By some estimates, over 20 million Americans are starting and operating new businesses. The good news is, these brave entrepreneurs can harness easy to use and economical cloud-based apps/tools like Salesforce, Workday, and NetSuite to enable important functions and activities like sales, finance and collaboration right out of the gate. For the start-ups that grow and survive, more sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software will be needed to support and control the business and better serve customers.

Some key signs that you may need to consider an ERP system include the inability to easily obtain critical information about your business from a multitude of separate applications and an increasingly difficult time producing reliable and timely financial results.

The Cloud has made it possible for companies as small as $1 million in sales to access ERP capabilities for a reasonable investment. But buyer beware, many ERP implementations still fail to deliver the needed capabilities on time and on budget.

As your business ascends the growth curve on its way to future stardom, here are 5 tips to significantly raise your odds of success when choosing and implementing an ERP system:

1. Be prepared – Define your core business processes and mission-critical business requirements before choosing a system. Understand how they will most likely change as you grow. You shouldn’t buy a new car without understanding your current and future needs and choosing ERP software should be no different.
2. Consider the Cloud and then consider it again – This advice applies to small and large companies alike. Gone are the days where you will need your own hardware, software and IT staff to maintain it all. The Cloud reduces your up-front investment, minimizes the number of support people you need to hire, and gives you the flexibility to migrate to better options much faster in the future.
3. Consider more than one Cloud application to meet your functional needs – The typical middle-market ERP implementation can include 3 or more Cloud-based applications. The good news is that  integration platforms such as Dell Boomi and Jitterbit make the integration of Cloud software easier than ever before. When sourcing project assistance, check to make sure your technology partners have recent integration experience and expertise.
4. Hire consultants to fill skill gaps and manage risk – This sounds self-serving but it’s not. I have been in more than one start-up and high growth company – there are many hats to wear and there never seems to be enough time to build systems and necessary capabilities. Furthermore, your expertise – product, R&D, raising capital, serving customers – is probably not designing, selecting and installing an ERP system. Software providers will offer their own implementation consultants or trusted integration partners to help get the job done. If you are going to spend over $100,000 for an ERP solution, consider part-time or full-time help from an independent consultant with no ties to the ERP software providers. Your ROI and peace of mind will make it a worthwhile investment. Click here to learn more about our technology assessment and strategy framework.
5. Fix your implementation fee and pay on milestones – Avoid time and materials based contracts. Back to the car shopping analogy, get at least three fixed price bids and insist on a warranty to cover major issues. As part of your fixed price contract, pay for completed work based on the quality of key deliverables and the attainment of major milestones (e.g., blueprint complete, acceptance testing done, go-live date met). Make sure the software vendor and any integration partners have skin in the game. Finally, a good consultant can help you negotiate the best price and service terms for all aspects of your ERP deal.

One thing is for sure, the technology world and ERP space will continue to rapidly evolve and change.

Following these tips will help assure your ultimate success and improve your ability to serve your customers. Contact TSI to discuss your specific needs and to learn more.

The post 5 ERP Tips for Start-ups and High-Growth Companies appeared first on Transforming Solutions Inc..

In recent years, technologically savvy organizations have relied on Social Media to identify and secure business.  It’s a component of both our personal and professional lives, and certainly one that we can’t live without (in fact, it’s hard to believe that 19 years ago, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube did not even exist).  Based on TSI’s work in developing and implementing sound customer, market, and business-driven IT Strategies within the most progressive, fast-growing companies, we submit the following 7 reasons why your organization should develop /enhance Social Media tools to get closer to your customers, drive revenue, and manage the customer experience both inside and outside your organization: 

1.  Social Media isn’t Just “Social.”

Businesses invest in social media tools because they presume that they have to or believe that social media presents them with a decided tactical advantage. The more followers or “likes” another company has, the more we, as leaders, feel that we need to aspire to a new standard of social media success. While Twitter and Facebook may be surefire ways to attract customer visibility, visibility is only half of the equation; in fact, much must be done before your organization’s use of Social Media becomes – well, “social.” Getting those customers to connect with your business, engage with your thought leadership, and adapt to market conditions and trends requires tremendous effort in understanding your customers’ level of engagement with you. A critical first step to creating a social relationship is to form a complete understanding of the Customer Experience (CX) that your customers have with your company, product, or service offering.

2. Your Competition is Using Social Media on Your Customers.

As if connecting and engaging with customers needed to be more daunting, your competition is engaging with social media and possibly better than you! Gone are the days when you could be a trailblazer by using Twitter or blogs to identify and drive business. Companies in touch with recent trends already have these tools built into daily communication and tactical approaches to secure business. You may not be as hooked as Jay Baer (note his podcast series “The Social Pros” https://www.convinceandconvert.com/podcasts/shows/social-pros-podcast ), but that should not be an excuse not to keep up with your competition’s use of social media to secure business. Understanding the dynamic, shifting nature of both your customers and your competitors will help lay the foundation for an effective social media strategy, which will hopefully result in our (essential) #3:

3. Social Media Drives Measurable Business, but How do you measure it?

You probably noticed that social media usage increased during the Covid 19 Pandemic, and this caused many successful companies to shift their marketing priorities from the established traditional methods to social media and relationship-building with consumers. Since this, Businesses have started increasingly investing more money into digital marketing efforts and have seen an increased return on their investments, with the amount invested expected to grow this year to over 1.3 billion, according to Statista (2023). However, determining the success and/or ROI can be tricky, with many factors and calculations that must be considered. Some factors that must be regarded to determine success include specific goals, growth, and sales from particular marketing efforts (see post https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/understanding-roi-in-digital-marketing for more details). Depending on your company’s specific objectives, you would then select the metrics that help measure the corresponding goal. For some, ROI may not be the most critical metric. Instead, awareness and brand building may be the main goal for a specified campaign.

4. Social Media Can Provide Metrics and Feedback, Help you Tailor your Service / Product, and Generate More Business by building relationships.

Tailoring your Social Media tools to perform what Ted Rubin calls “The return on Relationship” (see his post “About return on Relationship” https://www.ror.online/about-return-on-relationship ) can help you customize your offerings to make them more attractive to potential/existing customers. Enhancing the relationship increases the level of “engagement” with that customer, fostering their loyalty to you and your offerings. Ted explains, “Be it via valuable information or personal introductions, engagement, and interaction will remain key. By asking questions and proposing ideas, you can engage your followers in such a way as to give them the ability and reason to respond.”

5. Social Media is an Effective tool for Develop Branding.

Just as enhancing an experience with a customer can foster loyalty and drive new business, Social Media marketing can be an intelligent way to create a recognizable identity for your product or service. Creating activity around contacting current or prospective customers can facilitate defining and circulating product or service branding.

6. The importance of choosing the right social media channel

By now, you realize the importance of having and maintaining a social media presence, but it is important to note that not all channels are suitable for all businesses. Knowing and understanding your target audience and goals are the keys to choosing the proper social media channels. For example, while LinkedIn is an excellent option for targeting career-minded professionals, Instagram is much more suited for targeting Gen Z with features like filters, reels, and stories. Understanding your target market and selecting the proper channels can lead to more significant profits and greater brand awareness; both are keys to overall success.

7. Have you heard of Programmatic digital marketing?

Chances are your competitors have and are harnessing it to find and target potential customers. In short Programmatic digital marketing is using software to buy digital advertising. For example, a higher ed institution could harness the power of programmatic digital marketing to place ads on the televisions of the parents of potential students from particular feeder schools while they tune into their favorite shows. For a more in-depth explanation, look at Brook Osmundson’s Post “What is Programmatic Advertising? How Does it Work? (https://www.searchenginejournal.com/what-is-programmatic-advertising/462655/#close )

Based on the seven points above, social media is not just a job you give to interns anymore. In some ways, your company’s Social Media strategy should be just as important as your company’s overall corporate strategy. Both are means by which your organization chooses its overall intent in response to the opportunities and threats in the marketplace; both will guide how the company considers its internal strengths and weaknesses, and both will connect your internal and external stakeholders.

TSI is a leading performance improvement, process re-engineering, technology strategy, and change management consulting firm. We help our progressive, growth-oriented clients become more efficient, cost-effective, and customer-focused. In short, we help our clients grow BETTER.

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