General Consultant Discussion

With increasing video monitor sizes I often receive a client's screen shot that's too small to read b/c the sender has reduced the size. Instead of having them resend it, I've found that if I reply to the email (but don't send it) then I am able edit the image and resize it so that it's readable. If it was resized in an email client like Outlook before sending, then the full resolution may be restored. If was resized externally, then one can still enlarge it and make it more readable, but without the original resolution.

What are your valuable hints?

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Dan Burleson
Software Consultant
Connex Software
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I'm going to try this!

1. I use CloudApp for screenshots.  Bought a lifetime deal for I think $29 on Appsumo
2. I use Basecamp for EVERYTHING. Customer calls to ask any question ( support or otherwise ) I put it into Basecamp. My reality is that customers expect you to remember something they mentioned in passing 6-8 months ago -- and suddenly they want you to work on it as a project. There's no way of doing that unless you are making great notes. This has been my biggest "sanity keeper" over the past few years. It is also great to have a reference for when the customer has the same issue 6 to 12 months down to the road and you can just read off the notes showing exactly how you fixed it a year ago.
3. Just moved my office line from Google Voice to an Android phone ( this won't work for those of you with a central switchboard ).  The built-in spam filtering with Android ( and you can turn on a type of screening too ) is far superior and costs nothing extra ( beyond the monthly cellular plan - which you can buy dirt cheap if you use prepaid ).
4. Tasks manager = Todoist. Mostly because it's multi-platform.
5. Quick Assist from Microsoft is GREAT for remotely connecting to those customers who have tight security which disallows GoToAssist from downloading the client piece needed to connect, I've used it for several medical practices and it's a great tool in a pinch. I don't think it is a REPLACEMENT for what you're using now but might come in handy for situations where you just cannot get your solution to load on the customer's desktop. The hidden secret is that for many users QuickAssist is loaded automatically with Windows ( I'm sure IT can remove this capability so YMMV ). https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/solve-pc-problems-over-a-remote-connection-b077e31a-16f4-2529-1a47-21f6a9040bf3
6. I've been keeping my personal Sage KB in Google Keep ( I'm a G-Suite user ). This is not as good as Evernote but it's a fast way to look up notes. And it's free if you are a G-Suite user.
7. After many years of not accepting credit cards because I didn't want to eat the fee - I finally bit the bullet. My solution was to turn on credit cards for everyone and just build in 5 percent to cover transaction fees ( my cost is somewhere around 2.5 to 3.0% ). This has worked great and I just don't worry about the fee as I just build it into all my pricing. I use Freshbooks for billing and it manages all my recurring invoices and takes payments online. 

Next

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Wayne Schulz
wayne@s-consult.com
Schulz Consulting
(860) 516-8990
Moodus, CT
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Good one Wayne, now I have to try harder...

How to Use an Existing Crystal Report to Jump Start a Similar Report Using Power Query!
(use a report without parameters, parameters will be another tip!)

Suppose you have a Crystal Report using several Sage 100 tables and you would like to have it in Excel, but creating the report from scratch seems overwhelming. The jump start is that you can use Crystal Report's "Show SQL Query" command on the Database menu to create your source query in Power Query. Here's how:

1. Open your Crystal report to be converted and select the "Show SQL Query" command on the Database menu
2. Copy the query to Notepad and replace all the double quotes with nothing to remove them
3. Open a blank worksheet with an Power Query capable version of Excel and select the Data menu, then "Get Data" drop-down on the ribbon then "From Other Sources" and select "Blank Query" (if you use the Add-In for Power Query in Excel 2013 the "Blank Query" command is in a different position)
4. Power Query will launch. Paste the following string into the blank formula bar just below the ribbon (which will become the "Source" step for the Power Query.
   

   = Odbc.Query("DSN=XXX", "YYY")​​

5. Replace the XXX with the DSN (i.e. "DSN=SOTAMAS90" or for Premium use a DSN configured for a specific company) then paste the query from Notepad over the in the YYY (between the double-quotes) in formula bar and click the check mark to complete the formula.
6. If you haven't previously entered Credentials for your Sage 100 you will be prompted with an "Edit Credentials" button that you must click and enter your Sage 100 User name, Password and for SOTAMAS90 DSN's use a connection string "Company=ABC" where ABC is your company code.
7. Click the "Close & Load" button on the Home menu to return the data to Excel

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Dan Burleson
Software Consultant
Connex Software
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-04-2022 11:11
From: Wayne Schulz
Subject: Posting a Helpful Hint Another Member Thought Was Valuable - Reply If You Have 'em too!

I'm going to try this!

1. I use CloudApp for screenshots.  Bought a lifetime deal for I think $29 on Appsumo
2. I use Basecamp for EVERYTHING. Customer calls to ask any question ( support or otherwise ) I put it into Basecamp. My reality is that customers expect you to remember something they mentioned in passing 6-8 months ago -- and suddenly they want you to work on it as a project. There's no way of doing that unless you are making great notes. This has been my biggest "sanity keeper" over the past few years. It is also great to have a reference for when the customer has the same issue 6 to 12 months down to the road and you can just read off the notes showing exactly how you fixed it a year ago.
3. Just moved my office line from Google Voice to an Android phone ( this won't work for those of you with a central switchboard ).  The built-in spam filtering with Android ( and you can turn on a type of screening too ) is far superior and costs nothing extra ( beyond the monthly cellular plan - which you can buy dirt cheap if you use prepaid ).
4. Tasks manager = Todoist. Mostly because it's multi-platform.
5. Quick Assist from Microsoft is GREAT for remotely connecting to those customers who have tight security which disallows GoToAssist from downloading the client piece needed to connect, I've used it for several medical practices and it's a great tool in a pinch. I don't think it is a REPLACEMENT for what you're using now but might come in handy for situations where you just cannot get your solution to load on the customer's desktop. The hidden secret is that for many users QuickAssist is loaded automatically with Windows ( I'm sure IT can remove this capability so YMMV ). https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/solve-pc-problems-over-a-remote-connection-b077e31a-16f4-2529-1a47-21f6a9040bf3
6. I've been keeping my personal Sage KB in Google Keep ( I'm a G-Suite user ). This is not as good as Evernote but it's a fast way to look up notes. And it's free if you are a G-Suite user.
7. After many years of not accepting credit cards because I didn't want to eat the fee - I finally bit the bullet. My solution was to turn on credit cards for everyone and just build in 5 percent to cover transaction fees ( my cost is somewhere around 2.5 to 3.0% ). This has worked great and I just don't worry about the fee as I just build it into all my pricing. I use Freshbooks for billing and it manages all my recurring invoices and takes payments online.

Next

------------------------------
Wayne Schulz
wayne@s-consult.com
Schulz Consulting
(860) 516-8990
Moodus, CT
------------------------------