you might recognise one
Some typical jobs
A few of the things I get asked to sort out. They’re typical jobs rather than real clients (those will go here as the work comes through), but if one of them sounds like your week, that’s a good place to start a conversation.
what’s happening, and what I’d do
Moving to something new, and dreading the data
You’ve picked a new system (or you’re leaving one you’ve had for years, or an old Access database is finally on its way out), and the bit everyone’s dreading is getting all the old records across in one piece.
What I’d do: work out together what’s worth keeping, clean it up before it moves rather than after, move it across, then check it properly against the old system before anyone switches over.
data
The spreadsheet amnesty
Over the years everyone has kept their own spreadsheet for something (a customer list, a list of suppliers, who’s paid), and now there are a dozen versions and nobody’s sure which one is right.
What I’d do: everyone hands their spreadsheets in, no questions asked. I bring them together, find the duplicates and the differences, we decide together what’s true, and it all ends up in one place that’s kept up to date.
data
The spreadsheet everything depends on
The bookings (or the rota, or the stock) live in one big spreadsheet that has grown over the years. One person really understands it, it breaks when two people edit it at once, and everyone’s slightly afraid of it.
What I’d do: look at what the spreadsheet is actually doing, then build a simple tool around that, with a screen for each person that shows them what they need. The data moves across, and the spreadsheet gets to retire.
something new, data
Enquiries come in from everywhere
They arrive by email, phone, the website and Facebook messages, and they end up in four different places (one of which is somebody’s head). Most get answered. Some don’t, and you only find out when someone mentions it.
What I’d do: bring them all into one list, with a simple form on the website and the emails and messages feeding into the same place. Then a nudge when something hasn’t had a reply in a couple of days.
connecting tools
The job’s done, but the invoice isn’t
The work gets finished and written down somewhere, and at the end of the month someone sits down and types it all into Xero or QuickBooks from the notes. Things get missed, and the money comes in later than it should.
What I’d do: when a job is marked as done, a draft invoice turns up in your accounts with the right customer and the right items on it. You check it and press send.
connecting tools, a bit of code
Nobody’s quite sure how you’re doing
Working out the month’s numbers takes a day of pulling things out of the accounts, the bookings and a couple of spreadsheets, so it doesn’t happen as often as it should.
What I’d do: a simple dashboard of the handful of numbers that matter to you (enquiries, jobs, money in and money out), which updates itself from the systems you already use.
data, connecting tools
Customers keep emailing to ask where things are
“Has my order gone?” “Did you get the form?” “When’s my next appointment?” Every one of those is an email somebody has to stop and answer, usually by looking something up in another system.
What I’d do: a simple page or portal where your customers can see where things are, and send you what you need, without the email chain. It sits on top of the systems you already use, so nobody has to keep two things up to date.
something new
and the one that isn’t here
If yours isn’t here, that’s fine. Most of the jobs I do start with somebody telling me what’s driving them mad, and it’s rarely quite like anyone else’s.
How things get joined upno form, no pitch
Sound familiar?
Drop me an email and tell me a bit about what’s going on. The first conversation is free.
m@martinhills.com