You know the place in your office where people always end up hanging out to discuss ongoing projects? The coffee might be there, or the message board, or the file drawer everyone goes to for the information they need.
A company called 37 Signals has a product called Basecamp, which could be thought of as a virtual version of this meeting place. Basecamp is a project management tool. With it, you can store your to-do lists, project milestones, messages, files, and associated information in the cloud, so that all the people on your project have access to everything needed.
The effect is a lot like having a file drawer in a shared office, with conversations among members of the team taking place around the images, spreadsheets, and calendar.
Basecamp is central to our workflow at Clevertech. We choose the most talented people from all over the world, so it’s essential that we can work together smoothly without direct contact.
We also want our clients to be able to see what we’re doing on their projects in their own time and space. Our approach is not to create something behind the curtain and then produce it with a flourish. We work directly with businesses to make websites and applications that will mesh with their workflow and streamline their processes.
Hanging out at the Basecamp forum one day, we found that users were frustrated with an aspect of the program. They wanted to be able to move to-do lists from one project to another.
Sometimes a project enlarges and needs to be broken up into sub-projects, for example. Manually replicating the to-do list isn’t good use of time. We saw that this was a problem that needed fixing, and we have the know-how.
We built an add-on, and we call it CopyBasecamp. Try it out for yourself. Then come back and tell us what you think.
We always look for ways to make off the peg solutions work better. This particular Clever Tool is one we’ve decided to share with the world. We’d like to have your feedback.
Permalink | Published in Technology Tactics | View Comments
A while back Clevertech developed Foxstocks, a Firefox add-on that tracks your stocks for you, and now we have a new one: Clever Contacts. This add-on makes it easy to add information to your Google Contacts from any page.
Explore the functionality of Clever Contacts in the video. Then download Clever Contacts for Firefox or for Chrome.
Once you’ve installed it, you’ll see the Clever Contacts button on your toolbar. When you’re looking at a page with contact information you want to save, you simply select that information on the page and click the Clever Contacts button.
That’s all there is to it! Your Google Contacts list contains the information you wanted to save.
Permalink | Published in Fun Technology, Technology Tactics
We’ve been talking with a company that’s sharing a familiar story.
This is an old, established company, with their first century anniversary not far in the future. They sell high-end goods, and they’ve been online for more than a decade. Now they’re ready to expand their e-commerce options. With a high-traffic PR5 website, they’re in a strong position.
So they’re talking about wholesale ordering, a friendlier shopping cart, and integrating with accounting (they use Peachtree) and inventory.
Right now, staff waste time entering the same data twice or even three times: in an email, in Excel, in the accounting system. Reports require multiple sources of data, and experts who can look at them and fit them all together mentally before preparing a new report that combines them all. Papers pile up. Errors are more likely to be made — and even if no errors are made, the extra stress involved in avoiding them and double checking for them can be tiring.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
The solution here is an integrated system. When point of sale and inventory management mesh with accounting and both interlock seamlessly with the e-commerce system, it means the end of the repetition, the stacks, the double checking, the stress. It’s like replacing an obstacle course with a ballet.
More work gets done without requiring more staff time. Key people are freed from repetitive tasks and empowered to take on more creative work. The workflow improves — and if it’s done right, this happens without a steep learning curve or intensive efforts at change.
Everybody knows that integrated systems are better. But they can be hard to create. It’s rarely a matter of pulling a couple of boxes off a shelf and hoping they work together. That’s like throwing a lot of vegetables together and hoping they become soup.
The story is familiar, but we’re just as excited about it every time, because we know that we can help. We specialize in integrated systems, and particularly in integrating accounting systems into the workflow. We’re not saying it’s easy — but it’s easier when you know how.
We know how.
And it’s always easier to change the environment than to change the people. There’s a lot of satisfaction for us in hearing clients say that we’ve changed not only their workflow but the atmosphere in the office.
Could integrated systems make a difference for you? Call us at 1 888 494-1260 to discuss the workings of your business.
Permalink | Published in Business Strategy
Hearing about someone’s new brochure can be on a par with hearing about their new car or their new puppy — you’re happy for them, you’re willing to admire it, but it doesn’t really affect you.
Now, we hope it does affect you. It would be great if you’d been wondering about just what Clevertech does, or wishing you had a brochure of ours so you could show it to that friend or colleague you know would benefit from our services. If so, you can have one immediately — just call or email and we’ll send you one.
Even if you haven’t had “Get a Clevertech brochure” on your GTD list, though, we think there are some worthwhile lessons to be gained from the process we went through to create ours.
We started off with this look. This is the bridge from our website header — a symbol of how we bridge the gap between tech and business — which was developed by designer Tom Hapgood from a Creative Commons licensed photograph. After quite a few renditions by designers Marcel Sendrea and Anne Burker, we came up with this one.
In business, it makes sense to use all the resources available, and to bring in expertise from multiple areas. It also makes sense not to get emotionally attached to one solution early on. An unnecessary sense of ownership and misplaced loyalty can get in the way of discovering the best solution.
A sense of ownership, in the sense of taking responsibility, and loyalty to the company, product, and team can do marvelous things.
Another page we spent a lot of time on was our Services page. Again, we had several designers working on it — designer Jay Jaro, Marcel, and Anne all contributed to this one — but the challenge of this page was in making our services more concrete, more tangible than they often seem.
A lot of our work is about insight. It’s about taking time to talk with you, visit your place of business, and fully understand what challenges and opportunities you face. Then we develop a custom-tailored strategy that gets technology to work for you.
That’s a lot more slippery than “web design.”
We wanted to create a clear image of what we do, taking up the least space and time. A lot of what’s valuable in business is a matter of making complex things work simply, and using the fewest resources possible. Often, we automatically go for the more robust, complex, impressive option. Then we regret it.
The best solutions are simple, elegant, and effective.
We created case studies next. These involved a lot of decisions. We had to determine, out of all the myriad things we’ve done recently, which were the most informative for new and potential clients. We’ve been doing a lot of WordPress lately, yet we never plan to stray away from the high-level accounting solutions we’re known for. We needed to show both ends of the spectrum of our work without making it look scattered.
In business, it’s essential to stay focused, while also being aware of new opportunities.
We also wanted to show prospective clients all about our work, while still maintaining discretion for our current clients. Transparency and security of data are both essential elements of business in the 21st century. It took technical skill on the part of a number of team members to achieve this for the brochure. We use our technical skills to achieve it for all our projects, too.
We hope you now want a copy of the new brochure, and perhaps that you’re ready to think about how Clevertech can help your business. Call or email us today.
Permalink | Published in Business Strategy
Websites are no longer optional for businesses. If you’re in business, you have to have a website. What’s more, you have to have an up to date website– one that shows your business in its best light. Simply put: if you don’t have a website, you have to get one; if you have an old, outdated website, you have to get a new one.
Whether you respond to this news with glee or dismay, you’re bound to be wondering what the bottom line will be.
The price of a website is a particularly difficult question, because the price ranges from practically nothing to a whole lot. However, there are some predictable factors that will affect the price.
These are the elements that will determine the price of your website. At Clevertech, we have a constantly-growing library of pieces we can use to build your site. We know where to go for open source and crowd-sourced elements, and how to fine-tune them to give you a custom experience. We know how to analyze the needs of your business so we can put the available resources toward the right things.
This means that we feel confident in saying that we can provide you with the best value in the long run. Not the cheapest price, necessarily — we’re not a discount outfit, and we insist on quality. But we can help you determine the best way to use the resources you have to reach your goals.
Permalink | Published in Uncategorized
We all want growth for our business. Sometimes fast growth gets exciting. We may have to work extra hard to keep up with changes, demand, and the exhilarating pace of the opportunity. We may need new people, processes, and systems.
Here’s what we don’t need: having to call the webmaster or the IT department every time we want to make a change at our website.
When we’ve got company news, an idea for a new service, a new product rolling out fast, new staff coming on board — we shouldn’t have to wait for months to get to the top of somebody else’s list. And we don’t really want to pay an arm and a leg every time we need changes, either.
Here’s a real-world example: MD Skincare, a company that started with one product made and sold by a dermatologist from his office.
When we met them, they were earning $40 k a year. They were accelerating, though, and it was becoming a heady experience. Errors were on the increase as the doctor tried to make his old system work with the new pace of business. Clevertech built a new ecommerce site with back-end functionality that made things work better.
Another example: Progressive Promotions, Inc.
CEO Julie Levi was recently named a 2010 WBENC Women’s Business Enterprise’s Star. She wanted to get that information onto the web site fast. And the fact that they were featured in a Bloomberg news webinar. And that picture of Marcia Cross in her PPI apron. Something’s always happening at PPI these days. Unfortunately, the cost of getting the constant updates on the website was out of line with PPI’s plans. So Clevertech gave them control over their own business website.
That’s a basic for us: empowering you to run your business the way you want. You shouldn’t feel stuck, waiting for someone else.
The secret to these two websites’ success is WordPress. If you thought WP was just for blogs, you’re behind the curve. WP has been downloaded more than 10 million times, and plenty of current WP sites are a far cry from being “just another WordPress blog.” It’s a very well-designed content management system, and that’s the key to being able to update your site on your own.
Here’s what’s so great about WordPress:
There’s much more to this idea than we’ve been able to include in this single discussion. Call Clevertech at (888) 494-1260 to explore the ways that a WordPress conversion or a new WordPress website could benefit your company.
Permalink | Published in Business Strategy, Technology Tactics
We’ve been speaking recently with a clothing designer who needs some new custom software to fuel the growth of her company. Her business has really begun to gain traction, and of course she’s excited.
A new business opportunity is exciting. There are no givens, no constraints you have to work with, no existing structures to take into account — and no warts. No problems, that is. In your imagination, it’s all smooth and efficient and pleasant.
So our client, in the thrill of the new idea, wanted a complex custom retail software solution with lots of fancy features. Frankly, she couldn’t afford it. Fortunately, she also didn’t need it. Instead, we suggested building only the critical features. A simple but elegant shopping cart experience with SEO capabilities and basic checkout all built on standard software. The cost was a fraction of the large software, but if in 12 months her sales continue to grow and she wants to migrate to something more like her initial vision, we can ensure a smooth transition that critically will not lose her SEO benefits.
In another case, we had a client with a problem. His business had security issues; he needed to be able to supply information via his website, but to make sure that the information was only accessible to actual customers. Still, there had to be enough information access to encourage browsers to become customers. He jumped to the idea of requiring preregistration, deposits, and contracts. We foresaw that barriers like that would scare potential customers off, and came up with a system that allowed searches and showed limited data. Visitors could see that there was a wealth of useful stuff there, but couldn’t actually get it till they signed up.
In both cases, we’re looking at the same principle: we have to define the problem well before we can solve it.
When you’re used to buying software off the shelf, you may have a shopper’s mentality when it comes to your tech needs. “We need a CRM!” you think, or “We need a shopping cart!” You might need either of those things, or both, But that’s not the first step. Jumping right to the name of the item you want is likely to give you something that doesn’t really do what you want.
We at Clevertech like to take the time to understand your business and tease out the central need. The clothing designer in the first example had an idea she wanted to make into a reality, within her budget. Our solution gave her that. The client in the second example needed to show clients what he had to offer without either giving away the shop or making his visitors feel that they were buying a pig in a poke. Our solution gave him what he needed, too.
In both cases, we’re talking about saving people money. Not by being a discount option — far from it. When you find the simplest, most elegant solution to a need, you also create the best return on your investment.
Part of this is the result of custom solutions. When a company builds software for everyone, they’re building it for no one in particular. They have to add features that will catch the attention of the buyer, things people expect, things their competitors include… the list goes on. At Clevertech, we build software for an individual company, so we just include exactly what’s best for the business. We’re businesspeople ourselves, so we know how to do that.
But the larger point is that it makes sense to define the need precisely before doing anything else. Build what’s needed to meet that need, test it, and work from there. The search for solutions begins with a clear understanding of the problems and opportunities.
Permalink | Published in Business Strategy
It was an ordinary day. I was at the library with my daughter. She couldn’t find the book she was looking for, so we asked the librarian.
“All the copies are checked out,” she said with a sad smile, after checking the shelf. “Sorry.”
It wasn’t a satisfying answer.
Partly that’s because I’m a developer. Bits and bytes are easily replicated, and that’s what a book is, in essence. It just doesn’t make sense for it to be “out.”
Partly, too, it’s because I have special memories of librarians. When I was a kid, I’d go to the library and ask the librarian what to read for my age. She asked a few questions and I left with 10 books at a time. So where was the suggestion for a good alternative to the book that was out?
The solutions for books being out is an e-Reader — a Kindle or an iPad. Books can be downloaded to these devices in moments, and they’re never out.
The solution for the librarian who thinks “It’s out” is enough of an answer is to put the expert knowledge of a librarian into the software for the device. The technology exists — companies like Amazon and Netflix use heuristics to recommend new books and movies to their patrons, and so could e-Readers. For kids, they could offer guided paths for exploring books – kind of like your own highly expert librarian.
It should keep track of how often they read, and how long, and maybe even how quickly they turn pages, since that’s an indication of how easily they’re reading. If the kids aren’t reading on a regular basis, it should entice them with comics and graduate them to better books. If they’re avid readers, it should challenge them with more difficult book suggestions.
That’s the device all kids should have.
Permalink | Published in Uncategorized
The Clevertech website once looked like this.
A little more than a year ago, we updated to the design above.
But the look of a website isn’t the only thing that needs to keep up to date. As our business grew and changed, we found that we wanted our website to convey a different message and to play a different role in our business.
We changed the wording. We redesigned our blog. We did some deep thinking about the new directions in which our company was headed and wrote a lot more pages.
We recently changed to a third design, the one you see above — and on our current site.
We’re still making changes. We have exciting things going on that we want to share.
Now, here’s the takeaway for you: it’s great to be able to update your site whenever you want to or need to.
When we build a site for a client, we make sure that the client can get in and make the changes they need to make. Whether it’s a Content Management System that allows the client to update text without calling upon the IT department, or a database system that lets clients update their inventory or accounting processes, we want to empower our clients by making it easy for them to do their own updates.
One example is the e-commerce solution we created for a Brazilian swimwear designer. They were using a catalog with category listings which were just plain anchor links. Click on “bikinis,” and you’d go to a page of bikinis. We decided to treat the category listing as a dynamic and multi-level set of master-subordinator or parent-child relationships. This allows the client to add items and categories freely, without having to bring us in each time to create a new category for them.
Multilevel child entries can sometimes create problems in report building and listing. What’s more, the use of custom orders can take extra time in database processing and code development. We created a Coldfusion process to streamline the system. It works for the swimwear company, and it also works for another client of ours — a company that manages unclaimed assets.
Their database has hundreds of millions of records in it. Not only does it grow each year as more unclaimed assets are added, but they also store each and every salesperson touch of each asset. Big database. Critical data. Clevertech provides database expertise and business process improvements resulting in a more efficient staff.
The key to this kind of success is to design the site to work in the way that your company needs it to work. A single off the shelf solution wouldn’t have worked for both these clients, but our ability to take their expert knowledge and accommodate it in their websites’ design process worked perfectly for each of them.
Permalink | Published in Expert systems, Technology Tactics
Creating invoices can be complex:
It doesn’t have to be complex. Follow us through an Invoice Builder to see how simple the process can be. Click on any image to enlarge it for a better view.
Clevertech has created Invoice Builders for a number of clients. With our Invoice Builders, creating invoices is streamlined. The example here, developed for Passover Grand Getaways, starts with a simple overview page, which you can see above. The tour operator can see at a glance the number of rooms already booked, the number of invoices and quotes delivered, the amount of money to be collected, and any alerts — such as individuals who need a reminder about a payment, or who haven’t responded to a quote.
Typing in the first few letters of a guest’s name brings his or her information page up. All the details, from name and address to relationships with other guests, are on that page. There’s no need to shift from one program or file to another. To create an invoice for the customer, the operator simply clicks on “Create Invoice,” bringing up the worksheet at left.
There’s no need to type in the type of room or price, either. Using a drop-down menu, the operator can quickly select the room type, and the price is automatically filled in.
For the hotel in this example, there are a number of different kinds of rooms. The operator can set these up and change them as needed, to fit the specific details of a given hotel or package. In this case, the operator has chosen a connecting room for children under 12 — any level of detail needed can be accommodated by the program.
Clicking on “Add Room” allows the operator to add additional details about the guests, including the names and ages of all family members, special needs such as a crib or rollaway bed, or handicapped accessibility.
Some of these elements affect pricing and availability of special additions. For example, it’s important for the hotel to be aware of the number of cribs needed, and not all rooms may be equally accessible to people with disabilities.
It’s also essential, in case of emergencies, to have complete information readily at hand. With the Invoice Builder, one program maintains all the information. All the details are immediately accessible at any time. Since this is an online program, the information is also accessible from any place with a computer — no problems arise with time zones, office hours, or access to files in a particular drawer or a particular computer.
The Invoice Builder automatically prices all the items in the guest order, and the operator can quickly generate an attractive custom invoice, ready to be printed and mailed, or to be emailed to the guest.
Since all the necessary data is resident in a single program, it’s just a matter of clicking an icon on the guest’s page.
Once the invoice is sent, the Invoice Builder will automatically alert the operator at pre-selected intervals: in this case, after 7, 14, and 21 days. Follow-up is automatic, so no one has to carry around thoughts like, “I’d better follow up on that” or “Has everyone paid?”
One of the important side effects of an efficient system is that workers are freed not only of repetitive tasks, but also of the need to keep myriad details in mind. The system will do that, so stress on human workers is significantly reduced.
The operator can run reports of many kinds. It’s easy to see how much money needs to be collected, for example, and how many rooms are still available.
Another side effect of highly efficient systems is that your company looks reassuringly efficient to customers and other stakeholders. A question about any of the data in the system can be answered with speed and certainty.
Clevertech designed this Invoice Builder specifically to meet the needs of a client in the hospitality industry. We’ve done the same for companies in a variety of other industries. The key is the way we can user our business training and acumen to understand your business completely, and then use our technical skill to create the technological systems that will completely meet your needs.
Permalink | Published in Business Strategy, Expert systems, Technology Tactics
535 Forest Ave.,Woodmere, NY 11598, 1 888 494-1260
