I went to an event for Salesforce yesterday to do some research on implementing it as our CRM solution, and I met a consulting company that works on integration and implementation of the Salesforce platform. The rep mentioned a blog post on the Clear Task blog about “self-implementationitis”. The author gave the symptoms and solutions for curing the ills that come with self-implementation of a system.

We’ve been dealing with our CRM for nearly a year, and from what I understand, the aviation industry as a whole is plagued with CRM failure and stalling. Our biggest need is the ability to “fly the fleet”, which effectively uses a combination of logic and algebra to spit out an alert to contact the customer just prior to their timeframe for making a purchase. The problem is, it’s really hard to get accurate information to plug into the logic and algebra formulas! So, the first DIY vs. consultant question: Do we hire someone to make phone calls and download lists to get this information, or do we hire a consulting company in the industry that claims to already have this data? Do we try to build our own database of this information, or pay to upgrade an industry database that supposedly has all of this kept up-to-date?

In addition to the information problem, we’ve also got a resource problem. We simply don’t have enough programmers to support our open-source CRM. We’ve done a lot of customization already, but the CRM is still glitchy, which means that it’s difficult for us to run reports and update accounts. The consulting company at the Salesforce event says that since they’ve implemented hundreds of systems, they can streamline our implementation, and help us with the customization. Essentially, they can take a few months to make our system a well-oiled machine. So, the second DIY vs. consulting question: Do we block out time for our current IT resources to dedicate to the CRM? Hire someone to come in and support the CRM long-term? Or, do we hire a consulting company for an up-front investment in implementation? Do we put a consulting company on a yearly maintenance contract?

Finally, we’ve got a tech savvy problem! I was nerding out at the marketing implications of the latest product releases for Salesforce (that will probably turn into a topic for next week!), but at the end of the day, I’m not going to be the main user of the system. Our less-than-tech-savvy sales and management team will be the main users! And, the aviation industry is slow to come around to newer technology, particularly the social aspect of today’s platforms (remember those issues with a privacy threshold?). Thus, we can have a system with tons of bells and whistles, data overload, and tons of screens and fields. We’ve added fields to the current CRM system, which means you have to scroll for quite a while to get to the green “save” button at the bottom. You either have to go to a different screen, or scroll forever to add new engines and aircraft into the system, which makes it difficult for parse quickly. So, the last DIY vs. consulting question: Do we go back to the drawing board internally to figure out more specific requirements, or hire a consulting company that knows the aviation industry to tell us what our requirements should be? Do we fiddle with the system until we happen on a great UI, or bring in a professional that understands the human-computer interaction from a few decades back?

I thought the Clear Task article was very helpful, but it made me question our current course of action. What do you think? DIY or hire a consultant?

My husband and I did a bridal photo shoot for our future sister-in-law last weekend. My husband is more technically proficient on the camera, so I was directing our model for most of the shoot, which sparked a lot of thoughts on managing well. I believe a manager’s job is to get the best work out of their people, not just delegate or revel in their power. If an employee is performing below average, I would first take a look at their manager. Sure, there are mitigating circumstances, but I’m willing to bet the sub-par adequacy can largely be traced to poor management. So, what did the photo shoot teach me about managing well?

Have a plan, and share it with your employees. We’re new to shooting with more than just each other, so having a plan was crucial! We went on a recon mission to map out locations, figure out the lighting, and generally know what we were getting ourselves into prior to the shoot. Once we arrived, I told my future SIL where we planned to shoot and the general flow of the afternoon, which made the shoot much more smoothly. Sometimes managers have no idea where they’re heading. Other times, they have a long-term plan, but they just keep that information to themselves. No wonder their employees can’t effectively prioritize their projects or integrate ideas into the big picture!

Preempt the pitfalls. We knew our model would sweat her make-up off, that the sun would go down, and that it was a little muddy in some places, so we used our plan to preempt the pitfalls. While my husband was shooting, I was walking around looking for the next pose, making sure the hair, dress, and veil stayed perfect, and generally making sure things were going well, so that he could focus on getting the shot. Managers should do the same thing for their employees. Is trouble brewing among the top executives? Managers should curtail the effects on their subordinates so that their employees can focus on delivering great work. Is a huge project coming down the pipeline? Managers should start re-arranging the project assignments to ensure the right people are available for each task. Good managers will think a move or two ahead, and work to create an environment that is free of undue stress or unproductive drama.

Be enthusiastic. It’s summer in Texas, which means it’s stinkin’ hot outside, even at 6 pm. Add to that the insane mosquitoes that graced our shoot, and things could get real annoying, real quick. So, what did I do? I did a jig. I did spirit fingers (don’t judge, you know what those are if you’ve watched Donnie Darko!). I gave a sassy hip pop, I laid down on the ground or scampered up a ladder, and I got all up in my model’s space. All of my excitement rubbed off on her, kept her in good spirits, and ultimately, we got the shots that we needed. These over-the-top strategies work in management as well. Think about it: do you want to work with a depressing, boring person who mopes about when you have to stay late to meet a deadline? Or, do you want to work with someone that makes you feel a rush of adrenaline and pride at a job well done? Employees mirror their manager’s attitude, and your enthusiasm is infectious. So do a little jazz square every now and again, climb on a desk if you’re so inclined, and give a joyful yell every so often… you might just make work fun!

I loved working on this shoot with my husband, and I think we learned a lot about managing a shoot and directing a model, and I love translating the lessons from the shoot to the office environment. What are your tips for managing well?

My company uses a lot of open-source software, including the CRM system and email system. We use this software because it’s cheap. Except, it’s not really cheap when you consider all the man hours and system crashes we endure on a near-daily basis. What’s the true cost of this “free” software? Let’s take a look at a few unfortunate costs, shall we?

First, the IT costs. In theory, these costs are fixed overhead, since the IT team is on salary. But how long do you think you can keep their salary at the same level when they’re at the office on nights and weekends fixing a system that’s constantly broken? How many revenue-generating or cost-cutting programs can’t be implemented because the IT team is too busy wrestling with the open-source software that’s “saving us money”? It’s not just about the direct expense of the IT team’s time, but about the opportunity costs of having them focused on something that should be a given in a business environment.

Next, there’s the productivity issues. The CPAs in our Accounting department are required to complete a certain number of class hours every year. They are allowed to do this on company time via online webinars. Again, great in theory, costs nothing in theory. Except that 3 out of 4 of their webinars have crashed 45 minutes into the presentation, which means that they don’t get credit for that webinar. They’ve now wasted 45 minutes and will have to re-take the webinar and hope that the system doesn’t crash, again wasting 45 minutes and resulting in re-taking the webinar. That’s just one example. I’ve had my internet and network go down for an entire day. Sure, I could work on some designs… but I can’t email them to anyone for feedback or tweaking. Sure, I could just print the mock-ups for feedback… except that the printers are on the network, so no internet and network access means no printing. There’s other people that can’t even work on designs, so if the network is down, they are literally sitting at their desk twiddling their thumbs! But hey, it’s FREE!

Finally, there’s the cost of information and time. One time, the system went down, and we had lawyers sitting on the phone, waiting for a document to come through. These guys charge several hundred dollars per hour, and we were on a deadline with a bank, whose lawyers were also charging hundreds of dollars per hour. We had them on hold while we tried to fax (yes, this is in 2012!) a document because just as we sent the document via email, the system crashed. The CRM system still has bugs that don’t allow us to glean all the information we need out of it, so management is still flying a little blind. They didn’t want to pay for a CRM because they thought the sales reps wouldn’t use it. Now we’ve proved that the sales reps will use the system, but the system is still broken, so their motivation is waning! They spend time trying to input data, I spend time trying to pull out the data, and IT would spend time fixing the bugs… if they weren’t so busy fixing the email system that crashed. AGAIN!

In short, our free or cheap software is actually costing us a lot of time, headache, and ultimately money. Before you start claiming that your inexpensive solution is great, make sure you calculate the true cost. You might find that you’re paying more for less!