Recently I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries on what I would recommend for:
- the best way to manage projects on-line
- the best contact management system to use
- the best calendaring system
- the best newsletter template
- blah blah blah
Everyone is looking for that “best” piece of technology that’s going to help lift them out of overwhelm, to help them to manage better, to help them be more efficient. And while their intent is valid, the method in which they are thinking that their problems will be solved may not be.
You can have the best contact management system but if you don’t use it – like send communications to your contacts – it doesn’t matter how good it is, it will likely be a waste of your money.
You can have the top of the line calendaring system with all of the bells, whistles and colours – but if you don’t respect the appointments in your calendar – it’s not going to work.
Systems are not what you USE, they’re what you DO.
Creating systems and processes is about developing habits, routines, standards and consistency in your business so that your customers, clients and employees can expect the same results regardless of who is performing the task.
Before grabbing the next best piece of technology to save the day, ask yourself what is it that you’re trying to accomplish by getting this new piece of technology. Spend some time looking at the way you currently do things in your business. Do you just need to tweak a couple of things that would make a significant improvement in your efficiencies? Perhaps the technology is the next step, but before leaping, I just wanted you to take a look first.