In a previous post, I discussed the reality that on average only 40% of a company’s ERP solution has been deployed. I bring this up again because of an innocent question posed by a client during a follow-up conversation related to a reference call he had received.

A prospect wanting a reference had called our Spitfire client, bringing up a business scenario common to both companies. They had discussed this topic at length. By the end of the conversation, they had convinced each other that a software solution would significantly reduce management overhead while at the same time reduce errors and omissions.

You can image the reaction from our client when I informed him during that follow-up conversation that the functionality he and the prospect had discussed already existed in the current version of the Spitfire Project Management System installed at his company. Here was another example of undiscovered functionality in the software being used. (What “you don’t know” about your software IS the ugly truth!)

I was delighted at the outcome of the client follow-up conversation, but pondered a client-services challenge:

• Spitfire Management, like most software developers, places a great deal of attention on promoting all the new functionality added to our system so as to reaffirm our position as a technology leader.
• However, existing features are “just as new” to those clients and prospects who are unaware of the breath of functionality already found in the system.

The challenge is how to promote the laundry list of existing functionality without sounding like a circus carnie delivering a well-rehearsed chant.

Well, for our clients, we offer a monthly webinar, free of charge. The webinar always focuses on using both popular and lesser known existing functionality to streamline operations and get more out of the system. During the webinars, we highly encourage client participation as well as input on topics of interest. Needless to say, the functionality discussed during the reference call noted above will be added to the agenda.

In addition, we encourage our clients to look over our extensive documentation to discover “new” things they can do with the Spitfire Project Management System, and we suggest that prospects read through our website to understand the breath of functionality offered in this solution.

The ugly truth is that both the vendor and the client share responsibility in discovering solutions to problems. But with the right partner, your solution may be closer than you think.