BAASS Insights Technology Blog

As a human resources manager, your job is not finished once you have identified the perfect candidate and filled the vacant position in your company. In fact, the truth of the matter is your job has just begun.

Small businesses new to business intelligence systems may feel overwhelmed at first by all the data coming in. It’s a “kid in the candy store” feeling where you don’t know what to look at first because it’s all so wonderful. After struggling for a long time with different data sources and no easy way to access data, a new business intelligence system can be cause for celebration. Yet knowing how to use your new BI system to its fullest capacity can be a challenge.

When you’re starting a business intelligence project, certain departments within your company may seem essential to the project’s success. Some departments immediately come to mind as key players in the creation and execution of the project’s deliverables. But the importance of cross-organizational collaboration cannot be underestimated.

Your CRM system can be a valuable part of a strong customer retention strategy. Marketing experts speak of the marketing cycle as acquisition, retention, and loyalty. Acquisition is the first step; it means to attract new customers to your business. Retention and loyalty are closely linked, with retention meaning customers returning to your company and loyalty meaning they return and wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else.  

Where do you see your company in five years? Do you imagine it on the same track, selling the same products and services to the same customers competing against the same competitors? Or do you see a company that has progressed into that of a leader in your industry, whose inventory is full of new products and services to provide for new customers in new markets?

Tony Robbins once said, “success leaves clues”. Essentially, successful people learn from previously prosperous people for hints to work smarter and do better. In order to improve, one must learn from past mistakes and triumphs and incorporate these lessons into their current action plan.

How many of you have had to payout a customer for a credit? For example, they gave you a deposit and you are refunding it or you gave them a credit and they want the cash? How many of you are still doing this through Accounts Payable in Sage 300 ERP (Formerly Accpac)? Set the customer up as a vendor, enter the invoice and do an AP Payment batch? Reverse the Credit in AR?

This budgeting cycle, as you once again pour over endless spreadsheets, consider how much easier life would be if the process used better technology and automation. According to some experts, 8 out of 10 businesses are still cranking out spreadsheets during summer’s budgeting season.