Selling is an Act of Respect!

“First I believe that selling anything to anybody, if it’s done with integrity, is actually an act of respect. It acknowledges that the person you’re trying to win over is freethinking and autonomous”, Bruce Philp - The Orange Code – How ING Direct succeeded by being a rebel with a cause.

When I read this statement by Bruce Philp, I smiled. For over 16 years I have been selling as a profession – this statement above sums up nicely how integrity and respect is possible in a sale. The key component from the selling standpoint is you MUST have respect for your customer (or potential customer) and be willing to see them as “freethinking”. Especially when you are questioned and challenged. By having an uncompromising focus on the customer through the whole process – listening and understanding their perspective is imperative in a Enterprise Content Management Project.

Every day we are challenged as professionals to listen and understand someone else’s perspective, as well as add our opinion and expertise to the mix. Seeing customers and colleagues as partners (with their own level of expertise) is a key component to success, especially if it is practiced from both perspectives.

Looking at how we as a company communicate to our customers and talk about our customer partnerships does display many of these elements;

•  “ImageSource works relentlessly with our Customer Partners to build a relationship of ongoing success and trust. The collaborative approach…”
• “What has followed has been an extremely successful business venture that has its spirit deeply rooted in a love for entrepreneurship and innovation”
• “We take pride in our ability to overcome business challenges with integrity and sincerity. Our success is testament…”
• “… This standard results in strong and collaborative customer relationships that are ongoing.”

Do we walk our talk? Some days better than others.

Do our customers walk their talk? Some days better than others…

In the long run the best measurement of success of a sale is long-term customer partnerships and successful ECM projects…from both perspectives!

Megan Lane
Inside Sales
ImageSource Inc.
Phone 360.943.9273
iPhone 360.481.5946
www.imagesourceinc.com

  

Centralized, de-centralized or outsourced capture – some surprising results!

In-Process Capture… Centralized Production Scanning… De-Centralized Distributed Capture… the discussions on which strategy is best for a company when addressing their document capture needs can have interesting outcomes. 

There seems to be no “right” answer, the technology choices for capture are continuously growing and changing and a company’s Enterprise Content Management (ECM) needs can be very specific.   A recent research study by AIIM produced some surprising results when they reviewed the issues and potential benefits of different approaches to document capture.  Document capture encompasses document scanning, image correction, recognition of text, barcodes, form fields etc. and output to an appropriate format for subsequent processing or archive storage.

One surprising and interesting outcome that AIIM states in their introduction of the report; “The report concludes that there is a move back to centralized scanning operations, along with a greater investment in capture and recognition software to automate date capture and indexing processes.”  At ImageSource, we have also seen an increase in companies utilizing the newer model of “distributed scanning” – at the local level to office staff processing the capture documents. The value of capturing something at point of origination and placed into an imaging business process earlier does save time and money.

Allow your business needs to dictate they type of capture solution that makes business sense for your organization.  This may include multiple avenues. Many of our customers utilize both centralized and de-centralized capture – depending on their specific business needs.   We have also seen companies move towards an increase in distributed/ de-centralized capture for their 3 – 5 year strategic ECM plan.

 So how do you work out what is the best approach for your needs? And it can vary from department to department within the company!  This is one of the greatest challenges the C-Level and IT staff come across when developing an ECM strategic technology plan. As an independent ECM  Integrator, ImageSource is uniquely qualified to help discover the ideal mix of Capture technology to conquer business challenges.  We help chart a strategic course, whether the business requires in-process capture, production scanning, distributed capture or mailroom solutions.

One other surprising result of the AIIM study was the statistics that shows a very strong return on investment (ROI) and compelling case for scanning and capture investments.  Capture is an enabling process that is a combination of improved user access to information and reduced costs.  The study showed that ROI for capture was reported within 12 months to 18 months! That is a significant and impressive return!  Yet the study shows that justifying ROI is still a huge impediment to adoption -one that many of our customers face when presenting the case to change “how things have been done”. 

The greatest benefit of research is that it stimulates all the interested parties into discussion and planning mode.  So what ECM strategies will your company implement – centralized, de-centralized/distributed capture or outsource it!

Megan Lane
Inside Sales
ImageSource Inc.
Phone 360.943.9273
iPhone 360.481.5946
www.imagesourceinc.com

  

Character versus Reputation!

I was reading a professional colleague’s blog before New Year’s Eve and was surprised at a quote that highlighted the difference between “Character versus Reputation”.  Matt Younquist – Career Horizons recited a quote from Coach John Wooden which said;

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

Working at a company (ImageSource Inc.) whose expertise is providing full-service Enterprise Content Management integration, the concept of Character versus Reputation is enacted every single day.  ImageSource provides infrastructure and services that streamline information processes using advanced paperless technologies.  Our goal is to help customers leverage their information assets through document imaging, distributed capture, workflow and integration with existing business software systems.  Our comprehensive approach, including analysis, training and support, will advance efficiencies, security, compliance and competition through your entire organization.

We work side by side with our customers to incorporate change within an organization and the many challenges that come hand in hand with this process.  Often when ImageSource is being considered for a project, our reputation precedes our presentation based on existing customer referrals and the large list of successful project implementations.  However, the true character of a company, its culture and people shines or fizzles when unexpected challenges arise throughout the life of the customer/vendor relationship.  ImageSource has proven that character is more important than reputation (even though they are inexplicably linked), and the proof shines via our customer loyalty, our expertise and continued success. 

Another quote comes to mind from Coach John Wooden; “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.” I believe each person at ImageSource strives to achieve this every day and that our customers return the favor.

Check out Coach John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success” model – it is something to aspire towards as a company and as an individual. May your New Year be as successful as ours will be and have fun considering whether character or reputation is more important!

Megan Lane
Inside Sales
ImageSource Inc.
Phone 360.943.9273
iPhone 360.481.5946
www.imagesourceinc.com

  

Use ECM Training to Maximize Your Investment!

Have you ever bought a VCR, Stereo, DVD Player or any high-end electronic gadget?  It normally comes with a fancy remote control or interface with multiple options on it but all you really want to do is watch a movie. You would be just as satisfied for the moment with just two buttons, “stop” and “go”.  At home the extra functions may improve our lives or they may not.  They might be just for fun.  But either way what extra features you don’t use or know about, doesn’t hurt you..usually.  

Many companies approach their imaging systems the same way. It does what it does from the day it was enabled, it works and that’s it. When they hear about other peoples’ systems, they wish their system could have similar functionality… and maybe it does, but who has the time to figure that out?  

Take the time to maximize your investment!  It was worth it to someone in your organization to make the investment initially, so why wouldn’t you use it to its full potential?  Well you might not for the same reason humans don’t do most things – a shortage of Time .  Time is important and once you dive into exploring your current software who knows how long it will take or if what you are focusing on will benefit your existing process?  At ImageSource, we have found that the most important and undervalued item with an imaging system is training.  With professional training, concerns can be addressed in a focused environment and a structured time frame. Our most successful customers realize the benefits and importance of training, both initial and on-going training.

Often when customers contact us looking for additional hardware and software, we can ask some probing questions and discover that the issue may resolved by scheduling a consulting day to review their installation and recommend best practices for their environment.  Paying for one or two days of training is definitely less expensive that investing in additional hardware and software products that may not even be successful.

Taking responsibility for your components isn’t easy, and you can simplify the process by receiving professional training/consulting that will inform, educate and assist you to the right path of choice sooner rather than later.  Additional training and professional services consulting are offered at ImageSource – you might be surprised what is discovered!

Professional training provides knowledge.  Knowledge is power.

 

Andrea Latham, CDIA+

Inside Sales

ImageSource, Inc.

Phone 360.943.9273

www.imagesourceinc.com

Kofax, Oracle, EMC, Documentum, FileNet, SharePoint, Captiva, Oracle UCM, Oracle IPM, ILINX Capture

Capture Information, Index Metadata, Route Workflow, Approve Transactions, Archive Images, Manage Records, Retrieve Images and associated transactional information.  How do you Integrate all these functions in one simple, cost effective way?

In today’s challenging economy every organization is looking for ways to maximize each dollar spent in every project, department and process.  If you are investigating ways to stretch your budget and reduce the overall costs associated with your ECM platform, Support, Training and Integration efforts then…..

Look no further!

ImageSource is a leading provider of ECM software, scanning hardware, Storage solutions and Expert professional services.

We offer a wide variety of products, support programs, training and consulting services to give you maximum value for your dollar.

Visit our case study list to review a small portion of the Customer Partners we have worked with to build ‘first in class’ ECM solutions.  If you are an existing ImageSource customer contact us to schedule a complimentary ECM Cost Savings Analysis.  We are confident we can help you identify ways to reduce the ongoing annual cost associated with your ECM platform.  If you haven’t worked with us we would welcome the opportunity to compete for your business.

Shadrach White
Chief Technology Officer
ImageSource, Inc.