Bellwether Magazine from Blytheco - Time Management Issue - Q4 2013

BELLWETHER

Volume 4 | Issue 4 | Fourth Quarter 2013

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2013

© 2013 Centage Corporation. Centage, thethe Centage logo, Budget Maestro, Link Maestro and Analytics are trademarks or registered trademarks ofof Centage Corporation.rights reserved.
2013 Centage Corporation. Centage, Centage logo, Budget Maestro, Link Maestro and Analytics Maestro Maestro are trademarks or re
gistered trademarks Centage Corporation. All All rights reserved.

sections

“One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is worth
half-a-hundred half-finished tasks.” – Malcom Forbes

Letter from the Editor

Keeping a work diary –
5

Leadership

6

Technology

14

Customer Profile

22

Cover Story

26

Human Resources

28

Corporate Finance

30

Upcoming Events

33

Industry News

34

26

6

can it help?

14

Simplify
Infrastructure
Management

22

Managing Complexity in our
Nation’s Food Suppl

Stop Wasting Time on Manual
Sales Tax Management

30

What’s Coming in

2014?

38

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LETTERFROMTHEEDITOR

BELLWETHER

A Blytheco Magazine
Volume 4
Fourth Quarter, 2013
www.blytheco.com
www.bellwethermagazine.com
STAFF EDITOR
Apryl Hanson
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Greg Went
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Alicia Anderson
Liz Anderson
Joanne Black
Tess Boros
Michael Boysen
Dan D’Ambrosio
Leslie Hull
Ginger Kittinger
Steve Throneberry
Bill Wiersma
Trevor Wilson
Paul Ziliak
ADVERTISING SALES
Ginger Kittinger
SUBSCRIPTIONS
www.bellwethermagazine.com
Or contact Dori Fitch (800) 425-9843, Extension 1168
dorif@blytheco.com
Bellwether Magazine is published by
Blytheco with principal offices at:
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Suite 200
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
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This is a copyrighted publication and
all articles herein are covered by this
copyright. Any use of the content for
commercial reasons or other form or
reproduction of material herein is strictly
prohibited without prior, written approval
of Bellwether Magazine.


5

LEADERSHIP

Keeping a work diary –
can it help?
by Ginger Kittinger

T

he answer is yes – if you stick to a regular routine
and use it purposefully.
A work diary is just a
simple recording of activities and experiences in your
job. Keep your diary in a Word doc on your computer,
send yourself an email or just rely on old school
notebook and pen, but either way, keeping a journal of
what happens in your job can benefit you in many ways.
This can become a very important tool in your professional
life. As you come across new situations and projects in your
position, make sure you note key issues about them.
You should ask/answer
document your activities:

these

questions

to

• List 3 things you did correctly/did well
• List at least 1 thing you could have done
better
• List how you would do things differently, if
you could do it over
You will get some great benefits out of this exercise:
Save Time – you will more than likely come across
this situation in the future and will be able to refer
to your past experience.
Augment Your Memory – we only have so much
“brain space” and it is much faster to be able to
review past notes you’ve made versus trying to
remember something from several years ago.
Growth – by tracking your own performance, you
will learn from your successes and mistakes and
grow at an exponential rate – learn what you have
done right and keep doing it that way.
Focus – by clearing your brain at the end of the
day, you get that clutter out of the way and can
6


focus on the task at hand and
start fresh the next day.
Reduce stress – putting
your thoughts and ideas
down on paper and
getting them organized
makes you feel better
and in return, can reduce
your stress levels.
It doesn’t matter how you
do your journaling – on
a computer, with a voice
recorder, in a journal or
on loose-leaf paper – just
get your thoughts down on
paper and use them to your
advantage. Over time you
will be able to review your
accomplishments and see
how they have matched
up with goals you’ve set
for yourself.

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7

Do You Have
Time To Lead?
by Bill Weirsma

J

im Stengel, the former Chief
Marketing Officer at Procter &
Gamble, has noted, “When you
take the great organizations of the
world, their leaders spend their
time differently.” He’s referring
to organizations like IBM, Nike,
Apple and, without saying so,
Procter & Gamble.
How do they invest their time? They focus on things like
products, customers, culture. It’s no accident that these
organizations ooze leadership---reflected both within their
people and by industry reputation.
These are leaders that think differently. They believe that
they can’t afford not to lead. These leaders realize that there
is an upfront investment in time, money and energy; yet their
experience tells them that the return over time is a significant
multiple over the initial investment. More importantly, they feel
it’s the right thing to do.
In my consulting practice I advise leaders to challenge their
people to be even better professionals than they already are.
In other words, I encourage them to take the time to lead--using ‘professionalism’ as a platform to enhance their culture.
On the surface it may seem that advice---while being hard to
argue with---is just too simple to have much impact. Turns out,
this deceptively simple idea, when appropriately implemented,
has tremendous impact.
Take, for example, Cecelia Lakatos Sullivan, CEO of Pinnacle
Telecommunications, Inc who does a terrific job in coaching
her staff to be even better professionals. Her organization’s
toughest, most vexing, issues invariably are the ones that her
staff seeks counsel from her on.

8


LEADERSHIP
Of course she’s happy to help. But at the same time Cecelia
expects the professionals on her staff to develop their own
solutions. She sees these situations not so much as problemsolving sessions but rather an opportunity to teach---largely
through asking a lot of questions.
Borrowing from an admittedly overused metaphor, Cecelia’s
teaching her people how to fish, rather than serving them King
Salmon with dill.

the leadership pool in her organization.
Does this approach require an investment of time up-front?
Sure. But as Cecelia notes, “To me, the time required doesn’t
turn out to be a barrier. First of all, it’s less time than people
make it out to be. Investing ‘thoughtful time’ is the key. Do
that and you’ll be amazed how little time it really takes.”
Another wise leader who spends their time differently is
Jennifer Schoenhofer CEO of Atlanta-based Axis Teknologies.

One of her staff recently approached her about a sensitive

Jennifer, like Cecelia, coaches her staff to be even better

situation involving one of their company’s preferred vendors

professionals. In addition, she’s also invested considerable

who was significantly behind in paying their bill.

time and energy in institutionalizing professional values into

During the course of their ongoing dialog, several conversations

the fabric of her organization.

ensued between Cecelia and the staff member. Here’s a few of

For

the many questions Cecelia asked:

agreements, hiring processes, etc have all been re-designed

“As a professional how would you like to see this situation
resolved?”

instance,

performance

reviews,

job

expectation

with an eye towards the integration of professional values.
In fact, Axis uses management by objectives (MBO) as one

“Do you feel you know what it really means to the vendor to
have a professional relationship with us?”
“Look you’re a professional...what can you learn from other
difficult situations like this that have been successfully resolved
in a professional manner?”

of their main performance tracking systems. Typically when
organizations use such a system, the objectives are ‘outcome
based’ (e.g. what percentage were expenses reduced?). Not
so with Axis. Sixty percent of the objectives aren’t ‘outcome
based’, they’re ‘professional values’ based.
For instance, their assessment methods (which mimic

“Have you counseled with departments X and Y to see
what they think of your proposed solution? You know, as a

those of a 360 degree feedback instrument) enable Axis’s
leadership to determine how well their people ‘measure up’

professional courtesy.”

to the professional values they have aspired to center their

After some back-and-forth, the individual successfully brought

part of everyone’s professional development plan.

organization around. The process isn’t punitive, it’s instructive—

the issue to resolution. There was probably a short-term fix to
the ‘vendor problem’ that could have been rendered faster
than the approach Cecelia took. Yet she chose to make an

Jennifer believes that results (e.g. outcomes) naturally flow
when the environment (think: culture) within their organization

investment in one of her staff.

is ‘professional’. Notice how differently Jennifer spends her

In other words, as a professional herself, Cecelia owned the

on people and processes. “The numbers, Jennifer notes, tend

tenants of the culture she’s committed to build. She spends

to take care of themselves when you’re leading. Plus, it’s so

her time differently; and to no one’s surprise, she’s considered

much more enjoyable to lead proactively from the front than

a terrific leader.

manage nervously from the back.”

This approach has compelling benefits. Here’s a few: 1) the

What Cecelia and Jennifer are doing is precisely what Jim

staff’s ownership of issues dramatically increases 2) over time

Stengel was advocating; namely spending their time differently.

fewer issues are advanced to Cecelia 3) the staff is in constant

These are leaders of great organizations that have taken the

‘learning mode’ 4) the staff gains an important degree of

time to lead---and have reaped the benefits. Will you?

time. Instead of managing next quarter’s numbers, she focuses

autonomy. Taken collectively Cecelia, in effect, is expanding

About the Author
Bill Wiersma is the principal of Wiersma and Associates, LLC, a consulting firm that helps leaders create cultures centered on professional ideals. His expertise has been
featured in numerous media outlets -- including the New York Times. Bill, the author of two critically acclaimed books, is a trusted advisor to executive leadership on
senior team development and organizational culture. His latest book is “The Power of Professionalism”


9

Managing Remote Employees
How do you motivate them?
by Steve Throneberry

The Best Advice for Remote/Virtual Teams - Hire/Promote Right

T

he right team member is the key! Some folks just are not cut out to work remotely.
Others actually thrive in the remote environment. I have had more successes with
remote workers than not. I really like the ability to attract and work with some incredibly
talented individuals which in turn, raised the entire team’s performance. Replicating that
on a local level may take me a month of Sundays to do!
Managing a virtual team: the good, the bad and the ugly
Managing people is a tough business. Remaining objective,
concise, positive and encouraging face to face is difficult enough.
Managing a virtual team adds a unique twist that can be the best
of times and/or the worst of times.
The remote model is widely used today. In fact, I personally know
some folks that have only worked remotely! The advantages for
the company can be significant. The list includes less space which

Tools like GoToMeeting add a quick and easy way to collaborate.
Adding video to the mix adds a 3rd dimension that is growing in
popularity and additionally, video makes virtual meetings more
formal. I actually had a conference call with one of my remote
workers while he was mowing his yard! I could not figure out what
the background noise was when he took his phone off mute - he
fessed up...

Some simple rules of engagement:

is one of the largest fixed costs companies carry next to full time

• Establish Rules of Engagement - build a list of what is required.

employees. The other significant advantage is the ability to attract

Be clear, upfront and have objective goals. Also include

top talent without all of the relocation costs and headaches. Lost

professional protocols, conflict resolution and dress code

productivity traveling to and from the office (especially in large

(really?) - yes! Especially important when you add video!

cities) is another.
Some of the greatest challenges remote teams face is clear and
regular communication channels. Even though the phone is easy
to pick up and dial, distance can add ‘distance’ between the team.

12


• Build a ‘model week’ - this model week includes regularly
scheduled meeting times, blocks of work times, communication
methods. Role these up into monthly and quarterly schedules
as well.

LEADERSHIP
• Flexibility - establish what is normal flexibility (picking up
the kids, etc.).
• Availability - how early and how late parameters rule the
day here and...the ‘no hiding rule’.
• Dedicated work area - the more formal you make this the

Technology - Keep it Simple
Technology becomes critical to remote teams. Broadband
(the biggest pipe available) is a must. This single piece of
technology is the make or break and the most reported
issues related to remote workers revolve around connectivity.

better the remote environment works. It can even help
Land Line vs. Cell Phone - Cell phone all the way. If you have

with taxes.
• Use objective measurement tools to gauge productivity.
Utilizing a CRM like SalesLogix, SugarCRM, Salesforce.
com or some other reporting platform takes a lot of
guesswork out of managing remote teams.
• Schedule some type of face-to-face event at least once a
year. Everyone likes to connect on a more personal level

weak signal in your home, get a signal booster. The cell allows
the greatest flexibility for all parties included. If the signal in
your home is non fixable, you will have to add a land line.
Laptops vs. Desktops - laptops! Easy to ship and maintain if
issues occur. All-In-One Printing Device - fax, scan, copy. The
fax is optional (so 1990’s).

- let them.

About the Author
Steve Throneberry, Chief Revenue Officer at InterviewStream has managed teams for over
25 years and his experience includes public sector and Fortune 100 to start-ups. Steve
holds an MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a BA from the University of
Central Florida. InterviewStream, Inc. is the global pioneer in online video interviewing.

(www.interviewstream.com)

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13

TECHNOLOGY

Simplify
Infrastructure
Management
by Alicia Anderson

A

transformation is taking place in business technology – have you noticed?
Today’s agile business requires responsive, adaptable technology to compete
in a fast-paced, ever-changing market, and some companies are realizing that
investing heavily in IT infrastructure is limiting, rather than enabling, their growth in
this environment.

Many business leaders are now considering cloud IT
models – where applications are delivered to users over
the internet – in order to save capital expenditures and
provide greater IT flexibility. Research from enterprise
cloud computing company Virtustream indicates that
over half of US companies are using some form of cloud
computing for IT.
The financial benefits can be significant. Nucleus Research
found software companies moving from on-premise
applications to NetSuite cloud ERP eliminated an average
of $23,000 in software license maintenance costs per
year. Magellan, the Santa Clara, CA-based makers of GPS
systems, reduced IT costs over 20% by moving from their
homegrown e-Commerce system to NetSuite
But the benefits of cloud go beyond costs. Cloud
applications reduce many of the complexities of business
technology while providing additional flexibility and
simplicity to IT management.
How does the cloud simplify infrastructure management?
• Cloud reduces or eliminates the need to purchase servers
and hardware for your company’s applications.
• Cloud streamlines scalability. Cloud applications can be
turned on for additional users without time-consuming
installation headaches, and companies can roll out new
features and functionality at less risk and in less time.

14


• Cloud shifts IT costs from capital to operating
expenditures.

With on-premise systems, the capital

expenditures on the books often outlasted the
technology they paid for. Predictable payment plans for
cloud systems help Finance avoid surprises and manage
cash flow.
• Rather than replacing IT jobs, cloud enables IT staff to
play a more strategic role in the business, advising and
consulting to other functional teams rather than serving
them in a “help desk” role.
• In many cases, cloud provides increased security. Many
small to medium-sized businesses struggle to implement
and maintain best practices for security and redundancy.
Cloud providers like NetSuite make it a core part of their
business to ensure optimal system uptime and keep data
properly safeguarded.
• Users always have access to the latest versions. Upgrades
happen in the background without IT having to be
involved.
Compare NetSuite to Sage 100 ERP – visit www.blytheco.
com/erp-comparison to download “ERP Comparison
Guide for your Business Lifecycle: The Key Factors in
Choosing ERP” for a comprehensive look at cloud and onpremise benefits and drawbacks.

It’s

ALARMING
How much time and money are wasted due to
old and inefficient processes.
Don't hide under the covers and hope the problems go
away - wake up and see what your business is missing!

www.blytheco.com/quiz


15

Standardizing Non-Standard
Interfaces
by Mike Boysen

D

esigning a system, whether it’s a hardware system, software system,
or organizational system often results in problems where multiple
parts of the system interface with each other. In workflow, these are the
boundaries between steps and actors; in applications it is that space
between disparate databases. Most of the organizations I work with do
not have one completely integrated system; nor do they share systems
with their partners, suppliers and customers. As a result, there is quite of
bit of value to be created bridging these non-standard interfaces.
These handoff points, where work is delivered to the next actor
in an end-to-end business process, can often cause waste in
the form of waiting, rework and other value-destroying factors.
It becomes especially difficult to get a vendor to change their
process just for you; after all, you’re just one of their customers.
However, over the years tools and platforms have emerged that
are affordable and highly configurable; allowing organizations
that historically couldn’t afford it, to deal with these nonstandard interfaces in a way that has a huge time-saving impact.

The External Interface Case
I had a customer that was looking for a way to update delivery
dates, at the PO line item level, in their Sage 500 ERP system.
The problem was that they received a very unfriendly (nonstandard interface) email from their vendor containing this
information. It appeared to them to be impossible to automate
the process; therefore, the only alternative was to have a real,
live person update potentially thousands of line items by
sifting through the emails; which came every few days. There
was barely enough time in between these batches of emails to
process the last batch.
Errors were introduced as this information was reprocessed
from one system into another system using manual labor. At
other times, schedules simply didn’t permit the completion of
this activity. This had a ripple effect down the line with regard
to inventory management and setting customer expectations.

16


From the organization’s perspective, the task of solving this
problem was daunting.

Enter TaskCentre
An interface which is seemingly so challenging can essentially
be standardized without requiring the other actors in your
process (or value-chain) to change their work product!
In this case, the vendor sends out an email. The trigger here
is action-based, as in it has to
happen whenever our upstream
supplier decides they want to
send the information. We are
using some MS Exchange routing
logic to forward it to a monitored
SMTP server so the supplier does not need to change who they
send it to either (and we use that original recipient to send
exceptions to). A simple filter that looks for attachments named
“EMAIL.CSV” is used to fire the task.
Here’s where things get tricky for us. We need to take this email
attachment, that is basically a mess, and turn it into a recordset
we can work with. The
garbage (1) is removed
and the good stuff (2)
is massaged to remove
things we don’t like or
need.

TECHNOLOGY
There are actually 2 tasks being used to make this happen. (1)
A child task is being called to match PO lines, perform updates
and log mismatches and (2) then this parent continues along
to process files,
send
success
messages,
gather
errors
and report them
to the original
recipient.
The
key
here
is
that now the
recipient
only
has to deal with
a handful of mismatches as opposed to thousands. I can share
with you that this is a very happy person!
Given the amount of time that was saved, the fact that we didn’t
have to negotiate any custom rework from the supplier (not the
only customer), and that our end customer now receives the
result they wanted (an up to date delivery time), this project was
definitely worth it to my customer.

Closing Thoughts
Especially in the middle market (and below), more often than
not, you won’t have the leverage required to get external
partners to dedicate resources for your special needs; nor is it
always possible to re-jigger your systems to accept a token from
one of many partners. But you can certainly integrate with them
using a tool like TaskCentre (and others) designed to bridge the
interface gaps we all have in our organizations. The standards
we have to work with, such as OLEDB/ODBC as protocols, and
SQL Server, etc. for databases provide an interface with the tools
necessary to bridge that final mile of standardization.
The wall between front office and back office is artificial and I find
myself working with these kinds of end-to-end business process
challenges as much as I do sales and marketing processes. At
the end of the day, whether you’re dealing with internal suppliers
and customers, or external suppliers and customers, you should
be looking for ways to leverage the current technologies to help
standardize interfaces between steps and actors, to optimize
flow globally and to align human resources to more valueadding activities.

More Info at: www.blytheco.com/taskcentre/


17

Fox Distributing Sees Faster,
Better Sales with bly:Mobile
by Alicia Anderson

F

ox Distributing has been in business for 26 years in the North Port, Florida area
as a wholesale distributor for BG Automotive Products. A small but growing
company, Fox has been a Sage 100 ERP user since the late 1990s, leveraging the
solution to provide automotive fluids, which they deliver to the dealerships and
independent shops that they serve. Fox favors a personal touch when working with
existing and potential dealers and shops, with field sales representatives who travel
throughout south and central Florida. These Fox representatives go onsite to offer
the BG products, equipment, and programs that will work best for their customers.
Given their mobile workforce, Fox began considering ways to support these efforts.
Streamlining Sales

Stacey and Mike Fox, owners of Fox Distributing, recognized an
opportunity to help their salesmen be more efficient in the field and
create additional opportunity for the company. The field salesmen
were hand-writing customer invoices onsite – a time-consuming task,
considering the wide range of products, services, and equipment
they were offering. The field salesmen would then bring the handwritten invoices back to the office during a weekly office visit, and
office staff would manually enter them into the Sage 100 system.
Office staff would then have to correct errors and add any missed
components. These changes would then need to be communicated
to the customer, eroding the customer experience.
Additionally, the sales representatives were often too focused on
nurturing customer relationships to consult their detailed Customer
Profile book onsite. This meant they often were not aware of up-todate pricing incentives and complementary products, which resulted
in missed sales opportunities.
Stacey identified bly:Mobile, the mobile solution for Sage 100 as a

18


way to solve these challenges. If the sales reps could enter invoices
while in the field directly into the system using bly:Mobile, they could
get invoices in the system more quickly with fewer errors, eliminate
time-consuming data entry and reduce office trips. Further, if the
sales team could more easily access key customer and product
information, they could unlock more sales opportunities with their
customers and increase the revenue and profitability to the business.

Better Customer Relationships
This faster and more accurate invoicing created not only a more
streamlined process for Fox, but more importantly created a better
experience for their customers. The sales rep can now generate
an invoice while onsite and provide it to the customer, creating an
accurate, real-time experience. They can also leverage tools to make
product recommendations, allowing them to deliver more value to
their customers while generating more revenue for the company.
The sales reps can also provide reliable tracking of product sales to
better consult with their customers. They can also analyze options,
such as whether the customer should purchase versus rent a piece
of equipment.

CUSTOMERPROFILE
These efficiencies gained by bly:Mobile have given the sales reps
additional time for bringing new customers to the business. Many
of them now dedicate one day a week to visiting new prospective
customers, expanding their book of business and the company’s
bottom line.

Why bly:Mobile?

Stacey, “bly:Mobile has transformed our field sales processes and
we look forward to other ways it can enhance our business.”
Wonder if bly:Mobile could fit your company’s needs for faster, more
profitable sales? Check out the bly:Mobile demo to see for yourself
at www.blytheco.com/blymobile

Stacey and Mike looked at several different mobile invoicing
products before choosing bly:Mobile. They had concerns that they
might not be able to track serial numbers, or maintain their product
kits – sets of products combined with services and incentives that
created more profitable orders – in a new system. They also worried
about their sales reps feeling comfortable with a new solution.
bly:Mobile solved these concerns. Since bly:Mobile brings all
Sage 100 functionality to the mobile device, all of their inventory
is available via bly:Mobile just as it would be in the office. “It just
made no sense to use anything else besides bly:Mobile,” said
Stacey, “since other solutions would just create additional systems
to maintain and support.
“I would absolutely recommend bly:Mobile” shared Stacey. Fox
Distributing has recognized other areas in their business that could
benefit from mobile ERP and are currently working with Blytheco
experts to explore other ways to streamline processes. Concludes


19

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21
21

SALES&MARKETING
by Joanne S. Black

by Joanne S. Black

W

hat’s the first thing you do when you get to work every day? If you’re like most of us,
you immediately check your email and then log onto Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
What time do you look up from your computer? Some of my clients tell me “lunchtime.” That’s
probably an exaggeration, but the truth is that we waste hours every day online, doing activities
that don’t contribute to business development or deliver a real return on the time investment.
Technology is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it
allows us to dictate our own schedules and to work when it
is most convenient. But our dependence on technology can
also get out of hand, and before we know it, the technology
that was supposed to make our lives easier
is suddenly running our lives. We can’t
sleep without our smart phones
within reach. Even on vacation,
we bring work with us (or at
the very least, clients can
reach us). We can’t even get
through a conversation with
a client or prospect without
showing off some sort of tech
savvy. And we let ourselves get
lost in the social-media time
warp.
We often forget that technology
is only a tool and that our greatest
asset is, and always will be, ourselves.
Yes, it’s important to have an online
presence. Yes, social media can help you
learn more about your clients and prospects.
It’s also a great idea to explore the plethora
of technology tools available to make your
sales process more efficient. But don’t fool
yourself into thinking these tools give you
a predictable, guaranteed edge, because
everyone else is using the same tools.
What will set you apart from the rest, get you
in front of decision-makers, and accelerate
your sales process hasn’t changed a bit;
it’s still a personal

22


connection and a referral from someone the client trusts.
So how do you manage your time—and all that technology—
to get referrals, generate qualified leads, and close more
deals more quickly?

Closest to Cash
Here’s my rule: Do what’s “closest to cash” first—every day.
It could be writing a proposal, following up on a referral,
returning a phone call, scheduling a meeting with a sales
prospect, posting on social media, contributing to groups
on LinkedIn, or re-kindling relationships.
If an email or other activity doesn’t contribute to building
your business or nurturing your relationships, it’s not worth
spending valuable sales time on during prime business
hours. You can research, read, and listen to podcasts and
webcasts if, and when, you have time.

Social Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Social media can be a real time suck, even though pundits
say it’s the best thing since sliced bread for sales. They tell
you that business development is leagues easier because
information is at your fingertips—who your clients know,
where they work, where they used to work, where they went
to school, who you know in common, and what’s going on in
their industries and companies.
Don’t believe the hype. Social media
provides information—a richer
picture of your prospect or
connection. But what good is all
the information in the world if
you can’t get the meeting?
Like
data
without

analysis, information without a personal introduction (a
referral) does not shortcut the sales journey.
Case in point: Only 4.9 percent of salespeople have
created “lots” of business opportunities using LinkedIn,
according to “Cracking the LinkedIn Code,” a study by
Jill Konrath and Ardath Albee. And 55.5 percent have
never had an opportunity they can attribute to social
media. Yet, research from Social Centered Selling and
A Sales Guy Consulting shows that when reps use the
right social-selling approach—meaning they use it to
gather information and research mutual connections, not
to pitch or meet new clients—they are 25 to 50 percent
more likely to get in front of prospects.

• Arrive pre-sold—the prospect knows who you are
and actually wants to meet you
• Gain trust and credibility—the most difficult (and
important)criteria in the sales process
• Shorten your sales process—and spend more time
working with great clients
• Ace out the competition—while others are still
identifying the decision-makers
• Incur no hard costs—except, perhaps, the price of
coffee or lunch for two
• Convert prospects into clients more than 50 percent
of the time—and most people say more than 70
percent of the time

Bottom line: If you’re not in play in social media, you’re
not in business. Clients expect to be able to find you on
these channels, and they expect you to know everything
about them and their companies. But after you’ve
done your homework, it’s time to log off and rely on
your relationship-building skills to get you the referral
introduction.

It’s still who you know that counts. Sales success is not
determined by the number of connections you have
online or how tech-savvy you are. It’s determined by the
number of well-developed, well-nurtured relationships in
your referral network.

Your Biggest Competitive Weapon

Sales is pretty simple, but it’s not easy. Make it easier
by focusing on what really counts—your relationships.
The more solid relationships you develop, the more
opportunities you’ll have to generate referral business.
Why would you waste time doing anything else?

In a study by Responsibility Centered Leadership,
researchers asked executives when and why they’ll take
a meeting with a salesperson. The No. 1 reason was (you
guessed it) a referral from a trusted source.
Referred clients are pre-sold. Because someone
your prospects know and trust has vouched for you,
they already think you are credible and trustworthy.
Rainmakers who’ve been at it for 30 years and their
greenest colleagues agree: Referral selling is the most
effective—and most efficient—business-development
strategy that exists. Nothing else comes close.
Referral selling addresses the two biggest challenges
sales organizations face:
• Getting every meeting at the level that counts
• Converting prospects into customers

Referrals Get Results

Sales is not about making a list and checking off as many
things as possible. Cut through the noise and focus
on the tasks that move your business forward. The rest
doesn’t matter. None of us has enough hours in a day.
You’ll never catch up, so forget about it.
Top salespeople focus on business development first.
They don’t get sucked into their computers and spend
hours on unproductive tasks. Instead, they do what’s
“closest to cash” every day.
Think about how you spend your time and the type of
payoff you want. Get that introduction and clinch your
referral sale!

Consider your own selling experience. When you’ve
received an introduction to exactly the person you want
to meet, you:

About the Author
Joanne Black is America’s leading authority on referral selling—the only business-development strategy
proven to convert prospects into clients more than 50 percent of the time. As the founder of No More Cold
Calling, Joanne helps salespeople, sales teams, and business owners build their referral networks, attract more
business, decrease operating costs, and ace out the competition. A captivating speaker and innovative seminar
leader, Joanne is a member of the National Speakers Association. She is also the author of NO MORE COLD
CALLING™: The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust and Pick Up the Damn
Phone!: How People, Not Technology, Seal the Deal. To learn more, visit www.NoMoreColdCalling.com, email
joanne@nomorecoldcalling.com, or call 415-461-8763.


23

SALES&MARKETING

Five Ways to Know Your
Company Has OUTGROWN
Contact Management
by Alicia Anderson

W

ith so many great contact management systems out there, it’s easy to find one that
meets your growing company’s needs. Systems like ACT!, Goldmine, and Highrise
are great entry-level systems that can help you organize your sales contacts and plan
your sales strategies; even Outlook, Gmail and spreadsheets can be used to accomplish
many of the tasks a young company needs to manage sales.
But there comes a time when your team needs a system that
can do more than just keep track of contacts. Automating
sales processes, managing calendars, forecasting, generating
proposals, and even integrating with your ERP system can
all be managed in an effective CRM system, setting up your
sales force for greater success and scalability and more wins.
As a bonus, CRM also gives management keen insights into
performance and helpful visibility into what’s working in sales,
and what needs a boost.
How do you know when you have outgrown your Contact
Management system?
1. You need more detailed intelligence about your
customers. Contact managers can certainly keep track of
contact names, titles, phone numbers – the basics. But if you
find that your team is struggling to keep track
of customer activity, correspondence, and
interactions with other departments, it’s time
to consider a more holistic CRM application.
CRM can also help gather data to build customer
profiles AND competitor profiles, so reps always
know what they are up against.
2. You need to get everyone on the
same system. Most contact management
applications are built for individual or
small team use, difficult or impossible
to deploy across an extensive
network, and don’t support
territories. CRM can support a team
selling approach and manage
business processes across many

24


functions of the business (i.e., Service, Marketing, Finance), so
your team shares information more effectively, and all users are
able to benefit from visibility into customer interactions.
3. You need information, not just data. Contact managers are
fine for serving up pieces of data about customers, but for analysis
and reporting to drive decision-making and improve performance,
CRM is key, giving teams the ability to roll up individual or territory
numbers, and view pipelines and forecasts in real-time graphical
dashboards. Meaningful reports and analysis help managers be
more strategic in guiding the team to more wins.
4. You want to integrate with other systems. Some
contact managers will integrate with email, but CRM systems are
designed with integration in mind, enabling synchronization with
financial systems, marketing apps (such as Hubspot or Pardot),
data providers (such as Hoover’s and InsideView) and social
media. These integrations establish CRM as the single source of
customer information in your business.
5. You want flexibility in deployment. If you are looking
for Cloud, Hybrid (a mix of cloud and on-premise), or mobile
deployment for your sales automation, CRM offers those options
– often within one brand of software. Contact managers are less
flexible, and few contact managers offer true user-friendly
mobile platforms. Anytime-anywhere access and mobile
connectivity are a must with today’s workforce and can
help keep your team producing even when they are
away from the office.

Is your team ready for CRM? Go to
www.blytheco.com/crm to get a review of
your needs and some recommendations
from our experts.

Counting made easy
Inventory … you can hear the groans from here.
NOBODY likes to do inventory, but it has to be done. Before, it
had to be done with masses of people, cards, or bulky handheld
computers. Why not use your cell phone and reduce your
physical count time by 75%? Call Scanco and ask for Scanco
Counts. The first native app on the market that seamlessly
integrates to Sage 100 with barcode scanning capability.

We have a solution that is easier than 1-2-3.

PICTURE DISPLAY OF INVENTORY ITEMS
BARCODE SCANNING FUNCTION
QUICK COUNT REVIEW FUNCTION
SCAN, KEY, OR LOOK UP ENTRY OPTION
SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATES TO SAGE 100 ERP

All on a native iOS or
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Sage 100 ERP • Shipping Q3 2013

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25

COVERSTORY

Managing Complexity in our
Nation’s Food Suppl
by Alicia Anderson

I

n the US, we love our food. And we are fortunate to have a food supply that is the safest
and most abundant in the world. However, we are still surprisingly vulnerable to threats
of all kinds to our food supply. At every stage in the food production process, from the
farm to the shelf, risks remain that threaten our health and our pocketbooks.
It seems like every week we see new recalls or inquiries in

we import can put us at risk. Market diversification is another

the news about our food supply. In September, 2013 alone,

challenge – as smaller producers come on board, they do

recalls were issued for Chobani greek yogurt, Purina dog food,

not have the infrastructure in place to meet the established

and Talenti Gelato – and not all of these were due to bad

standards. Ever-changing consumer tastes also play a role

ingredients. Undeclared allergens also cause the recall of many

– the current demand for prepared foods and the “farm to

products that are acceptable to eat for unaffected populations,

table” trend toward local sourcing create challenges as well as

but whose labels lack information about ingredients that could

opportunities for producers.

harm allergic individuals.

A complex and widespread supply chain creates a large number

These recalls are most importantly a cost to our public health –

of points where contamination can occur – but contaminants

illness and deaths have been the result of a episodes in recent

are just one part of the problem. In the case of Talenti’s gelato

years. The monetary cost is also not insignificant. Recalls

recall, not having allergens (almonds) clearly labeled on the

impact the profitability of the affected brand dramatically, but

packaging necessitated one large recall – even for products

they can also impact entire food markets. The peanut-industry-

with nothing inherently wrong with them.

wide impact of the 2008-2009 Peanut Corporation of America
recall was estimated at over $1 billion.

What are the conditions that create vulnerabilities in
our food supply?
Globalization is opening up new sources of food and new
markets for American businesses, but the lack of standards
in processing and data management in countries whose food

26


The sheer volume of production and links in the supply chain
presents a huge challenge for food companies. “For us,”
said Michael Siegmund, former President of RM Foods, a
major food manufacturer in Southern California, “It was the
complexity of what we were being asked to manage. It’s not just
a handful of items. Our plant had 200 to 300 items, including
finished products and sub-products - each finished product

had 15 ingredients.” Simply tracking all the data required to

in case of a recall, and to gain efficiencies through automating

put regulatory controls in place was time-consuming and error-

processes that had previously been manual.

prone.

he says, “Our USDA audit took three weeks. After we set up

How are we managing the threats?
Federal government regulations, under the authority of the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) have long established standards by which
companies must operate, and created requirements for data
needed when an audit is required. Laws like the Bioterrorism
Act of 2002 and the Food Safety Modernization ACT of 2011
(FSMA) set requirements for processes, reporting, and recordkeeping. Local governments often provide another layer of
protection and regulation.

“Before X3,”

X3, it took 4 days.” Sage ERP X3 handles lot tracking and
tracing, bar code scanning and labeling, quality control, and
data management throughout every step of the supply chain,
and is compliant with the government standards required by
food processors. The system also unites the processing end
of the business with accounting and distribution, enhancing
visibility into processes, reducing costs, and creating a distinct
competitive advantage.
Emerging regulations and market-based challenges will
continue to change the dynamics of our food ecosystem and
the processors who provide us with our food. But forward-

Companies also frequently demand special certifications
of suppliers as a condition of doing business with them.
Siegmund said “Costco’s regional office had their own specific
audit, including multiple inspections each time a new product
was added.”

looking companies who manage the risks and recognize
opportunity will continue to be profitable while providing us
with this important part of our lives.
Blytheco and Sage recently hosted a panel forum for food
processors in the Southern California area. Michael Siegmund

Siegmund recommends automation and data management
to keep up in this fast-paced, highly regulated manufacturing
environment. RM Foods successfully implemented Sage ERP
X3 to help them track and deliver the information they needed

was among the panelists, along with Dr. Roger Clemens,
former President of the Institute of Food Technologists. For
the presentations from this event and other resources for food
processors, please visit www.blytheco.com/trace.


27

HUMANRESOURCES

How to Address Rampant
Employee Disengagement?
Recognize Human Equity

by Trevor Wilson

A

n alarming Gallup poll published earlier this year is still
sending shockwaves throughout the business community:
Most American workers either hate their jobs or don’t care one
way or the other about them.

Less than a third of Americans are actively engaged in their

unrecognized. Recognizing and leveraging your own human

work, meaning they’re passionate about it, enthusiastic

equity, as well as that of your employees, addresses not

and energetic. They’re consistently productive, and high

only the incredible waste of human capital illustrated in the

performing.

recent poll, but also related concerns business leaders share,

Gallup estimates the 20 million who are “actively disengaged”
– openly negative and unhappy have a staggering effect on
the economy, costing the United States $450 to $550 billion
each year in lost productivity.
“To engage the 70 percent of non-committal or
‘actively disengage’ employees, business managers
need to change how they view human capital,” says
Trevor Wilson, CEO of TWI Inc., a global corporate
speaker, human equity strategist and author of “The
Human Equity Advantage,” (humanequityadvantage.
com).
“Engaging employees is an issue I’ve
been working on for more than
two decades, and there is a
solution. I call it human equity
-- the unique assets each
individual

brings

to

the

workplace that are often

28


including the constant need for innovation. These challenges
are not unique to the United States.”
There is a reason why executive royalty,
such as Warren Buffet and former
General Electric CEO Jack Welsh,
sought talent beyond traditional
criteria like knowledge and skills,
which are also important, says
Wilson. He offers a method for
uncovering valuable intangibles in
employees; he calls it the SHAPE V

Talent model:

alone. A reliable test isn’t valuable in so much as it reveals

• Strengths: Consider strength as defined by the 1999 Gallup
StrengthsFinder study, which includes “consistent near-perfect
performance in an activity.” The study identifies 34 qualities,
which can be innate and, unlike skills, are not learned.
Individual employees and managers should not force a square

differences among workers, which are most likely already
apparent. The value of these tests is in showing how and
where differences lie. Understanding differences can lead
to an appreciation for how and why coworkers perform and
improve the synergy of teams.

peg into a round hole; if an employee’s near-perfect, near-

• Experience: Who is the person you’re sitting next to at work;

effortless strength is in research and analysis, but not so much

who is she when she’s not making business-to-business calls,

in data management, managers should allocate this resource

scheduling meetings or troubleshooting technical problems?

accordingly.

How does her race, religion, economic background, family

• Heart: Have you ever wondered what comes first, whether
you’re good at something because you like it, or you like it
because you’re good at it? The chicken-or-egg question aside,
what matters is the passion one has for a talent. This includes

situation and overall lifestyle influence – or not influence – her
work life? More importantly, how might her life beyond work
offer diversity of thought in the workplace? Life experience
should not be overlooked when assessing talent.

activities a worker would do even if he or she didn’t have to

• Virtue: “Value in action, that’s virtue,” Wilson says. Candor,

do it on the job. If a talented manager won the lottery and

temperance, courage – these traits preempt problems like

decided to quit his job, for example, he might be inclined to

public scandals, harassment and discrimination and foster a

manage people in a local political campaign or take the helm

positive moral pragmatism among coworkers and practical

of his son’s little league team.

wisdom among leaders. With social media continuing to

• Attitude: There are three general attitudes an employee
might have, according to a branch of study in positive
psychology. First, there are those who approach their work as a
job, who seek only a paycheck and benefits. The second group
includes those with a career perspective who
seek advancement. The third group
views their work as a calling and
deeply connects with what
they do every day.
• Personality: In
2009, nearly $500
million was spent
on personality
testing in
North
America

expose bad behavior and employee morale revealed to be at a
stunning low, this is a significant quality in the on-going search
for the best talent.
About Trevor Wilson
Trevor Wilson is the CEO of
TWI Inc. and creator of
the human equity
management
model.
He is the global diversity, inclusion and
human equity strategist who regularly
speaks at corporate functions. TWI’s
clients include some of the most
progressive global employers
in the world, including CocaCola, Ernst & Young, BNP
Paribas and Home Depot.
TWI’s trademarked human equity
approach was instrumental in
catapulting Coca-Cola’s South Africa
division to the top performing
division worldwide.


29

CORPORATEFINANCE

Stop Wasting Time on Manual
Sales Tax Management
by Liz Anderson

U

nfortunately, sales and use tax compliance is rarely the first area a business
evaluates when looking for ways to reduce risks and costs. Typically,
the sales tax process is altered only after a bad experience with an audit.
Negative audit findings make it clear how complex accurate sales and use
tax calculation, collection, and remittance can be.
The hidden costs associated with sales tax compliance
can surprise businesses once they start evaluating their
processes. Five key areas of compliance that can wreak
havoc on your business overhead and bottom line
include:
1. Logistics
2. Personnel management
3. Reporting and analysis
4. Audits
5. Credit tracking

Let’s dive into each of these areas in more detail…

Logistics
The logistics of managing sales tax compliance
includes processing mail, maintaining copies of
invoices, receipts, forms, notices and retention of
government updates, bulletins or rate changes. This
all takes time away from revenue-generating activities.
If the person who is responsible for managing sales
tax is on vacation and a notice is received it can delay
responses to an inquiry and place your company at risk
of being selected for an audit and can expose you to
possible penalties and fees for not resolving the notice.
Or worse yet, the state can restrict your business
activities and even halt business until the notice is
resolved.
Additionally, a company must factor the hidden costs
of storing notices and the ability to easily access them.
Many companies rent a storage facility because they
do not have adequate space to store all their records at
a main location.

30


Personnel Management
Even though one person may be
dedicated to tax issues within a
company, businesses often employ
additional temporary staff to assist
with sales and use tax compliance,
even if only a few days a month.
This situation means non-tax
professionals are handling sales and
use tax compliance, and perhaps more
important: the hours add up and
present opportunity costs
of their own as staff time
is diverted from other
income-producing
activities.

Reporting and
Analysis
The time it takes
to gather sales tax
reports in order to
file returns is an
added hidden cost
within a manual
system. Activities
and items that
add to the hidden
costs include:
copies, files, staff
time and other
tasks being
left undone
in order to
handle sales tax
demands. In addition

to this, each filing needs to be consistent with prior filings
and with industry standards or you open yourself to
greater audit exposure.
Consider this. If an auditor came knocking today, could
you produce the sales tax data quickly and would you
be able to show a clear audit trail? Additionally, how
much dedicated staff member time would be required to
provide accurate sales tax returns to the auditor? How
much time would be taken away from spending time
on other revenue-generating activities?

Audits
Most financial applications or Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) systems do not
capture full audit details that are critical
when faced with an audit. If an auditor
finds something missing in your data,
then that is justification to dig deeper
and evaluate other information.
Manual sales tax management opens
the door to inaccuracies in customer
tax rules and rates along with
incomplete audit records.
Showing you are able to produce a
consistent process with confidence
and regularity helps to create a better
relationship with the auditor, even if
the process is not correct—consistency
goes a long way. Consistency is difficult
to manage in a manual sales tax
process.

of good customer relationship if it happens too often.
Additionally, if your company has filed a sales tax return
and remitted the sales tax you just credited back to the
customer, you will need to recoup that cost by requesting
that the state reimburse the overpaid tax.
If you want to alleviate the hidden costs of your
manual sales tax management process, you can easily
automate and outsource this task. Outsourced sales tax
management solutions, like Avalara, can provide sales tax
calculation and research, exemption certification collection
and management, sales tax return services, and reporting.

Avalara End-to-End Sales Tax Compliance
Saving You Time and Money!
Avalara AvaTax is a suite of products that can seamlessly
integrate with your ERP and replaces the need for manual
look-up tables, the requirement to stay on top of sales
tax rules and regulations, substantially cuts down time
to file and close the month, and gives you a system for
exemption (reseller) certificate management. Automating
your sales tax management with Avalara helps you avoid
hidden costs of a manual sales tax compliance approach
and saves you time and money.
Over 10,000 businesses have outsourced and automated
their sales tax management with Avalara. With all of the
changes going on at a state and federal level, it no longer
makes sense to manage this process manually. Download
a free white paper to learn more about the hidden costs of
manual sales tax compliance:

www.avalara.com/blytheco_hiddencosts

Credit Tracking
Some known costs
are credit memos or
charge-backs to a
customer who has
been improperly
charged sales
tax when they
are sales taxexempt. Having
to return the sales
tax through a
credit memo or
cutting a check
and mailing it to
the customer,
increases
staff time
and resource
expense. The
damage and
hidden cost in that
transaction is a loss


31

CORPORATEFINANCE

Breaking Down the
Numbers

by Dan D’Ambrosio

Finding the Right Middle Ground
When it comes to budgeting tools, CSG Assistant Controller
Frances Farella has used a lot of them, from a low-tech
spreadsheet-based system to high-end software like
Hyperion. When the company that she worked for was
acquired by CSG, she realized neither was ideal. When she
moved to the combined organization, Farella used Excel to
build the budget. After the first year of using Excel as their
primary budgeting tool, she realized it was going to be the
last. They couldn’t go through another year of Excel. It was
painful. CSG uses many allocations in its budgeting and
finance, to reflect the different branches and shared services
of the company. Excel just couldn’t handle the allocations
upon which their budget is built. Whenever she had to adjust
an allocation, it took forever to make a change and flow
things through properly.
Farella went shopping for a solution in between spreadsheets
and big-company applications. She wasn’t looking for another
6-figure package. After doing her due diligence, she decided
Budget Maestro was what they needed.

Faster, Easier, Better Budgeting & Reporting
Budgeting and reporting have become a breeze for Farella,
who uses Sage 100 as her General Ledger system. Using the
Import feature, Farella easily and quickly imports the numbers
into Budget Maestro so she can run an analysis of actuals to plan.
Now, when she makes changes to the budget, to the
organization or to the allocations, everything flows through
thanks to Budget Maestro’s built-in financial logic. CSG’s
department managers are responsible for their own operations
and budgets.

32


The Finance team developed custom reports in Budget
Maestro for 20 different departments, to help managers
track actual vs. budget results. The reports are built on the
templates that come with Budget Maestro which allows their
Finance staff to drill down into their numbers if needed. It
took someone a week to build and prepare those reports in
Excel. Now, at the end of the month, the whole process to
import actuals and run reports takes two hours at most.
They’ve also recently implemented Link Maestro for Sage
100 and it has even further reduced the time for importing of
actuals. The improved reporting capability makes the monthly
closing of the books easier too. They’re able to generate
actual vs. budget results within hours after they close, and
drill drown to analyze significant variance fluctuations.
During budgeting season, from September to December,
their Finance staff uses Budget Maestro almost every day. It’s
definitely helped them in facilitating the budgeting process.
In short, Budget Maestro has been good for them.
Consolidated Services Group, Inc. (“CSG”) has more than 25
years experience in the Medical Claims Management industry,
and provides Managed Care, Utilization Review, as well as a
proprietary PPO to auto liability, workers’ compensation and
group health insurers.
View Budget Maestro for Sage in action:
http://go.centage.com/blythecoquicktour

UPCOMINGEVENTS

We’re hitting the road
for the SugarCRM
World Tour to unveil the
new Sugar Version 7
platform and show you
the future of CRM. And
the good news is, we’ll
be making a stop in
Denver!

Tuesday, October 22, 8am - 10:30am
Maggiano’s, 500 16th St. Pavilions Mall, Denver, CO

RSVP @ http://bit.ly/15VsXmS

iSales 100 for Sage 100 ERP: Extending the Reach
of Your Sales and Service

Taking Sage 500 to Sage X3: Comparing the
Solutions and Finding the Best Fit for You

This webinar will feature xkzero’s iSales100 for Sage 100 ERP. iSales 100
is a native iOS mobile solution built for ultimate flexibility and ease of
deployment. iSales 100 is 100% managed from within Sage 100 ERP and
designed to ensure adaptation and a smooth user experience.

It was previously announced that Sage 500 (formerly MAS 500) will soon
be “sunset-ed” – in other words, updates and support will no longer be
available. The next step for many Sage 500 customers is migrating to Sage
ERP X3, the enterprise level ERP solution. Know your options - join us to see
a direct comparison between the products, and the pros and cons of moving
to X3.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013 | 2pm ET / 11am PT
http://bit.ly/1fimpSr

Analytics for Distributors

Thursday, October 24, 2013 | 2pm ET / 11am PT
http://bit.ly/160gLMl

Analytics provides capabilities that go beyond Crystal, MS Access and Excelbased reporting.
If you are a distribution company struggling to get the right information out
of your Sage ERP, or if you have a need for more sophisticated capabilities,
make sure to attend this session.

Control Purchase Requests and Expense Reports
from One Place
Tuesday, October 29, 2013 | 2pm ET / 11am PT
http://bit.ly/1fiTQEg

Join Paramount and Blytheco for a demonstration of web-based and
mobile spend management solutions for Sage ERP. Learn how Paramount
WorkPlace automates Requisitions, Purchasing, Invoice Approvals or Expense
Reports with quick entry capabilities, easy to use approvals and direct
integration into Accounts Payable.

Traceability in Food Processing –
Is Your Business At Risk

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 | 1pm ET / 10am PT
http://bit.ly/1fimpSr

Join our panel of experts to hear about the risks, challenges and
opportunities for food processing companies when it comes to traceability
across the supply chain. Regulatory and market changes are creating new
challenges for food processors – our panel of experts will offer their take on
the most pressing issues and how to solve them.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013 | 1pm ET / 10am PT
http://bit.ly/1baXZFy

The Top 10 Checklist for Modern ERP: ERP Made Sexy
Tuesday, January 14, 2014 | 1pm ET / 10am PT
http://bit.ly/19zdTwb

Who says ERP can’t be glamorous, even sexy? Sage ERP X3 and Netsuite
transform your business process with a streamlined user interface, integrated
workflows, and robust features, all backed up by reliable technology with your
choice of deployment platform. Particularly suited for manufacturing and
service businesses, modern ERP is the secret sauce behind growing, forwardlooking companies.

Taking Sage 100 to Sage X3: Comparing the
Solutions and Finding the Best Fit for You
Tuesday, February 11, 2014 | 1pm ET / 10am PT
http://bit.ly/GL3Nfc

Many Sage 100 (formerly MAS 90) customers are seeking a solution for the
next phase of their business lifecycle. Sage ERP X3 transforms your business
process with a streamlined user interface, integrated workflows, and robust
features, all backed up by reliable technology with your choice of deployment
platform.

Netsuite and Sage ERP X3: Solution Shootout
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 | 1pm ET / 10am PT
http://bit.ly/1bGUB9D

When researching the right ERP solution for your business, we know it can
be challenging to get information that compares the solutions head to head.
Join us to see how NetSuite and Sage ERP X3 match up in a variety of areas
including technology, user interface, functionality, and more.


33

INDUSTRYNEWS

Business Intelligence is all about
saving time
by Leslie Hull

N

ot long ago, I was on the phone with a customer, trying to close a substantial deal. He wanted a customized
part for his fleet, and he wanted it delivered within a specific time range and within his budget. My ERP system
told me I couldn’t do it, but I thought I could. But without data, it was so hard to know for sure.
The stakes were high. I could close the deal right there on the phone,
and agree to his time frame and budget. I figured that if everything
went well, I could shuffle around work in the pipeline, and everyone
would be happy. But if I missed something, everyone would be
annoyed: this customer, other customers, my coworkers, my suppliers,
and my boss.
I knew I needed a business intelligence system, and not just any
system. For some uses, static reports were fine. But my system had
to be flexible, too. I wanted to interrogate the data at all possible
angles.
It also had to be super easy to use. I have a lot going on all the time.
I’m so impatient with new tools that I seem technophobic — and so
are many of my coworkers. I’ve tried a few BI tools in the past that
looked great in demos, but I gave up quickly because, well, I just
don’t have time to learn them.
It’s got to be mobile. We don’t have time to run back to the office for
new reports. We need easy and fast access to information anytime,
anywhere, whether it’s in the office or at a client’s office or at a lunch
meeting.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that BI is all about
saving time. There are at least three ways:
Number One: The system has to yield a net time saving. It has to
speed decision making without taking much time to learn. I don’t
have time and my managers don’t have time to learn how to use it,
and my IT folks don’t have time to help us.
I don’t even want to see IT in my office or anyone else’s. I want to do
almost all reports on my own, without help. Same for my coworkers,
customers, and suppliers. I can’t afford for anyone to get stuck setting
up or fixing a report.
The system also has to practically fall out of the box with simple,
ready-to-go reports and dashboards that we can use as starting
points.
Later, I want to learn data discovery, since that’s where you find the
sharpest competitive edge. I want my managers to learn, too. We’re
growing fast, and we need data to navigate through the territory
ahead.

Number Two: It should also be available anytime and anywhere.
Access on my tablet or smartphone saves huge amounts of time. Not
only that, it would allow me to share dashboards and insights with a
click.
Number Three: The IT people have to be comfortable and familiar
with it. I know I’ll need their help at times, such as when unusual needs
arise. I want IT to know right away what to do, and they shouldn’t have
to wrestle with anything.
It also has to integrate with my ERP and CRM systems.
Build it ourselves? Forget it. No one on my staff has time for the
endless work of building a package like this to life. Sure, it sounds
easy, but it’s not. And why invest such money and energy into
reinventing the wheel if there are good people who’ve spent years
doing it and who will let you subscribe to their sleek, fast, and smart
solution at a good price?
I looked into the well-known solutions supposedly built for the entry
level. Crystal Reports, Microsoft Access, Excel all have steep learning
curves and big limitations. There are also the newer tools, like
QlikView, Spotfire and Tableau. Agencies like Forrester and Gartner
have given them high ratings.
But even the best ones would take time — connecting to my ERP and
CRM, and setting up a system that transforms data into user-friendly
formats such as a data warehouse. That’s a big pipeline I would have
to build myself.
I looked at everything. I decided on one system that offers me
Tableau’s data discovery and beauty but also a set of ready-to-go
reports, ETL, and a data warehouse.
It’s DataSelf BI. It has been around for more than 10 years, it meets
all my requirements, and it’s built on a rock-solid BI backend. Most
important, it can be deployed in hours to days. Most crucial, I can
afford it easily.
Deciding on DataSelf was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I only wish I had DataSelf back when I took the client’s order. We did
fine, but with DataSelf, I could have decided quickly and with more
confidence and moved on to other deals the same day.

Leslie Hull is VP of Sales and Marketing at ATRO Engineered Systems, Inc. ATRO is family-owned and operated in Sullivan, Missouri. It is the
recognized leader in polyurethane suspension parts for heavy-duty trucks, trailers, buses and military vehicles and equipment.

34


INDUSTRYNEWS

Are You Using Your Time in the
Warehouse Wisely?
by Tess Boros

T

ime is a valuable commodity in today’s fast-paced, instant gratification culture. As customer
demand increases, businesses are scrambling to make products more quickly and ship
them out faster than ever before. While the increase in demand is a good problem to have,
businesses are struggling to keep up in this fast paced environment. With so many tasks to get
done (and so little time in which to do them), manufacturers and distributors are at a loss. How
can they use their time wisely to complete the tasks at hand on a day-to-day basis?
That is the question of the hour.
According to a recent survey, manufacturing and distribution
companies waste an average of 3,000 hours per year on inefficient
workflow and processes. That converts into an average of 15 minutes
per day (per worker) lost due to less than optimal warehouse
processes. How can manufacturers recover these lost hours?
Here at Scanco, we believe that the answer to this question lies
in warehouse automation. An automated warehouse is a timesaving warehouse. By replacing manual processes with automated
processes, you can save valuable time and produce products faster,
which – in turn – will keep your customers satisfied. Over the years,
we’ve dedicated our work to helping manufacturers and distributors
save time in the manufacturing (and distribution) process. We’ve
observed the biggest challenges in time management and have
developed a few key pointers to help companies like you stay ahead
of the ticking clock.
Time Beating Strategy #1: Automate Data Entry
Are you still entering data into your company’s database manually?
If so, have you thought about the costs you are incurring by doing
so? While you may think entering data into the system manually is
saving you money, in all actuality, it is having the opposite effect. In
addition to becoming tedious, manual data entry can result in major
inaccuracies that can be detrimental to your business. If an inaccurate
entry goes by unnoticed, it could affect the following transactions and
result in a big data mess. A mess that requires a lot of time and effort
to clean up.
Simply implementing an automated data entry system (such as a
barcoding system) will save you a huge amount of time, which will
eventually translate into substantial cash-savings. Don’t waste time
attempting to solve the latest data entry inaccuracy. Implement an
automated data entry system and focus your efforts on improving
other aspects of your warehouse.
Time Beating Strategy #2: Reorganize Your Warehouse
This may seem like an unnecessary step, but an organized warehouse
is a more effective warehouse. If your workers cannot find what they
need in a timely manner, then the organization of your warehouse
floor needs some work. While a certain setup may have worked a few
years ago, it could be a stumbling block to the production process

today. Make sure you revisit your warehouse at least once a year to
ensure that it is organized effectively.
Focus on the main, most-trafficked areas first and include your
employees in the process. They are, after all, the ones who will benefit
from the reorganization. Ask your workers what they use most often,
least often, and not at all, and make sure that they have instant access
to the most important items. By organizing your warehouse based on
what your employees actually need access to (rather than what makes
sense to you), you are setting them up for success, particularly in the
area of time management.
Time Beating Strategy #3: Take Control of Inventory with
Scanco’s Warehouse Physical Count App
Over the years, Scanco has seen firsthand how much time is wasted in
the inventory counting process. That’s why we’ve created the Scanco
Counts app for iOS and Android devices. Scanco Counts is the first
inventory counting application of its kind for Sage 100 ERP specifically
designed to work with iOS and Android
devices. Equipped with barcode
scanning and quick count
review function, the inventory
counting application allows
users to scan, key, or look
up entries and seamlessly
integrates with the company’s
Sage 100 ERP system (formerly
Sage MAS 90 / MAS 200).
Speed up a daunting task you
already do on a regular basis
with a device you already own!
With Scanco Counts, you will realize
a greater ROI and automate the
most mundane inventory control
processes. Learn how you
can start saving time
in the warehouse
today by visiting
our blog at www.scanco.com/blog.


35

INDUSTRYNEWS

Mobilizing ERP for the Ultimate
Customer Experience
by Paul Ziliak

Mobilizing your workforce can be a catalyst for growth in your company, but
many companies don’t benefit because the focus of their initiative is wrong.

H

ow do they get it wrong? They focus on the impact on them rather than on the impact on the
customer. They calculate the cost of the devices, the cost of the apps, the time it would take for
employees to adapt to new processes – and whether they’ll actually use it. The problem with starting
with this approach is that the focus is all on them. Their convenience, their experience, their investment.
This approach usually results in one of two outcomes. One – a
company makes an honest effort to roll out a mobile strategy, but
users fail to adapt – and the project is declared a failure. Or Two – no
effort is made because the company believes that if they did make
an investment, that outcome Number One would be the likely result.
If a mobilized workforce is going to help drive the growth of a
business–the focus has to be on the customer. Creating processes
built around improving the customers’ experiences–from initial
meeting to ongoing customer engagements–should be at the core of
every mobile implementation decision. Making this a company-wide
initiative with input and buy-in from ownership, management, sales,
operations, and accounting–the entire business–will help ingrain
mobilization into corporate culture, and that is vital.
If your mobilized workforce is going to help drive the growth of your
business - focus on the customer.
Here are some things to consider while developing your
own company-wide, customer-focused mobile strategy:

Make it Personal: Basic Contact Data
A great thing to start building a strategy around is contact
information. To provide your staff with all your customers’
basic contact information (via a mobile ERP app or otherwise)
can help improve your customer’s experience because you
have enabled easier communication with them for your
entire team.

36


Consider the impact on personal service. If your mobile strategy
includes automatic downloading of ERP or CRM contact data, the
benefits to you–and your customer (remember the objective)– can
be dramatic:
• Quick response: Your entire team has all their clients’ contact
data in their pockets, accessible in an instant.
• On time: Obtain a map to any customer location–no longer
getting lost en route.
• Issue resolution: When a customer issue arises–after hours, on a
weekend, when you are on vacation–you’ll have all their contact
information with you.
• Save time and money: You wouldn’t have to manage address
books manually.

Make it Accurate: Ever-Armed with Intelligence
Access to open orders, inventory status, and other business intelligence
should also be key when building your strategy. Arming staff with
accurate information empowers them with the ability to immediately
answer customer inquiries at any time, in any place.
Consider this scenario: Your customer needs the status of an order, but
you are away from the office, and are not in a position to log into your
ERP system. What might a typical response to the customer be? Would
it sound like any of these?
“I’ll check into it and call you back”
“I’m sitting at the airport. I will have to call you tomorrow”
“Let me see if I can reach so-and-so at the office”
“I think we have the red model in stock. But I’m not positive. Would a
blue model suffice? I know we have blue…”
How much better would the customer experience would be if you could
answer those kinds of inquiries immediately. It’s more convenient for
you and immediately beneficial for them–which helps pave the path for
having very satisfied customers.

Make it Count: The Time to Close the Deal is Now
Another consideration is to the ability to perform mobile ERP
modifications and transactions, which can save your customer time and
accelerate the delivery of the product (and payment–everyone wins):
Say your customer or prospect has just agreed on your product and price
and is ready to move ahead with the sale. Your current process may
include telling the customer that you will send them an order / invoice, or
that your office will contact them to complete the details, or may include
filling out a form while on site that needs to be brought back to the office
for entry.

Each one of these processes requires your customer to wait. This delay
lengthens the time to delivery, which is less customer-focused than a
mobile process could provide. The delay also provides a window for the
customer to change their mind and cancel the order, and can affect the
flow of payment into your business.
Some questions you should be asking your team about transacting
business on mobile apps:
• Where might we find remote selling opportunities? Tradeshows,
special events, or anywhere? Do we have outside sales reps who are
customer facing?
• What does a mobile app need to provide to complete a sale remotely,
such as customer and item pricing, availability of inventory, payment
processing, the ability to add new customers, etc?
• Are ‘advanced’ convenience capabilities like signature capture, bar
code scanning, and emailed/printed receipts at the time of sale
important?
There are other considerations as well, but these types of questions
will help you shape your sales related mobile strategy around quick,
convenient processes.

Make it Empowering: Give Your Customer Access
The ultimate customer service, as it relates to sales process, might be
self-service. What if a customer could use their smart phone or tablet
to instantly access their orders, check inventory status – or even place
an order whenever they wanted? A B2B mobile sales app might be the
ultimate in providing time savings and convenience for your customer,
or it might be a dream for any distributor–but remember, it’s all about
the customer.


37

INDUSTRYNEWS
HUMANRESOURCES

What’s Coming in

2014?

W

e’re not Carnac the Magnificent, but toward
the end of the year we love to get our 8-ball
and make a few predictions about what’s ahead
for technology in the next twelve months.
Here’s what we see on the horizon for 2014:
Cloud - The Cloud is not new, but it will
continue to make a lot of sense for data
storage, apps, and the enterprise. Analyst
firm IDC predicts that spending on private
and public cloud tech will create 14 million
jobs worldwide and bring in $1.1 trillion in
revenues by 2015. The time and budget
savings presented by the cloud is freeing
up companies to compete and innovate in
this dynamic global economy.
Smarter Machines - Voice-activation
and self-driving cars are already making
news. Robotics and artificial intelligence
will continue to help us bridge the gap
between human brain and machine and
learn more about ourselves in the process.
Mobility - In the last two years, the number
of people accessing the internet via a
mobile device grew by 60.3%, to 818.4
million users. It’s time to put in place that
“BYOD” (Bring Your Own Device) policy
and process you have been putting off,
and start integrating personal devices into
your business technology strategy.
38


by Alicia Anderson

Unplugging - (ironically?) is the latest
rage, particularly during the vacationcentric summer months. Taking a “Tech
Sabbatical” or going cold turkey from your
smartphone is a luxury most of us can’t
afford, but if you get the chance, a brief
break from the digital world can refresh
your mind and spirit!
Ads are everywhere - Social platforms
are under pressure to drive revenues, and
they do that by selling ads. So expect to
see more varied methods of serving up
ads on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest – really
everywhere.
Privacy is dead - Data mining is being
used for every purpose from sales and
marketing to crime-fighting.
There is no reward without
some risk. Assume that
anything you post or
send anywhere can be
seen by anyone.

Requisition - Purchasing - Invoice Automation - Inventory - Travel Request - Expense - Time - Project

Control Spending
from One Place.
Requistion

Purchasing

Invoice
Approval

Expense

Mobile app for expense entry
Easily manage capital projects
Robust approval routing rules
Enforce corporate travel policies
Spend management solutions for Sage ERP
Automate the entire procure-to-ERP process
Requisition - Purchasing - Invoice Automation - Inventory - Travel Request - Expense - Time - Project

800.725.4408
www.paramounttechnologies.com

CLICK HERE
for the
Blytheco Webinar
10/29/2013
2 PM EST

PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE

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Post Falls, ID
PERMIT NO. 32

5564 Hilliard Rome Office Park
Hilliard, OH 43026
800.425.9843

Bellwether Magazine from Blytheco - Time Management Issue - Q4 2013

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