Star Wars is basically an ad for ERP systems

We’ve all seen the commercial where the entire concept is “Don’t do X or you’re totally doomed. Do Y instead.” Like, some guy picks up a can of generic beer and he’s lonely and depressed, but then he grabs a Bud Light and he’s surrounded by beautiful women and fancy cars. That kind of commercial.

Well, it turns out that the Star Wars saga is basically a cautionary tale for what happens if you don’t use Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Here’s why…

1.  It’s an ERP!

Every time any jedi in Star Wars wants to get anything done, they have to hop in a starfighter and zip from planet to planet. You would think with an entire galaxy to protect, they might create some sort of proprietary ERP system to save the jedis some precious time and fuel.

Example: Obi-Wan needs to jet off to planet Kamino to check up on some poisonous dart and then finds that the Republic invested tons of money in clones. RED FLAG!

With an ERP system, all resources in your business are live. If $50,000 is spent by your clone recruitment department, you’re going to be able to pull that information on the fly and save yourself a trip across the galaxy – not to mention saving those funds for lightsaber components and blue milk.

Tracking live resources is one of the most important parts of any fast-moving business, and so is communication.

When you utilize an ERP system optimized for your operations and priorities, your departments have a vehicle for interdepartmental coordination, communication and efficiency. The reduced payroll hours and added transparency ERP delivers creates an immediate reporting channel and enhances efficiency throughout your business.

This can mean big savings and profits. Businesses using an ERP saw an average increase in profitability of 10% over two years in a recent Aberdeen study. Additionally, 96% of the top-performing companies experiencing growth rely on ERP solutions.

2. Use the ERP, Luke…

Arguably, the greatest tragedy in the Star Wars saga is that the friendship and guidance of Obi-Wan is not enough to save Anakin from joining the dark side of the Force. Obi-Wan, clouded by his good intentions, is unable to see the dangerous path his friend has followed. This, of course, leads to the death of Padme, the birth of Vader, and years of chaos and destruction for our favorite galaxy far, far away.

If you are fortunate in your business, you are probably so busy that you don’t have time to crunch numbers and run manual reports, or to update forecasts based on these predictions. The good news is that unlike Obi-Wan, you can make good use of an ERP system to keep your forecasts regular and current.

ERP systems gather live data for your reporting requirements, and it can predict future patterns based on this data. From anticipating office expenses to scaling workforce resources to predicting network traffic patterns, capturing and analyzing this information in real time according to your operational KPIs is priceless when planning for your business growth.

3. The ERP is strong with this one…

When you utilize ERP systems, you also benefit from scalability. Both the Empire and the Republic suffered from gross inefficiencies.

The Republic had a bunch of clones sitting on a planet working out and training, not knowing how many they would need. They then needed to rush production on hundreds of thousands more to fight the Empire’s drone forces.

With a proper ERP system, the Republic could have used forecasting to know how many soldiers they would need for each battle, and then they could have scaled quickly and efficiently to deliver the right amount and type of soldiers. Why send 20,000 to each planet when 200 would do?

Just shoot us a message or give us a call, and we can chat about how to support and optimize your business operations with the right ERP capabilities.

May the Force be with you…

Office 365 migration made easy

Go into any mechanic’s garage and you’re going to find a common set of tools. There will always be a socket wrench, for example. No one who works on cars can function without one. It’s essential.

Office productivity tools are no different. You can’t do business without email and some form of a word processor. For an overwhelming number of folks – more than 1.2 billion users – the go-to productivity suite is Microsoft Office.

Cloud-Based Applications Are on the Rise

Most likely, you already have experience using Microsoft’s suite. Programs like Word, Excel and PowerPoint are common fixtures in businesses both great and small. However, there’s a significant shift in how these applications are being implemented and utilized.

An increasing number of businesses are putting heavy emphasis on cloud technology. In fact, recent analysis indicates that 90% of organizations use the cloud in some way, with 50% using cloud services as their preferred solution.

Simply put, the cloud is changing how business is done at a fundamental level, and Office 365 is a major player in the move to cloud-based services. While there are other cloud tools out there – most notably, Google’s G Suite – Office 365 is currently the most used collaborative platform on the market.

Why Office 365?

It’s hardly surprising to learn Microsoft’s offering takes the top spot. The advantages of Office 365 are considerable.

First, there’s the convenience. With Office 365, you can work and collaborate with team members from any connected device – even your phone or tablet. For business leaders on the go, that alone is invaluable.

Second, documents, spreadsheets and email messages housed under the umbrella of Office 365 are backed up in the cloud. Users can access everything from their desktop computers, just like older versions of Microsoft Office, but redundancy is also baked in. If you’ve ever dealt with any kind of data loss, you know how important backups are.

Finally, the cost savings can be compelling. Many organizations are able to justify migrating to Office 365 based purely on the numbers. This is due in part to the scalability of the platform. Microsoft offers multiple subscription options for Office 365. You just have to pick the plan that works best for your organization, and isolate the products and services you need.

Additionally, adding new users to your subscription is a breeze. For companies in growth mode, Office 365 provides an easy, cost-effective way to make sure new employees have the tools they need from day one.

Migrating to Office 365

Perhaps the biggest hurdle to adopting a new software solution is the anticipated pain of making a change. Some organizations have a history of hiccups, even when just moving from one version of a program to a newer version of the same program. Moving to an entirely new solution is understandably off-putting.

Speaking frankly, who cares about improvements in efficiency in the long-term if an update puts you out of commission for weeks right now? The migration from your current solution to Office 365 has to be smooth to be worth it.

The good news is a hassle-free Office 365 migration is entirely possible. Whether you’re only migrating your email to Microsoft Exchange or planning to incorporate the full Office Suite, getting your organization online and up to full functionality doesn’t have to bring daily business to a grinding halt.

The key is working with an experienced, knowledgeable partner who can guide you through the process.

Migration Done Right

At CCS Technology, our guiding philosophy is simple. Every part of the technology experience should be convenient and efficient, including upgrades and migration.

Our goal is to take the headaches out of IT services by delivering fast, effective solutions. We’ve completed full migrations to Office 365 in as few as seven days. And when migration is done, we’ll still be here, ready and able to provide ongoing support.

You can’t achieve success without the right tools in your toolbox. Think of us as your tool provider. When it’s time to move your organization to the cloud and take advantage of everything Office 365 has to offer, we’ll be happy to guide you through the process.

Get in touch with us today to let us know how we can help.

Do you know the value of your CRM?

In 1989, a small-time collector was perusing art at a flea market. He ended up buying an uninspired pastoral painting, purely for the frame.

When he got it home, he removed the painting. He had no intention of keeping it. To his dismay, he discovered the frame was cheaply made and not salvageable.

But he found something else inside. Folded behind the painting was a copy of the Declaration of Independence. He could tell it was old, but he didn’t think it valuable. Then a friend urged him to research it.

As it turned out, the hidden copy was one of only 24 first prints of the historic document. In June of 2000, it sold at Sotheby’s for $8.1 million.

Hidden Value

If you do a quick Google search, you’ll find a slew of similar stories.

The original Velvet Underground demo someone bought for 75¢. The 11th-century Chinese pottery bought for three bucks and later sold for $2.2 million. The Warhol sketch purchased for $5 that turned out to be worth an estimated $2 million.

Sometimes there’s immeasurable value right under our noses, but we don’t see it. For many small business leaders, that’s true of their CRM solution. If you think of your CRM as little more than an elaborate database, you could be one of them.

How Your CRM Can Be A Game-Changer

A CRM (short for “customer relationship management”) solution is a powerful, robust tool—if you know how to use it. Unfortunately, we’ve worked with plenty of SMB owners who are barely scratching the surface.

Below is a quick list of some of the powerful things your CRM can do that you might not know about.

Streamline the sales process.

The goal in sales is to convert leads to prospects and prospects to customers. A CRM helps with that process by providing a clear picture of where each contact is in the process. By reviewing previous sales attempts, you can determine what strategies work best, equipping your sales team for better closing rates in the future.

Close the right deals.

One of the challenges of sales is qualifying potential customers. The faster you can determine who is and who is not a likely to buy, the less time you have to waste pursuing dead ends. A CRM gives you a framework for making that call faster, ensuring that you close the right deals—for you and for your clients.

Know your market.

You can also use the data in your CRM to tease out trends and movements in your market. If customers are migrating from one kind of product or service to another, you’ll see it in the reports. If your business is seasonal, that’ll become clear, too.

Meet customers’ needs.

Cross-selling and upselling get a bad rap. Neither is inherently bad. It’s all about knowing what actually helps your customer base. The better your customer records, the more easily you can identify the products and add-ons that will help the most.

Manage customer communication.

When all communication is housed in one place, it’s much easier for your employees to deliver top-tier customer service. This is especially true in the moment, like when they have a customer on the phone. A CRM makes that extra insight possible across your team.

Personalize communication.

Automatic messaging can include order status updates, shipping notifications, and simple thank you messages. A CRM gives you the ability to automate each of these with some nice personal touches. That way your customers know what’s going on at all times.

Incorporate social media.

The most current CRM tools also incorporate options for social media contact. Given the marketing potential of social media, this is a must-have for small business owners. And a CRM makes utilizing social media—for everything from announcements to events to contests to customer stories—so much easier.

Let CCS Technology Guide You to the Perfect CRM

With all the CRM solutions out there, how do you find the one that’s best for your business? And once you’ve found it, how do you transition your current process over to the new CRM?

The easiest way also happens to be the smartest way—get some help from the experts.

The pros at CCS can take you through the whole process, ensuring you end up with the best possible CRM solution for your business needs. If you’re ready to unleash the power of a CRM, give us a call. We’re ready to help.

The 3 things you should be getting from your CRM

Few business tools have the potential to drive sales like a well-configured Customer Relationship Management application. You probably call it a CRM, as does practically everyone. In fact, it looks odd to see the words actually spelled out. But we’ve included the full name here for a very specific reason.

It’s easy to forget the functionality CRM solutions are meant to provide. For salespeople, the CRM is where prospects, leads and closed deals live. For customer service, it’s where you can find a customer’s information and history. For management, it’s a rich source of data brimming over with all kinds of reporting potential.

In reality, a CRM is all those things and more.

In this whitepaper, we’ll explore the three biggest benefits of using a CRM. If your current CRM isn’t delivering these three things, it’s time to reconfigure or replace. And if you’re not using a CRM, it’s time to incorporate this valuable tool.

Improved Productivity

CRMs give companies a single, centralized location for the data marketing, sales and service teams rely on day in, day out. When all that data is housed in one place, your employees don’t have to waste time hunting down customer information, unsure of who knows what.

crm solution

Just check the CRM. Everything’s there.

That makes it easier to market, easier to close, and easier to provide top-of-the-line customer service. Improve your organization’s efficiency, and you’ll feel it in the bottom line.

If you want an even bigger productivity boost, add mobile access to your CRM solution. According to Nucleus Research, CRMs with mobile access and social networking capability increase productivity by another 26.4%.

Higher Close Ratios

It’s an age-old adage. Sales is a numbers game.

For example, you might have to work through 10 leads to get to one sale. But what if you could close one deal for every seven leads? Or every five? The difference starts to add up. Quickly.

According to The Sales Management Association, a formalized sales process, like the kind baked into a CRM, can increase profits by as much as 30%. Individual salespeople will perform better as lead conversion rates skyrocket.

It’s all due to a powerful snowball effect. CRMs boost efficiency through organization, automation, and process management. As a result, it’s possible for salespeople to do more in less time.

Better Client Relationships

The CRM advantage doesn’t stop with sales. Not only will more customers decide to buy, but more customers will stick, as well.

Research shows that CRMs improve customer retention rates by as much as 27%. Additionally, CRMs have been shown to increase customer satisfaction by a high margin, as well.  The same productivity perks that lead a customer to buy make it easier to keep current customers and ensure they remain happy.

Ironically, it’s not even really the CRM solution that creates this effect.

Rather, a CRM simply facilitates the kind of organization necessary for your employees to focus their time and energy on prospects and customers. What’s remarkable is the fact that every person involved – the customer, the sales rep, the service rep and even management – benefits from this one powerhouse tool.

Get On It

What about your company?

Does your current CRM make good on its potential? Or, if the idea of using a CRM solution is new to you, are you convinced of the benefits, both for customer satisfaction and profitability?

If you’re ready for a new CRM experience, the CCS Technology team can help. Not every CRM is a good fit for every company. It’s important that you deploy the right solution for your organization.

That’s why we take a consultative approach. We don’t make blind recommendations. We’d much rather get to know you first so we can pair you up with the solutions that will do the most to drive your business forward.

Said another way, when our customers win, we win.

If you need a new CRM solution, we can help you find it. Contact us today to find out more about how we can set you up for success.

 

Office 365: An overview

Microsoft changed the game dramatically a few of years back. The introduction of its cloud-hosted productivity suite was big. Office 365 is a subscription-based service designed to replace the older license-based business model.

With an Office 365 subscription, companies buy time-limited access to a host of Microsoft’s tools. The service comes with the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more. Also included are premium mobile applications and online, browser-based versions.

In tech terms, Office 365 is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) package. SaaS is fast becoming the most popular way to deploy enterprise software. However, the shift does prompt a key question.

Is the new model better than older, licensed versions of Microsoft Office?

Office 365 Advantages

The older, licensed-based model was simple. You bought copies of Microsoft Office and that was it. You had a productivity suite . . . and nothing more.

But with Office 365, you gain an array of perks and benefits not available within older versions.

Get the Services You Need

One of the main advantages for small and medium-sized business is the potential for cost savings. With Office 365 you’ll enjoy a predictable monthly cost. The budget-friendly nature of a fixed expense is particularly nice for SMBs.

Microsoft offers a variety of plans for businesses. Options include packages based on users count and included applications. Many small business leaders find this model appealing because they can pick and choose what they want. For example, what if you need Microsoft’s applications, but you don’t need an exchange email server? With Office 365, there’s a package for that.

Microsoft’s basic plan for businesses includes all the core components of its suite – Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and Publisher. It also includes cloud-based storage and costs less than $10 per month per user. You also have the option to add several of Microsoft’s web services. This plan includes Exchange, SharePoint, Skype and more. Alternately, you can choose a plan that only includes the web services without the applications.

You select the components you need.

Always Updated

Microsoft rolls out updates and upgrades for the Office suite on a regular basis. Office 365 means you’ll always have access to the latest new features and tools. Gone are the days when you’d have to buy a whole new copy to avoid being stuck with an antiquated version.

Remote Access

Remote access is another huge benefit. You can access your documents and files via any mobile device. That gives your staff the ability to be more flexible and more productive.

Cloud Storage

Office 365 subscribers also get access to OneDrive for cloud-based storage. Currently, every Office 365 plan comes with 1 TB of storage per user.

A Solid Solution

There’s a lot to like about Office 365, and very few downsides. It’s a product that provides tremendous bang for the buck. We strongly recommend it for SMBs.

If Office 365 sounds like it would be a good fit for your business, CCS Technology is here to help. We can guide you to the right package for your organization. What’s more, we can also assist with the migration to Office 365, making sure the move is painless.

Give us a call today.

Why you need help with your IT project (even if you think you don’t)

There’s one nutrient that’s responsible for more than 300 of your body’s enzyme reactions. It lowers calcification in the arteries, reduces muscle cramps, lowers the risk of high blood pressure, boosts energy, acts a natural antidepressant, and even helps you get better sleep.

Do you know what it is?

Probably not. Most people don’t. Or at least, it seems most people don’t.

It’s magnesium. As many as 80% of Americans don’t get enough of it, despite the overwhelming benefits.

What you don’t know can hold you back.

Okay, so you’re ready to Google magnesium right about now to find out if you should be taking supplements. Given that we don’t hand out medical advice (and those stats are NOT medical advice!), that’s probably not a bad idea.

But not yet. There are other areas where a lack of knowledge can come back to bite you, including one area we know well.

Regardless of the size of your business, you have to tackle the occasional IT project. Whether it’s something (seemingly) simple, like purchasing new software, or something huge, like restructuring your whole network, IT projects are bigger beasts than they appear.

What you don’t know can make projects tough to pull off.

The Most Common Mistakes

Granted, you know how to get things done. You can’t run a business if you can’t be productive. But IT projects come with some unique challenges. Here are some of the most common mistakes business leaders make when undertaking IT projects on their own.

No clear goals.

Knowing that you want to solve a problem isn’t the same as knowing the desired outcome. Without a well-defined goal, there’s no way to manage the project efficiently. You might find a good solution, and you might not.

Either way, staying on schedule and under budget isn’t likely.

Attempting too much.

Most projects aren’t really single projects. They’re several individual, smaller projects with their own end points that culminate into a larger objective. But inexperienced project managers often make the mistake of trying to do it all at once.

Poor communication.

Projects are rarely completed by individuals. Far more often, they’re a team effort. When you have several people pulling together to achieve a common goal, a lack of communication can absolutely kill your chances of success.

From the beginning stages of the project all the way through implementation, clear, open communication is essential.

No flexibility.

There are times when a project appears to have one solution before you dive in . . . but once you’re actually working toward that goal, you discover there’s a better solution.

The idea of changing course once you’ve already started is jarring and upsetting. But sometimes it’s necessary. It’s important to be open to minor tweaks and, at times, total redirection.

Going too far too fast.

The temptation to take on too much can be strong. Once you start talking about how things could be, it’s easy to dream big. And dreaming big is good, but your project needs to be achievable, too. Overly aggressive goals and timelines will undo a project before it even starts.

Murphy’s Law.

If something can go wrong, it will. Even if you plan out everything.

Good project managers expect the unexpected. Something will cost too much. Some part of the solution won’t work as well as you hoped. Something you thought would finish on time will come in late. Keeping the overall project on track means adjusting to those hiccups and having the agility to correct quickly.

IT Projects with CCS Technology

Making your IT project a success is important. You rely on technology every day. It’s critical that upgrades, updates and new installs go smoothly. That’s why doing them on your own is a considerable gamble.

If you’d like some help, we have good news. CCS Technology knows how to navigate IT projects.

We can guide you from the beginning. Or, if your project is already underway but not going as planned, we can help get it back on schedule and maybe even under budget. We’ve got the know-how to make your IT project a success.

Give us a call today to let us know how we can help.