By Jenny Baynes, Operations Coordinator for Winning Solutions, Inc.
By definition, “life lessons” are lessons learned in life. They are experiences that shape our behaviors, encounters that teach us perspective, and defining moments that we carry with us. There is no age requirement or age limit for the lessons that life dishes us and it generally seems that the greatest lessons are learned in ways that are more painful.
As an adult, I often reflect on a life lesson that I learned when I was six. Being a family of humble means, I was always dressed in hand-me-down clothes from the decades before my existence. Yes, my friends, I may have been born in the 80s, but I rocked bell bottoms like no one else (literally) in my school. On this day, I struck pure gold from the newest hand-me-down hefty bag in my closet. It was a stunning pair of pants that sported Jim Henson’s Miss Piggy on the back right pocket. Her character was wearing a pink dress and she was bejeweled with her classic pearl necklace. That morning I walked into the kitchen with swag. After all, my first-grade self was representing my Sesame Street posse and feeling good about it. As I arrived at the breakfast table, my mom kindly remarked that the pants might be a bit small. My back stiffened, as I told my mom that I checked the tag and it said, “One Size Fits All”. I assured her that Miss Piggy and I were going to be just fine. She kindly nodded.
Fast forward to the bus ride home at the end of the day and I’m sitting on no less than 20 safety pins that Mrs. Suddreth used to precariously suture the back seam of my Miss Piggy pants into place. Yep, I was only six years old when I learned the hard way that one size does not fit all!
Decades later I find myself providing consulting services for Winning Solutions, Inc. (WSI). I interact with a wide variety of customers that are looking for technology solutions after also coming to the painful reality that one size does not fit all. Their story is not too far off from my Miss Piggy pant horror and usually goes something like this:
Client: “We tried some off-the-shelf solutions, but that didn’t work, and we wasted a lot of money and time. Then we tried to create some tools in-house, but that has been a Band-Aid fix. Our productivity is suffering because our process lacks efficiency. We know we need to do something different, but we don’t know where to begin.”
Working for WSI, which has over 27 years of experience providing technology solutions for thousands of companies in all different industries, I can tell you that this dilemma is not unusual. The problem is best solved by means of custom application design and development. But why is custom so special and what makes it the best?
With billions of dollars in annual revenue, Shutterfly has proven that custom is best. Consider six lessons we can learn from Shutterfly’s mastery of the custom space and how that translates into a custom software solution.
Offer a variety of products to build on: Before choosing any customizing features, Shutterfly shoppers peruse options for coffee cups, mouse pads, throw blankets, Christmas ornaments, and more. This individualized approach gives each shopper the ability to thoughtfully consider how they envision themselves using the product and which one fits their unique needs.
Custom application design begins by offering a variety of tools on which to build the software solution. Clients consider how they want users to access the application, what type of built-in automation they would like to see, the level of user interactivity desired, and how quickly material needs to be developed. IT consultants utilize this information to discuss the options of database structure, coding languages, and all the details needed to determine which product to build on.
Customize products with customer content: After choosing a product, shoppers at Shutterfly upload their own images or custom content. Engagement photos, company logos, and other items unique to the shopper are prepared to be incorporated into the final product.
Within the custom software design and development process, each client has their own unique data and manner in which they carry out their own standard operating procedures. Custom applications are built around what’s special to each client, without the distractions of non-essential items. Off the shelf software will have many features designed for edge cases that other entities need but you’ll never use.
Provide a preview of what the final product will look like: Shutterfly understands that when creating custom products, customers are more comfortable when they can see a visual representation of the product they are purchasing.
Utilizing custom style guides and design mock-ups, WSI’s clients are allowed to visualize the manner in which their data will be organized and structured. Clients understand the functionality and the user interface in which users will engage with company data.
Make the process easy: While one might expect purchasing a custom product to be a laborious task, Shutterfly has streamlined the customization process for customers. Shoppers simply follow basic steps, which are intuitive to individuals of all technology levels.
Companies that are well-established within the custom software development sector, like WSI, know how to make the entire design and development process easy for clients of all types. Teams of technology experts create a seamless process and offer expert guidance, often through one primary contact. The simplification of the custom process ensures that clients can continue with business as normal, with the power of an entire team helping them accomplish their business goals.
Give customers ongoing flexibility: Once a shopper uploads their custom graphics into their portal and makes their purchase, Shutterfly provides the customer with ongoing flexibility. Buyers can re-order previously ordered products or can utilize portions of their custom images for new purchases. The company does not limit the potential of the shopper and the possibilities for future purchases.
Developers of custom training solutions should provide products that position each business for future growth. How is that done? In addition to providing clients with all source files, clients must have access to all custom source code. Simply put, custom technology solutions should not hold clients hostage in the sense that they are obligated to return to the same development team for ongoing enhancements or additional work. The quality of the work performed should encourage ongoing relationships, but the availability of custom source code provides the client with the flexibility to transition to an in-house developer or a different development company entirely.
As you may have noticed, the word “should” appears a lot in the paragraph above. While the process mentioned above is standard practice at WSI, generally speaking, very few technology companies provide access to the source code for their products. Technology companies often prefer full control over the items they create in order to press customers for recurring revenue by means of licensing, subscriptions, support, and maintenance. With years of experience in the custom technology space, I highly recommend doing your background research on the company you are considering working with. Make sure to ask if they provide full access to all source code before committing to a working relationship. Make sure you can host your application and your data on premises or in your cloud. – Your future self will thank you for your due diligence in this regard.
Make customers happy: Shutterfly’s market research reveals that custom solutions create happy customers. The company understands that if a product is specifically created according to a customer’s specific needs, likes, and dislikes, the purchaser is going to be happier with the result than with an off-the-shelf purchase.
There is a reason that most brides have their wedding dresses custom-fit. They know that a custom fit is going to make them happy. Well-designed custom technology solutions also result in happy and satisfied clients. Satisfied clients within the custom application space often point to tangible key performance indicators as markers of success. Improved sales, process advantage, greater efficiency, increased production, and reduced costs are just a handful of the most obvious reasons customers are happy. Pair those with intangible advantages such as minimizing costly errors, enhanced end-customer satisfaction, and improved employee productivity, it’s no wonder clients that are committed to custom software are the happiest!
So, what’s the takeaway? One size does not fit all...regardless of if it’s Miss Piggy pants or business technology solutions. Custom software development, when done right, is easy, flexible, highly effective, and makes clients happy.
Are you ready to explore how a custom application designed and developed by Winning Solutions, Inc. can enhance your business? Contact us at info@winningsolutionsinc.com to schedule a free consultation to discuss your business needs.
Contact WSI today to begin the process of finding out what it will cost to implement this technology for your organizations. It will most likely pay for itself in lower implementation cost and more accurate data gathering on each and every survey.