Dear Dan

I just wanted to write a short note of thanks, with regard to the database you have designed and commissioned for us here at Solarsense.

Coming from an admittedly slightly chaotic starting point, the Filemaker solution you have designed from scratch has been a breath of fresh air for our business operations.

The value that it has added to our business is not simply defined – there is the primary organisational impact, which has been immediate and wide-ranging.

The database has streamlined our operations, made customer contacts traceable and easily managed – including all sorts of media, from photos to videos that are related to each job.

More importantly, there is a financial impact from the number of person-hours spent on each job file within our previous system. I would say that by using inputted data to produce relational and standardised paperwork has reduced the number of person-hours spent on each job by at least 10, meaning that we are saving at least 4000 person hours per year  – that’s the equivalent of 5.5 months of a full-time staff member that we no longer have to pay-for. In these terms, I would estimate that we’ll recoup the cost of the database software, design and commissioning within a very short time.

Furthermore, as we get to understand more about how the database works, and what Filemaker can do for our operations (e.g. stock control etc) I am certain we will make more time savings and more inroads into a highly successful CRM system, which will inevitably make a positive change to the bottom line.

Thanks very much for your help Dan, we would be happy to recommend your company to all and sundry.

Mr K.Burns

Commercial Manager, Solarsense UK Ltd

FileMaker is marketed as being the world’s #1 easy to use database application, so is it not entirely unreasonable to think that you can buy a licence and get creating?

In theory, not at all.  FileMaker is easy to pick up and have a fiddle with, and I’m fairly confident that you could have a basic database together to record details of your projects, customers etc. in just a couple of hours, probably less.   But, if good database design & development was as simple as just recording information, I wouldn’t be writing this, and I wouldn’t have been working with FileMaker for eight years!

Probably before even buying FileMaker, the first exercise is to sit down and plan in details what you want to achieve – what ‘entities’ of information exist in your business (clients, suppliers, subconractors, invoices, purchase orders, etc) and how they relate to each other.  You then need to consider the functionality you require from your solution, and at this point it’s often useful to get the input of everyone who will be using it – they will each have their own ‘wish list’ and ideas for how to become more efficient.  It is important to have a clear understanding of what your finished solution will do before you go anywhere near FileMaker to start creating something.   As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail.

As a professional FileMaker developer, I have been asked on a number of occasions to work with a solution that has been developed in-house to add functionality or just “tidy it up a bit”.   Working with someone else’s database is naturally more difficult than your own, as everyone’s style is different, but working with someone else’s database with no documentation whatsoever is incredibly difficult, especially if they haven’t followed any sort of naming convention for tables, fields and scripts etc.   When you’ve not looked at it from a developer’s perspective for a while, even your own work can be confusing, and for this reason I cannot stress enough the importance of documenting your work to a degree that it could be easily understood by anyone with an understanding of FileMaker.   A couple of useful resources are the ‘White Paper for FMP Novices‘ and ‘Database Design for FMP‘ white papers by Foundation Database Systems (scroll down the download page for the second one).

Consider carefully if you have the time available to learn the skills you will need to develop a fully-fledged solution in FileMaker.   Bear in mind that a developer is likely to be reluctant to take a half-baked solution that you’ve been working on, and turn it into the fully-fledged solution you intended it to be, especially if you’ve not documented it and thought it through fully – it is often easier for them to start from scratch.   That isn’t to say you won’t be able to find a developer happy to work with you, in a consulting role, but it pays to have that conversation before you start, if you are unsure as to the time you can commit to the project.

There are many good books that can teach you most of what you need to know, not to mention the FileMaker Pro 10 Bible, and FileMaker Pro 10: The Missing Manual, both available now.

When you’re looking for a FileMaker Developer, and you’re UK based, should you be talking to UK-based or overseas developers?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how can freelance job boards help or hinder you?

A client of mine found my details on a freelance job board, and approached me directly about a project he had in mind and was looking for a developer to take on.  They had posted this project on at least once freelance job board, with the intention of having sensible conversations with a few developers and choosing one to give the project to, based on their own criteria.  In theory, this is a good idea, as you will often get project bids from a handful of experienced developers and be able to open discussions with them privately once you’ve received their bids

The experience my client had, however, was less than ideal.  They were flooded with ‘proposals’ from people who hadn’t even heard of FileMaker, let alone had any development experience telling my client that he “was doing it all wrong” and “shouldn’t be using FileMaker” for this particular project.  Of course, they were wrong.  Not because FileMaker is the best solution for developing absolutely everything, because it isn’t necessarily, but because that was what the client had decided and there was no reason based on the content of the board posting to suggest otherwise.

The problem here, in my view, is one of language and culture.  Whilst I’m sure that there are many overseas developers who are perfectly fluent in English and that understand our work culture, they aren’t the ones that regularly post irrelevant responses on freelance job boards.  As a developer, for some reason I’m fairly regularly contacted by offshore (usually Indian) software developers suggesting that I stop developing and effectively become a reseller for them.    None of them I’ve ever spoken to have had any sort of experience with FileMaker development, yet tell me that they can “learn it quickly” and be at skilled developer level within a week.

The trouble is, when I mention offshore here, I’m talking about the likes of India, the Phillipines, and so-forth.  There is no reason why an American developer couldn’t work for a UK client, and deliver an outstanding solution, however there would be little if anything to gain in cost savings, which appears to be pretty much the only reason for “offshoring” everything these days.

Disadvantages of a UK client working with a UK-based FileMaker developer?  Not sure there are any, and I’m not just saying that because it’s what I do.  You speak the same language, are in the same time zone, and if necessarily can physically meet.  Yes the project might cost you more than going overseas for the work, but I’d bet you’d spend less time chasing missed deadlines, explaining in piegon-English how your business works and worrying how much it’ll cost to fix broken code written in a language you don’t understand.

Ask FileMaker questions, get answers.  Full details coming soon.

Request information…

Is your FileMaker application in need of modification or upgrade?  Do you no longer have access to the developer who created your FileMaker database?

No problem.  Providing you have the master access password details, I am happy to work with existing FileMaker solutions for the purposes of maintenance and upgrades, and have signifiant experience in doing so.  It happens all the time – a previous employee created a database to handle your customers and / or projects, billing etc. but has subsequently left.  Maybe they didn’t document their work, or you want to add additional features or make changes to the database, but don’t know how.

You might be familiar with FileMaker yourself, and need some guidance as to how best to progress with a project, or make changes to an existing database. This is no problem, and once an initial analysis of the database has taken place, the majoriy of this advice can be given remotely, saving you both money and time.  You might be also interested in my FileMaker Question Time service.

Many of my clients have seen either Knowlegde Base CRM or Creative Pro or been recommended to, and have come back to me looking for additional functionality or tailoring of specific features to suit their businesses.  More often than not, the most appropriate option for them is a bespoke FileMaker solution, due to the nature of their business.

Interestingly, a lot of businesses start out using FileMaker for CRM purposes, and for this reason there are a lot of FileMaker CRM solutions around in the market place, many of which are very good.  The trouble is, how many of these do everything you want them to do, in exactly the right way?  Because of the nature of FileMaker, it is not as complex a task as you might imagine to create a bespoke solution tailored to your precise requirements.  Many people, even today, think of the phrase “bespoke software” and think of big companies in plush offices charging tens of thousands of pounds.  FileMaker changes all that, you can even do it yourself!

If you don’t fancy yourself a software developer, or don’t have the time or inclination to learn FileMaker in such a way that it can really make a difference to your business, we should talk.  As a developer with many years experience in developing outstanding, creative FileMaker applications, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss your requirements with you, completely without cost or obligation.  Please get in touch here, I look forward to talking to you.

One of the biggest benefits of using FileMaker over any other database platform, is that it’s 100% cross-platform. This is unique. No other non-web-based database platform gives you this flexibility, and The Stuchbury Group can help you to harness this power and turn it to your business advantage.

FileMaker is a graphical platform, meaning we start from a blank canvass and can design your interface the way you want it to be, without being tied to conventions. Of course, if you want your application to look like a program familiar to you, no problem. With FileMaker, and our attention to detail and interface design skills, it can be done.

Creative Pro is a spin-off product of Knowledge Base CRM, and is designed for creative agencies of all sizes.

If you are interested in becoming a development partner, working with me to develop the product in return for a 50% reduction in the standard price of £2,500, please get in touch to discuss the options.

Full details of Knowledge Base Creative Pro coming soon.  Request information.

Knowledge Base CRM is a custom-developed fully-featured CRM system aimed at the individual and small business user.

Relationships are probably one of the most valuable intangible assets your business has, but to be effective and
generate results, they need to be managed effectively. Knowledge Base CRM is designed to help you manage existing
relationships and build new ones quickly and easily through it’s intuitive, fresh interface and powerful features.

One click prepares an e-mail from a pre-defined template, and another click sends the e-mail using your favourite e-mail client. One click shows you everything that has ever happened with that company, and you can see at a glance everything you need to know about that company. The more information you have available, the more valuable that record will be.

Without this information immediately to hand, you are no better off, but with a properly used sales management system, such as Knowledge Base CRM, you can leverage your client information and make the most of the opportunities they present.

Every aspect of Knowledge Base CRM can be tailored to the way you want it to work.

The better the relationships you build, the greater the return they will bring your business. The better you know your clients, the better you can tailor your offers to them, and consequently the more profitable they will become. Do you know which are your most profitable customers, and how much tme you are spendig communicating with them? Do they know what you do? You’d be surprised at the number of clients who don’t know about the additional propducts & services their suppliers can provide.

Anyone within your company can instantly see the historic information for every company in the database (unless you specifically define otherwise), which means that every time one of your hot prospects calls, anyone in the company can see what was last said, resulting in a professional appearance, increased customer confidence, and ultimately more sales. Knowledge Base CRM helps your business to close more sales because everyone knows what was said to who, by who, and when, instantly.

Knowledge Base CRM is the system that puts you first, by giving you the information you need when you need it. Every time.

Download the Opportunity Management datasheet for more information.