A fairy-tale twist...
Once upon a not too long ago, a specialist footwear company, Prints Charming Limited (Prints) was looking to choose the right people, technology and processes to help with growth plans.
Prints did not know were to start, and sought help from advisors, Fairly Good Mutter Ltd, who claimed to have a ‘magic wand’ approach to finding the right answers for its clients.
A Fairly Good Mutter consultant, Auntie Change, was chosen to work with Prints, as she had no favourites in her bag of potential solutions.
In studying the Prints’ processes, she found that, with a few little strokes all would be ready for choosing the tool and partner that would deliver the results they wished for. She gathered all Prints’ needs and produced a Request for Proposal (RFP).
The RFP was sent to all of the potential partners, and Auntie Change invited them to meet Prints. She set a deadline of 6pm for all of them to show their wears to her client, as she took a backseat to observe. The chosen venue was The Ballroom, as this would allow enough room for Prints to explore all of the assets on show.
A very large start with Wix SAP Blether who introduced her offspring: Busy Ness One, and Busy Ness Bideseri. Prints knew that Wix SAP Blether was far too big and a bit too old, so focused on the youngsters. One looked good but was sooo rigid, Prints knew it could never deliver the desired flexibility and mobility; the other seemed only to like its own company, and didn’t seem to answer any questions directly.
The next two options were invited to show what they could do – one called Notsweet looked really good on the dancefloor. The other, Ms Diamix, also looked the part, and had a history of success with other footwear manufacturers due to some specific industry alignments that a surgeon had modified.
Prints sat and spoke with Notsweet, in all its sparkly glory. There was definitely scope and quality there. Some limitations that would need modifications and linking with other family members was less attractive. And sparkles might be a little too expensive. But in the mix as the best option so far.
It was a shorter chat with Ms Diamix. A little older than originally thought, and those modifications, which at first looked very attractive, would be difficult and expensive to maintain, unless you stick with the same surgeon.
Auntie Change went into a little dark office just off the Ballroom, and reviewed the RFP responses and gave them all scores. There was no clear winner, so she would have to spend more time with Prints.
While she was out of the room, a casually dressed lady walked up to Prints.
“Can we help you?” said Prints, and the stranger said that a Fairly Good Mutter advisor that she knew, had told her about Prints, and said to rush along before the 6pm deadline.
Prints was puzzled. Who was this uninvited stranger? “So, what do you have that makes you different from all of these other lovely things that I have spent the whole day looking at?”
“Oh, I am so sorry Sir. I knew I had not been invited, but the Fairly Good Mutter contact insisted that I come and show you what can be done.” Said the uninvited stranger.
“Show me what you’ve got then” said Prints abruptly.
“Ok Sir. Thank you. This does everything and for next to nothing. I will take you on a journey that starts with those that may be interested in your footwear. Where you find them. How you manage their enquiries and orders. It makes sure you know what to buy and what to make. It makes sure you have the right size, colour, quality and style that your customers’ need. All your finances, reporting and analytics are included”. Said the stranger
“Wow – that does everything I need – how much is it?” said Prints.
“Less per user than you currently pay just for your accounting software,” said the stranger.
An alarm went off in the Ballroom and Auntie Change turned the lights off and told everyone to leave.
