I heard recently about a company that had just hired a new graduate into the sales department. After a month, he handed in his notice. When asked why, he told his manager that he found it too frustrating to work there any longer. “Your hardware barely functions. The software is hopelessly out of date, lead generation is a joke, finding stock availability is hit and miss and your staff aren’t willing to accept there are better ways of working.” He went on “Amazon and other online retailers have raised customer expectations, both for individuals and businesses. They want to be able to compare prices, check product details, see stock availability and choose delivery options, all in an instant.” “But we’re not trying to be Amazon,” said the shocked manager. “No, but your competitors are,” was the response, and with that the graduate left the building.
Harsh words indeed. But how true were they? Was the company really not up to speed with its IT? Were they lagging behind their competitors? And how could they find out what they needed?
If the company had come to us, we could have helped to evaluate what they had and what they needed. After all it’s something our experts do a lot of. In many cases it doesn’t take us long to discover that they often don’t need the expense of a whole new system as we frequently find that a few updates, some de-bugging, staff training on the software (which usually reveals they already have a whole host of features that no-one had discovered) and the services of a different delivery company (sourced online, or course, after checking prices and reviews) is all that is needed.
IT is one of the few instances where the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” doesn’t apply. This is because fixing IT is a continuous process. If your hardware is struggling to process even the simplest task or your software can’t seem to provide you with the extra information you need, it could be time for an evaluation before it – and your business- faces the Blue Screen of Death.
Call us on 01392 875 391, email enquiries@mjsmith.co.uk or complete our contact form to arrange a meeting.