The Problem
The reason we don’t always do as good a job of "steering"
our business, is that we don’t always have this “steady
stream” of accurate information delivered to us without
having to ask for it. Sometimes the information is available
but we’re too busy to go looking for it, and other times
it’s not available at the time we are hunting for it.
Many times users are not a) aware that the information is
available, or b) have forgotten. This particularly applies
to the implementation of new systems. Having been in the software
implementation business for over 20 years, it never ceases
to amaze me how often managers are trained on a new system,
which includes the “availability” of many incredible
useful reports that were not previously possible to generate,
and yet the system can “run” for months without
anyone actually running these reports. This is for a very
simple reason. Namely we are victims of our own habits. The
simple fact of the matter is that certain things we do routinely
in our jobs, but you cannot assume that just because you give
someone the capability to run a report does that mean the
person will actually automatically include the generation
of this report in their daily (or weekly) routine. It just
doesn’t happen, usually because we are already too busy
and too stressed to add yet another activity to our daily
task list.
The Solution
The solution to this age-old problem is to automate the delivery
of the reports we need to manage our “domain”,
whether that be our sales team, department, or company. And
we should be able to schedule the delivery of these reports
right to our Inbox! After all, there’s something magical
about e-mail – most us open our (electronic) mailbox
whenever we get to a computer to check for mail (just to –re-affirm
that someone out there loves us, or is at least thinking about
us, whether positively or negatively).
MX-Inform
MX-Inform is a product that has one primary goal, namely
to schedule the delivery of certain reports to designated
individuals on specified cycles or intervals.
So if I’m the Regional Sales Manager and I have a
weekly meeting with my sales staff at 10:00 AM Monday morning,
I configure MX-Inform to run the Weekly Sales Report plus
the Weekly Activity Report by Salesperson, and deliver these
reports to my Inbox on Monday at 8:00 a.m (or even Friday
afternoon). That way I have plenty of time to review the reports
and analyse the information. Hence I am prepared for the meeting,
and also am in a position to give all the relevant parties
at the meeting the necessary feedback they need to do their
jobs more effectively. Essentially all business success revolves
around “closing the loop”, i.e. ensuring that
the right people get the right information about what they
are doing (or not doing) at the right time.
No longer do I have to scrabble around 5 minutes before the
meeting trying to run the relevant reports, particularly when
the secretary who normally runs the reports has called in
sick, leaving everyone high and dry.
Furthermore reports run regularly and given to team members
cause “proactive” activity to take place in time
for targets to be met. So for example if it is my objective
as a new business salesperson to call 40 new prospects on
the phone every 3 or 4 weeks, a report that automatically
arrives by e-mail every 3 days that tracks my progress towards
my target, gives me the information I need in time to adjust
my activity so that I meet my target, instead of me just being
in the situation where I’m having to defend my actions
after the fact (when the target has not been met).
The Technicalities
MX-Inform is a utility for Crystal Report Writer only. So
it only works with reports created in Crystal Reports Versions
9, 10, 11, 11 Release 2 and 2008. However Crystal is probably
the world’s most widely used report writer, so there
are literally millions of Crystal reports out there. Crystal
can also output a report in any format, namely PDF, Word or
Excel, so if you need the report in an Excel spreadsheet that
you can manipulate further once you receive it, then Crystal
is the answer. So basically, MX-Inform can run the report
automatically at say 10:00 a.m. every second Monday of the
month, export the report to Excel, and attach the Excel spreadsheet
to an e-mail, sending it along its way to you in your Inbox.
MX-Inform has several key features:
Design Reports
MX-Inform allows you to edit existing and design new reports,
using the same functionality built into the standard Crystal
Report Writer version. So you can quickly add additional columns
to a report, or add whole new sections linking related items,
if you have some knowledge of the way Crystal Reports works.
Schedule Reports
MX-Inform allows you to edit existing and design new reports,
using the same functionality built into the standard Crystal
Report Writer version. So you can quickly add additional columns
to a report, or add whole new sections linking related items,
if you have some knowledge of the way Crystal Reports works.
Filter Reports
A query builder is available to define selection criteria
for each report. The same report (.rpt file) can be used several
times in different report “items”, each with different
selection criteria. This is to enable the same report (layout)
to be sent to different recipients, each with different data
set that is relevant to that audience.
Deliver Single Reports or Batches of Reports
Either a single report can be sent to an individual or a
group, or a “batch” of reports can be created
and sent in one e-mail. The batch of reports is run and then
a single e-mail sent containing all the reports as attachments
to the one e-mail. Any number of batches can be setup for
different users and/or different groups in the organisation.
Benefits
Encourage Proactiveness
As mentioned, any time reports are timeously available to
the people who need the information, there is usually still
time to take the necessary action to affect the activity being
reported on. Things only go awry when I don’t know what’s
happening until it’s too late to prevent a catastrophe.
Prompt Action
Reports are essentially designed to prompt action. So for
example, a report that runs every week that lists debtors
past due 30 days, will automatically include invoices that
have just gone over 30 days. So the Accounts Receivable Manager
(and/or the salespeople) who has this information can immediately
contact the relevant customer(s) and chase the money.
Reducing Stress
This method of operating definitely reduces the stress associated
with managing an operation, because you know you’ll
have the information you need in time to make strategic decisions
about what should happen.
Saving Time
Because reports can be output to PDF, Word, Excel, etc. they
can easily be incorporated into other documents such as weekly
management report that must go to the CEO. This saves me time
in transposing and reformatting information from say an Excel
spreadsheet into a table in a Word document.
Increased Promotion Prospects
With a tool like MX-Inform working for you, there is no doubt
you will be seen as a more effective manager, who always has
your finger on the pulse. Increasingly it will look like you
have the proverbial “crystal ball” given your
consistent ability to “see into the future”. This
“sixth sense” simply comes from always having
the necessary information at hand to make timeous, pro-active
decisions.
Increased Respect from Employees
Having correct information at hand at the right time, and
being able to feedback to your employees means that you will
earn their respect as a fair manager, who is not prone to
“gut-feel”, “knee-jerk” decision making.
Saving the Forests
No longer do reports have to printed and left unread in physical
In-Trays. The reports can be printed to PDF and e-mailed,
and only printed if absolutely necessary.
Wider Distribution of Information
Because an e-mail can easily be CC’d to multiple people,
it is no problem to ensure that everyone is on the same page
before a meeting of the minds takes place.
Different Filters for Different Audiences
The same report can be used multiple times but with different
filters applied that are relevant to the particular audience.
So one report can be set up as 4 different report items, each
with different parameters and recipinets to be e-mailed to
each of 4 Regional Managers, showing only the sales figures
for the respective manager’s region. Thus each manager
only sees the data relevant to his or her area and does not
have to wade through 100 pages of listing looking for the
figures that pertain to that manager.
|
