The upfront cost of new software tends to be perceived as rather obvious. There’s the money you spend on the actual software purchase (if any) and the money you spend on any required hardware (if any). Folks frequently overlook at least five (5) additional cost considerations that can impact both your future budget and your productivity.
Category: Choosing Software
The What/How/Why/How of Finding the Best App Ever
People frequently ask me questions like, “What’s the best app for X?” That ‘X’ could mean the “best” CRM, the “best” photo management app, etc. It’s a good question, because there are a plethora of apps out on the market, some free and some not, some lackluster and some brilliant. So, how do you find the best app for a certain application? The answer lies in the What/How/Why/How of your data. (That’s right – it’s not a typo.)
Templates, Audit Trails, and Client Confidentiality
A few months ago, I was the client of another business person. At the close of our business, this person sent me a standard business letter (i.e., date, name/address, subject, salutation, body) with the intent of summing up the transaction. A quick review of this letter made obvious that the business person had opened a previous client’s letter with the intention of using it as a template, but had forgotten to change anything other than my name and address at the top; the information contained in the remainder of the letter was enough to piece together who that other client had been and the exact nature of their business transaction. This oversight/blunder poses a problem in three key areas: the audit trail of the project, client confidentiality, and professionalism. A minor process change could address and alleviate all three.
What the pour over can teach us about our software choices
I was recently introduced to someone by a mutual contact who suggested that we meet at the new contact’s office because of the quality of his pour over.
I admit that although I love coffee and drink it daily, the pour over jargon was new to me. Luckily, Google was able to rescue me from my ignorance, and I realized that I not only hadn’t been left behind by coffee aficionados and some awesome coffee brewing technology, but that this is in fact how I make my coffee all of the time.