Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

In observance of the United States national holiday – Labor Day – our offices will be closed on September 6th. Every year when Labor Day comes around, it reminds me of my father’s example regarding work ethics. He worked for John Deere for around 26 years, most of those as a United Auto Workers union member. One of the things that impressed me was his determination to be at work – every day – on time. I remember him leaving early enough for work, that if he had a flat tire on the way, he had time to change it and still punch in before his shift started. This is just one example of many that shaped my siblings and me while growing up. While Labor Day was originally the idea of labor unions in the late 1800s, I believe it applies to all people who work for a living, no matter their choice of profession.
The last paragraph on the United States Department of Labor website about the history of Labor Day says it all: “The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.”
Have a safe Labor Day weekend.

Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Last month, I mentioned that Red Wing Software transitioned to a work-from-home business model when over a year ago, the Minnesota Governor mandated, “If you can work from home, you must work from home.” Our transition was relatively seamless thanks to our experience of already having several team members working from home for several years and Larry, our amazing IT Manager.
We’ve been able to do a pretty good job of maintaining communications, but there still seemed to be something missing. The networking and “water cooler” talk was more difficult to replace with phone calls and electronic chats. For a relatively small company with a family atmosphere, that networking is important.
Connie, our Technical Writer, came up with a great idea to help re-establish some of this more casual networking. We have regularly scheduled internal team meetings each week that a few people normally attend. Now, before some of these meetings, usually three times per week, we have a ten-minute “virtual coffee break,” where anyone can join a video conference and catch up with others on what’s going on outside the office. Then, when the meeting is ready to start, they are welcome to stay on and participate in the meeting or log off and continue their regular duties.
We’ve only been doing this for a few short weeks, but it seems to be accomplishing our goal. It’s great to have staff members proactively come up with ideas to make Red Wing Software a better company.

Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Last month I mentioned visiting with a customer looking for functionality that would make CenterPoint® Payroll software work better for their operation. In a meeting following that visit, our internal team that looks at new functionality at a high level discussed what we could do to encourage our customers to use our services to help them better use our products. Also, why are some people reluctant to call and ask questions when looking for functionality or have a question?
We stepped back and looked at customer service from a view outside Red Wing Software and came up with some thoughts and experiences of our own.
One team member commented that it took “forever” to get to a live person when trying to resolve an issue with an insurance company. Unfortunately, this happens so often that people have come to expect a bad customer service experience, and they are reluctant to put themselves through the agony of calling for help. At Red Wing Software, live support team members take more than 95% of all support calls as they come in without a call-back or a long wait time, and 100% of callers have immediate access to a live person during business hours.
Another popular excuse for poor customer service when calling for assistance, especially from large multi-national companies over the last several months, has been the lingering pandemic. I understand this has put a strain on many companies. However, when it comes to customer service provided primarily by phone, if a relatively small business, like Red Wing Software, can seamlessly transition to a work-from-home business model, why can’t a multi-national company with seemingly unlimited resources do the same? To steal a quote from our current president; “C’mon man.”
Please don’t hesitate to contact us for help with our products or suggestions that will make our software better. Of course, if you prefer to not talk to a live person, we’ll still be happy to provide excellent customer service, if you send us an email.
On behalf of Red Wing Software, I hope everyone had/has a safe Canada Day and Independence Day.

Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Occasionally, I get the opportunity to visit some of our customers’ locations and discuss how they use our software and what they might like to see in the software to make it a better fit for their operation. Recently, Matt (Red Wing Software Sales Consultant) and I toured Tomatoes of Ruskin in Florida and had the pleasure of meeting with the people that use our software daily.
Tomatoes of Ruskin grows and packages tomatoes for wholesale distribution. They have been using CenterPoint Payroll for about eight years and had not recently had much contact with our support team. When we questioned them about not calling in for help, they enthusiastically indicated that the software was working so well that they didn’t need any help. We asked what we could do to make their payroll process better, and they mentioned an employee copy function that used to work better for them and was changed in an update about two years ago. To make a long story short, we drilled down a little, found that we had changed that functionality in a prior release. So, we came back and entered a new change request in our internal tracking software to reintroduce that functionality so they would have the option to use it like it previously worked.
The only other request they had was to have the ability to reconcile bank accounts within CenterPoint Payroll, and they were unaware that was already available. So, we showed them where they could access that functionality in the software. We like the questions with easy answers.
I mention these requests to bring up another point. Whenever you, our customers, would like to see changes or new functionality in our software, we encourage you to call or send an email with your suggestions. You certainly are not bothering us with your ideas. The best way for us to make our products better is to hear those ideas from you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your thoughts. While we can’t promise everything, we continually work to make our software better.
I want to thank the folks at Tomatoes of Ruskin for allowing us to interrupt their busy day, give us an excellent tour of their operation, and help us learn more about how people are putting our software to work.
I hope everyone enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend while remembering those who served our country to keep us safe and free.

Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

If it works, don’t fix it. I’m sure everyone has heard that statement, but is this philosophy always good to live by? That depends on what it is that “works.” In some cases, you can get away with letting things fail, and then take action to fix or replace them. In other cases, it’s a good idea to fix things at the first sign of trouble, and sometimes things should be “fixed” even before anything appears to be wrong. Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Let’s say the speakers on your computer are making a funny noise, and it’s not because you’re watching hilarious YouTube videos. It might be okay to put up with the noise because, it’s probably not critical to running your business if the speakers fail. Or, your car is making a noise that you have identified and it is not compromising safety. In this case, you can turn the speakers up and not hear the noise anymore.
Now, you walk into your house after a long day at work and smell gas. You can’t see anything wrong. The house isn’t cold, so the furnace must still work. But if you decide to ignore it and retire for the night, you may sleep for a very long time. This obviously needs to be dealt with right away, even though you see nothing wrong.
How is your computer running? I’ll bet it’s running just fine, so why would you need to back up your information? Computers rarely give you a sign that something is about to go haywire. That doesn’t mean you don’t need a backup. And, while we’re talking about technology, how old is the computer and/or software that your business is relying on? Eventually, the computer will fail, and the old software may not run on new equipment. Are you prepared to reenter all the information you need to run your business because your data will not move to newer software? Think about it.
Sometimes things need to be fixed, even if they still work.