Do you remember your first Day Timer? Perhaps you’re young enough to have always used either a PDA or a smartphone for your professional life—but for the rest of us, we remember our Day Timers. Usually, we miss them a little (after all, most of us personalized them with handy accessories), but our nostalgia swiftly wears off when we need to take care of work emergencies. At those times, we whip out our smartphones and have access to everything we need, immediately. Smartphones are so efficient and effective that going back to a manually filled Day Timer would waste so much time. It’s the same with ERP systems. Once you’ve switched to efficient technology, your old, manual-entry methods will seem like such a waste of time.
Watch the video above to learn more about how ERP systems increase efficiency.
Why do businesses want ERP systems?
I could give you the short answer on this one, but my enthusiasm would just sound like a sales pitch. Who wants that? Instead I’ll just tell you a story about increasing efficiency in my own business. (Tired of reading? Watch the video instead.)
I’m a person who remembers my Day Timer fondly.
That little, organized notebook was great: its blue handmade cover served as an icebreaker with prospects, and it neatly stored every single thing I needed in its custom accessory pockets.
Then, in 2010, I made the choice to get a smartphone.
It provided me with client email at meetings. It gave me the opportunity to email invoices immediately—and get paid faster. When a client asked me a question, or I had to verify shipping data, or when my accountant needed to verify a charge, all the information was right there. I was able to spend more time working, and less time performing administrative tasks. And when I had to access something my employees had completed, I could.
And that was all done with a dinky, old-fashioned, buy-one-get-one-free smartphone.
Soon, I started using my smartphone for everything. Gradually, I used my Day Timer less and less—until only a month after I got my smartphone, I realized that the only time I pulled out my Day Timer anymore was to show off its snazzy cover. I cleared out my bag, stuck the Day Timer in the back of my closet, holding on to it just in case I might need it.
Four years and two smartphones later, I fished my Day Timer out of my closet, and sold it for 25 cents at a yard sale. Before it was gone, I admired the cover one last time, and I marveled at how limited my business abilities used to be.
That’s how you’ll feel after you get your first ERP system.
Watch the video above to learn more about what an ERP can help you accomplish, and click the button below to hear from the experts about what an ERP system can do for your business. Depending on the size of your business, you may need Sage ERP X3, Sage 500 ERP, Sage 100 ERP, Acumatica.. or something else entirely.