Happenings January 27, 2024

    In this issue:

• National Day Spotlight
• Acumatica Summit Tips
• How to Stream Keynotes
• ASWi Happenings
• MS Office 365 User Tip
• Sales 101
• Events, Blogs, Movies
• Webinars, Community

The purpose of a newsletter is an opportunity for the ASWi team to provide you and the rest of our clients with information on all the new ASWi and Acumatica related things (or “happenings”) that you may not otherwise be aware of.

Please feel free to share this newsletter with any/all of your team. Pease let me know if anyone on your team who would like to be added to the mailing list for the next issue and removed.

“A nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for people.” Audrey Hepburn

The first chocolate cake recipe’s appearance in a cookbook dates back to 1847. Additional refinements came, including frosting, white chocolate, filled chocolate cakes and much more.

Celebrate today by making, sharing and enjoying your favorite chocolate cakes and being adventurous in trying new ones.
FYI re: the picture:

When in Austin, stop by Manolis, a family-owned/operated good truck that provides amazing chocolate cakes.

Q: What kind of cake is never on time?
A: A chocoLATE cake.

Q: What does Jake have if he starts with 30 slides of chocolate cake and eats 25 of them?
A: Diabetes.

Q: What is a French cat’s favorite dessert?
A: Chocolate mousse cake.

Baking chocolate cakes is the secret to a batter life.

Q: What are two types of people?
A: Those who love chocolate cake and fibbers.

Q: Why didn’t the teddy bear finish his chocolate cake?
A: He was already stuffed.

Q: What type of chocolate cake do baseball players like most?
A: Bundt cakes.

Free Corporate Head Shots Available

If you are like me, you haven’t taken the time to take a headshot in a looooong time. (the upside of that is I look very youthful in it, lol) I am planning on visiting the Portrait Pavilion next week for a free headshot. Note: no appointments necessary or taken; first-come, first-serve.

“Decoding” Attendee Badges
Acumatica Summit 2024 is a great place to network with over 2,000 fellow Acumatica Cloud ERP subscribers, Acumatica staff and others in the Acumatica ecosystem.

When you register, you will be given a badge that has one or more the following “mapping” squares and/or icons on it:

So be on the look-out for others with a blue Customer square on their registration badge to share experiences with each other, provide your insights to Future Customers you see with a green square on their badges and feel free to ask an analyst with a red square what they see as industry trends for the new year.

EBizCHarge, ShipHawk & One Channel North America Event

On Monday, January 29th from 7 pm to 10 pm PT, EBizCharge, ShipHawk, and One Channel North America INC. invite you to join them for a unique and social evening at Flight Club. Indulge in delicious food, refreshing drinks, and networking with both the sponsors and other Acumatica customers in a really fun
environment.

You can register here.

Nick, Luke, Joe and I are excited to host our clients who are able to attend Acumatica Summit 2024 tomorrow but we know that everyone can make it to Summit this year, so I am very happy to share that they can still experience Acumatica Summit through virtual attendance of its two most important sessions.

Opening Day Keynote – Monday January 29 at 11:00 am CT
During the Opening Day Keynote, Acumatica CEO John Case will be joined by company and business leaders to highlight customer achievements, shine a spotlight on practical best practices, and share stories of how businesses are using technology to grow their operations, become more efficient, and leverage the latest technological innovations.

Additionally, John and our team will also highlight the latest trends and innovations that we believe will be shaping the business landscape.

Day 2 Keynote – Tuesday January 30 at 11:00 am CT
Day 2 Keynote will unveil the details of Acumatica’s cloud ERP software, from new product innovations and a glimpse at the features that are expected to be included in Acumatica’s next product release – Acumatica Cloud ERP 2024 R1.

The session will feature product demonstrations and customer scenarios and will put the spotlight on Acumatica’s passion for designing a value-filled, customer-centric product that helps small and mid-sized businesses – in every industry – overcome real-world challenges.

Once you register for either/both events, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how and when to log into the sessions.

SHOT Show – January 22 to January 26, 2024
Nick Knight, Matt Hill, Jonathan Council, and Joe Beck did “yeoman’s work” for the past week manning the ASWi booth at this year’s NSSF Show Suppliers Showcase and sharing information about our FirearmsERP solution stack with the 60,000+ manufacturers, distributors and dealers who attended the Las Vegas conference.

In addition to manning our booth and visiting the booths at the show, the ASWi team also co-hosted an event with BigCommerce, EBIZCharge and NoFraud that was overwhelmingly attended. In reward for their hard work, both Nick and Joe get to spend another week in Las Vegas for Acumatica Summit 2024. Take your vitamins, Gentlemen!

ASWi is a Finalist for 3 Acumatica Cloud ERP 2024 Awards The ASWi is happy to learn that, for the 3rd year in a row, we have been selected from the over 450 Acumatica value added resellers (VARs) to be one of the finalists for Acumatica’s annual awards.

This is the first time that ASWi has been nominated for 3 awards, which are:
• Excellence Award – Manufacturing VAR Partner
• Excellence Award – Growth
• Excellence Award – True North Partner

The winners for each of these categories will be announced on Monday, January 29th.

Has this ever happened to you:
You are in an important meeting and, 10-15 minutes before it is scheduled to conclude, one of the attendees cuts into the conversation and blurts out “I have another meeting coming up, so I need to leave now to prepare for it.”

Uh, what?!

It can be infuriating when others do this to you and embarrassing when you have to be the one committing this meeting faux pas because you have back-to-back meetings in your schedule. Here are some ways to prevent these situations from occurring to you:

1.) Create Meeting Buffer in Your Outlook Calendar
Add a 15 minute “meeting buffer” Microsoft Outlook Appointment before and after each of the meetings in your Microsoft Outlook Calendar. This gives you time to prepare for an upcoming meeting, overcome any login/dial-in issues for remote meetings and join the meeting a couple of minutes early so that you can “hit the ground running” once it starts.

2. Configure Automated Buffers for Your “Book a Meeting” option
Microsoft Office 365 has a great feature that enables you to allow others view when you are available for a meeting and then book the meeting with you.
You can either share the link with others or you can embed the link your email signature block as I do (see below).

Within the Bookings configuration of your Microsoft Office 365, you have the ability to assign a buffer ranging from 5 minutes to 3 hours before and after a meeting to ensure that others do not inadvertently book a meeting with you that is abutting another existing meeting.

3. Share These Tips with People You Frequently Meet With
Following these tips will enable both you and those that you meet with

By Mike Brooks

I don’t know why sales reps still have trouble handing this typical blow off. They know it’s coming; they get it daily or weekly, yet many still struggle to handle it effectively…

The way to not only handle it, but to overcome it is to be prepared in advance with a proven, scripted approach. Like this:

“I’m sure you do, and that’s why I’m calling you today. I know it makes sense to have several vendors you can check pricing and availability with, and having another supplier in your back pocket is only going to help you, right?”

[Get buy in here before you continue…] “So let me email you some information so you’ll have it in case you need it. What’s a good email address to send this to?”

[Now take it down, and then move into qualifying!] “Just so I’m prepared in case you do need another option, what kind of…“

Now ask questions, try to engage, and take your prospect as far as they’ll let you!

You see, the value of having a proven response in your back pocket is that it allows you to move past a prospect’s initial resistance. That’s what most blow offs are!

The next time you get this objection, use the script above and watch how much more effective you become as a sales rep.

Nearly every weekday, a motivational quote is posted on X/Twitter by @ASWiDelivered and on LinkedIn by @ASWi.

• “The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.” Helmut Schmidt

• “Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” Colin Powell

• “The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.” Socrates

• “The best vision is insight.” Malcolm Forbes

• “Pretend that everyone you meet is holding a sign that says ‘Make me feel important'”. Mary Kay Ash