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What a Year! The past, the present, and the future.

If I had to sum up the past year, I would have to say it’s eye-opening.  Our perspective and everything that we had been comfortable with seem to have changed.  The familiar walls and sometimes messy work area located outside of our home now can look like our kitchen table or spare room and the only person responsible for making the coffee is you.  If your physical work surroundings haven’t changed, your interaction with clients and/or customers certainly has.  Using some kind of webinar product, they can now appear in a small frame on your computer screen or are just a set of eyes looking back at you from a safe distance and usually wearing a mask.   Although space has changed, the importance of knowing your clients and/or customers is just as important as ever.  That personal touch helps to build trust and long-lasting relationships.

So how do we achieve this?  First, this is something that gets built over time just like our personal relationships. It’s through actions, understanding, and experiences that build confidence and rapport.  Past experiences, although not perfect, helps to anticipate future interactions.  In a business environment, this can be as simple as knowing past transactions and frequencies that help lend insight into customer behavior.  Sounds simple but when the work environment changed were you just as responsive and prepared to answer customer needs? 

This eye-opening past year has certainly magnified what was working and what wasn’t.  The challenge of added physical space certainly has tested all of us personally and professionally but sound relationships have weathered the storm.  If things aren’t working, however, now is the time to change.  Were the tools being used and in place able to work for you?  Personally, that’s a harder question to answer and fix, but professionally it’s as simple as evaluating the hardware, software, and framework used to manage the business.  Did the current hardware and software solution(s) deliver the information necessary to maintain and continue your business relationships?   And did it deliver remotely?  Did your business relationships and partnerships continue and grown during this time?

Did you suddenly find out it would make sense to implement ACH so you did not have to come into the office to cut checks? Several of our clients did and our team worked with them to get ACH installed and configured to meet the bank’s requirements.

Did you suddenly find out that you needed a web store presence? Several of our clients did and we were able to either create a web store for them and/or connect to an existing website with bi-directional integrations that eliminated manual entry in the ERP system and the website. If you still have not been able to do this let me know and LBSi can work with you on this project.

Did you suddenly find out your ERP system or your present manual-based system could not work with people working remotely? We can help you with this. Many of LBSi’s clients have come from either antiquated systems or client’s using a lot of manual methods.

Change is certain and this past year has been extra stressful for those of us that are creatures of habit, but the added stress of having relationships, partnerships, and tools that are outdated and ineffective made things even more stressful.  Did your current software support, ERP application, and the infrastructure of the business rise to this unprecedented point in time?  Evaluate what works, right the wrongs, and prepare for the future.  An important lesson to be learned from the last year is not to take anything for granted and prepare and position yourself for the unknown. 

You most likely identified some areas that were affected directly from the pandemic that you perhaps fixed in the present but you still have some things on your list that need to be corrected for the future. This is not our first pandemic and unfortunately, it will not be our last pandemic. Evaluate your business and determine what needs to be changed in regards to your current business software or lack of business software. If your current systems were not working properly you most likely knew this before the pandemic or identified this over the last year. It is time to correct this. You need the tools to properly manage your business and to support your clients/customers. LBSi is here to help you with your journey into a new ERP solution and/or performing Business Process reviews. Let us know if we can help.

LBSi offers SAP® Business One sales and services.  We sell, install, implement, train and support our customers for this software solution. For over 30 years, our team has helped clients determine and implement solutions to their problems to maximize potential profit and success. We look forward to the opportunity to get to know you.

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