Lisa Kianoff, CPA.CITP, is president and founder of L. Kianoff & Associates, Inc. in Birmingham, AL. Her firm, a MAPADOC Select Partner, helps companies strengthen their business performance with accounting and business management systems. The company offers needs analysis, software sales, custom report writing and full system implementation services to clients throughout Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. SWK relies on its channel partners as a key component to the reseller effort. Learn more about Lisa and her practice in this SWK Channel Partner profile, just one of several profiles available for viewing at www.swktech.com.
MAPADOC: How does MAPADOC help increase your value as a solutions provider to your customers?
Lisa Kianoff: Increasingly, our Sage MAS 90 client base is asked to provide EDI capabilities for their larger customers. Our experience with SWK and MAPADOC during the past several years is that this solution does a good job of filling the EDI needs, and with help from SWK, we can support most any situation. When there was special handling or reporting needs within the EDI framework, the SWK development team has always been a great resource in assisting with needed design and development.
MAPADOC: What is the reaction from your customers when they realize the benefits MAPADOC brings to EDI?
LK: Most customers are hesitant to implement EDI until their customers and/or vendors require it. The process always starts with “I have to do this.” They go down the EDI path to retain their customers and provide the service required. However, it always seems that once MAPADOC is implemented for their trading partners and they see how much time they save, they wish they had implemented EDI earlier.
One customer experienced 400%+ growth in Sales Order volume without having to increase data entry staff due to the time savings provided by just one or two customers sending their orders in via EDI. Our customers go from “I have to” to “I want more,” and begin contacting their larger customers to see if they can move to an EDI transmission model with them.
MAPADOC: How do you explain EDI to customers to help them understand how MAPADOC integrates with MAS?
LK: This really depends on the size and sophistication level of the particular customer. Some have no concept of EDI or what it does, while others understand the concepts and integrations of an EDI system with their ERP system. For those who have experience creating orders via some type of import functionality in a past system or in MAS, we relate what EDI does for them to start at that level and see the improved communication and updates to their customer.
“It’s just like you entered it by hand without the work” seems to help them understand that the integration of MAPADOC and MAS is so complete that they are not losing any functionality on the order entry – while saving time and improving communication on order confirmation, status, shipping and invoicing. Here, again, SWK has stepped in to ensure “special” characteristics needed by the MAS client, such as populating user-defined fields are handled with MAPADOC to MAS integration.
MAPADOC: Your business has grown over the years. What is the secret to your success?
LK: We are most successful when we are true to our mission statement – “Create A Partnership With Our Clients to Strengthen The Performance And Champion The Success Of Their Business.” Our team’s passion and commitment is focused on helping our clients institute “Best Practices,” such as the MAPADOC EDI solution.
Our strength is helping clients identify the vital information they need from their business systems, and then delivering it to them so they can make good and timely business decisions, improve their business processes, and take full advantage of the tools available in their business systems. We work in partnership with our clients as an extension of their business.
MAPADOC: Now that we are in 2010, what do you predict will be your toughest business challenge this year?
LK: We have seen that this economic downturn has clients and prospects very cautious about business investments that can’t show immediate returns and value. We do the same thing. Value for investment has always been important; however, in “good times,” we lose focus on it.
As a company, we remain focused on our client relationships and show them ways to get the most value, often without big investments. This comes in the form of some tools we developed, “best practices” processes and strengthening their performance by ensuring they take full advantage of the total functionality of their system.
