

April 2009 From the Desk of \| Industry News Special Offer Recently, we’ve experienced an uptick in new business calls, received some RFPs and are in the midst of pursuing some potential opportunities. These may be a sign that the worst of the downturn is behind us and we are headed in a better direction. However, the idea of new relationships between IT vendors and distributors got me thinking ... If more people start to turn the faucet back on, and cash slowly starts to flow again, we must revisit what it means to make good business decisions. When emerging from this paralytic purchasing state, it will be a buyers’ market, so to speak; and you have an opportunity to put more weight on important factors you should consider when choosing a vendor. The technology usually speaks for itself, or at least narrows down your options. You know what you need and whether or not a tool is functional for your business. But as a service provider, we believe the decision to engage in a relationship goes much deeper; and a lot of emphasis should be placed on support. After you go live, do you get the sense the vendor will continue to care about you? When you’re evaluating potential vendors for any kind of IT purchase, you should have a clear understanding of the vendor’s support philosophy. Dell, Microsoft and Gateway are all very particular about the types of services they will or will not provide for customers. If you place a support call to them, they’re very up front about whether or not your issue is in their scope. Other vendors offer 100% support, but usually that’s because it’s a specialized product and no one else can provide solutions. Some of the calls we’ve received lately are from customers needing a much more sophisticated level of support than they currently are getting. They’re hungry for an opinion and a recommendation rather than just a yes or no answer. In short, they want a consultant, not an online forum or a telephone help desk. Before engaging in a software or technology purchase, ask yourself what it means to you to be truly supported and what kind of support you want to pay for. Some other points that you should think about when choosing a vendor stem from personality and style. Much of this will depend on your gut instincts and feelings, which may seem a little emotional, but it’s well worth "going there": • Seek vendors who seem to show genuine interest in your business and concern for your challenges. It shouldn’t be hard to separate the sincere from the used car salesmen. • Find someone who listens to the questions you're asking. Do they seem to provide canned answers and revert to rehearsed talking points? Or do they let you talk through the real issues so they can provide helpful recommendations? • Look for a vendor that will tell you no or is willing to walk away. If the sale is what’s most important to them, then you could be in real trouble after go live when you realize that you didn’t have the whole story or were promised something that couldn’t be delivered. • Factor in your company’s culture and how it meshes with the vendor. If you have a laid-back, jeans-wearing, family type of atmosphere, how well will that fit with a vendor who is a suit-sporting, procedure-oriented corporate giant? Or vice-versa? Looking at communication styles and cultural synergies before engaging in a project will help you know whether or not a vendor can relate to you and your business. • What are the vendor’s core industries? As you know, hard goods distribution is a unique animal and any vendor you choose should have experience in the field. They need to understand the industry not only from a software or IT perspective, but from a business perspective as well. At least one team member who has worked for a distributor can be a huge asset. • Consider their philosophy and approach to project management. Ask to see a sample project plan and look at how detailed it is. Find out how hands on they are in managing the project, and how adaptable they are to your needs with regard to implementation. Here are a few other tips to consider: • Know what you want when you start your search. The more confident you are in your needs, and the better you understand what you’re looking for, the more likely you are to find a vendor that’s a good fit. • Of course references are important, but see if the vendor will give you contacts for projects that didn’t go well or clients they are no longer working with. At minimum, try to talk with some folks who aren’t “pre-scanned” or a reference for the vendor on every project. Do your own research as well. Ask your peers and see if anyone has heard of the vendor or has any experiences with them. You also can make friends with Google and do some poking around online. • Always look for multiple vendors, especially in this buyers' market I mentioned earlier. The economy has forced everyone to focus more on price; but regardless, you should give yourself choices… When multiple players are involved, everyone is more realistic. There is no doubt that competition forces vendors to be better and keeps them on their toes. • Have realistic expectations and be flexible. No matter how well a vendor can sell their product or service, no solution is perfect and there will be bumps along the road. So what’s the bottom line? Partnership. Most technology purchases or service engagements can span years of involvement together, even if it’s intermittent. If you’re considering a new relationship of any kind, take factors beyond technical specifications and credentials on a piece of a paper into account. It will allow you to secure a lot more than a contract. You’ll be creating a long-term partnership that will benefit your business in more ways than just the tangible results of the solution you’re seeking. Tony King, Vice President 321.229.1089 Back to Top What’s happening with distribution, software and business? Zerion is committed to being a resource for our clients and friends. In the newsroom on our Web site, we have an RSS feed supplying new articles all the time. We also have some links to industry news. Here are some of the recent articles we found most interesting: Is IT Ready for a Pandemic After Mergers, Layoffs? 6th Annual Software Survey: Scrutiny rules the day HD Supply achieves ecodreams through array of green-tech initiatives Warehouse and DC Management: 5 reasons to take a second look at fleet management programs Want more news? Visit us at: www.zeriongroup.com/newsroom/industrynews.html Back to Top Get an RF Site Audit for $400 ... RF installation can provide more productivity and accuracy. Don't miss this great opportunity to get an in-person consultation for only $400 plus travel expenses. We'll cover all aspects of how RF will work in your warehouse, but this offer is available only for newsletter subscribers for a limited time. Back to Top	Bypassing the RF Gun When Customers Pick Their Own Material If you currently are running RF and have a large counter or showroom area where your customer's can "pick" their own material, there is a way you can bypass the gun for these items. Create a zone for the counter area in Zone Maintenance and call this Zone C. When a customer comes to the counter with his material already pulled, you can enter a quantity of 1,C and the ticket will not go to the gun but instead print at the counter. The system automatically deducts the quantity of the product from Zone C. You have to be careful because the system can't differentiate from where you actually pull the material, all it knows is that it came from Zone C. This is recommended only when the customer has already pulled his own material; all other occasions you should use the RF gun for accuracy and tracking. Come See Us at the NAED Conference Zerion is attending NAED's National Electrical Leadership Summit in Ft. Lauderdale on May 16-20. If you're planning to attend, we'd like the opportunity to meet with you! Along with two of our partners, DTG and epaCUBE, we'll be giving one-on-one presentations to talk about how we can make your business more productive. To schedule a meeting time, contact Tony King at 321.229.1089. Live in Missouri or the Tri-State Area? Get Some Training This May The Eclipse Users Group is offering regional training sessions in Springfield, MO and Hawthorne, NJ that are taught by Zerion consultants. The classes will cover Paper Warehousing, Purchasing and RF best practices on May 12-14 in Springfield and May 20-22 in Hawthorne. To see the class schedule or sign-up, UFO members can visit the UFO web site. Learn Eclipse AP in 2 Hours from the Comfort of Your Desk Zerion offers an ongoing schedule of webinar classes to get you up to speed fast. In May we're offering Receiving, Counter Sales, AP, Basic Navigation and more. To see the complete schedule or sign-up, visit our web site.

April 2009

From the Desk of | Industry News

Special Offer

From the desk of Tony King Recently, we’ve experienced an uptick in new business calls, received some RFPs and are in the midst of pursuing some potential opportunities. These may be a sign that the worst of the downturn is behind us and we are headed in a better direction. However, the idea of new relationships between IT vendors and distributors got me thinking ... If more people start to turn the faucet back on, and cash slowly starts to flow again, we must revisit what it means to make good business decisions. When emerging from this paralytic purchasing state, it will be a buyers’ market, so to speak; and you have an opportunity to put more weight on important factors you should consider when choosing a vendor.

The technology usually speaks for itself, or at least narrows down your options. You know what you need and whether or not a tool is functional for your business. But as a service provider, we believe the decision to engage in a relationship goes much deeper; and a lot of emphasis should be placed on support.

After you go live, do you get the sense the vendor will continue to care about you? When you’re evaluating potential vendors for any kind of IT purchase, you should have a clear understanding of the vendor’s support philosophy. Dell, Microsoft and Gateway are all very particular about the types of services they will or will not provide for customers. If you place a support call to them, they’re very up front about whether or not your issue is in their scope. Other vendors offer 100% support, but usually that’s because it’s a specialized product and no one else can provide solutions.

Some of the calls we’ve received lately are from customers needing a much more sophisticated level of support than they currently are getting. They’re hungry for an opinion and a recommendation rather than just a yes or no answer. In short, they want a consultant, not an online forum or a telephone help desk. Before engaging in a software or technology purchase, ask yourself what it means to you to be truly supported and what kind of support you want to pay for.

Some other points that you should think about when choosing a vendor stem from personality and style. Much of this will depend on your gut instincts and feelings, which may seem a little emotional, but it’s well worth "going there":

• Seek vendors who seem to show genuine interest in your business and concern for your challenges. It shouldn’t be hard to separate the sincere from the used car salesmen.
• Find someone who listens to the questions you're asking. Do they seem to provide canned answers and revert to rehearsed talking points? Or do they let you talk through the real issues so they can provide helpful recommendations?
• Look for a vendor that will tell you no or is willing to walk away. If the sale is what’s most important to them, then you could be in real trouble after go live when you realize that you didn’t have the whole story or were promised something that couldn’t be delivered.
• Factor in your company’s culture and how it meshes with the vendor. If you have a laid-back, jeans-wearing, family type of atmosphere, how well will that fit with a vendor who is a suit-sporting, procedure-oriented corporate giant? Or vice-versa? Looking at communication styles and cultural synergies before engaging in a project will help you know whether or not a vendor can relate to you and your business.
• What are the vendor’s core industries? As you know, hard goods distribution is a unique animal and any vendor you choose should have experience in the field. They need to understand the industry not only from a software or IT perspective, but from a business perspective as well. At least one team member who has worked for a distributor can be a huge asset.
• Consider their philosophy and approach to project management. Ask to see a sample project plan and look at how detailed it is. Find out how hands on they are in managing the project, and how adaptable they are to your needs with regard to implementation.

Here are a few other tips to consider:

• Know what you want when you start your search. The more confident you are in your needs, and the better you understand what you’re looking for, the more likely you are to find a vendor that’s a good fit.
• Of course references are important, but see if the vendor will give you contacts for projects that didn’t go well or clients they are no longer working with. At minimum, try to talk with some folks who aren’t “pre-scanned” or a reference for the vendor on every project. Do your own research as well. Ask your peers and see if anyone has heard of the vendor or has any experiences with them. You also can make friends with Google and do some poking around online.
• Always look for multiple vendors, especially in this buyers' market I mentioned earlier. The economy has forced everyone to focus more on price; but regardless, you should give yourself choices… When multiple players are involved, everyone is more realistic. There is no doubt that competition forces vendors to be better and keeps them on their toes.
• Have realistic expectations and be flexible. No matter how well a vendor can sell their product or service, no solution is perfect and there will be bumps along the road.

So what’s the bottom line? Partnership. Most technology purchases or service engagements can span years of involvement together, even if it’s intermittent. If you’re considering a new relationship of any kind, take factors beyond technical specifications and credentials on a piece of a paper into account. It will allow you to secure a lot more than a contract. You’ll be creating a long-term partnership that will benefit your business in more ways than just the tangible results of the solution you’re seeking.

Tony King, Vice President
321.229.1089

What’s happening with distribution, software and business?
Zerion is committed to being a resource for our clients and friends. In the newsroom on our Web site, we have an RSS feed supplying new articles all the time. We also have some links to industry news. Here are some of the recent articles we found most interesting:

Is IT Ready for a Pandemic After Mergers, Layoffs?

6th Annual Software Survey: Scrutiny rules the day

HD Supply achieves ecodreams through array of green-tech initiatives

Warehouse and DC Management: 5 reasons to take a second look at fleet management programs

Want more news? Visit us at: www.zeriongroup.com/newsroom/industrynews.html

Get an RF Site Audit for $400 ...
RF installation can provide more productivity and accuracy. Don't miss this great opportunity to get an in-person consultation for only $400 plus travel expenses. We'll cover all aspects of how RF will work in your warehouse, but this offer is available only for newsletter subscribers for a limited time.

Click here for our special of the month.

Bypassing the RF Gun When Customers Pick Their Own Material
If you currently are running RF and have a large counter or showroom area where your customer's can "pick" their own material, there is a way you can bypass the gun for these items. Create a zone for the counter area in Zone Maintenance and call this Zone C. When a customer comes to the counter with his material already pulled, you can enter a quantity of 1,C and the ticket will not go to the gun but instead print at the counter. The system automatically deducts the quantity of the product from Zone C.

You have to be careful because the system can't differentiate from where you actually pull the material, all it knows is that it came from Zone C. This is recommended only when the customer has already pulled his own material; all other occasions you should use the RF gun for accuracy and tracking.

Come See Us at the NAED Conference
Zerion is attending NAED's National Electrical Leadership Summit in Ft. Lauderdale on May 16-20. If you're planning to attend, we'd like the opportunity to meet with you! Along with two of our partners, DTG and epaCUBE, we'll be giving one-on-one presentations to talk about how we can make your business more productive. To schedule a meeting time, contact Tony King at 321.229.1089.

Live in Missouri or the Tri-State Area? Get Some Training This May
The Eclipse Users Group is offering regional training sessions in Springfield, MO and Hawthorne, NJ that are taught by Zerion consultants. The classes will cover Paper Warehousing, Purchasing and RF best practices on May 12-14 in Springfield and May 20-22 in Hawthorne. New Jersey Sign To see the class schedule or sign-up, UFO members can visit the UFO web site.

Learn Eclipse AP in 2 Hours from the Comfort of Your Desk
Zerion offers an ongoing schedule of webinar classes to get you up to speed fast. In May we're offering Receiving, Counter Sales, AP, Basic Navigation and more. To see the complete schedule or sign-up, visit our web site.