Just about everyone who is in touch with the pricey world of high end fashion knows that any purse created by a well-know fashion guru is going to cost a bundle. Women who can afford to spend a large sum of money of this kind of item would not be interested in knock off designer handbags but the rest of us are. There are more ladies who love to capture the overall appearance of a purse designed by a sought after fashion expert without actually owning the real thing.
The idea of knock off designer handbags is wonderful for the average woman who wants to dress in style. She can opt to add a fashionable accessory to her collection without breaking the bank. Some people may look down on this practice but buying knock off designer handbags is a viable option for most women. I love the idea of creating a high end fashion look for less money that anyone would think imaginable. Many of today’s pricey items found on the runway can be reproduced with a little smart shopping. You can find many comparable items for a fraction of the price. The practice of reproducing a hot runway look does take a lot of effort and some extra shopping time but a little forethought goes a long way. Why not add knock off designer handbags into the mix? You can complete your stylish look with the perfect accessory that appears to cost a fortune but really doesn’t. One of my favorite shows is “The Look for Less” because the host shows you exactly how to create outfits that appear to spring right off of the runway. Sometimes I actually find the alternative outfits to be more appealing than the originals. Occasionally, you will see knock off designer handbags tossed in here and there throughout the show. The idea of recreating runway style for thousands less is a dream come true for most women who love fashion. In all of my years no one has ever asked me who I was wearing. No one has ever searched my purse for a designer label and I would not care to impress anyone that did. Knock off designer handbags are created for the girl next door, the stylish teacher or the special mom who needs a thoughtful gift or a little treat. I think that knock off designer handbags are superior. They are guilt-free. After all what is the point of having a purse if you don’t have a penny left over to put into it?
Diet Pills for Women - Which One is for Me?
With the changing lifestyle, women all over the world are suffering with the problem of obesity. When no amount of diet control or exercise regimen helps, women turn towards the popular and much advertised diet pills. However, different diet pills work in different ways and the fact that a pill worked magically for your friend dosen’t necessarily mean that it will work for you. To know, which is the right one to suit your ody type, you have to first get aquainted with the various ways in which these pills work.
There are three categories of weight loss supplements:
Calorie Burners: These contain stimulants, so they temporarily increase your metabolism and make you burn more calories. But they also often increase your heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety. Commonly, the effective ingredient in these aids is caffeine, green tea, guarana, or the most dangerous one, the “natural herbal” option called ma huang or ephedra. However, there are certainly women who have successfully lost weight with ephedra or ma huang without serious side effects.
Appetite Suppressants: These include many of the calorie burning stimulants listed above, along with Citrimax (fruit from Garcinia cambogia) and CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). Studies show that Citrimax appears to be a safe choice and suppresses appetite in some women, and may help the user to not regain weight. CLA also appears safe and may or may not be helpful. Many of the prescription weight loss drugs, like Redux, Phen-Phen, Meridia, and Buproprion (or Wellbutrin) operate by decreasing the appetite. But some are linked to serious side effects (such as Phen-Phen and heart valve damage). In general, maximum weight loss usually occurs within six months of using appetite suppressants. Clinical studies suggest that if a patient does not lose at least 4 pounds over 4 weeks on a particular appetite suppressant, then the particular diet pill is unlikely to help the patient achieve any significant weight loss.
Absorption Blockers: These products block your intestine from absorbing either carbohydrates (Carbo Blockers) or fats (Chitosan), so that more of what goes in comes out. Carbo blockers are often made from soybeans or white kidney beans, which sound safe. But studies have shown a loss of copper and zinc from the body, and no proven weight loss. Plus, if it does work by carrying the fat out “with the trash,” it also may take along the fat-soluble vitamins you just ate (such as vitamins A, D, E and K).
You can chose any of the above options, but the universal truth remains that any type of diet pill works best when coupled with exercise and healthy eating habits. Generally, weight loss does not happen as easily or quickly as many of the diet aid companies imply. The fact that a weight loss pill is sold over-the-counter does not ensure that it is safe for everyone. Because they are considered “nutritional supplements,” the FDA does not test most of these products, so you cannot be certain that what the label says is what is in the bottle! Plus, the claim that a diet aid is “all natural” or “herbal” is not a guarantee of safety. The last word of caution says that women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not use diet aids.
Mansi Aggarwal Recommends that you visit http://store.femnutrition.com/womenfb.html for more information on Diet Pills For Women
Ovulation tests Alcohol tests Drug tests
There are three categories of weight loss supplements:
Calorie Burners: These contain stimulants, so they temporarily increase your metabolism and make you burn more calories. But they also often increase your heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety. Commonly, the effective ingredient in these aids is caffeine, green tea, guarana, or the most dangerous one, the “natural herbal” option called ma huang or ephedra. However, there are certainly women who have successfully lost weight with ephedra or ma huang without serious side effects.
Appetite Suppressants: These include many of the calorie burning stimulants listed above, along with Citrimax (fruit from Garcinia cambogia) and CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). Studies show that Citrimax appears to be a safe choice and suppresses appetite in some women, and may help the user to not regain weight. CLA also appears safe and may or may not be helpful. Many of the prescription weight loss drugs, like Redux, Phen-Phen, Meridia, and Buproprion (or Wellbutrin) operate by decreasing the appetite. But some are linked to serious side effects (such as Phen-Phen and heart valve damage). In general, maximum weight loss usually occurs within six months of using appetite suppressants. Clinical studies suggest that if a patient does not lose at least 4 pounds over 4 weeks on a particular appetite suppressant, then the particular diet pill is unlikely to help the patient achieve any significant weight loss.
Absorption Blockers: These products block your intestine from absorbing either carbohydrates (Carbo Blockers) or fats (Chitosan), so that more of what goes in comes out. Carbo blockers are often made from soybeans or white kidney beans, which sound safe. But studies have shown a loss of copper and zinc from the body, and no proven weight loss. Plus, if it does work by carrying the fat out “with the trash,” it also may take along the fat-soluble vitamins you just ate (such as vitamins A, D, E and K).
You can chose any of the above options, but the universal truth remains that any type of diet pill works best when coupled with exercise and healthy eating habits. Generally, weight loss does not happen as easily or quickly as many of the diet aid companies imply. The fact that a weight loss pill is sold over-the-counter does not ensure that it is safe for everyone. Because they are considered “nutritional supplements,” the FDA does not test most of these products, so you cannot be certain that what the label says is what is in the bottle! Plus, the claim that a diet aid is “all natural” or “herbal” is not a guarantee of safety. The last word of caution says that women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not use diet aids.
Mansi Aggarwal Recommends that you visit http://store.femnutrition.com/womenfb.html for more information on Diet Pills For Women
Ovulation tests Alcohol tests Drug tests
Where To Get Time Management Tools For Teacher
In the teaching industry, all teachers from childcare teachers all the way professors of university have very busy schedules. They have many kids to attend to, also have different subjects to share in the classroom. There are many different plans of matters that are made throughout the day and a busy agenda to manage as well.
What is needed to help hectic teachers out
Implementing a specific plan that caters to time management for teachers to enable to help a teacher's busy schedule. Time management is crucial if you want to get through every subject you have in your teaching day. Use time management in your curriculum so as to help in your teaching skills.
With the aid of a “time management for teachers” plan, the teacher can see where they can seize out certain things into the agenda. A lot of the work that a teacher does goes into preparations for classes and in checking papers and quizzes. If you are a teacher and you feel that you have too much work on your hands, it is usually a exact case of needing some help with time management.
In-class, a teacher must also control their time and that of their students. For example, having a good sense of how much time each homework will take the students to do is important – you cannot expect them to work at your pace. In fact, what you might fret over as time wasted could be a bonus for you as you could use that time to get through those ‘administrative’ tasks that you tend to take home.
I hope you will know by now that time management for teachers is no difference than having time management in itself - you have to search out time wasters, prioritize your work and fill in those time slots with short projects to make the maximum usage of your time.
What is the key to any successful profession
Organization is this key.
A time management for teachers program will also help the children how everything happens in order. Even so, that our children are spending most of the time with their teachers.
Teaching time management lessons to the children is simply great as it allows them to do their homework more effectively. Frequently, teachers would give tips and plans to their students just like he or she would do for himself or herself. This is a great part of having teachers take advantage of this training – they can then impart those skills to their students as well.
The teacher's goals is to get the entire work completed before the end of the year. With this management course, she can easily achieve this goal.
Children may getting smarter when their teachers make up their mind to use this tool on them. Being organized is the only way this task can really be accomplished. Especially if the teacher has a lot of information to keep track of.
On the internet, you can simply download a this program for teachers and get started with your new goals and strategies today for your students.
This program will give you more flexibility throughout your day. This will explanation of having more time for yourself or those assignments that needs to be done. Make sure that as you are particular about taking out special time for work, that you make the same sort of efforts for taking out time for yourself and your career.
Eddy K Elgin is the webmaster of the Good Reference To Effective Time Management Tactics. Drop by at Where Teachers Can Find Free Time Management Program for more details.
What is needed to help hectic teachers out
Implementing a specific plan that caters to time management for teachers to enable to help a teacher's busy schedule. Time management is crucial if you want to get through every subject you have in your teaching day. Use time management in your curriculum so as to help in your teaching skills.
With the aid of a “time management for teachers” plan, the teacher can see where they can seize out certain things into the agenda. A lot of the work that a teacher does goes into preparations for classes and in checking papers and quizzes. If you are a teacher and you feel that you have too much work on your hands, it is usually a exact case of needing some help with time management.
In-class, a teacher must also control their time and that of their students. For example, having a good sense of how much time each homework will take the students to do is important – you cannot expect them to work at your pace. In fact, what you might fret over as time wasted could be a bonus for you as you could use that time to get through those ‘administrative’ tasks that you tend to take home.
I hope you will know by now that time management for teachers is no difference than having time management in itself - you have to search out time wasters, prioritize your work and fill in those time slots with short projects to make the maximum usage of your time.
What is the key to any successful profession
Organization is this key.
A time management for teachers program will also help the children how everything happens in order. Even so, that our children are spending most of the time with their teachers.
Teaching time management lessons to the children is simply great as it allows them to do their homework more effectively. Frequently, teachers would give tips and plans to their students just like he or she would do for himself or herself. This is a great part of having teachers take advantage of this training – they can then impart those skills to their students as well.
The teacher's goals is to get the entire work completed before the end of the year. With this management course, she can easily achieve this goal.
Children may getting smarter when their teachers make up their mind to use this tool on them. Being organized is the only way this task can really be accomplished. Especially if the teacher has a lot of information to keep track of.
On the internet, you can simply download a this program for teachers and get started with your new goals and strategies today for your students.
This program will give you more flexibility throughout your day. This will explanation of having more time for yourself or those assignments that needs to be done. Make sure that as you are particular about taking out special time for work, that you make the same sort of efforts for taking out time for yourself and your career.
Eddy K Elgin is the webmaster of the Good Reference To Effective Time Management Tactics. Drop by at Where Teachers Can Find Free Time Management Program for more details.
Document Management: Workflow Issues
What Is Workflow?
In the context of documents, workflow means moving the documents. Goods Delivery Notes accompany merchandise and come back to the seller duly acknowledged by the buyer; Invoices have to be sent to the buyers; Checks have to be sent to suppliers; Letters have to be sent to many persons and organizations; and so on.
In addition to the external communications illustrated above, there are internal movements of documents. Attendance cards have to be sent to the payroll clerk; Pay sheets have to move to accounting and treasury departments; Memos have to move from person to person.
Need for Workflow Control
Unless the flow of documents is controlled through carefully developed policies and procedures, the result would be chaos. Goods Received Notes acknowledged by customers could be misplaced leading to disputes about invoices. Intended recipients of official memos might dispute ever having received the document. Employees might not get paid correctly or on time.
The issues of confidentiality and business interests might also be compromised unless the flow of documents is controlled properly. Legal regulations require you to keep several kinds of data confidential. Business interests might require that you keep certain sensitive data accessible only to a restricted few. If you have inadequate control over the document flow, confidential and sensitive data could easily fall into the wrong hands.
Kinds of Documents
Before we look at how document workflow is controlled, let us take a quick look at the kinds of documents that arise in a business organization.
• Text documents: Letters, Reports, Statements, Contracts
• Drawings: Blueprints, Organization Charts, Workflow Charts
• Images: Photographs
• Printed materials: News articles, Reference materials
• Forms: Invoices, Orders, Attendance cards, Bin cards
Almost every one of these documents involves some kind of workflow. Information has to be gathered from other documents for preparing a letter or report. Contracts have to be reviewed before signing. Information from other documents, collected from other persons or departments, have to be summarized for preparing statements like a sales analysis.
Controlling Workflow
Policies and procedures, carefully developed and properly implemented, are the key to document workflow management. Implementation would also involve adequate training to personnel who handle the documents.
The policies would seek to identify opportunities for saving costs while meeting different requirements. In the absence of such policies, it is quite easy to incur unnecessary costs. For example, documents could be kept for unduly long periods, or in perpetuity, because no one knows when a document can be destroyed, or how to destroy it.
Procedures would implement the policies on the ground. Documents would be routed efficiently to all concerned persons. Access to sensitive documents would be controlled through such means as passwords and permissions. Needed actions would be flagged as they become due.
Workflow Patterns
The basic functions are summarized by three words: Capture, Manage and Distribute.
Data has to be captured at the best point considering convenience and cost. The captured data has to be managed effectively to serve intended purposes while keeping the data safe. Data and documents would have to be distributed to concerned persons in a manner that ensures their safety and minimizes the cost involved.
And the basic workflow pattern is summarized by: Creation, Updating, Review and Approval.
When data is captured, a record or document is typically created. The creation process must be designed for ease and error-free operation.
Created records and documents would typically need to be updated – changed, worked on further or deleted. This must also be an easy and error-minimizing process.
A single person rarely has complete control over a document or record. Proper authentication and prevention of errors and frauds would typically require that one or more persons, not involved in the creation or updating, review the created/updated documents.
Another typical practice is that while the creation or updating is done by operating level personnel, it has to be approved by a supervisor or manager before it is put to intended use. Thus, approval is usually the last process before the workflow moves to the next stage.
Processes Involved in Workflow
If you observe the operations in an office, you would typically find the following processes taking place:
• Writing or typing
• Making copies
• Getting written or printed originals or copies
• Moving these documents to another person, either inside or outside the organization. (This might involve some preparations like putting a document in an envelope or other protective packing)
• Communications
• Monetary transactions based on documentary authorizations
• Storing documents away, safely and in an organized manner
During earlier times, all documents involved paper (including carbon paper) and paperboards (for folders and tags).
The Modern Workflow
Document management systems have undergone a radical change since the appearance of computers and Internet. So has workflow.
In a modern computerized and connected office, workflow typically involve
• Creation of digital records on computer disks
• Sending records to other persons using digital means
• Getting printouts at the points needed (instead of sending printed documents by hand to various places)
• Scanning to convert printed materials into digital format
• Using OCR technologies to make the scanned documents editable
• Making copies as needed instead of preparing the maximum number of copies at the stage of document creation itself
• Using fax and email for mailing documents
Modern Workflow Tools
With the change in the practices came new tools.
• Fax machines
• Computers
• Desktop printers
• Copiers
• Scanners
• Internet connectivity
The modern workflow consists of typing at computer terminals or scanning printed materials, printing needed documents at your desktop or a central printer and emailing or faxing the documents to concerned persons
The appearance of digital signature protocols is eliminating the need for paper documents even further.
And content management systems, where many people access a central database and work collaboratively on documents, have made the document workflow and its management far more productive.
--
Author
Dustin Baker of Ademero, Inc. invites you to learn more by visiting his Document Management Software site. Browse the Ademero resource section which includes the largest collection of posts from real users reviewing ALL of the most popular DMS systems available, free and commercial.
In the context of documents, workflow means moving the documents. Goods Delivery Notes accompany merchandise and come back to the seller duly acknowledged by the buyer; Invoices have to be sent to the buyers; Checks have to be sent to suppliers; Letters have to be sent to many persons and organizations; and so on.
In addition to the external communications illustrated above, there are internal movements of documents. Attendance cards have to be sent to the payroll clerk; Pay sheets have to move to accounting and treasury departments; Memos have to move from person to person.
Need for Workflow Control
Unless the flow of documents is controlled through carefully developed policies and procedures, the result would be chaos. Goods Received Notes acknowledged by customers could be misplaced leading to disputes about invoices. Intended recipients of official memos might dispute ever having received the document. Employees might not get paid correctly or on time.
The issues of confidentiality and business interests might also be compromised unless the flow of documents is controlled properly. Legal regulations require you to keep several kinds of data confidential. Business interests might require that you keep certain sensitive data accessible only to a restricted few. If you have inadequate control over the document flow, confidential and sensitive data could easily fall into the wrong hands.
Kinds of Documents
Before we look at how document workflow is controlled, let us take a quick look at the kinds of documents that arise in a business organization.
• Text documents: Letters, Reports, Statements, Contracts
• Drawings: Blueprints, Organization Charts, Workflow Charts
• Images: Photographs
• Printed materials: News articles, Reference materials
• Forms: Invoices, Orders, Attendance cards, Bin cards
Almost every one of these documents involves some kind of workflow. Information has to be gathered from other documents for preparing a letter or report. Contracts have to be reviewed before signing. Information from other documents, collected from other persons or departments, have to be summarized for preparing statements like a sales analysis.
Controlling Workflow
Policies and procedures, carefully developed and properly implemented, are the key to document workflow management. Implementation would also involve adequate training to personnel who handle the documents.
The policies would seek to identify opportunities for saving costs while meeting different requirements. In the absence of such policies, it is quite easy to incur unnecessary costs. For example, documents could be kept for unduly long periods, or in perpetuity, because no one knows when a document can be destroyed, or how to destroy it.
Procedures would implement the policies on the ground. Documents would be routed efficiently to all concerned persons. Access to sensitive documents would be controlled through such means as passwords and permissions. Needed actions would be flagged as they become due.
Workflow Patterns
The basic functions are summarized by three words: Capture, Manage and Distribute.
Data has to be captured at the best point considering convenience and cost. The captured data has to be managed effectively to serve intended purposes while keeping the data safe. Data and documents would have to be distributed to concerned persons in a manner that ensures their safety and minimizes the cost involved.
And the basic workflow pattern is summarized by: Creation, Updating, Review and Approval.
When data is captured, a record or document is typically created. The creation process must be designed for ease and error-free operation.
Created records and documents would typically need to be updated – changed, worked on further or deleted. This must also be an easy and error-minimizing process.
A single person rarely has complete control over a document or record. Proper authentication and prevention of errors and frauds would typically require that one or more persons, not involved in the creation or updating, review the created/updated documents.
Another typical practice is that while the creation or updating is done by operating level personnel, it has to be approved by a supervisor or manager before it is put to intended use. Thus, approval is usually the last process before the workflow moves to the next stage.
Processes Involved in Workflow
If you observe the operations in an office, you would typically find the following processes taking place:
• Writing or typing
• Making copies
• Getting written or printed originals or copies
• Moving these documents to another person, either inside or outside the organization. (This might involve some preparations like putting a document in an envelope or other protective packing)
• Communications
• Monetary transactions based on documentary authorizations
• Storing documents away, safely and in an organized manner
During earlier times, all documents involved paper (including carbon paper) and paperboards (for folders and tags).
The Modern Workflow
Document management systems have undergone a radical change since the appearance of computers and Internet. So has workflow.
In a modern computerized and connected office, workflow typically involve
• Creation of digital records on computer disks
• Sending records to other persons using digital means
• Getting printouts at the points needed (instead of sending printed documents by hand to various places)
• Scanning to convert printed materials into digital format
• Using OCR technologies to make the scanned documents editable
• Making copies as needed instead of preparing the maximum number of copies at the stage of document creation itself
• Using fax and email for mailing documents
Modern Workflow Tools
With the change in the practices came new tools.
• Fax machines
• Computers
• Desktop printers
• Copiers
• Scanners
• Internet connectivity
The modern workflow consists of typing at computer terminals or scanning printed materials, printing needed documents at your desktop or a central printer and emailing or faxing the documents to concerned persons
The appearance of digital signature protocols is eliminating the need for paper documents even further.
And content management systems, where many people access a central database and work collaboratively on documents, have made the document workflow and its management far more productive.
--
Author
Dustin Baker of Ademero, Inc. invites you to learn more by visiting his Document Management Software site. Browse the Ademero resource section which includes the largest collection of posts from real users reviewing ALL of the most popular DMS systems available, free and commercial.
Electronic Document Management
Electronic Document Management has been widely accepted as the practice of creating and storing documents. What lacks common acceptance is the need to retrieve, archive and sort documents as per requirements.
With real estate costs climbing feverishly, and businesses process becoming more and more complex and demanding, the need to implement an integrated electronic document management system is growing by the day. Realizing this opportunity, several global software vendors have come up with their document management products to facilitate this process and more and more organizations are implementing this system in today's world.
It is important to understand what exactly electronic document management refers to and why is it so important to organizations, small or big.
Electronic Document Management System refers to a system whereby documents are created, modified, stored, distributed, secured and retrieved with the help of software tools.
An organization must ponder several times and answer several questions before it goes about implementing a document management system. Some of the questions that must be asked can be:-
(1) Are your documents uniformly marked and stored for "finger-pointed" retrieval.
(2) Can you easily gather related documents that are physically distributed at different places.
(3) Can your personnel easily locate documents created or modified by others within the organization, regardless of the format and method of creation of the documents.
(4) How long does it take to locate the desired bunch of documents.
(5) Can you find a specific type of similar documents over a date range quickly and effectively.
(6) Can you track back the person responsible for handling any particular document.
Answering the above questions can easily help you take a decision. Also, to arrive at a conclusion, one must keep in mind the following characteristics of a suitable document management system.
(a) Should convert your office into a paper-less office by electronically keeping track of all documents.
(b) Should seamlessly integrate with your existing manual document management methods.
(c) Should help your business grow faster by ensuring fast and accurate availability of information.
(d) Should help you analyze the efficiency of co-workers by keeping track of documentation work allotted to them.
With real estate costs climbing feverishly, and businesses process becoming more and more complex and demanding, the need to implement an integrated electronic document management system is growing by the day. Realizing this opportunity, several global software vendors have come up with their document management products to facilitate this process and more and more organizations are implementing this system in today's world.
It is important to understand what exactly electronic document management refers to and why is it so important to organizations, small or big.
Electronic Document Management System refers to a system whereby documents are created, modified, stored, distributed, secured and retrieved with the help of software tools.
An organization must ponder several times and answer several questions before it goes about implementing a document management system. Some of the questions that must be asked can be:-
(1) Are your documents uniformly marked and stored for "finger-pointed" retrieval.
(2) Can you easily gather related documents that are physically distributed at different places.
(3) Can your personnel easily locate documents created or modified by others within the organization, regardless of the format and method of creation of the documents.
(4) How long does it take to locate the desired bunch of documents.
(5) Can you find a specific type of similar documents over a date range quickly and effectively.
(6) Can you track back the person responsible for handling any particular document.
Answering the above questions can easily help you take a decision. Also, to arrive at a conclusion, one must keep in mind the following characteristics of a suitable document management system.
(a) Should convert your office into a paper-less office by electronically keeping track of all documents.
(b) Should seamlessly integrate with your existing manual document management methods.
(c) Should help your business grow faster by ensuring fast and accurate availability of information.
(d) Should help you analyze the efficiency of co-workers by keeping track of documentation work allotted to them.
Make Lost Office Documents a Thing of the Past
Don't Fall into the Trap of Losing Corporate Records
For the past three years, your company as been working feverously to finish a new technology that will benefit all walks of life. It has been a difficult three years as the financials of the company are all heading into the red, and the investors are anxiously demanding a return on their initial investment. The stress levels and demands on each employee have been extreme. As CEO, you've been walking a tightrope between investor's demands and your own expectations of your employees. Realizing the highly competitive market your find yourself in, internal control and security have been a high priority. The company would fall if the design plans of your new technology were to reach the competitors hands. Confident that you have done everything possible to ensure control over internal documents, you sit back and relax for a minute knowing that your company is about to make a huge contribution to society, as the engineers are reporting positive results from the final testing phase.
It is at this moment that your CTO walks in to the room with a pale face, looking as if he had witnessed death himself. He tells you that one of the engineers has e-mailed pieces of the technology to a foreign competitor. This has been going on for the past 8 months, he says. The CTO continues to say that the extent of the damage is not fully known, but that he expects the worse. As CEO, you ask yourself, what else could have been done, what else could we have implemented to catch these actions?
To answer this question, a record management software package created by NextPage would have protected the documents describing the company's new technology. This software tracks risky documents from start to finish. Throughout the document lifecycle, any changes made to the document are tracked and noted in a central location. The documents are monitored on desktops, through e-mail, key drives or on a server. A date/time stamp is created for each user when they access the document. It is very easy to see which employee was the last to access the document and to view what changes were made by that employee.
This risk management tool also monitors internal financials and assists greatly in Sarbanes Oxley compliance requirements. Each change made from a member of the financial team is securely noted. This aids in the turn around time for account/auditing firms to validate a corporation's earnings statements.
NextPage's software also aids in the development of products. Through the ability to access a document centrally, and make and save changes to one location, all users will have an interactive approach to documenting revisions. As improvements or setbacks take place, developers and project managers can easily view a central document and see a real-time image of how a product is progressing. Many errors though work duplication or lack of communication are avoided through Next Page's software.
So when it comes to your own business, eliminate the risk of losing corporate secrets and improve the document management within your company. These days one can never be too careful!
Ryan Knapp is an Internet Marketing Consultant for 10x Marketing. For more information about record management, contact NextPage.
For the past three years, your company as been working feverously to finish a new technology that will benefit all walks of life. It has been a difficult three years as the financials of the company are all heading into the red, and the investors are anxiously demanding a return on their initial investment. The stress levels and demands on each employee have been extreme. As CEO, you've been walking a tightrope between investor's demands and your own expectations of your employees. Realizing the highly competitive market your find yourself in, internal control and security have been a high priority. The company would fall if the design plans of your new technology were to reach the competitors hands. Confident that you have done everything possible to ensure control over internal documents, you sit back and relax for a minute knowing that your company is about to make a huge contribution to society, as the engineers are reporting positive results from the final testing phase.
It is at this moment that your CTO walks in to the room with a pale face, looking as if he had witnessed death himself. He tells you that one of the engineers has e-mailed pieces of the technology to a foreign competitor. This has been going on for the past 8 months, he says. The CTO continues to say that the extent of the damage is not fully known, but that he expects the worse. As CEO, you ask yourself, what else could have been done, what else could we have implemented to catch these actions?
To answer this question, a record management software package created by NextPage would have protected the documents describing the company's new technology. This software tracks risky documents from start to finish. Throughout the document lifecycle, any changes made to the document are tracked and noted in a central location. The documents are monitored on desktops, through e-mail, key drives or on a server. A date/time stamp is created for each user when they access the document. It is very easy to see which employee was the last to access the document and to view what changes were made by that employee.
This risk management tool also monitors internal financials and assists greatly in Sarbanes Oxley compliance requirements. Each change made from a member of the financial team is securely noted. This aids in the turn around time for account/auditing firms to validate a corporation's earnings statements.
NextPage's software also aids in the development of products. Through the ability to access a document centrally, and make and save changes to one location, all users will have an interactive approach to documenting revisions. As improvements or setbacks take place, developers and project managers can easily view a central document and see a real-time image of how a product is progressing. Many errors though work duplication or lack of communication are avoided through Next Page's software.
So when it comes to your own business, eliminate the risk of losing corporate secrets and improve the document management within your company. These days one can never be too careful!
Ryan Knapp is an Internet Marketing Consultant for 10x Marketing. For more information about record management, contact NextPage.
Why CRM Projects Fail
1 Overview
This articles looks at some of the “human”, i.e. people-related factors that can cause a CRM project to fail. We then look at why, for those businesses already utilising Microsoft® Outlook® for their day-to-day e-mail, diary and contact management, implementing an Outlook-based CRM system gives you the best chance of overcoming these issues and ensuring a successful CRM implementation.
2 The Problem
CRM has received a lot of negative publicity over the years because of the failure rate of CRM implementation projects.
A recent Butler Group report found that 70 percent of CRM implementations fail. A Gartner study found that approximately 55 percent of all CRM projects failed to meet software customers' expectations. In a Bain & Company survey of 451 senior executives, CRM ranked in the bottom three categories among 25 popular tools evaluated for customer satisfaction.
While there are a multitude of reasons cited for failure of these projects, our experience in implementing over 200 CRM projects directly is that user acceptance is the one of the most critical factors.
In his article on “Why CRM Projects Fail”, Rajiv Chaudhry quotes:
You can design the best process in the world, and back it with the latest and greatest technology, but if your people don't buy into the project, it won't work. There are three people-related issues that have surfaced in many of the CRM programs, that are worth noting:
• The Fear-of-Change Syndrome. You already have a sales process in place. It may be based on printed reports, paper clips, and post-it notes, but it does work to some extent and people are familiar with it. Reengineering requires change, which most people instinctively resist. This fear of change needs to be dealt with early on, or the very people the system is designed to help will be the ones to see that it fails.
• The It's Easy Enough Syndrome. For your CRM system to be successful, every single person must use it. For the sake of speed, a temptation may be to let IS or a few computer-literate users design the system interface. What you will end up with is a system that they think is easy enough for them to use, but isn't easy enough for everyone. One CIO's observation sums up the whole issue about usability: Too easy never is.
• The Big Brother Syndrome. Be aware that horror stories of the hidden reasons that companies implement CRM programs may already be circulating through your sales force. They may have heard how these systems are designed to track their every move, just waiting for them to make a mistake so that management can pounce on them. This initial distrust is a very serious issue that must be dealt with swiftly.
Leaving any of these concerns unresolved will only result in bigger problems when you get ready for implementation. They need to be dealt with head-on so that everyone is on board and supportive of what the company is trying to accomplish.
Another one that I would add to the list above is:
• The “WIIFM” Concept: More completely known as “What’s In It For Me”. It’s no good introducing a system that only benefits the company. This is closely allied to the Big Brother Syndrome above. That is, you cannot expect a system to sustain itself if it does not produce any direct benefits to the users themselves.
3 Answering these Challenges with a CRM System based on Microsoft Outlook
The Fear of/Resistance to Change Syndrome dictates that the less the users have to change the way they work, the more likely they will adopt any new system that is based around what they are already used to. So if your users are already sending mail, managing their own contacts in their own Personal Contacts folder, and scheduling appointments with the Outlook Calendar, they don’t want to change this. We saw this frequently in the past where the first thing users asked us after introducing a new non-Outlook-based CRM system usually was “Why should I learn a different calendar? – I already know Outlook and I’m comfortable with it”. And trying to introduce a system that “sychronised” or “integrated” with Outlook also caused endless problems with calendars that got “out of sync”, etc. So this did little to reduce user frustration.
The Resistance to Change factor has another side that’s reflected in a popular saying namely “Up to the age of 18 you make your habits; thereafter they make you”. The reality of these words of wisdom is summarized as follows: If a new system is introduced such that not only is training required to learn the system but one also has to form a new set of habits associated with the procedures necessary to run the system, then it will take the average worker 3 to 6 months to develop these new habits to the point where they are ingrained into their daily work routines. And invariably if the user does not see sufficient benefit in the system soon enough (i.e. before these new habits are fully developed), then they continue to do what they were doing before the new system was introduced and as such the new system falls into disuse. One common excuse we used to get during post-implementation audits from users who were found not to have been entering activities into the new CRM system was “Oh, I keep forgetting to open the system”, or “it takes too long to open the system when I need it”.
The It's Easy Enough Syndrome: If everyone is already using Outlook, and has been trained on Outlook, or at least has become familiar with its functionality then it will be easy enough for them to learn a few new things associated with “relating” items together to transform Outlook into a Customer “Relationship” Management system. Microsoft has made enormous investments in studying the usability of Outlook and soliciting user feedback. So why reinvent the wheel when the users already know (and usually love) this interface.
The Big Brother Syndrome: Installing a new Sales Automation system with Activity Analyses and Productivity Comparison Reports already conjures up the wrong impression amongst the sales people. However just adding to Outlook’s functionality to provide a customer-centric “related” view of the existing disjointed elements in Outlook (appointments, tasks, journals, contacts and documents) makes all the sense in the world to users, and does not introduce any negative connotations.
The “WIIFM” Concept: Here Outlook definitely comes to the rescue. Users already appreciate the benefits of Outlook as a “Personal Information Manager”, especially as Microsoft touts Outlook as being one. The emphasis on Personal implies the primary benefit is to the user and not necessarily the company. So Microsoft in that sense has solved the issue of “What’s in it for me?”
Having looked at the fact that Outlook certainly addresses some of the “human” factors associated with a CRM implementation, we still need to look at how well Outlook meets the challenge in terms of functionality. We can do this by looking first at the basics of a Contact Management system, which still today is the core of any CRM system.
4 The Basics of any Contact Management System
Any contact management application needs at least the following basic functionality:
a) A mechanism to store and profile Contact information.
b) A means to plan and organize appointments with those contacts, not only for yourself but other team members managing those same contacts.
c) A means to schedule tasks and to-do’s for those contacts.
d) A mechanism to record any kind of interaction with a contact, namely meetings, phone calls, e-mail, documents, etc.
e) Some way of storing documents sent to and received from a contact.
f) A way to send and track e-mail communication.
5 Outlook’s inherent Contact Management Functionality
With reference to the requirements list above, Outlook at least satisfies the following requirements:
a) A mechanism to store and profile Contact information: The “Contacts” folder in Outlook already allows a comprehensive profile of any personal or business contact to be maintained.
b) A means to plan and organise appointments for those contacts: Outlook’s calendaring facilities provide these very effectively and when coupled with Exchange Server incorporate a huge number of collaborative features that are extremely difficult for any other stand-alone CRM system to emulate or reproduce.
c) A means to schedule tasks and to-do’s for those contacts: Outlook’s task management facility is excellent for this.
d) A mechanism to record any kind of interaction with a contact: The “Journal” facility of Outlook contains the standard fields necessary to record phone calls, meeting, etc. with clients, and can even time such activities.
e) A way to send and track e-mail communication: The Inbox and Sent Items stores inward and outward e-mails.
However, while Outlook does have the basic foundation for solid contact management functionality, there are certain limitations of Outlook that one needs to be aware of.
6 Limitations of Outlook
As a contact management application however, Outlook has the following limitations:
a) Private Mailbox (Contacts, Appointments, etc.): Without setting up and customising Public Folders, most users will just utilise their Private Mailbox Contacts folder for managing their contacts, thus limiting the sharing of that information and potentially creating massive duplication of the same data within the organisation.
b) Contact-centric: By virtue of their being only a Contacts folder (and no Companies folder), Outlook tends to be Contact-centric rather than Account-centric, which can be limiting for those users managing corporate accounts.
c) Discrete, independent folders: Most users tend to use their Outlook folders as discrete elements, i.e. because it is fairly cumbersome for users to link one item to another, (e.g. a contact to an appointment) they seldom do this. Thus it is difficult for users in the organisation to get an overall picture of all the activity occurring within the organisation against any particular company or contact. The universal objective of any CRM system however, is to provide a “single-view of all customer-related information to everyone in the organisation”.
7 Overcoming Outlook’s Limitations
Several Outlook-based CRM systems such as MX-Contact (www.mxcontact.com) are Outlook Add-Ins that overcome these limitations by extending the functionality of Outlook to transform it into a powerful CRM system without changing the way users send mail, schedule appointments, etc. Such systems utilise all of Outlook’s existing functionality but add the functionality found in CRM systems to co-ordinate the activities and items in Outlook into “one central view of all customer related information”. This is the so-called holy grail of CRM.
8 Other Advantages of an Outlook-based CRM System
There are several other distinct advantages to deploying Outlook as the basis for contact/customer management. We summarise them here:
Ease of Use:
a) Outlook is always the first application to be opened: Whenever knowledge workers arrive at their place of work each day, Outlook tends to be the first application that is opened, given that one needs to check what e-mail has been received since last clocking out of the office. He or she therefore opens by default the application needed for Contact Management. One of the greatest obstacles to overcome in the implementation of any CRM system is to get the users into the habit of opening the new system. With Outlook this is not an issue.
b) Outlook is always kept open: The nature of customer interaction is that it is very often re-active, sporadic and impromptu. Therefore it is imperative that the application used to log these interactions is always “at one’s fingertips” so to speak. Given that users keep Outlook open all day so as to respond timeously to e-mail ensures that this is the case.
c) Familiar Interface: If users are already utilising Outlook for at least e-mail and calendaring then they are already familiar with the interface and how to add new items, edit existing items, etc. Thus there is usually very little requirement for extensive training when an Outlook system is deployed. This dramatically shortens the average implementation time.
d) Increasing Percentage of E-Mail Interaction: An ever-increasing number of users are discovering the advantages of e-mail communication over other forms of contact (phone, fax, letter, etc.). So as e-mail becomes more widely used for customer interaction, it makes sense to deploy your e-mail client as the primary vehicle for managing customer communications, rather then utilising a totally different application.
e) One calendaring system universal across company & supply chain: Given that the vast majority of corporate users are utilising Outlook, it is easy for instance to send meeting requests to suppliers or customers, who can then use many of the same collaboration features that are available to internal users/co-workers. Many CRM systems have their own calendaring system and given that not all users will (or can) necessarily adopt this system means that one has to immediately contend with the problem of keeping these dissimilar calendars synchronized so that all users can effectively co-ordinate their diaries.
f) One e-mail store: Many of the conventional database-based CRM systems on the market have difficulty linking to e-mails given that an e-mail is not the same type of object as say a document. For this reason most systems not running inside Outlook tend to copy the contents of an e-mail into their database tables, thereby effectively duplicating the data and also disconnecting it from its original item, thus losing its formatting and also making handling of “Replies” and “Forwards” to the item difficult.
g) One document management system: Some CRM systems also copy documents into their database so as to enable replication of these documents to remote users. The disadvantage of this approach is that a document can only be edited from within the CRM system and not also from its original source on the Windows File System or Exchange Public Folder in the way that most users would already be familiar with.
h) Easy synchronization with most PDA’s: Given that all PDA’s synchronize with Outlook as a standard, this means that you have automatic access to your Contact Management data if it is kept in Outlook rather than being in another application.
Reduced Cost of Ownership:
i) No additional Infrastructure Needed: If a company already has the infrastructure in place necessary to run Outlook on client machines and Exchange Server, then no additional client or server hardware is needed to run an Outlook-based system.
j) Cost of upgrade to new versions of Outlook shared: Very often a client has to justify the costs of upgrading Office as well as the costs of purchasing the CRM application. With an Outlook-based solution this upgrade cost is shared given that the company receives a whole host of additional benefits and functionality from upgrading Office/Outlook as well as receiving a new CRM system.
k) Reduced Training Time (Cost): Given that users will already be familiar with the basics of Outlook, the time needed to train users, and hence the cost of that training, is significantly reduced.
l) Wider Support Base: Given that there are a large number of internal users and external consultants that know Outlook and VBA/VBScript (used to extend its functionality) it is easier and therefore less costly to enhance the functionality and support your user base.
m) Wider application of same training: If a company invests in training its staff in the functionality of Outlook, so as to more effectively use a CRM system based on Outlook, then this knowledge of Outlook will be utilised in everything a user does in Outlook, even those activities not linked to customer management but more internal collaboration etc. However, when one invests in training around a separate proprietary system then this training can only be applied to the use of that system and nothing else.
n) Reduced Installation Time: Given that an Outlook-based system installs itself inside Outlook, it is a simple matter for IT personnel to install the system. In many instances this can be done by the user him or herself.
9 Summary
Microsoft’s earlier promotion of Outlook as a “Personal Information Manager” created the impression amongst users that Outlook was only intended to manage one’s personal contacts and was not suited as the basis for a corporate-wide Customer Management System. Hopefully this article has rectified some of these misconceptions and shown that, given that so much of one’s day-to-day customer interaction is initiated from within Outlook, Outlook coupled with Exchange or SQL Server is the perfect environment for one’s all important Customer database. For an example of an Outlook-based CRM system, please have a look at MX-Contact (http://www.mxcontact.com). A free version is available for download from http://www.free-contact-manager.com.
10 PDF Version
A PDF version of this article may be downloaded from:
http://www.outlookwise.com/OutlookWise/Why_CRM_Projects_Fail/01_Why_CRM_Projects_Fail.htm
11 About the author
This article was written by Brian Drury, founder of ExchangeWise (http://www.exchangewise.com), and the architect of MX-Contact (http://www.mxcontact.com), a CRM, Contact Management and Sales Automation System for Microsoft Outlook. Brian has over 20 years experience in the IT industry and has focused on Contact Management, CRM and Collaboration systems for the last 14 years. During this time Brian and his staff have been involved in over 200 direct CRM project implementations covering 7 different products. He is also the editor of OutlookWise(http://www.outlookwise.com), a free newsletter aimed at keeping Outlook users up to date with news, views and articles of interest on Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Server.
This articles looks at some of the “human”, i.e. people-related factors that can cause a CRM project to fail. We then look at why, for those businesses already utilising Microsoft® Outlook® for their day-to-day e-mail, diary and contact management, implementing an Outlook-based CRM system gives you the best chance of overcoming these issues and ensuring a successful CRM implementation.
2 The Problem
CRM has received a lot of negative publicity over the years because of the failure rate of CRM implementation projects.
A recent Butler Group report found that 70 percent of CRM implementations fail. A Gartner study found that approximately 55 percent of all CRM projects failed to meet software customers' expectations. In a Bain & Company survey of 451 senior executives, CRM ranked in the bottom three categories among 25 popular tools evaluated for customer satisfaction.
While there are a multitude of reasons cited for failure of these projects, our experience in implementing over 200 CRM projects directly is that user acceptance is the one of the most critical factors.
In his article on “Why CRM Projects Fail”, Rajiv Chaudhry quotes:
You can design the best process in the world, and back it with the latest and greatest technology, but if your people don't buy into the project, it won't work. There are three people-related issues that have surfaced in many of the CRM programs, that are worth noting:
• The Fear-of-Change Syndrome. You already have a sales process in place. It may be based on printed reports, paper clips, and post-it notes, but it does work to some extent and people are familiar with it. Reengineering requires change, which most people instinctively resist. This fear of change needs to be dealt with early on, or the very people the system is designed to help will be the ones to see that it fails.
• The It's Easy Enough Syndrome. For your CRM system to be successful, every single person must use it. For the sake of speed, a temptation may be to let IS or a few computer-literate users design the system interface. What you will end up with is a system that they think is easy enough for them to use, but isn't easy enough for everyone. One CIO's observation sums up the whole issue about usability: Too easy never is.
• The Big Brother Syndrome. Be aware that horror stories of the hidden reasons that companies implement CRM programs may already be circulating through your sales force. They may have heard how these systems are designed to track their every move, just waiting for them to make a mistake so that management can pounce on them. This initial distrust is a very serious issue that must be dealt with swiftly.
Leaving any of these concerns unresolved will only result in bigger problems when you get ready for implementation. They need to be dealt with head-on so that everyone is on board and supportive of what the company is trying to accomplish.
Another one that I would add to the list above is:
• The “WIIFM” Concept: More completely known as “What’s In It For Me”. It’s no good introducing a system that only benefits the company. This is closely allied to the Big Brother Syndrome above. That is, you cannot expect a system to sustain itself if it does not produce any direct benefits to the users themselves.
3 Answering these Challenges with a CRM System based on Microsoft Outlook
The Fear of/Resistance to Change Syndrome dictates that the less the users have to change the way they work, the more likely they will adopt any new system that is based around what they are already used to. So if your users are already sending mail, managing their own contacts in their own Personal Contacts folder, and scheduling appointments with the Outlook Calendar, they don’t want to change this. We saw this frequently in the past where the first thing users asked us after introducing a new non-Outlook-based CRM system usually was “Why should I learn a different calendar? – I already know Outlook and I’m comfortable with it”. And trying to introduce a system that “sychronised” or “integrated” with Outlook also caused endless problems with calendars that got “out of sync”, etc. So this did little to reduce user frustration.
The Resistance to Change factor has another side that’s reflected in a popular saying namely “Up to the age of 18 you make your habits; thereafter they make you”. The reality of these words of wisdom is summarized as follows: If a new system is introduced such that not only is training required to learn the system but one also has to form a new set of habits associated with the procedures necessary to run the system, then it will take the average worker 3 to 6 months to develop these new habits to the point where they are ingrained into their daily work routines. And invariably if the user does not see sufficient benefit in the system soon enough (i.e. before these new habits are fully developed), then they continue to do what they were doing before the new system was introduced and as such the new system falls into disuse. One common excuse we used to get during post-implementation audits from users who were found not to have been entering activities into the new CRM system was “Oh, I keep forgetting to open the system”, or “it takes too long to open the system when I need it”.
The It's Easy Enough Syndrome: If everyone is already using Outlook, and has been trained on Outlook, or at least has become familiar with its functionality then it will be easy enough for them to learn a few new things associated with “relating” items together to transform Outlook into a Customer “Relationship” Management system. Microsoft has made enormous investments in studying the usability of Outlook and soliciting user feedback. So why reinvent the wheel when the users already know (and usually love) this interface.
The Big Brother Syndrome: Installing a new Sales Automation system with Activity Analyses and Productivity Comparison Reports already conjures up the wrong impression amongst the sales people. However just adding to Outlook’s functionality to provide a customer-centric “related” view of the existing disjointed elements in Outlook (appointments, tasks, journals, contacts and documents) makes all the sense in the world to users, and does not introduce any negative connotations.
The “WIIFM” Concept: Here Outlook definitely comes to the rescue. Users already appreciate the benefits of Outlook as a “Personal Information Manager”, especially as Microsoft touts Outlook as being one. The emphasis on Personal implies the primary benefit is to the user and not necessarily the company. So Microsoft in that sense has solved the issue of “What’s in it for me?”
Having looked at the fact that Outlook certainly addresses some of the “human” factors associated with a CRM implementation, we still need to look at how well Outlook meets the challenge in terms of functionality. We can do this by looking first at the basics of a Contact Management system, which still today is the core of any CRM system.
4 The Basics of any Contact Management System
Any contact management application needs at least the following basic functionality:
a) A mechanism to store and profile Contact information.
b) A means to plan and organize appointments with those contacts, not only for yourself but other team members managing those same contacts.
c) A means to schedule tasks and to-do’s for those contacts.
d) A mechanism to record any kind of interaction with a contact, namely meetings, phone calls, e-mail, documents, etc.
e) Some way of storing documents sent to and received from a contact.
f) A way to send and track e-mail communication.
5 Outlook’s inherent Contact Management Functionality
With reference to the requirements list above, Outlook at least satisfies the following requirements:
a) A mechanism to store and profile Contact information: The “Contacts” folder in Outlook already allows a comprehensive profile of any personal or business contact to be maintained.
b) A means to plan and organise appointments for those contacts: Outlook’s calendaring facilities provide these very effectively and when coupled with Exchange Server incorporate a huge number of collaborative features that are extremely difficult for any other stand-alone CRM system to emulate or reproduce.
c) A means to schedule tasks and to-do’s for those contacts: Outlook’s task management facility is excellent for this.
d) A mechanism to record any kind of interaction with a contact: The “Journal” facility of Outlook contains the standard fields necessary to record phone calls, meeting, etc. with clients, and can even time such activities.
e) A way to send and track e-mail communication: The Inbox and Sent Items stores inward and outward e-mails.
However, while Outlook does have the basic foundation for solid contact management functionality, there are certain limitations of Outlook that one needs to be aware of.
6 Limitations of Outlook
As a contact management application however, Outlook has the following limitations:
a) Private Mailbox (Contacts, Appointments, etc.): Without setting up and customising Public Folders, most users will just utilise their Private Mailbox Contacts folder for managing their contacts, thus limiting the sharing of that information and potentially creating massive duplication of the same data within the organisation.
b) Contact-centric: By virtue of their being only a Contacts folder (and no Companies folder), Outlook tends to be Contact-centric rather than Account-centric, which can be limiting for those users managing corporate accounts.
c) Discrete, independent folders: Most users tend to use their Outlook folders as discrete elements, i.e. because it is fairly cumbersome for users to link one item to another, (e.g. a contact to an appointment) they seldom do this. Thus it is difficult for users in the organisation to get an overall picture of all the activity occurring within the organisation against any particular company or contact. The universal objective of any CRM system however, is to provide a “single-view of all customer-related information to everyone in the organisation”.
7 Overcoming Outlook’s Limitations
Several Outlook-based CRM systems such as MX-Contact (www.mxcontact.com) are Outlook Add-Ins that overcome these limitations by extending the functionality of Outlook to transform it into a powerful CRM system without changing the way users send mail, schedule appointments, etc. Such systems utilise all of Outlook’s existing functionality but add the functionality found in CRM systems to co-ordinate the activities and items in Outlook into “one central view of all customer related information”. This is the so-called holy grail of CRM.
8 Other Advantages of an Outlook-based CRM System
There are several other distinct advantages to deploying Outlook as the basis for contact/customer management. We summarise them here:
Ease of Use:
a) Outlook is always the first application to be opened: Whenever knowledge workers arrive at their place of work each day, Outlook tends to be the first application that is opened, given that one needs to check what e-mail has been received since last clocking out of the office. He or she therefore opens by default the application needed for Contact Management. One of the greatest obstacles to overcome in the implementation of any CRM system is to get the users into the habit of opening the new system. With Outlook this is not an issue.
b) Outlook is always kept open: The nature of customer interaction is that it is very often re-active, sporadic and impromptu. Therefore it is imperative that the application used to log these interactions is always “at one’s fingertips” so to speak. Given that users keep Outlook open all day so as to respond timeously to e-mail ensures that this is the case.
c) Familiar Interface: If users are already utilising Outlook for at least e-mail and calendaring then they are already familiar with the interface and how to add new items, edit existing items, etc. Thus there is usually very little requirement for extensive training when an Outlook system is deployed. This dramatically shortens the average implementation time.
d) Increasing Percentage of E-Mail Interaction: An ever-increasing number of users are discovering the advantages of e-mail communication over other forms of contact (phone, fax, letter, etc.). So as e-mail becomes more widely used for customer interaction, it makes sense to deploy your e-mail client as the primary vehicle for managing customer communications, rather then utilising a totally different application.
e) One calendaring system universal across company & supply chain: Given that the vast majority of corporate users are utilising Outlook, it is easy for instance to send meeting requests to suppliers or customers, who can then use many of the same collaboration features that are available to internal users/co-workers. Many CRM systems have their own calendaring system and given that not all users will (or can) necessarily adopt this system means that one has to immediately contend with the problem of keeping these dissimilar calendars synchronized so that all users can effectively co-ordinate their diaries.
f) One e-mail store: Many of the conventional database-based CRM systems on the market have difficulty linking to e-mails given that an e-mail is not the same type of object as say a document. For this reason most systems not running inside Outlook tend to copy the contents of an e-mail into their database tables, thereby effectively duplicating the data and also disconnecting it from its original item, thus losing its formatting and also making handling of “Replies” and “Forwards” to the item difficult.
g) One document management system: Some CRM systems also copy documents into their database so as to enable replication of these documents to remote users. The disadvantage of this approach is that a document can only be edited from within the CRM system and not also from its original source on the Windows File System or Exchange Public Folder in the way that most users would already be familiar with.
h) Easy synchronization with most PDA’s: Given that all PDA’s synchronize with Outlook as a standard, this means that you have automatic access to your Contact Management data if it is kept in Outlook rather than being in another application.
Reduced Cost of Ownership:
i) No additional Infrastructure Needed: If a company already has the infrastructure in place necessary to run Outlook on client machines and Exchange Server, then no additional client or server hardware is needed to run an Outlook-based system.
j) Cost of upgrade to new versions of Outlook shared: Very often a client has to justify the costs of upgrading Office as well as the costs of purchasing the CRM application. With an Outlook-based solution this upgrade cost is shared given that the company receives a whole host of additional benefits and functionality from upgrading Office/Outlook as well as receiving a new CRM system.
k) Reduced Training Time (Cost): Given that users will already be familiar with the basics of Outlook, the time needed to train users, and hence the cost of that training, is significantly reduced.
l) Wider Support Base: Given that there are a large number of internal users and external consultants that know Outlook and VBA/VBScript (used to extend its functionality) it is easier and therefore less costly to enhance the functionality and support your user base.
m) Wider application of same training: If a company invests in training its staff in the functionality of Outlook, so as to more effectively use a CRM system based on Outlook, then this knowledge of Outlook will be utilised in everything a user does in Outlook, even those activities not linked to customer management but more internal collaboration etc. However, when one invests in training around a separate proprietary system then this training can only be applied to the use of that system and nothing else.
n) Reduced Installation Time: Given that an Outlook-based system installs itself inside Outlook, it is a simple matter for IT personnel to install the system. In many instances this can be done by the user him or herself.
9 Summary
Microsoft’s earlier promotion of Outlook as a “Personal Information Manager” created the impression amongst users that Outlook was only intended to manage one’s personal contacts and was not suited as the basis for a corporate-wide Customer Management System. Hopefully this article has rectified some of these misconceptions and shown that, given that so much of one’s day-to-day customer interaction is initiated from within Outlook, Outlook coupled with Exchange or SQL Server is the perfect environment for one’s all important Customer database. For an example of an Outlook-based CRM system, please have a look at MX-Contact (http://www.mxcontact.com). A free version is available for download from http://www.free-contact-manager.com.
10 PDF Version
A PDF version of this article may be downloaded from:
http://www.outlookwise.com/OutlookWise/Why_CRM_Projects_Fail/01_Why_CRM_Projects_Fail.htm
11 About the author
This article was written by Brian Drury, founder of ExchangeWise (http://www.exchangewise.com), and the architect of MX-Contact (http://www.mxcontact.com), a CRM, Contact Management and Sales Automation System for Microsoft Outlook. Brian has over 20 years experience in the IT industry and has focused on Contact Management, CRM and Collaboration systems for the last 14 years. During this time Brian and his staff have been involved in over 200 direct CRM project implementations covering 7 different products. He is also the editor of OutlookWise(http://www.outlookwise.com), a free newsletter aimed at keeping Outlook users up to date with news, views and articles of interest on Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Server.
How to Manage a Project
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is a specialized management technique to plan and control projects. A project is generally deemed successful if it meets pre-determined targets set by the client, performs the job it was intended to do, or solves an identified problem within the pre-determined time, costs and quality constraints.
To successfully manage a project there are various tasks that must be performed. A few of such tasks includes:
1.Appointing a Project Manager
The project manager must be someone who has a proven track record in managing; can command respect from a mix of seniorities and can get action from teams. They should be able to:
* plan and communicate all aspects of the project
* motivate with integrity, sensitivity and imagination
* gain productivity and trust from shared decision-making
* lead both by example and by taking a back seat when appropriate
* monitor costs, efficiency and quality without excessive bureaucracy
* get things done right first time without being a slave-driver
* get the right people for the right task at the right time
* use both technical and general management skills to control the project
* see clear-sightedly through tangled issues.
2.Define the objectives
Fundamental to the management of any successful project are both understanding and agreement of:
* what is required to be achieved
* what is to be the outcome and/or delivered as a result
* dates and budgets for project completion by both project sponsor and project manager.
Lack of clear objectives will doom the project from the beginning.
3. Establish the Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference specify the objectives, scope, time-frames and initial scale of resource required. They should also clarify any risks, constraints or assumptions already identified. It is important to make any early allowances for cost escalation, plans veering off course, and build in a level of contingency, or safety margin.
4. Planning/ Construct the Work Breakdown Structure Document (WBSD)/
Having established what the project should achieve, next consider how to achieve it.
The WBSD forms the basis of much subsequent work in planning, setting budgets, exercising control and assigning responsibilities. The key is to break the project down into identifiable phases, then into controllable units for action. Dividing a piece of work into more approachable, discrete units facilitates the functions of estimating, planning and controlling. As soon as possible allocate time- scales to each unit of work, taking care to allow for both sequential units - those that need to be accomplished before the next can be tackled, and overlapping units - those that can run in tandem.
5. Plan costs
A key area in which the most frequent error is to under-estimate costs. Typical cost elements include:
* staff time and wages - usually the most substantial cost item of all
* overheads - employer on-costs
* materials and supplies - the raw materials
* equipment
* administration
6. Plan for quality
Planning for quality requires both attention to detail and ensuring that the project output or outcome does what it is supposed to, or is "fit for its purpose". Quality measures (systematic inspections against established standards) should be built into the process from the beginning, not later when things have started to go awry.
7. Plan time-scales
In order to calculate the shortest time necessary to complete the project you need to know:
* the earliest time a stage or unit can start
* the duration of each stage
* the latest time by which a stage must be completed.
* Gantt charts, PERT diagrams and Critical Path Analysis may be used for effective planning of time-scales.
8. Plan Scope, Integration, Human Resources, Communication, Procurement and Risk
9. Monitor & Report Progress
The monitoring of in-progress costs, time-scales and quality is a major factor for consideration throughout the duration of the project. In addition to progress reports, feedback sessions and Management By Walking About, there are various control tools which help check that implementation is going according to plan.
10. Execution, Execution
Deliver the output. Obtain the client's acceptance of the project result". The penultimate stage before project completion is ensuring that the outcome of the project is accepted by the customer or sponsor.
11. Evaluate the project and Lessons learnt
By building in a final stage of evaluation it is possible to gain a measure of the project's success and see what lessons can be learned. Once again, the three key areas for review are quality, time and costs. Others include:
* staff skills gained or identified
* mistakes not to be repeated and what would be tackled differently.
* tools and techniques that were valuable
* processes that were flawed
--
By Samuel Lartey, Project Manager.
To successfully manage a project there are various tasks that must be performed. A few of such tasks includes:
1.Appointing a Project Manager
The project manager must be someone who has a proven track record in managing; can command respect from a mix of seniorities and can get action from teams. They should be able to:
* plan and communicate all aspects of the project
* motivate with integrity, sensitivity and imagination
* gain productivity and trust from shared decision-making
* lead both by example and by taking a back seat when appropriate
* monitor costs, efficiency and quality without excessive bureaucracy
* get things done right first time without being a slave-driver
* get the right people for the right task at the right time
* use both technical and general management skills to control the project
* see clear-sightedly through tangled issues.
2.Define the objectives
Fundamental to the management of any successful project are both understanding and agreement of:
* what is required to be achieved
* what is to be the outcome and/or delivered as a result
* dates and budgets for project completion by both project sponsor and project manager.
Lack of clear objectives will doom the project from the beginning.
3. Establish the Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference specify the objectives, scope, time-frames and initial scale of resource required. They should also clarify any risks, constraints or assumptions already identified. It is important to make any early allowances for cost escalation, plans veering off course, and build in a level of contingency, or safety margin.
4. Planning/ Construct the Work Breakdown Structure Document (WBSD)/
Having established what the project should achieve, next consider how to achieve it.
The WBSD forms the basis of much subsequent work in planning, setting budgets, exercising control and assigning responsibilities. The key is to break the project down into identifiable phases, then into controllable units for action. Dividing a piece of work into more approachable, discrete units facilitates the functions of estimating, planning and controlling. As soon as possible allocate time- scales to each unit of work, taking care to allow for both sequential units - those that need to be accomplished before the next can be tackled, and overlapping units - those that can run in tandem.
5. Plan costs
A key area in which the most frequent error is to under-estimate costs. Typical cost elements include:
* staff time and wages - usually the most substantial cost item of all
* overheads - employer on-costs
* materials and supplies - the raw materials
* equipment
* administration
6. Plan for quality
Planning for quality requires both attention to detail and ensuring that the project output or outcome does what it is supposed to, or is "fit for its purpose". Quality measures (systematic inspections against established standards) should be built into the process from the beginning, not later when things have started to go awry.
7. Plan time-scales
In order to calculate the shortest time necessary to complete the project you need to know:
* the earliest time a stage or unit can start
* the duration of each stage
* the latest time by which a stage must be completed.
* Gantt charts, PERT diagrams and Critical Path Analysis may be used for effective planning of time-scales.
8. Plan Scope, Integration, Human Resources, Communication, Procurement and Risk
9. Monitor & Report Progress
The monitoring of in-progress costs, time-scales and quality is a major factor for consideration throughout the duration of the project. In addition to progress reports, feedback sessions and Management By Walking About, there are various control tools which help check that implementation is going according to plan.
10. Execution, Execution
Deliver the output. Obtain the client's acceptance of the project result". The penultimate stage before project completion is ensuring that the outcome of the project is accepted by the customer or sponsor.
11. Evaluate the project and Lessons learnt
By building in a final stage of evaluation it is possible to gain a measure of the project's success and see what lessons can be learned. Once again, the three key areas for review are quality, time and costs. Others include:
* staff skills gained or identified
* mistakes not to be repeated and what would be tackled differently.
* tools and techniques that were valuable
* processes that were flawed
--
By Samuel Lartey, Project Manager.
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