Practice Development News
Improving the way you do business 		September 2006  

In this issue
 
  • Two Shoeboxes, An Article by NeatReceipts
  • Accountants DO Need Customer Relationship Management
  • The Connection Between QuickBooks and CRM
  • Connect QuickBooks To The Rest Of Your Business
     

   
Getting in the Groove
 
Discussing new and groovy trends in technology that are relevant to your business.

There is a new computing model emerging in the mainstream. It's called Utility Computing. The concept isn't new, and neither is the name. Utility computing has been recognized by a number of other names, as well, such as Application Hosting, Software-as-a-Service, OnDemand Computing, and Anytime, Anywhere Computing. But it all comes down to essentially the same thing: paying for what you use, and only for what you use.

Utility Computing is a service model in which a service provider makes computing resources and infrastructure management available to the customer as it is needed. These services are typically offered for monthly service fees, fees which may fluctuate with increased or decreased use of the computing resources offered. The utility model is designed to maximize the efficiency of the resources available, and minimize the associated cost of provisioning and managing those resources. Whether delivered by a 3rd party or by the IT department internal to the organization, the concept and the approach are the same.

The term "utility" is analogous to other types of infrastructure services, such as electrical power or water service, where fluctuating customer needs exist and the customer pays only for resources used. With available high-speed Internet in almost every region, and with the increasing complexity of operating system and application software, the utility computing model becomes even more important to the market.

The four major utility services are electrical power, water, natural gas, and telephone service (rapidly turning into simply "broadband", as many now see IP service as the new dialtone). The fifth utility is computing power. Plug in and it's there, and you pay for what you use. What could be simpler?



 
Novell Cool Solutions features CPAASP
 
Novell Cool Solutions is a free online community where Novell users, administrators and developers share their secrets, and where Novell offers articles, tips, Q and A, and free tools to download.

Because our virtual desktops and hosted application solutions are available to users of almost any computing platform, it doesn't matter if you run Windows, Linux, Mac OS (or DOS, or OS2, or Unix, or whatever). You can run the applications your business needs, and get to them at any time and from anywhere.

Here's the link to the feature on Virtual Desktops and here is the link to the accounting firm testimonial feature

We think it's pretty cool, too.



 
Two Shoeboxes, An Article by NeatReceipts
We call it the two shoebox problem: half of your data is on the computer, and half of it sits in a shoebox or a filing cabinet somewhere. You need a receipt, or a financial statement, or an insurance policy and you don't know where to find it. Even if you know it's one place or the other, it can be maddening to search through file folder after file folder to remember where you put the thing! It's hard enough to stay organized on the computer, or in your filing cabinet, but both?

 
It is growing more and more difficult for individuals and businesses to stay organized. Just think about how much paper clutters up your office or home: bills, mail, contracts, invoices, pay stubs, receipts, medical forms, business cards, product warranties, receipts, articles, even recipes - and so much more. Add to that all of the information you keep organized on your computer, and it can be a nightmare keeping it straight.

 
You have to start by making a choice. Do you keep your "two shoeboxes," or opt for one or the other?
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Accountants DO Need Customer Relationship Management
The benefits of CRM are always being discussed for small to medium sized businesses, but what about the accounting firms? Well, the most obvious relevance is customers. Accountants need to up-sell and cross-sell their services and increase customer retention. These activities are a function of any business, and accounting firms are no different. And what about those existing customers? Are they stored away in a rolodex somewhere? The truth is, your accounting firm is a business, and your customers are no different than any other.

 
Starting at the beginning of your customer acquisition process, like any business, you have a contact. This contact then becomes a lead when they are considering your services. If this lead does hire you, they become a customer. After they use your services, then what? Do you have an archive of the services rendered to them? It is not surprising if you don�t. There are new clients to keep you busy. But imagine what it would be like to have an accessible database of ALL your clients, so you could cross-sell and up-sell to them. If you were able to focus on existing customers, there would be less time and money spent acquiring new business.

 
A successful business has a deep understanding of their customers. Who they are, who they know, and most importantly what they need. But this information is not safe in someone�s head. It needs a real home. This knowledge needs to tie to the functions of your core business so YOU can see the relevance of your own services that would otherwise be over-looked. The goal, in any situation, should be to maximize resources and get the biggest ROI. The question is, how can I do this?

 
There are many ways to go about optimizing your business, but there are few that combine all of your core processes to create strategic methods. For an accounting practice, the sole revenue generator is the client. Your customer should be the focal point of any process changes or improvements. Hence, customer relationship management. So how do you justify NOT managing your clients properly? We hope you can�t, but it�s easy to justify not changing processes. When you realize that processes and customers go hand in hand, you then see the necessity for customer relationship management.

 
The first step in taking action involves cooperation from everyone in your firm. A change in how you do business is collaborative. Not only for support, but for methodologies to be the same. When you have participation from the entire firm, the next step, and the biggest, is implementing the right customer relationship management program.
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The Connection Between QuickBooks and CRM
If you use QuickBooks to manage your business finances, then chances are you have all your customer contact data and business history stored there. If you use a customer relationship management (CRM) program, then chances are you have at least two main points of data entry � the accounting system and your CRM. If you don't have a CRM system, then chances are you could have a more efficient and successful business.

 
Making the connection yet?

 
Your QuickBooks is a database for your business. It contains product, customer and sales information. In QuickBooks, this information is readily available, but it isn�t there for non-accounting or non-QuickBooks users. Why not extend your customer data to an application where it can facilitate providing better customer service, and increase revenue opportunities from those customers at the same time? The goal should be customer retention and satisfaction, not just customer acquisition. Bringing the relationships with your customers back to life is as simple as integrating a CRM system into your business and letting our Q Connector do all the work. Once your accounting, sales and service teams are all connected � all working on the same information � you have the tools you need to maximize each and every customer relationship.

 
Being connected is the key.

 
Connect QuickBooks To The Rest Of Your Business
The new Q Connector, by RPS Technologies allows for seamless and automatic integration from QuickBooks to AlwaysOn CRM.

 
How it works;
The Q Connector bridges your accounting and finance data with your sales and service processes. Customer and product information, sales quotes and order activities, and invoice payment information is exchanged between QuickBooks and Always-ON CRM, providing all team members with the data they need to get their jobs done.

 
Always-ON CRM is web-based customer relationship management, hosted and managed by InsynQ. Whether we host your QuickBooks or not, you can use the Q Connector to make the connection between your QuickBooks system and Always-ON CRM � allowing your team members to work where and when they need to. If you do have your QuickBooks hosted with InsynQ, then a total online solution is the key.

 
Contact us today to get more information on how you can use Always-ON CRM to extend QuickBooks data to the rest of your company who needs it. With the Q Connector, we keep your data in-synQ.
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practice development news | 2006