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ACT Consulting Services
Should You Support Your Own System?
Most clients are faced with deciding how much of their system they are realistically capable of supporting on their own.
We have found that the best way to service companies is to provide a balance between doing the high learning curve material quickly for you, but training a member of your staff on material that allows you to be functional and self sufficient on the job. We won't hold back information from you. We'll teach you as much as you want to know. See our training section for more detail on our training approach.
Your objective is to get the project completed as quickly and cost effectively as possible. Our objective is the same.
Two Types of Projects
Essentially, there are two types of projects we undertake, each requiring a different approach.
First there is the short-term project. These are simple, straight-forward procedures that are easier to estimate and therefore don’t require the overhead of scope and as much intensive project planning.
The second requires a more in-depth look at your company's sales and business processes. By taking to time to meet with the decision makers, we can not only design a more suitable system, but help you avoid going in a direction that may seem obvious, but may not be the most advantageous.
To get a visual snapshot of our approach to these different types of projects see how we estimate & execute projects.
Whichever project type you consider, remember that quality consulting doesn't cost as much as it pays!
Why Should You Pay for Project Scope?
In the second scenario above, most can benefit from having our consultants produce a written project scope. Spending the time and money up front on
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One element of your project scope would be a sales process flow chart (sample can be seen here). You will also be provided a project document which will be used during the course of the project to keep you informed of the status of your project.
When to use Flat Rate.
One of the problems that can be encountered with a Flat Rate project is that the consultant may ‘pad’ the quote to protect against unknown potential problems. It can end up causing the customer to pay for hours that have not been provided.
With hourly work, as long as the consultant provides a reasonable estimate based on professional experience, then you pay as you go for what you need. In this model, the consultant must report back to you during the project lifecycle when there are additional needs or overruns, providing you all viable options.
Further, a credentialed and competent consultant must be willing to take responsibility for their work. They will write down their hourly billing if they are at fault for something that goes wrong with one caveat: if there is a technical difficulty with Windows, for example, which slows down the consultant, the consultant should not be required to fix that PC for free.
There are occasions where we offer certain segments of a project as a flat rate and will discuss these options comprehensively with you.
Ethics Statement:
Most professional firms base their standards of conduct on some external code of ethics. Here at MIS, although technology can be complex, right and wrong is straightforward and black and white. Our reputation is extremely valuable to us and we will do what is takes to protect it. Any questionable issues or problems are brought up immediately to the client so that a fair solution can be arrived at.
Although, to some, it may seem outmoded or archaic, we seek to build our foundation of conduct upon Him who said “Do on to others as you would have them do unto you”. When we have consulting firms do work internally for us, we expect of the same level of integrity that we are promising to you.
How we estimate and execute projects.
Why Scope? Cheaper is Not Necessarily Better.
See how MIS can document your processes by viewing a sample sales process chart here.
