One of the first rules of influencing customer satisfaction... communicate with your customers and find every possible way for them to communicate with you. And then, act on that feedback. With over a 90% renewal rate on our business software licenses, Everest shows we practice what we preach. We have online forums where customers interact, raise questions and solve each others' issues. We have a regular customer newsletter sent via email. We have an advisory board of customers that helps us decide what software developments are most needed for the good of the entire community. We announce new value-added services as we sign on new partners that can be integrated with Everest to provide new and better business processes and efficiencies. And starting this year, we have customer meetings! It started in April with Everest World which had an extremely positive outcome based on comments from the attendees.

Now, Everest Software is hosting a training and networking event in Las Vegas in September, called the Everest Forum. At this event, planned with the feedback from our first meeting, customers will have the opportunity to learn new details about how to use the system, network and communicate with each other and with the product experts from Everest Software. Several months ago I presented group training sessions at the Everest World user conference, but for this latest Everest Forum I will get to spend much more time speaking individually or in small groups with the attendees.  An hour sit down with me or one of the other Everest experts is worth the price of admission on its own!  Getting a company's employees up to speed so they can really use more features of the system is a huge benefit. Customer interactions at Everest Forum will include one-on-one sessions, networking lunches, and peer-to-peer round tables.

Besides the networking opportunity which customers told us they found the most valuable part of our events, we also have 2 days of sessions about the latest industry trends, best practices, and fine tuning Everest.  I may be a little biased, but I am extremely excited for those attending the Revenue Growth track. This demonstrates the ins and outs on how to generate more sales over the Web, over the phone, and inside a store.  For those attending some of the other sessions, they can learn anything from how to best organize their warehouse, to accounting for the costs of overseas shipments, to programming with Everest add-ins. 

I can't wait for the Everest Forum, see you all in Vegas!!

The Internet Retailer conference was in Chicago this month. What a great show! We have been seeking the right venue and I believe we found it! Internet Retailer had great vendors and messages that spoke to the struggles and successes of retail going to etail. One of my favorite technology companies at the show was Infopia; they provide SaaS ecommerce solutions. Great team, great technology, and they solve a real business problem for companies selling on the Web.

We were pretty busy throughout the event, with lots of questions from retailers that we like to answer. Here are some that we fielded, and a quick answer, although Everest would be happy to have our product managers and technology gurus provide a more in-depth outlook. Just give us a call!

One retailer commented that her website margins were lower than her physical store margins. Well, we all know that it should be the other way around! Web merchants often undersell stores by marketing products they don't have to stock, by having minimal physical presence and by needing by far a lower headcount to run their business. What costs are you carrying? Take a look, and then at what resources would be available outside your company for less.

How to do good branding on the Web? We get that all the time. It's a topic of endless discussion. Certainly we know that the online experience has to be compelling and much like an in-store experience. Shoppers have even higher expectations of Web stores. How fast and easy and fast is it for them to find what they want? What are the differences between similar products? They expect lots of instantly accessible information like this to validate their choice.

What works best to get shoppers on your site to buy? If they find what they're interested in, it's not all about just product and price. Besides really relevant information, other customer product reviews and ratings are good. Give them everything they need to get to the purchase decision. We advise retailers to test, test, test. If you're running promotions in different places, have the shoppers come to special landing pages associated with those promotions and see what works best. Online shoppers can be very different; make sure you have everything in place to let them have the experience that works for them, individually. For example, let them choose if the item is a gift and then make sure you have options for gift-wrap and cards. We often use Starbucks as the one-to-one buying experience, and ask how you're going to do that on your website. One size really doesn't fit all on the Web!

Dulles, VA – June 18, 2008 – Everest^® Software, the award-winning provider of a fully-integrated business operating system for small and medium businesses (SMBs), has joined Intel^® Business Exchange (Intel^® BX), a one-stop online destination targeted at helping SMBs research and purchase solutions in a new way.

The goal of Intel BX is to provide SMBs with access to high quality solutions, services and software. In order to ensure the SMB community is offered innovative, high-value products and services, Intel BX identifies providers that are known for small business software, and have a successful track record of customer satisfaction. Business applications, such as the Everest Advanced complete operating system for small business, help customers integrate business processes and data, while providing visibility into the supply chain, also linking sales management and marketing efforts.

“Companies like Everest Software are an example of what Intel Business Exchange is focused on – providing SMBs high-value solutions built on Intel technology and presented in a seamless one-stop shopping experience,” said Peter Elmgren, managing director of Intel Business Exchange within the company’s Software and Solutions Group. “We are excited to offer our customers a comprehensive business management software solution from Everest.”

Intel BX is a free public site, providing customers the ability to read articles and customer reviews, access special offers and conveniently request free quotes from providers who can help them meet their business priorities. Everest small business software can be found at http://bx.intel.com/solutions/business-apps/advanced-business-management-with-everest.

Paul Gallaher, Everest’s vice president for business development says, “We’re delighted to have been selected as a partner for the Intel® Business Exchange. It’s an opportunity to reach out to new customers that have been qualified as buyers of small business management software who are looking for our kind of solution. Any time you can be associated with a company the caliber of Intel is a positive credibility factor. This resource is a time-saver for small business and a great idea.”

About Everest
Everest^® Software enables companies to manage every function of their business more effectively. This fully-integrated business management software addresses the challenges of growing small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), primarily in retail and wholesale. Customers can dramatically increase their efficiency and profitability with a solution that provides a remarkably rapid return on investment. Everest Software was a finalist for a 2006 American Business Award in the category “Best New Computer Software Product” and is the proud winner of numerous awards including the SIIA Codie Award for ”Best Business Software Product.” For more information, please visit http://www.everestsoftwareinc.com/, e-mail us at info@everestsoftwareinc.com or call us at 1.800.382.0725.

I just got back from Internet Retailer in Chicago where Everest Software had a booth among over 400 other vendors to the small business marketplace. I know many of you were not able to attend, so I want to give you my list of top picks from the conference. 

Shop Together
http://www.decisionstep.com/

Have you ever been shopping for something on the Web and wished you could get someone else's opinion? The Shop Together solution allows retailers to have shoppers share their shopping experience with a friend.  By simply giving them a short code, shoppers can see which products each friend is browsing and share their favorites.     

Data feeds - CNET Channel and Etilize
http://ics.cnetchannel.com/
http://www.etilize.com/

In speaking with customers at our recent Everest World user conference, one of the consistent pains I heard expressed by merchants was how to get quality product details into their system. Both the CNET Channel and Etilize provide subscription to product feeds from manufacturers that contain marketing details. The only downside is that their solutions target specific industries. From what I saw CNET is focused into the consumer electronics industry, while Etilize has expanded into home & garden, appliances and sporting goods.

Product Photography - Ortery Technologies
http://www.ortery.com/

Because we have added enhanced image functionality to Everest eStorefront (Everest Ecommerce), I was asked by many customers how to get the pictures needed to take advantage of these new features. This mini-photography studio is the answer. You can spin products, take multiple images and have them quickly saved to a folder.  Everest can read that folder and show the images on the Web without any data entry needed.

Dynamic Product Imaging - LiquidPixels
http://www.liquidpixels.com/demos/Outfits/

Apparel businesses should take a look at the solution by LiquidPixels. This technology makes it possible to change what a model is wearing without having to take pictures in each piece of clothing. You use a single image and then apply a mask to dynamically alter the image with a fabric or color.  This functionality should motivate customers to buy more because it allows shoppers to select an entire outfit ensemble and see all the pieces together.

Marketing Data Feeds - MerchantAdvantage
http://www.merchantadvantage.com/

OK not exactly an objective choice, but a great opportunity for sellers to expand their channels. I was excited to see our friends at MerchantAdvantage, but I was disappointed that I did not have a chance to play Wii at their booth.  They facilitate the marketing of your products through online shopping sites, coupon sites and mobile commerce sites.  Everest and MerchantAdvantage recently partnered to offer a complete ecommerce software solution to all Everest customers so they can easily manage their product feeds through these expanded marketing channels.

Complete Business Management Software - Everest Software
http://www.everestsoftwareinc.com/

For an Internet retailer there is no software that provides a better all-in-one business management software solution to run your entire business. Sales, Marketing, eCommerce, Purchasing, Accounting, and CRM (and more!) are all in one software package that you own.  Everest is now offering the "most e-commerce out of the box" - Everest eStorefront.

Running a growing small or medium size business is not easy, and to gain great success, businesses must fundamentally do three things well and continuously: 

1. Attract new customers
2. Execute operations efficiently
3. Retain loyal customers.

A key ingredient in making this possible is implementing a scalable business management software that provides the right framework. It must be software that is designed specifically to help you attract new customers, optimize your operations and create loyal customers. You need to take a close look at the feature sets and benefits of a particular solution and ask the vendors to explain, or better yet, demonstrate how they can specifically help you in each of these areas. 

But be warned, just software is not enough. You must be able to rely on the people who will implement, deliver, maintain the software, and be assured that they are ready to help you every step of way. Many small and medium businesses have learned the hard way that it's really beneficial to work with a single reliable vendor, one who is not dependent on any other company to make it all happen. This should be a vendor who is both the software provider and a provider of expert services, with a proven record and substantial references in your industry. This should be a software vendor capable of providing a wide array of services who can serve as the single source for your needs today and your needs tomorrow.  This should be a software vendor who understands your business, believes in your business and is there to help when you need them most. 

You really don't want to be stuck with your software provider and services provider pointing fingers at each other when things go wrong or don't perform as anticipated. Therefore, you need to evaluate a software vendor carefully and ask them upfront if they are going to take the responsibility to help you succeed.  If they don't listen, then it may be time to change.  

At our recent Everest World user conference we had a very diverse group of businesses coming from many industries and verticals, large and small.  They all recognized that the key to their continued business success was their ability to maximize how the software can help them attract more new customers, optimize their operation, and use the information in their database to create and retain loyal customers.

It was interesting that I could clearly see two camps of users, the power users and the want-to- be power users.  

The power users were already taking advantage of the flexibility and control an open solution like Everest can provide, and came with their laptops fully loaded with their Everest databases and tools, eager to find out how they could even do more. Many had invested in in-house resources for creating high-end content and a "custom look" for their Web shopping sites. They had made some headway in making their sites search engine-friendly and most were even marketing themselves on popular shopping comparison sites. Many had developed standardized processes and procedures that helped their employees become more productive; and most had learned how to analyze their business data to make smart, strategic decisions.   

While they had pretty much implemented the most important strategies, they also realized that the Everest platform gives them endless possibilities and they wanted more. They were avid attendees of our Technology track, learning how to further leverage the Everest software development kit (SDK), the Everest business activity monitoring and business rules engine, and the Everest analytical tools for greater control and visibility into key areas of their SQL database.

The "want-to-be power users" also recognized they had something special with the Everest solution, but they were a little unsure about how to accelerate and propel to their business vision. They wanted to see firsthand how the power users made this possible. They wanted to see how they could better focus on running and growing their business, leveraging the people at Everest to help them become true power users.  

What they shared in common was, they achieved their goals by attending the user conference. They saw how the upcoming Everest 5.0 release and the new eStorefront can help them attract more customers and allow them to quickly create a high-end shopping experience for their customers. They were impressed with how easily they can now enable Google and Paypal checkout for their sites to increase sales. They learned how they can monitor shopper behaviors so that, by making  minor adjustments, shoppers are more likely to buy, buy more products at each visit, and buy more often. They learned how to utilize Everest monitoring intelligence to track buying habits and then send out purchase recommendation marketing emails. They learned how they can manage their site content and its look and feel all without writing any code, but if they really wanted to get fancy and write some code, how they can keep their customizations working as new software releases become available.

They learned how Everest can provide them an array of continuous services from web design, search engine optimization and monitoring, to web marketing services. They learned how to take advantage of our business activity monitoring and CRM business rules engine to create optimal work-flow and improved productivity. They learned how Everest can help them create and administer standardized, scalable processes. They learned to develop programs such as gift cards and CRM that help with customer loyalty and retention. They learned how to access their data in a more meaningful manner so they can quickly analyze it, watch key performance indicators, and make smart strategic and tactical decisions.

So are you "power using" your business software?

There are many sayings that have real meaning. They have survived time due to their relevance and just simply by being right, and therefore, memorable. Often it takes us many years, by gaining a little wisdom, to appreciate these things that are so simple and proverbially true. No matter where you are in the world, these statements can take on the persona of irrefutable laws, much like the law of gravity, and the third law of thermodynamics.  

I've jotted down probably more than one hundred of these sayings, because of their particular relevance to me. I'm sure everyone has their own favorites. If a CEO takes the top adages on this collected list and follows them, I believe he or she can run a successful company.

The first one I'd like to share is: "everyone is reading from the same sheet of music." Haven't we all heard this one, and how true it is!  When we see a great team perform, no matter what the sport, you can just tell, they are reading from the same "sheet of music", being guided by the same goals and strategies. It is no different for a company. When a company is delivering value to their customers and all the pistons are firing together, in sync, you can bet there is a playbook, a strategy, a sheet of music, that everyone understands and is and executing upon.  

How is your company doing with this? When you walk door-to-door around the office and ask about how the business plan is working, are the answers consistent, or different? It's a real-world example. The finest orchestras I have heard all have to read and play the same sheets of music to deliver a thrilling concert experience! What are some of your favorite sayings, adages, quotes you like to live by, use in your business, that you can share?  

In the cloud or On-Premise? This model discussion sounds much like many of the model or technology discussions of the past. These discussions are usually driven by investors, and rightly so, as they are searching for the next great model so they can drive a high return for their investments! Or, they are driven by visionaries that are changing /morphing the technology landscape, and again, rightly so! Thank goodness for capitalism.

That stated, our customers are not asking about SaaS (software-as-a service or hosted services, also called on-demand), Multi-tenant, On-Premise or in-the-cloud.  What they are asking is how we can solve their business pain. They're asking about time to productivity. They're concerned about how to improve their business, to grow their business.  They're concerned about security and who owns their data, total cost of ownership, ease of use, customization to their business, and much more at a granular level.

We see several models in the midst of convergence. The Internet was built for a one-to-one model - a capitalistic model. When I shop at Amazon they try to personalize my experience. Small business owners want the same thing for their own business operations around ERP, accounting and finance, supply chain management, and so on. Software should be built in a multi-tenant architecture that provides flexibility and scalability. And, software should leverage open technology and platforms wherever possible, that's what the Internet is all about. One-to- many has its place, but not if it propagates more control and lack of flexibility. When we say to customers "one size fits all and we know best for everyone, trust us," then we are probably not listening to them.

At Everest, we are building software in a 30-day agile development cycle utilizing the SCRUM methodology. We provide customers with ease of use, price, IT outsourcing, and time-to-productivity COMBINED with control they manage, customization, data integrity, ownership and total cost of ownership. We are building software as fast as any SaaS-model company while delivering what our customers say they need - what helps their particular business. While doing so, we never support more than two code bases. These are not customized platforms that all are different. Our customers are able to take advantage of speed and consistency. 

There are many technologies or solutions, such as CRM and e-commerce that are best delivered from the cloud. There are also many software offerings that are best delivered on a LAN or SAN environment, such as point-of-sale, inventory and supply chain management, so that the customers can drive their business their way. These worlds are coming together and will provide value to the customers who rely on software to improve their business.

We should allow the customer to decide versus what model we, as developers of business software, propose as the best business model. Right?  In the end, if we are customer-focused and the customer sees value, the business model will be good for the shareholder!

Mother's Day is coming up, but how many of you have taken advantage of the marketing opportunity. Almost every major retailer, from Wal-Mart to Home Depot, has devoted at least one page to attract those looking for gift ideas for their Mother. I looked around the Internet, spoke with many small businesses, and I don't see this same level of effort by the smaller retailers. To help those missing out on this marketing opportunity (and future holidays), I'm highlighting my top 4 methods to market Mother's Day.

#4 Create a Landing Page
On this page, you include a little information about how your products are perfect for Mother's Day and then list all those products. After created this you need to include a link or banner on your home page to draw attention.  In Everest, you can use item tracking to easily create this page. You could also use software like Microsoft FrontPage to create a page and add your own products.

#3 Guarantee Delivery
As the holiday approaches, the biggest fear of those shopping is that their gift will not be delivered in time. A Mother's Day gift, or any special day gift for that matter,  just isn't the same when it is delivered after the real date. By addressing that concern shoppers can be more reassured-and more likely to buy from you.

#2 Provide Multiple Price Groups
Shoppers will typically have a maximum amount in mind when they are shopping for someone else. Make it easy for them to find products at their price point by creating separate pages. Keep in mind that people tend to spend more on special holidays so make sure you have at least two groups above your typical average selling price.

#1 Offer Gift Baskets or Bundles
When you create bundles, you can either put specific items together or make each a personal choice by allowing shoppers to decide from among multiple items. As indicated, people will spend more during holidays and gift baskets are a great way to combine products in the higher price ranges.  As you group products together, keep the holiday in mind and target the emotion behind it. A DVD store on Mother's Day, could offer top five mother-daughter relations movies of all time.  If you sell beauty products, what top scents for Mothers.  A little extra thought on how to target the holiday theme along with family and friends as the recipients can really boost your sales.

Although I targeted Mother's Day, you can follow these same tips for any holiday.

CEOs should work hard to ensure they are in touch with all the ways a company enacts customer communications and understand "the buzz" from the customer base. At Everest, we strive to make customer satisfaction, and therefore good customer communications, the responsibility of every employee. We all own it, we are empowered, and accountable. We just introduced our latest channel of customer communications, our first user conference. It's a recognized fact, one of the greatest benefits of holding a customer or user event is a venue for networking with other businesses that are the same or similar to their own. It's often appreciated as an extra service provided by a company, particularly with software products. Users are able to exchange ideas firsthand and find out how their peers are solving similar problems or building special customizations. It's a time for them to meet face-to-face with company executives and product managers to put a personality with their telephone and email experiences. It's seen as a platform to make their voice heard to company executives who have especially allocated time to listen. 
 
Our first Everest World was held in New Orleans April 22-24, and what an event it was!  It was incredibly rewarding to see our customers learning, interacting with each other, and providing feedback real-time to the Everest team.  We found ways to capture much of it, including some customer video testimonials that were volunteered by some of our attendees. In the keynote we discussed talking AT, TO, or WITH our employees to build a culture of customer responsiveness. The same is true for our customer base, with whom we believe we're building a mutual culture and synergy of purpose.  We had some fun, we worked hard to spend as much time as possible with each of our interest groups. The overwhelming feedback we've had so far is-they can't wait for the next user group meeting.  We look forward to our next event and being WITH our customers!