Make or Break Factors When Considering Software

For companies in the sign & graphics industry, estimating can prove to be a major factor in the success or failure of their business.

When a customer requests a bid on a job, they need a fast turnaround, and the best price. For companies in the sign & graphics industry, there are two important issues; first of course is the price and second the profit. If they price a job too high they might miss out on getting the job, and if they price it too low, this starts cutting into their potential profits.

Estimating software is a tool that helps eliminate this margin for error and makes every sign & graphics company job easier. This ease is why estimating software is becoming an integral part for many companies in the sign & graphics industry. But what type of estimating software should a company look for? With so many different companies selling estimating software it can become difficult to find a solution that is the right one. For this reason Cyrious Software has taken on the role of business software consultants rather then focusing strictly on selling. When searching for a business management and estimating solution, the ability of a company to consult and guide you to the correct solution, be it theirs or someone else's, should be a major deciding factor. If a software company isn't willing to work to find a solution that specifically fits the customer's sign/graphics business, it might be wise to find a different company to do business with.

Estimating software can range from a simple estimating calculator package, to a complete powerful, integrated estimating, job tracking & business management system, like Cyrious Software. The difficulty is figuring out which system is right for your business.
 

How Much & For What

Companies should look at the money spent on estimating/business management software, as an investment and not an expense. Most complete software systems range from about $2,000 all the way up to $14,000 depending on the number of licenses, modules and different customizations. This somewhat large investment makes it vital for sign/graphics companies to find a system that they can not only use to increase profits & save time, but also one they have the ability to continue to grow with.

Many companies are looking for a system that not only has the ability to estimate, job track, and do invoicing but also has the ability to export to accounting packages, create reports, manage their customer base, and expand their business through target marketing. Because not all estimating software packages have this complete business management functionality, sign/graphics companies and similar businesses need to make sure the estimating software they choose has the functionality they need (i.e. Customer Management Tools, Marketing Tools, Shipping & Credit Card Integration). The last thing a company needs is to realize that the system they bought doesn't have all the capabilities they are going to need.
 

Integration Is Key

Another factor to consider is how easily estimating software will let one go from estimate, to order, to invoice, and beyond. Without estimating/business management software, companies spend a lot time reentering/rewriting customer or product information. Even with estimating software if you don't have the right system you could be left re-keying or rewriting a lot of important information. This can be a major waste of time and lead to errors. That is why Cyrious Software has created their application to encompass this integration. This means the first time you enter company or order information you never have to enter it in again, unless of course you need to make an update or edit.

The "beyond" part is where Cyrious Software distinguishes itself from many of its competitors. Imagine having the power of an entire marketing research firm at your fingertips. Cyrious gives you that power. Once you have all your customer and order information in the Cyrious Software system, you can create queries that will allow you to separate customers into different segments, and begin to target market to these different groups. You can automatically e-mail, fax or print marketing materials to them. Whether it is a follow up letter, thank you note, or special offer, businesses can use the software to help strengthen relationships with current/new customers and increase sales.
 

For more information on using Cyrious software to increase sales, we recommend that you contact Cyrious Software at 800-552-1418 (U.S.) or 001-225-752-2867 for international callers, or by email at info@cyrious.com.

Economic Outlook

Fed sees 'softness' as temporary

Federal Reserve officials in August thought the period of late summer U.S. economic softness was likely to be "short-lived," easing the decision to raise interest rates.

Although the pace of economic growth had moderated in the second quarter, the Committee believed that the softness would prove short-lived and that the economy was poised to resume a stronger rate of expansion going forward," according to the minutes of the Aug. 10 Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The Fed raised its key federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point at the meeting, with the members noting that, given the rate's low level when judged against inflation, "significant cumulative policy tightening likely would be needed" to meet the Fed's goals of price stability and economic growth.The central bank raised its fed funds target another quarter-point, to 1.75 percent.

 

Pricing Approaches and Accuracy

This series on pricing and estimating will address the most common pricing approaches for different segments of the sign and graphics industry.

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Humor Mill: Joke of the Month

- This Months Humor Mill entry comes to us come from Anonymous.

1) Why did the vampire go to the orthodontist? - To improve his bite...

2) What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman? - Frostbite...

3) Why do witches use brooms to fly on? - Because vacuum cleaners are too heavy...

4) How do witches keep their hair in place while flying? - With scare spray...

5) What do you get when you cross a werewolf and a vampire? - A fur coat that fangs around your neck...

6) Do zombies eat popcorn with their fingers? - No, they eat the fingers separately...

7) Why don't skeletons ever go out on the town? - Because they don't have any body to go out with...

8) What do ghosts add to their morning cereal? - Booberries...

9) What is a vampire's favorite sport? - Casketball...

10) What is a vampire's favorite holiday? - Fangsgiving
 

Think you have the next "Joke of the Month"?

If your joke is selected, you win $50 off your next purchase. All you have to do is click the link and e-mail us your name, e-mail address, and name of your business to enter. Submit your jokes here.

Health & Fitness

Health and Anti-Aging by: Knut Holt

The aging process is for the greater part no mystery anymore. It consists for a great part of daily damages done on the macroscopic, tissue, cellular and genetic levels. These add up as the years are passing. These damages have specific causes like oxidating agents, sun beams, mechanical wear and tear, psychological stress, lack of some nutritional components and too much of others, like fat.
Another component of aging is the reduction of the telomere chains at the chromosome ends, as each cell division occurs. However, the body has means to repair these ends again, with an enzyme called telomerase. The rapidity of the aging process depends on lack of efficiency in this repair process. The above mention aging causes also slow down this repair process.

The factors causing aging, also causes other diseases like cancer and coronary heart disease. Both aging and these diseases can in great extend be prevented with the knowledge possessed today, and the damages can in great extend be reversed. The components to achieve this are:

•   Adequate daily food containing whole cereals, peas, beans, vegetables, fruit, fish,      mushrooms, fouls and seafood, and with just a moderate amount of red meat.

•   Just a moderate amount of fat and most of the fat supply coming from sources like   olive, fish, nuts, sunflower, etc. Then you will get a good balance between             monounsaturated fat (olive), poly-unsaturated fat of the omaga-3-type (fish) and   poly-unsaturated fat of the omega-6-type.

•   Just a very moderate amount of butter, soya oil, corn oil and palm oil. A high     consumption of these fat sources gives you too much saturated fat and                         poly-unsaturated omega-6-fat.

•   Just a very moderate amount of sugar, refined flour or refined cereals.

•   Supplements of specific nutritional components like vitamins, minerals, lecitin and      some essential fatty acids.

•   Adequate training, that both gives both a muscular load, work up your condition and   stretches out your body. To stretch out, yoga-exercizes are ideal.

•   Adequate rest and stress-reduction. Daily meditation is a method of achieving this.   Natural relaxing agents or specific tools for meditation or relaxation may also be      useful.

•   Supplements of specific anti-aging agents like anti-oxidants or human growth       hormone.

•   Use of specific anti-aging agents to apply upon the skin surface.

•   To protect the skin against excessive sun exposure.

  The amount one needs of nutritional supplements, like vitamins and minerals, differs very much according to a person`s health condition, work load and exposure to environmental stress. A person having a poor digestion, doing high performance sport or being exposed to a high amount of environmental stressors, may need more than an person in an average situation.

Serious Problems / Cyrious Solutions

Each month, we will raise one common problem in the sign and graphics industry, and demonstrate how Cyrious Software directly solves this problem:

Q: How long should it take for you to gather customer information and past order history?

A: If your spending more then a few seconds you are spending too much time. Cyrious Software lets you find important customer information like contact info, address, phone number, fax, email address, etc. within a few clicks of your mouse. Along with past order history, in one central location. No longer will you have to sift through file cabinets and folders to find this important information, with a Cyrious Software System you can spend less time finding information and more time on other areas of your business.

Quote Of The Month

"An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity."
 

- Winston Churchill