How Often Should You Email?

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Most businesses now days have or are building a list of email addresses to market to. The question is, how often should you promote your products to those lists? How often should you send email newsletters?

Quarterly? Monthly? Weekly? Daily?

There’s no hard and fast answer, except for “It depends.”

“On what?” you might ask. Here’s my answer: It depends on whether your email (primarily) provides information or is (primarily) self-serving. If your email newsletter (or tweet or Facebook post) provides information your customer might be interested in, you can send them more frequently. How frequently depends on the information and the list. Here are some examples:

  • I subscribed years ago to the CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) alert newsletter. They issue it as needed, but sometimes several times during a week. I don’t always read it, but I’m glad to see it in my inbox.
  • I subscribed (so they say) to several email newsletters that have turned into vehicles for promoting white papers. When the white papers are requested, very aggressive salespeople start ringing my phone. Multiple times a week. Here’s my answer: right click, Junk, Block sender. Unsubscribe? Why? It would just tell them they hacked me off. I want them to lose more subscribers before they figure it out.
  • I subscribed to a couple of tax newsletters from friends. They seem to send them infrequently. I notice particularly that they DON’T arrive around tax deadlines. Imagine that! I’d like to have these more frequently. They have great information.
  • And now to the reason for this post. I am on the email list of a consultant who is promoting a seminar. I assume the registration must not be going as well as hoped. I received invitations on 1/9, 1/16, 1/20, and today 1/23. The seminar is Thursday 1/26, so I wonder if I’ll get an email every day this week. I really would unsubscribe, but one of these days I might want to attend one of his events. Keep emailing me every day, though, and I’m going to hit the unsubscribe link.

Oh, and by the way. I once unsubscribed without realizing it from a newsletter I really wanted to attend. The organization was using a service like Constant Contact, Emma, or Mail Chimp to send the newsletter. It was like pulling teeth to get back on the email list. Lesson: You don’t want to lose subscribers.

 

Windows 7 64-bit: The change to 64-bit is here…watch your business software

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I was reminded again today about the reason we’ve been recommending that clients continue to ask for Windows 7 32 bit. We were helping a client install PFW for Windows 5.9 when we got a “Runtime error 449″ (I think that was it). A Google of the error returned the information that 5.9 client was evidently not compatible with Win 7 x64.

Until all your software is up to date, and all your printers are new, we still recommend that you order 32 bit. Yep, it’ll be older, but it might just work with your software and printer drivers.

Keeping Your ERP Software Up To Date

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Companies that keep their software up to date seem more satisfied overall with their systems. I’m not sure why this is, but I know that it helps them avoid all kinds of issues. Older versions of software seem to cause more software compatibility problems these days than in the past.

Here’s the pattern I see:

Windows Vista was a major change in operating system for Microsoft and many Windows users. It was also a disaster from a PR standpoint. I never had many problems, but some people did. As a result, many skipped this version. Software publishers didn’t have the mass of customers moving to the new version, so many software bugs weren’t worked out.

Windows 2008 Server, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and Windows 7 used many of the same technologies as Vista. The recession hit just as many of these products were coming out. Businesses (and users) have updated to these technologies as they had to. Many businesses are still updating from Windows XP to Windows 7.

The software products that didn’t get a full test under Vista (because relatively few businesses implemented it) are now getting tested under Windows 2008 Server and Windows 7.

Bingo! Problem!

Solution: Clients that keep ERP software (and other software, for that matter) up to date are generally more satisfied in the long run.

GoDaddy Deception: This Hacks Me Off

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Let’s face it, the IT industry has enough things going on to frustrate people. Viruses, SPAM, popups, phishing, and cyber attacks, just to name a few. And that’s not even to mention the possibility that your personal information, or lewd pictures that your underage daughter sent her boyfriend (or that your son sent his girlfriend, for that matter) wind up on suggestive sites.

Now we’ve got GoDaddy (the master of implying in SuperBowl ads that they’ve got something akin to porn if you’ll only visit their site: Danica Patrick and all) using their “create your own website” feature to place links back to their site. Check out this blog post on Yoast.

Quick Accounting Software Productivity Boost, Anyone?

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DGG will begin offering quick tips (30 minute webcasts) on Thursday afternoons. We’ll begin with casts covering the products Sage ERP ACCPAC, Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solution, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV. We’re looking at some other potential offerings. The Q1 2012 schedule is available now at http://www.dgginc.com/cms/webcasts.htm, and you can register at http://dgg.eventbrite.com.

Join us.

 

ERP and Operational Software – How do you see them?

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ERP software and business software can be a stairway to reach your goals.I really think that businesses have two basic ways of thinking about business software and technology. Either it is a glorified typewriter and bookkeeping system or it is a strategic asset that will help reach goals.

Most businesses say it is the latter (a stairway to their goals). Think with me for a minute about that, though. Some of the very same businesses that would agree with the idea that ERP and operational software is a strategic asset would also admit that their software is 10, 15, or perhaps 20 years old. Some companies we’ve worked with have software that still forms a critical core of their business processes that is older than this.

Twenty years ago, overnight delivery was in its infancy. The internet was not yet widely known. In fact, many small and mid-sized businesses still kept books manually.

A car that is 20 years old (say 1992 model) might or might not have air bags. Until 10 years ago, most low-end vehicles didn’t have airbags as a standard feature. Ten years ago, most cars sold did have airbags, but second-generation airbags (the kind that don’t break bones and cause internal injuries) weren’t mandated on cars until 1998.

Here’s the bottom line: a computer system that’s even 10 years old is out of date. A business that believes it is taking advantage of the newest and the best that has a computer system that old is kidding itself.

It’s interesting that most businesses we work with that have old ERP, accounting, or operational software systems also want to revise their processes. They recognize that their business software is holding them back. Perhaps they’re worried about the Gladys Principle. Or maybe there is another reason.

So I ask you: Why do businesses do this to themselves? One reason is cost. Ok. I understand that. But as someone said about education, “If you think education costs a lot, you should try ignorance.”

Another reason is simpler than most businesses will admit: inertia — “A body in motion tends to stay in motion in a straight line until acted upon by an outside force.” Change is hard. Sorry. It is in our DNA.

Every Business Can Be More Successful…With Less Work

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I truly believe that every business can be more successful with less work. In fact, I’ve spent the last 25 plus years of my career helping businesses do this. Don’t get me wrong. What I do isn’t without pain for businesses. I’ve yet to meet the client that wakes up on Monday morning thinking, “I think it would be fun to replace a big chunk of the software I use to manage my business!” Or perhaps, “The week wouldn’t be complete without dramatic change in my business.”

Using computer software technology to improve business success isn’t without pain, but few worthwhile things are without pain. Every time I’ve decided to improve my physical fitness, whether it was walking, jogging, lifting weights, or swimming, there were times in the next few months that I just knew I’d made the wrong decision. When my muscles ached in the morning, asking me, “Why did you do that to us again?” I knew that pain makes gain.

So I truly believe that every business can be more successful. Define success as you will: more profit, fewer hours, more customers, more satisfied customers, etc.

Now here’s the big thing: Even though every business can be more successful, what I personally do can’t necessarily make your particular business more successful. As much as I like doctors, I don’t need an OB/GYN. I just don’t have the right parts. My wife, on the other hand, got much benefit from the help they provide (we also got a few kids in the bargain).

The one thing I’ve believed all along is that when I can’t help someone, I tell them. We’re going to expand that into a more significant statement in the new year. Until now, think about how you might make your business more successful.

I believe every business can be more successful…with less work.

Before Your Accounting Software Dies…

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Many of the clients we work with are the proud owners of dying systems. Dying, I say, because they are 15+ year old and the person or company who created them are (sometimes literally) dying. Old versions of Unix, AIX and XENIX, and the hundred different operating systems and software packages that sprang to life in the “early days” of accounting software are on the way out.

PDiagram showing the rough relationship of the components of an ERP software system.eople I talk to can’t believe that Peachtree software used to be a full-fledged modular accounting software package. We recommended it to clients at $495 per module, with a single user. You can buy Peachtree 2012 from CDW (www.cdw.com) for $1104.99 for 5 users. It includes everything you’d need to run a small, simple business.

In the days when Peachtree General Ledger sold for $495, accounting software was just for accounting. Accounting software today is usually called ERP software. Today, the emphasis is on using the software to improve margin, increase efficiency, serve customers better, and grow sales.

To get the most out of ERP software, software today is being implemented with a view to the ROI of the system. Metrics are used to guarantee that the system improves the bottom line.

Software today implements business processes and provides many opportunities for improving the bottom line.

Our specialty is helping clients save money and grow sales by using their ERP and accounting software better. More information about ERP software and accounting software is available on our web site.

 

 

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2012 (’7′) ERP Software

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For some time now, we’ve anticipated the release of MS Dynamics NAV 2012. Microsoft announced earlier in the year that it will likely ship in the 4th Quarter of 2012. One new development is that it will run completely inside a browser (IE 9). This will make it easy to run both on premise and over the Internet / Intranet.

Other developments in NAV 2012 include an improved report writer (haven’t been able to see it yet, but any improvements to reporting will help our clients), and “forms” are eliminated. This basically means that the new interface (Role Tailored) will be the only interface. That’s not a bad thing. The more I work with it, the better I like it.

Here’s an example screen shot of the new Role Tailored Client. This is the sales role:

Screen Shot of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Role Tailored Client

Sage Delays 6.1 Version of ACCPAC ERP Software to Mid 2012

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According to the latest word from inside Sage, the release of its ACCPAC ERP software version 6.1 has been delayed until at least the middle of next year, most likely June. We expected it. This version is an ambitious (and very good for ACCPAC users) upgrade in plumbing. It’s the right thing for Sage to delay it until it’s right. Preliminary looks are very promising, both in terms of the out-of-the-box experience and the customization possibility.

Our website has more information about Sage ERP ACCPAC implementation and support.

A quick YouTube Demo of the new look and feel was in a prior post.