Sometimes the top selling software solutions are dead wrong for the “Little Guy,” I said.

“But, Fletch,” Kate said, smiling, “The secret is that sometimes you just have to use part of it, not all of it to get your money’s worth.”

“You’re right,” I said, “That is one of the things I found out working with Kamind, my client that literally wrote the book on implementing Office 365. It was developed for really big companies but priced so that even small businesses or solopreneurs can afford it. Having the suite of office software that Microsoft offers available all the time including all the updates is why most folks look at signing up.”

“But that is only the sprig of mint on that mint julep,” Rob drawled. “I checked it out when you told me about it and there is a great deal more. You can have up to five machines in an individual network and all of them are sync’d. In otha’ words the e-mail comes into all of them and if you delete it on one it deletes on all. Even a solo can use that!”

Rick, our Direct Marketing pro said, “But wait, there’s more.”

He was pelted with dinner rolls.

After regaining his composure, he went on, “There’s all kinds of stuff built into it for collaboration so if you have work teams in your small business you can use SharePoint to keep everyone connected and all the files up to date. Or you can use Lync to have a meeting on-line with high–def video and audio screen sharing. The pricing is a steal compared to what you’d have to put out just upgrading the office suite alone.”

“You guys sound like a commercial,” I said. I agree that’s one where the value is unquestionable. Even if you only use a tenth of what is there the price is right. But I was thinking more of CRM systems. I recently took a look at the top 10 systems according to the industry magazine. Every single one of them was so ‘robust’ an untrained person would not know where to begin to implement it. The run of the mill sales person would find it ‘daunting and not very helpful’ while the marketing staff would need weeks of training to begin to build, implement and analyze campaigns.”

“So what is the small business to do?” Gail asked.

“We ‘Little Guys’ have to understand the strategic importance of what the enterprises are doing and put those parts that make sense to work for us. We need to seek out products that are a little simpler but capable of handling the tactical implementations we can afford both in terms of time and money. In the last week I’ve found myself sharing the solutions I’ve found with a distributor, an application development company, an association, a high-tech entrepreneur, a non-profit and a retailer.”

“Does that have anything to do with the product line you are working on?” Kate asked. “I know you consult on contact management and develop the campaigns used by companies from solos up to enterprises to sell their products and services. Is it different when you have to deal with the infra-structure as well?”
“Yes,” I said, “But that part of this discussion is going to have to wait until next week, I’ve go to dash.”

Jerry Fletcher, Networking Ninja, Marketing Rainmaker and Contact Relationship Magician is an International Professional Speaker and Marketing Consultant. This former Ad Agency CEO, PR agency founder and World Class Direct Marketing Agency COO crafts Trust-based marketing to build businesses, careers and lives of joy.

Consulting: www.Z-axisMarketing.com Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com