• Bin Locations – While TBA would allow you to enter more than one bin location into a field for tracking, it didn’t actually track the inventory amounts at each location. In comparison, Lizzy™ will allow you to create your bin locations and then track actual inventory values at each location.
• Special Orders – When selling an item on an invoice, TBA placed any special orders on the purchase order immediately. The problem with this process however, was that some dealerships would place orders for parts that hadn’t actually been paid for yet. Lizzy™ won’t actually place the parts on the orders until after the customer pays. This works for both Internet, Catalog and General invoices. Service Tickets still work the same way as TBA in that it immediately places the order.
• Inventory Adjustments – If you sold a part in TBA that you couldn’t find on the shelf, there were a few steps involved in correcting the problem and continuing the sell.  With Lizzy™, we’ve introduced a new verification system that actually allows the sales person to correct inventory discrepancies on the fly with no effort.   Those items are then tagged for the inventory department to research and verify.  If they find the parts and enter them into stock, Lizzy™ will actually pull them off the order and place the newly entered parts onto the in stock pull form to have them added to the customers bin.  She’ll also email the customer to let them know their parts are ready for pickup.
• General Flow – No one could ever say that TBA didn’t give you the world when it came to tracking and maintaining data.  The problem we faced was that it tracked so much stuff that learning to properly use the system took weeks of training.  When designing Lizzy™ we understood two important things.  The first was that we needed to be able to track even more information than TBA.  If we’re going to present our customers with the next evolutionary step towards running their business, it couldn’t just be by doing things differently. The second thing we understood was that the program needed to better manage the needed data and only prompt users for it when needed.  So with Lizzy™ we’ve introduced a new wizard system that learns as it goes and changes future questions based on previous answers.  The flow of creating an invoice is not just to create an invoice, but to prompt for specific information along the way and only the needed questions for that type of invoice.  This enables us to collect much more data but to present it in a way that is easy to learn and impossible to enter incorrectly.
• All or Nothing - Of all the things we’ve accomplished with Lizzy™ this is probably one of the most important.  We’ve completely rewritten the way things are done at the database level so as to make sure that 100% of your General Ledger, Invoicing, Inventory Control processes are all done or NONE are done.  The system actually checks to make sure all GL Entries are successfully written to the database before it considers anything finished.  If anything at all messes up along the way, 100% of the transactions will be reversed and placed in its original configuration.
• Security – Lizzy™ encrypts 100% of the network traffic between her and your computer systems.  This allows you to access your data from any where at any time  and on any network, and be comfortable knowing your information is secure.
• Platform Neutral – Lizzy™ has no software to install and will run on any operating system and most all hardware, including your cell phone.
• Warranty Claims – With TBA you were limited to doing warranty claims per invoice.  This caused problems with some vendors that needed a separate warranty per job.  With Lizzy™ you will be able to create warranty claims that link to the individual jobs on the service ticket instead of the invoice itself.  This allows you to have any number of warranties linked to a single ticket.
• F & I (Financing) – Don’t waste time trying to get an interface to work for F & I.  Lizzy™ has a built in F&I module that is actually part of the invoicing process.  The questions you answer during the creation of the quote or invoice become part of the final F&I deal as it progresses.  The coolest part of all is the information is actually part of the invoice, not some separate module somewhere.  This completely eliminates transferring information back and forth and removes the possibility of something getting messed up in the process.  The parts department is actually adding parts to the deal itself which works just like any other invoice that they’ve added a thousand other parts to.
• Major Units - TBA tracked units based on their type and where they entered the system.  Lizzy™ tracks all units in a single location no matter what their type.  She tags each to know what they are such as New, Used, Consignment or Service and then stores them all in one spot.  This enables you to seamlessly track the entire lifespan of a unit with no effort.  You can click on any unit and see when you sold it, when it got serviced, when it was traded in, who bought it later and how many times they’ve had it serviced.  You can even see how many miles were on the bike at each service.
• Service Tickets –  With Lizzy™ you actually attach one or more units to the service ticket, create jobs for each one and then start work.  Yes, I did say add more than one unit to a service ticket!  The coolest part of all is how the jobs are attached to units, labor and items attached to Jobs and then how the entire thing links together  to print out a nice uniform service ticket for the customer with all parts and labor attached to their respective jobs/units.  You can even schedule the jobs to be worked on by mechanics and have them log their time directly to the system as they work.

I plan to come back here from time to time and update this entry.  I know I haven’t touched the surface with all the differences between the two systems but hope this will give you a good starting point to consider.

Thanks for reading,

Last Updated 12.31.2009

Eric has been doing an awesome job on the Financing module. Currently we can attach units and trades to a deal, attach items to units and are in the final stages of working up an actual quote. Eric has jumped right in with the rest of us and is no longer a newbie. He’s doing a really good job at pumping the code out and giving the project that extra little bit that is going to make it the best F&I package around. We should be getting close to being able to demo the quote portion of the package within the next few weeks. I’m still shooting for January being the month we enter full testing mode on the module and I’m optimistic that we’ll reach that goal.

Jeff is entering the final testing phase of the special order processes and has also done an awesome job. I don’t think I could have put together a better team of developers if I tried. Everyone is working together really well and getting a lot of stuff done. So far we’ve started demoing the special order processing and overall inventory work flow and Lizzy™ has received A+ grades from all of those able to see it. It’s like everything else you do in life where you work in a closet and are a bit worried about what everyone else will think of your hard work when you finally show it to them. We were also concerned but optimistic that it would be well received. So far we’ve not been disappointed and each demo just makes us that much more excited. I’m going to have my video processing system up and running full bore next week and should be able to start producing some demo’s that everyone can view on the different modules that are about to be unleashed on the world.

The CRM system also received some needed upgrades this month in a new and improved call logging facility, being able to pause telephone conversations to do other things and a totally integrated Email system. The email system is in the final phase of development now, but is set to completely replace your email clients and integrate your company email with your customer database. So that incoming and outgoing emails are not only in your inbox/sent box, but are also automatically attached to the customers records. We’re very excited about this here at nizeX, Inc because it’s going to allow us to better track and respond to our customers needs as well.

So what’s left?

We still need to finish up being able to attach labor to a service ticket, receive and pay units on the payable form, add the gateways to process credit cards, handle warranty claims and rebates, handle F&I and plug in the code for the departmental accounting. Most everything else is either finished or is in testing at the moment. I know that a lot of you are anxious to get your hands on Lizzy™ and we’re just as anxious to get it to you. Unfortunately we’re not going to rush it out the door and are going to take our time to make sure all aspects are 100% before we let her loose to run your entire business. Most modules such as CRM, PDM, Accounting, Inventory control and so forth are already ready to go, but because they integrate fully with the other modules we have to make sure that they all speak the same language and don’t get in arguments.

Pete and I have been discussing the switch over date for Lizzy™ in respect to new sales and the phasing out of TBA, and we think we’ve about reached the point. Unless something changes, December will mark the first month we begin active demoing and sales of Lizzy™ and begin to talk about TBA less and less. For those still demanding a Windows based package we will continue to sale and support it for the next few years, but will no longer be making it our central focus. We believe that once everyone has had the chance to see and use Lizzy™ that The Business Assistant (TBA) will become a distant memory.

Well, I think that gets us mostly caught up for now. There are a ton of exciting things going on here at nizeX, Inc. and the world is about to finally get to see.

Until next time…

glenn

I would like to start off by thanking all of you for your continued support, confidence and commitment to our technology and to our company. Many exciting changes are taking place here at SofTek Software International and none of it would have been possible without you – our valued and loyal customers. I would like to take a few moments of your time and update you.

We have moved our offices for SofTek Software Int’l Inc. and the new address and numbers are:

SofTek Software International, Inc.
5815 Market St. Suite #2
Boardman, Ohio 44512

Sales: 678-359-4187
Support: 678-359-4184
Fax: 866-211-7491

We are continuing to work hard every day to complete our next release of our Dealer Management Software technology. LIZZY™ was first introduced to you back in August and she is preparing to be rolled out in the next few months. We are very excited about the new technology that has been developed for you and your businesses. Please continue to visit our new website www.nizex.com to learn more about the progress of LIZZY™, check out a demo or read more on the Latest News tab. You can also join the forum section to ask a question, to review what other customers have asked us and to share your ideas, suggestions and concerns. We welcome your input and need your honest and open feedback so we can meet your expectations as well as address your concerns.

On a separate note, I have recently been made aware of incorrect information being spread around by our competition as well as by some of our existing customers in regards to the investment required to upgrade to LIZZY™ in the future. The rumor I have heard is that it will be very costly to our existing customers when the time comes for them to upgrade to our new release in 2010.

Please allow me to put all your fears, concerns and anxieties to rest by informing you today that there will be NO CHARGE to upgrade to LIZZY™, NO CHARGE for the conversion and NO CHARGE for the training for any of our existing customers who are currently participating in our software support and maintenance plans – either annually or on a monthly basis. The investment for LIZZY™ will be based on the current annual software support and maintenance plans, divided by 12 and that amount will become your monthly service fee for the new system and the annual software support will end.

I hope this clears up and eliminates the confusion as to what you can expect your monthly payment will look like when the time comes for you to upgrade to LIZZY™. The “Quote System” on nizex.com is for potential new customers to get an estimated monthly rate for our new technology. We have enlarged the verbiage on the rates page that now reads:

CURRENT TBA CUSTOMERS NEED NOT USE THIS FORM AS YOU GET SPECIAL PRICING!

As a reminder, www.nizex.com has also been designed for you to communicate directly with our technical support staff when you require customer support/customer care. There is a link on the right side of the main page “Contact Support” where you can communicate with us via email. If you have already sent previous correspondences to us, you only need to fill in your email address, check the box and communicate the nature of your request. If it is your first time emailing us, please fill out all of the fields with Green labels, then type your request in the message box and submit. Your request is sent directly to our Tech Support Team, a service ticket is generated and your request is sent to the appropriate department for the required attention.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive over the past two months since we introduced the new customer support system – in timeliness of response and equally as important, the accuracy of the resolution to the specific request or need. We will continue to monitor and to evaluate ways that we can improve the overall level of customer support and attention to your needs. Your continued feedback, suggestions and ideas are welcomed and needed as we continue to work to better serve you and provide you with the best possible customer care in the industry.

In closing, I would like to address the topic of Price Files. There continues to be a misunderstanding and a degree of confusion that has developed for some of our customers as to what our Policy has been and our continued commitment to helping our customers with formatting price files. SofTek Software has always supported the position that we will assist our customers in getting their price files directly from their manufacturers and will do so free of charge. We will also teach our customers how to format their price files and teach them to import them directly into The Business Assistant. Again, we do this free of charge.

However, we have always charged $50.00 per price file when we are required to get the price files, format the price files and provide you with the formatted price files. SofTek is required to purchase many of the price files and in order to continue to staff the price file department; we will continue to charge a fee for formatted price files. This is no different than what we have done in the past, no different than what each of our competitors have always done and no different than what the industry has always accepted.

Some of our customers have taken a very negative stance in regards to our decision to continue with the price file department and continue with the industry standard fee of $50.00 per price file. This decision was made in order to maintain the price file department and assist those customers who want to enjoy the benefits and convenience of having us format and provide them with the price files they need. The decision was not made to upset or cause any ill will towards our company or damage any of the long term professional relationships we have established over the past 15 years.

Please understand that all of us at SofTek Software have a common goal – to provide each and every customer with a pleasurable, professional experience each and every time we are given an opportunity to serve you and the needs of your staff and your loyal customers.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of the changes taking place within our company, please contact me, Pete Rassega, Vice President at 678-359-4187 or Glenn Hancock, President and Founder of SofTek Software at 678-999-2144. We welcome and require your input, ideas, constructive criticisms and vision as we continue working towards the future and our goal of providing you with a superior technology.

Sincerely,

Pete Rassega

Vice President

SofTek Software International, Inc.

At Softek as well as at Nizex Inc. you have my word that we will NEVER GO OVERSEAS!!.

Our recent changes in support were made in order to get better organized and hopefully take care of customers in a more timely manner with more professional and correct answers. When I say quicker though, I don’t mean we answer the phone in 3.2 seconds, I mean that when we get on the phone with you that our professional support staff has read your request, understands it and is ready to help solve your issues.  So yes, it is different, but it was made in order to improve the overall experience, because, while answering the phone quickly is lovely, it results in bad information being shared, something we wish to eliminate.

To be sure you got it the first time, we are not going overseas and really are trying to provide a higher level of service than ever before. We realize there may be kinks here and there and please know we’re working hard to eliminate them once they are identified.

Stay tuned as I’ll be posting my Friday update later today.

Glenn

First of all Lizzy™ is a web based solution and in fact the Only web based solution on the market. What this means is that there will be no software to install on your computers and you’ll be able to access your company data instantly from anywhere you like, even from your telephone or on the beach. You’ll also be able to run Lizzy™ from any computer and any operating system. You won’t have to have a server and will no longer have to upgrade software just to keep her running.

Lizzy™ has been designed from the ground up with simplicity in mind. When we designed TBA we had no idea what it would grow into. We’ve taken the last 15 years of experience with working with TBA and designed Lizzy™ to eliminate those limitations and processes and to provide THE best business system on the market in any industry.

As an example: TBA has a customer module that helps you keep track of your customers in a basic way, what items they’ve purchased and what equipment they own. With Lizzy™ you get a full blow Customer Relationship Management system that not only makes TBA look tame, it makes other CRM systems on the market look lacking. Lizzy™ has been designed around our technical support and sales processes as well as those of our customers. You’ll no longer need to purchase add on systems to help you manage customer followups and help keep track of those advertising programs. Lizzy™ has all of that built right in. The really cool part is that every module within Lizzy™ integrates completely with all of the others.

You can purchase modules with Lizzy™ based on usage. If you only have 2 people working at the counter doing invoices then only purchase two copies of the invoice module. You have 1 person that deals with inventory? Well, just purchase one copy of that. Setting the system up like this allows you to save money by only purchasing what you need when you need it. You hire another person to help out during the summer? Just purchase a few extra modules during the summer and cancel them when you slow down. Like everything else we do, there are no contracts to sign and you can cancel at any time.

Lizzy™ is 100% transaction based which means that it will be very unlikely you ever have problems with your data becoming mixed up. With Lizzy™ it’s all or nothing. If you want to pay 5 invoices at once, you choose which to pay, enter payment details and select the pay button. Lizzy™ will step through each one taking care of payments, General Ledger, Inventory and anything else involved. If a single thing along the way fails, Lizzy™ will stop, back up and undo 100% of what she had done and place your database back at the very beginning. Allowing you to fix the problem and try again.

TBA can be difficult to learn due to all of the built in functionality. While Lizzy™ has basically the same functionality, she packages it a bit differently. With Lizzy™, we used wizards that customize themselves based on the process you’re involved in. For example, you want to create a new General Invoice to sell a few parts. When you click to create a new invoice, LIzzy™ asks you what type of invoice you’d like to work with. She then begins to prompt the user for information as they go instead of presenting a screen full of detail to fill out. Based on answers from a previous screen she might skip over other screens or ask questions that might have otherwise been missed.

TBA tracks a lot of information but providing that information to the user is sometimes difficult. With Lizzy™ you get a free customer portal that allows you to have your customers log directly into the system. Now they can review open tickets, check on service information and even order parts from you directly from the same system you use everyday. Of course their interface is much more limiting than yours because they can only review their data, but it does provide a much easier way for them to see if their equipment has been finished or even if you’ve started working on it yet, all without a single phone call.

While TBA offers a payroll module, its nothing compared to Lizzy’s™. With Lizzy™ you can have your users clock in when they arrive in the morning and can even tell Lizzy™ not to allow them to do anything until after they’ve done so. Then they clock out for lunch, back in and out at the end of the day. Lizzy™ keeps track of all of this time and builds their time sheets for them automatically. Scheduling vacation for a person will automatically show on the company calendar, and all of this information is automatically utilized by the payroll system. When checks are written, Lizzy™ deals with checking and automatically creates accounts payable for taxes due.

While I could go on for hours I think I should probably get back to work, so we’ll stop here. Come back again for more exciting news about Lizzy™ and the future of managing your business.