All businesses strive to make improvements in performance, reduce costs and increase profits, but most still insist on using archaic and ineffective systems which hold them back from the goals they seek.
If your systems do not work for you, it is time to re-evaluate their role within your organisation. If you cannot automate repetitive tasks, alert you to pre-defined situations and provide you with all the information you need to see exactly how your operation is working, then you are missing out on vast opportunities for making your business more efficient.
Most businesses believe they are working very efficiently, but in reality they are being forced to work in ways the system tells them to, rather than what the business needs. This is especially true of smaller businesses that see “off the shelf” software as the only possible solution, rather than looking at more progressive options.
In our experience, companies follow fairly traditional routes and perceive that costs or customisations to make the systems work the way they need to work will be prohibitive. They accept that the systems they buy will make do and so change the business to work around these systems. This view is often very costly as the business grows both in terms of inefficiency as well as having to re-buy a new system later in life.
One other major issue faced is having the right information about the business to make informed decisions. We have all been there. Just picture the normal scene just before a Board Meeting, where monthly reports need to be “compiled” and presented about performance, usually built from inaccurate and outdated information in spreadsheets. This method proves very little value and is normally out of date, so decisions made will not truly reflect the position.
Systems should be capable of producing real time reports, delivered in a format that the business owner or manager needs automatically, for instance daily sales numbers. Furthermore, the systems should be able to flag situations based on a set of circumstances or triggers, all pre-defined to present only what is required, when the event happens.
So let’s look at some practical examples of business automation, which if employed will have a radical impact on efficiency. Let’s start with sales.
One of the biggest headaches for a sales manager is performance monitoring. So the end goal is a sales number that each sales person must achieve in order to pay for themselves and add value to the business. Let’s picture the monthly “forecast” meeting. This is painful for all involved and many sales people are very skilled in making the forecast seem significantly better than it actually is. As a sales manager, you need to take the numbers provided and present them to the Board, again with your spin on them.
So automating this process will remove the fudge factor. Reporting on all quotes generated, all opportunities in pre-defined sales stages and applying a “factor” based on these numbers allow a more realistic figure to be produced at any time, removing the fudge factor and highlighting performance issues very quickly. This information can be presented to all concerned, the sales person, the Sales manager and the Sales Director can all have a specific report tailored to show what them actually need to see. The overall saving is time and increased accuracy in time and energy, plus the increased focus on delivering the numbers will pay for a new system very quickly.
What about the accounts department? This is a common place to automate routines. What about automated contract invoicing for instance. Setting all contracts up so billing and sending invoices automatically will free up staff to do other more demanding tasks, as well as never missing a billing opportunity. Also, using service routines to generate invoices is a common practice. When an engineer attends site, uses parts on the job and logs the time on site, once the job is closed via the system, an invoice is produced and sent to the client without further interaction by a 3rd party invoice clerk.
With Pulse Business Software, just about any routine can be automated and just about any report can be produced. The system is infinitely customisable and works how you want it to work, rather than having to follow a set of predefined rules which do not reflect your business processes.
I know what you are thinking – sounds expensive! Well really it is not. Pulse Business Software scales very easily from a few people to a giant corporate, but does not carry a huge price tag. Our approach is to make everything affordable based on the number of modules you need, and the number of users you have, thus giving you a monthly charge you can easily afford. This makes it ideal for start up companies, companies in growth mode and companies with a mobile workforce.
So rather than just struggle on with the same old software, contact Pulse Business Software now to see what savings you can make and how you can improve your bottom line and your business intelligence.
