

September 2009 From the Desk of \| Tip \| Announcements \| Customer Success Story \|Industry News \| Special Offer Recently, I've been scrutinizing my family's budget and asking the following question a lot: “What exactly are we paying for, and why?” As most of you know, I travel a lot; so I outsource some aspects of our home maintenance such as caring for the small lakefront area of our backyard. We initially hired a company to clear out the weed-infested bank and replace it with eco-friendly plants to maintain the fish population in the lake. Then, I agreed to pay them a monthly fee so the area would stay pristine. The last few times they’ve come, I was home to watch the “maintenance.” It was evident this was one of those expenses we easily could “black out.” You see, what we thought we were paying for was not what we were getting. Since I’m no environmentalist, I don’t know exactly what I expected; maybe some sort of custom-crafted, comprehensive program to develop happy little plants that will spend a long lifetime basking in the sunlight, swaying in the wind and dipping their toes in the water. Maybe I thought a Discovery Channel-type expert in a wide-brimmed hat, wearing cargo shorts and speaking with an Australian accent, would take water and specimen samples to recommend a strategic plan just for us. At minimum, I thought this company would provide a healthier, more balanced lake environment than we could on our own. Instead, we’re paying for two teenagers to spend five minutes spraying weed killer every few weeks. Nothing more, nothing less. Is our lakefront free of weeds? Yes. Are there fish in the lake? Yes. But, are they delivering a service that is focused on the health and well-being of our yard? No. Do they go above and beyond what is required or have a problem-solving attitude? No. Do they anticipate problems we may not have thought about; explain choices thoroughly so we can make better decisions; ask for more information than we offer? No, no and no. Maybe there’s more to it than what we’re seeing; but, we’re not privy to that information. No schedule has been presented to us; and, our dialogue is minimal. They’re simply doing what they need to do to get by. My story is very similar to that of almost all software customers and their vendors. You pay for an initial product – their software – then you’re expected to pay monthly licensing fees to cover maintenance and support. At first, you expect that relationship will involve more than it really does. You expect you’ll have a help desk staffed by expert consultants to provide advice and encourage you to use your software to its fullest capabilities. In time, you settle for the reality: post-implementation, a software company only is going to respond to your immediate needs. Nothing less, nothing more. They’re never going to ask you questions; they’re never going to resolve your difficult operational issues; and, they’re never going to focus on helping you be a better-run business. The reason for this is simple: they make the same amount of money regardless of how much time they spend with you or how much interest they show. The scope of what they’re focused on is limited, by design. Sure, customer service is important to them. They understand the threat that you can go elsewhere; but, they know it would take a lot for you to throw away the large investment you made. That reality recently became more apparent to me, as I’ve been spending time with small to mid-sized distributors. It seems like they get the bad end of the deal. Large distributors react to a situation such as this exactly (and preemptively) the way I did with my land care company: I can do just as much, and more, on my own. Yes, they’re locked into a licensing contract; but, they can afford to create and develop an internal help desk with just their businesses’ goals in mind. Small to mid-sized distributors, on the other hand, aren’t big enough to justify the expense of internal support, can’t get the specialized help they need from their software provider and perceive that an external consultant is too expensive. Most of them end up doing nothing; they deal with the status quo and do the best they can. My message to you today is one of inspiration. Just like my wife and I can find items to black out in our household budget, you can find a support system that is focused on doing more than just maintaining your software investment; you can find someone who will service it with your businesses’ best interests in mind. You can find a service provider who will take the time to understand your business and whose focus is not just on his product, but on the business processes and operational improvements it intercedes. You can find a strategic partner who cares about the health and well-being of your company for the long term, rather than zapping the immediately-offending problems as quickly as possible and moving on to another client. Someone recently said to me, “The major benefit of Zerion is that you tell us what good things might happen, what bad things might happen and what our choices are.” I’m not trying to say that you must use only Zerion for your software maintenance and support needs; but, I encourage you at least to consider bringing on this type of a resource company on a regular basis. And, of course, I hope that you’ll talk to me first. You may be pleasantly surprised at what our version of a real help desk entails, and how affordable such an ongoing relationship can be. I think you should stop settling for “the way it is” and find a better long-term solution. With an independent software expert available to your staff for just a few hours a month, I think you’ll be amazed at how happy that little plant called your growing business can become. Before you know it, you too will be basking in the sunlight, swaying in the breeze and dipping your toes into (new) waters. Tony King, Vice President 321.229.1089 Back to Top C&L Supply: Where Tenure Meets Training A distributor with many long-term employees was facing a major operational change: moving to an RF warehouse. Change is hard for anyone, but when you’ve been accustomed to the same procedures for over 25 years, it can seem insurmountable. C&L needed a partner for training who not only knew their stuff, but also had the gift of teaching. Read the complete success story (.pdf) ... 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: Six keys to effective ERP implementation training for employees Beating downturn with IT, ERP software Wholesaler Holiday Hours Construction spending will drop through 2010 Want more news? Visit us at: www.zeriongroup.com/newsroom/industrynews.html Back to Top Get an RF Warehouse for a FIXED Fee ... If you enjoyed the story about C&L Supply and their successful RF implementation, you may be considering an RF install of your own. This month only, newsletter subscribers can sign-on for an RF install at a pre-determined, fixed fee for consulting and training. For a limited time, it's just one price to start benefiting from RF. Contact Tony King (321.229.1089) by Oct. 30 to learn more and reserve your spot. Back to Top	Using the PO Expedite Queue Ever wonder how you can see those POs that never have been sent to the vendor? Check the PO Expedite Queue for Type – unprinted. New Web Site Home Page Zerion just updated its web site home page! We now have a main content rotator and a hot news rotator. We'll be using these dynamic features to post new content to our home page regularly, including news and specials, and we'll use our home page to point you to little known content on our site. Check it out ... Training in Manchester, NH The Eclipse Users Group will be hosting three days of regional training sessions in Manchester, NH. Classes will be held on Oct. 21-23 and include RF Warehousing, Paper Warehousing and Purchasing. Interested in joining us? Register today at eclipseuser.com. Calling All Fans and Followers Become a fan of Zerion on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. We'll keep you posted on where our team is and what we're doing, as well as provide industry news and Zerion updates and specials.

September 2009

From the desk of Tony King Recently, I've been scrutinizing my family's budget and asking the following question a lot: “What exactly are we paying for, and why?” As most of you know, I travel a lot; so I outsource some aspects of our home maintenance such as caring for the small lakefront area of our backyard. We initially hired a company to clear out the weed-infested bank and replace it with eco-friendly plants to maintain the fish population in the lake. Then, I agreed to pay them a monthly fee so the area would stay pristine. The last few times they’ve come, I was home to watch the “maintenance.” It was evident this was one of those expenses we easily could “black out.” You see, what we thought we were paying for was not what we were getting.

Since I’m no environmentalist, I don’t know exactly what I expected; maybe some sort of custom-crafted, comprehensive program to develop happy little plants that will spend a long lifetime basking in the sunlight, swaying in the wind and dipping their toes in the water. Maybe I thought a Discovery Channel-type expert in a wide-brimmed hat, wearing cargo shorts and speaking with an Australian accent, would take water and specimen samples to recommend a strategic plan just for us. At minimum, I thought this company would provide a healthier, more balanced lake environment than we could on our own.

Instead, we’re paying for two teenagers to spend five minutes spraying weed killer every few weeks. Nothing more, nothing less. Is our lakefront free of weeds? Yes. Are there fish in the lake? Yes. But, are they delivering a service that is focused on the health and well-being of our yard? No. Do they go above and beyond what is required or have a problem-solving attitude? No. Do they anticipate problems we may not have thought about; explain choices thoroughly so we can make better decisions; ask for more information than we offer? No, no and no. Maybe there’s more to it than what we’re seeing; but, we’re not privy to that information. No schedule has been presented to us; and, our dialogue is minimal. They’re simply doing what they need to do to get by.

My story is very similar to that of almost all software customers and their vendors. You pay for an initial product – their software – then you’re expected to pay monthly licensing fees to cover maintenance and support. At first, you expect that relationship will involve more than it really does. You expect you’ll have a help desk staffed by expert consultants to provide advice and encourage you to use your software to its fullest capabilities. In time, you settle for the reality: post-implementation, a software company only is going to respond to your immediate needs. Nothing less, nothing more. They’re never going to ask you questions; they’re never going to resolve your difficult operational issues; and, they’re never going to focus on helping you be a better-run business. The reason for this is simple: they make the same amount of money regardless of how much time they spend with you or how much interest they show. The scope of what they’re focused on is limited, by design. Sure, customer service is important to them. They understand the threat that you can go elsewhere; but, they know it would take a lot for you to throw away the large investment you made.

That reality recently became more apparent to me, as I’ve been spending time with small to mid-sized distributors. It seems like they get the bad end of the deal. Large distributors react to a situation such as this exactly (and preemptively) the way I did with my land care company: I can do just as much, and more, on my own. Yes, they’re locked into a licensing contract; but, they can afford to create and develop an internal help desk with just their businesses’ goals in mind. Small to mid-sized distributors, on the other hand, aren’t big enough to justify the expense of internal support, can’t get the specialized help they need from their software provider and perceive that an external consultant is too expensive. Most of them end up doing nothing; they deal with the status quo and do the best they can.

My message to you today is one of inspiration. Just like my wife and I can find items to black out in our household budget, you can find a support system that is focused on doing more than just maintaining your software investment; you can find someone who will service it with your businesses’ best interests in mind. You can find a service provider who will take the time to understand your business and whose focus is not just on his product, but on the business processes and operational improvements it intercedes. You can find a strategic partner who cares about the health and well-being of your company for the long term, rather than zapping the immediately-offending problems as quickly as possible and moving on to another client.

Someone recently said to me, “The major benefit of Zerion is that you tell us what good things might happen, what bad things might happen and what our choices are.” I’m not trying to say that you must use only Zerion for your software maintenance and support needs; but, I encourage you at least to consider bringing on this type of a resource company on a regular basis. And, of course, I hope that you’ll talk to me first. You may be pleasantly surprised at what our version of a real help desk entails, and how affordable such an ongoing relationship can be. I think you should stop settling for “the way it is” and find a better long-term solution. With an independent software expert available to your staff for just a few hours a month, I think you’ll be amazed at how happy that little plant called your growing business can become. Before you know it, you too will be basking in the sunlight, swaying in the breeze and dipping your toes into (new) waters.

Tony King, Vice President
321.229.1089

C&L Supply: Where Tenure Meets Training
A distributor with many long-term employees was facing a major operational change: moving to an RF warehouse. Change is hard for anyone, but when you’ve been accustomed to the same procedures for over 25 years, it can seem insurmountable. C&L needed a partner for training who not only knew their stuff, but also had the gift of teaching. Read the complete success story (.pdf) ...

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:

Six keys to effective ERP implementation training for employees

Beating downturn with IT, ERP software

Wholesaler Holiday Hours

Construction spending will drop through 2010

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

Get an RF Warehouse for a FIXED Fee ...
If you enjoyed the story about C&L Supply and their successful RF implementation, you may be considering an RF install of your own. This month only, newsletter subscribers can sign-on for an RF install at a pre-determined, fixed fee for consulting and training. For a limited time, it's just one price to start benefiting from RF.

Contact Tony King (321.229.1089) by Oct. 30 to learn more and reserve your spot.

Using the PO Expedite Queue
Ever wonder how you can see those POs that never have been sent to the vendor? Check the PO Expedite Queue for Type – unprinted.

New Web Site Home Page
Zerion just updated its web site home page! We now have a main content rotator and a hot news rotator. We'll be using these dynamic features to post new content to our home page regularly, including news and specials, and we'll use our home page to point you to little known content on our site. Check it out ...

Training in Manchester, NH
The Eclipse Users Group will be hosting three days of regional training sessions in Manchester, NH. Classes will be held on Oct. 21-23 and include RF Warehousing, Paper Warehousing and Purchasing. Interested in joining us? Register today at eclipseuser.com.

Calling All Fans and Followers
Become a fan of Zerion on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. We'll keep you posted on where our team is and what we're doing, as well as provide industry news and Zerion updates and specials.