated. Notify them when the order has been processed and is sitting in a box waiting for UPS or FedEx. Notify them when the shipper has picked up the package. If you are in a service industry, send them email notifications at certain progress points.
• Follow Up. <a href=https://www.centralvacuumstores.com>Central Vacuum Stores</a> sends a follow up email to verify the order was correct and that the customer is happy.

You can accomplish these manually, but automating the process is much more efficient. You will receive a high return on investment from repeat business and referrals.

Thanks for tuning in,

Stephen
DS Technologies, Inc.

A trusted business adviser provides expertise you don’t have inside your business. Common advisers would be your lawyer, accountant, marketing consultant, and IT consultant. You count on these people. You trust them. Hopefully, they put your business first.

As an IT consultant, I selfishly care about my clients. I want them to increase sales, cut costs, improve efficiency, and increase profit margin. Sometimes that doesn’t put money in my pocket in the short term. In the long run, it usually pays off. I selfishly put their interests first, knowing that I’ll be consulted in the future.

Make sure you ask the right questions to the right adviser. Don’t ask your IT consultant about forming an LLC vs S Corp, or amortization rules regarding your new PC. Don’t ask your accountant what software to use, or your lawyer about your wireless network.

Surround yourself with a competent network of advisers, and hopefully each relationship will be a win-win situation.

Stephen Tuttle
DS Technologies, Inc

Joe Schmo is staring at his screen. The cursor is flashing between $1499.00 and the “Submit” button. What is running through his mind? “Are these guys going to rip me off?”; “Are they going to process my order quickly?”; “Is some ex-con processing my credit card?”. I think you get the picture.

Having a relationship with Paypal and Google can increase buyer confidence. When a shopper is on your site, they may have never heard of you. Allowing a shopper to checkout through Paypal or Google means brand recognition. Paypal and Google have verified you as a merchant, and they trust you. So should Joe.

The funny thing is, just seeing those logos makes the buyer feel better. Joe may not checkout using Paypal or Google, but he’s less likely to leave his cart in the aisle and walk out the door.

Thanks for tuning in, but I gotta go; cleanup on aisle nine.

Stephen
DS Technologies, Inc

Word on the street is Starbucks dumped T-Mobile like a bad habit. AT&T is waiting in the wings, offering two hours of free access a day. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not. I mean free is for me, but accessing Wi-Fi anywhere can be dangerous.

I have a couple of uber-security-geek friends that have been chatting about this for a few months. After listening to the Wall Street Journal podcast “Reacting to the slower economy” bring up this issue, I thought it was time to throw it out there. There’s a blurb 5 minutes into the cast about the insecurity of Wi-Fi.

The premise is public hot spots can be compromised. Basically, a hacker can “intercept” all your data bound for the internet. The websites you are accessing, instant messaging, and email are all vulnerable. If you have to use public Wi-Fi, make sure your email connection is encrypted, and only access SSL (https://) pages.

I use a mobile broadband card from Sprint when I’m out and about. It uses the cell phone towers to serve up internet access. Most of the major providers have them, usually referred to as EVDO. It costs about $60.00 a month for unlimited usage.

As far as your business, don’t use Wi-Fi. If you have to, make sure it’s locked down by a security professional. It’s really not worth doing it yourself. I’ll address that in another post, but for now just say no!

May all your communications be secure…

Stephen
DS Technologies, Inc.

Most views in an organization are from the top or from the bottom. Being a consultant, my view is from the side. I communicate with entrepreneurs, managers, sales people, secretaries, and dogs (one of my client’s has the cutest little “mascot”). At some place in the org chart is the continental divide. This canyon separates people that go home and think about business with people that go home and forget about it. The divide can cause big problems in an organization.

If you’re a workaholic:
If everybody was like you, there would be no employees. You’ve hired people to fill roles, and hopefully they are good at it. If they were just like you, they’d probably get bored.

Believe me, I get it. I find it inconceivable that some of my subcontractors don’t work as hard as I do.

We have to understand they have boundaries, and respecting those boundaries can make them more productive when they are “on the clock”.

If you’re not:
When you are called at home, vacation, etc, know that your boss isn’t necessarily being mean or rude. It is foreign to them that you aren’t thinking about the business 24 hours a day.

Ignoring these issues can lead to low morale, and high employee turnover. There is no way your business can be productive if people dislike their job or you are constantly hiring new people.

Thanks for tuning in, and don’t shoot the messenger….

Stephen Tuttle
DS Technologies, Inc.

I’ve been needing to get a garbage disposal, and for whatever reason, I’ve been putting it off. Normally, I’m a Home Depot man, but I recently I received a $10.00 coupon from Lowe’s in the mail. It was barely enough to cover the sales tax, but it was enough to pull me in. Coupons are a great way to pull customers into that purchase they’ve been contemplating the last six months.

Here are a few online (and cheap) ideas:

* Put a coupon on the receipt page of your shopping cart.

* Email coupons to your customers and prospects.

* Add a coupon to your email newsletter.

* Put coupons on specific product pages to entice those shoppers eating through your Google Adwords budget.

Good luck with your “coupon campaign”, and make sure you set a minimum purchase amount to qualify for the coupon.

Stephen Tuttle
DS Technologies, Inc.

One of my clients uses a software solution that maintains their clients, jobs, invoices and employees. Yesterday, I upgraded their solution to be able to track prospects. This change allows them to specify a contact as a prospect or client, track notes for the contact, and run reports on the prospects. The additional reports required access to the “reports” page, which contains job status and sales reports.

To accomplish this securely, I created individual rights for each report. This allowed management to select which reports individual employees have access to. In adherence to point 5 in “Lock The Gate”, employees only see links to the reports they are authorized to access.

It’s your data; be secure.

Stephen Tuttle
DS Technologies, Inc

Gated communities present an interesting paradigm. In order for the concept to work, you must trust everybody living in your community. Not only that, you have to trust all of their family, friends (and kid’s friends). You’re only as secure as the last person who entered.

Your business is very similar. At some point you hired people that weren’t friends or family. You trust those employees, and all their friends that send them email links to the latest you tube drudgery. Anti virus and firewalls are great, but this is a different attack vector.

Who is accessing your data? Do they require the level of access they have? Do your employees work odd hours? What is the impact of a notebook “walking off”?

Security is usually addressed after a breach has occurred. Obviously, this is too late. The impact a single breach can have on your business can be devastating. Security doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are a few cost-effective (read cheap) tips that can help:

1. Limit access to genuine needs. Few employees need access to a current client/prospect list, sales, aging or open invoice reports.

2. Enable logging in your business software. If a user changes an invoice or alters a bill, there should be an audit trail.

3. Perform periodic audits. Pick a random section of time and review who is accessing what. Not only does this provide a security audit, but can help in reviewing efficiency.

4. Get email notification if a user attempts to access to an unauthorized component. For example, a salesperson attempting to access HR or user administration.

5. Remove temptation. The user interface should only present what a user has access to. Some applications disable the menu item or button. I prefer to remove it completely.

Whether you use these tips or implement your own mechanism, start being secure today. Thanks for tuning in, and lock the gate behind you…

Stephen Tuttle
DS Technologies, Inc

I was heading to St. Petersburg last week, and came up on a road crew cleaning out ditches. I came to a stop, watching a line of cars heading my way. It was pretty obvious where they should merge back to the other lane. There were bright orange cones gently nudging them back into the proper lane. Regardless, a member of the road crew was motioning with his hand, reinforcing what the cones made obvious. I kind of chuckled, then a memory sprang to mind. About a year ago, I came up to some road work on a four lane road, but there was no crew. No cars were in front of me, and I wasn’t sure which side of the cones to drive on.

Those orange cones are like your business plan. You lay them out. Move them. Change how the traffic flows. The traffic represents your managers and employees. They are supposed to be following your business plan. It’s a good idea to step in from time to time and motion them on. Encourage the flow of traffic. It’s better to be proactive than reactive.

Thanks for tuning in,

Stephen Tuttle
DS Technologies, Inc

Reading this post by David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Google made me giggle. Yes, Google made me giggle. Basically, Mr. Drummond is asserting that Microsoft may attempt to exert “inappropriate influence” on the internet, hearkening to their monopoly practices.

Quite frankly, it’s hard to muster up any sympathy. Google wasn’t the first search engine on the scene, but they are the definition of the web searches. Just today my father-in-law said “I haven’t googled that yet”. And what about google ad-words? It seems they have their own share of virtual red hotels.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending Microsoft. I’ve chosen open-source technologies over Microsoft solutions whenever it provides my client with equivalent or greater capabilities.

I use Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo products everyday, and will continue to do so (for now). I just have a new search definition: “Giggle it; just a little bit….”

Stephen Tuttle
DS Technologies, Inc