Case Study on Confluence Wiki

I have prepared this Case Study Confluence Wiki_Project_Blue Dots  for a project that we worked for a Healthcare firm.

Blue Dots announces Certificate in Business Writing

Train the Contented way: business writing skills

Contented training for technical writers: not boring!

Every professional needs to write clearly and correctly:  writing is a crucial skill for getting hired and promoted. But sometimes you just can’t find time for this essential training.

Now you can train any time, any place, at any pace. Contented self-study online courses are:

• short, flexible, easy to manage
• fully scalable (train one person or 5,000)
• affordable (big discounts for groups)
• authoritative, modern and international
• popular, satisfying and fun.

The foundation Certificate in Business Writing takes 5-8 hours, and is ideal for:

• Staff training and induction training
• Career development for technical writers
• Soft skills for new graduates: get yourself work-ready!
• Universities and colleges: basic study within a degree.

Since 2007, Contented has trained 5,000+ technical writers (and professors, students, web developers and journalists) in more than 30 countries. Contented courses have a 90% completion rate and a high re-order rate.

Now the celebrated Contented training system is available in India through Blue Dots Consultancy Services.

• Buy from Contented directly, or
• Contact Blue Dots Consultancy Services in Bengaluru.

About Blue Dots Consultancy Services:-Pioneered in the year 2014 and based out of Bengaluru (India), Blue Dots Consultancy Services is one of the agile and just-in-time Consulting startups that creates innovative solutions for solving critical business problems faced by the Content management and Documentation industry. Coupled with exceptional customer centric mindset and the hunger to create success for the eco system, Blue Dots believes that it can create disruption in the industry and create its niche. Hardly a few months into operations, Blue Dots has already delivered a good number of successful projects and is in discussion with a few large customers. You can read the company services here.

Career Progression

This is a post from Ms.Sheryl, who has recently completed the Certification Program in Technical Writing conducted by Blue Dots Consultancy Services.

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If I start my post declaring that we are all career-oriented individuals and everyone wants to be successful excreta excreta, then you are definitely not going to read further. I feel that blogs on careers are uninteresting and boring. But, if you think that a small bit of advice can help you take some important career decision, then you should probably read this blog.

I am not aimless but I used to wonder what is it  exactly that I wanted to do in my career or where is  my interest, which was a very difficult question. I have not found the answer to the question yet. It is not necessary everybody needs to have a career-oriented goal. Sometimes you are just indecisive and does not know what and where to explore. I have switched so many job roles and feel like taking up any job that sounds fun and interesting. But even to take up a random role you need some sort of education. A basic diploma or certification from any where may find space in your resume but is it worth? here comes the wise advice: Always choose an institute which has experienced faculty.

Everyone does an MBA today. It looks or sounds like a norm.  Every company wants to shoot their sales and marketing programs by hiring an MBA graduate. But, if you don’t are not planning to do MBA then you should be planning for  some  certification or diploma courses. Short term diploma courses have equal weightage and gives you the required skill and also visibility in placements.

The ‘market’, yes education has become the next market and it is filled with sundries of courses, which are short and guarantees you quick suction to jobs. The worst nightmare is to choose  the best institute and with it the best course. I looked at the following aspects whenever I decide to do a course.  and I guess these aspects have helped me to shape what I am today.

Recognized faculties: There are countless number of institutes, which are offering diploma on various disciplines to aspiring students. It is not necessary that all the  private or medium-sized  institutes are not doing well but it is important that one checks for the authenticity of the institute. The institute should have experienced faculties who holds ample knowledge about the industry. Besides theoretical, diploma courses should also impart practical knowledge. Talk to your peers and try to find out which one is the best. Remember, name is not always not that important.

Extensive course coverage: Do you homework before you opt for any course. Self-study the subject. Talk to friends, people whom you think might have some idea about the course. If not, you can talk to counselors. Do you research on net. Know in and out of the subject before-hand and then check with the course structure the institute is offering.

Placement and work experience: Check if the institutes gives you opportunity to work on the subject that you are studying. This will add extra bonus to your skills. Also, check if the institute offers you good placement facility. If the institute have direct contacts with companies then it will be an advantage for you to be certified from that institute.

Live Project: No matter what they say a live project enhances you to be ready before you start working in companies. Ensure that you have a detailed understanding of the projects that you do and keep yourself abreast with the questions that the examiner may asks you during an interview.

Practical aspects: It is important to understand how things work but more important is to know how it works. Theory of any subjects should be accompanied with a good understanding of practical aspects.

2 Months and counting in a Startup

Life in a startup can be compared to a toddler trying to do a disco even before it started walking. And that could be dangerous as well as unpredictable. But if startups were predictable then a large many of the venture capitalists would by know contacted a many of us.

When the idea of startup came to my mind, I was employed with an organization that has a brilliant product and very good clientele. It was offering me a good salary along with perks that every sales guys would love to have. So, there was everything that it offered except that I wanted to do something of my own and better.

It is believed that everyone gets bit by an entrepreneurial bug someday, and it bit me quite early. I started  preparing but then I wanted to be absolute sure that I was ready for the emotional drain added to the physical trauma. Every day for the first month, I kept myself logged in to the different facets of the industry, reading books, following industry leaders and making a list of ‘to-do-things for the day”. It is never easy to do a religious follow up of it every day but I kept myself pushing.  Once I had decided that I was going to start-up something, I started to find the answer for that ‘something’. Luckily, for me my friends and family trusted and backed me on this, and were confident that starting something in which I had more visibility and experience to begin with would be the right decision. And so the framework for end-to-end documentation solutions and training came into picture.

Once the framework came into picture, I decided the other logistics and operations activities needed to be started. And then right from incorporation of the company to bagging our first client it has been a challenge. One which I have cherished and in the process of it learnt quite a few things. I am a few months old, actually 2 months now but the lessons learnt have been quite enriching in the past couple of months. Some of these are:

• take baby steps
• respect your customers but say ‘No’ when it’s required
• value for money- every penny counts!
• your employees are your assets
• don’t be hasty in your decision making
• know when to switch off and switch on
• be the first one to lead and last one to take credit
• plenty of patience
• frustration never pays, so what is the use of it
• always be in sales mode…… and much more

Nobody knows about the future, it can be good and equally bad. But if you have dived into the world of entrepreneurship you should at least stop thinking about getting yourself drowned and rather concentrate more on swimming against the tides. It’s fun, its tough but we are all players, aren’t we?

About Blue Dots Consultancy Services:-Pioneered in the year 2014 and based out of Bengaluru (India), Blue Dots Consultancy Services is one of the agile and just-in-time Consulting startups that creates innovative solutions for solving critical business problems faced by the Content management and Documentation industry. Coupled with exceptional customer centric mindset and the hunger to create success for the eco system, Blue Dots believes that it can create disruption in the industry and create its niche. Hardly a few months into operations, Blue Dots has already delivered a good number of successful projects and is in discussion with a few large customers. You can read the company services here.

Hiring Blue Dots Sales Rockstars (Mumbai/Pune)

Job: Business Development Manager for Blue Dots Consultancy Services

Location: Mumbai/Pune

It’s an exciting time to be in Blue Dots. Come, join a Startup that has the potential to be one of the Top 10 IT services providers nationally and has an aggressive growth ambitions. We are expanding in India and are on the lookout for Sales Rockstars, who will work with the Blue Dots team, our customers and together make Blue Dots realize the vision and the growth roadmap.

We are looking to on board an aggressive Business Development Manager, who will operate out of his / her home office, when not travelling and not meeting customers / prospects for business. Ideal candidate will be an experienced IT services sales hunter (new client acquisition) and should be familiar with the region / territory.  If you have liked what you have read so far, then don’t stop yourself, and send across your resumes to sales@bluedotsconsultancy.com.

This is a highly visible position and reports to the CEO of the company. 

Below listed is an indicative list of responsibilities and is in no way to be considered as complete and final and moreover, the responsibilities could change at any time. This position has the potential to grow in the organization, based on the performance.

Prior written approval from the CEO will be needed if there is any cost involved for any of the activities listed below.

Indicative list of responsibilities:

• Bachelor’s degree is a must. MBA is preferred.
• Should have 2+ years of experience in selling IT services, IT account management, IT services sales processes, IT new business development, hunting /cold calling and have a past record of achieving sales quotas/target.
• Should have excellent written, oral communications and presentation skills.
• Should be open to travel to meet with the customers, prospects, leads, attend events, trade shows, etc.
• Should be motivated to work in an entrepreneurial, team-oriented environment where everyone works collaboratively to grow the business and the company.
• The candidate will work with the customer and the Blue Dots team to conduct lead generation activities in the assigned territory, cold calling, attend trade shows and events that will help grow the business.
• Should meet with the various prospects, leads and referral sources and explain the various services that Blue Dots offer and how these services are beneficial to the customers / leads.
• Should provide a daily report (in a prescribed format) to the CEO and other relevant stakeholders and the report should reach the CEO no later than the end of the business day.
• Should work with the customer and the Blue Dots team to get the SOW / contract signed and account on boarded.
• Attend conference calls, discussions, reviews and be available as needed, outside of the normal working hours.
• All job offers will be contingent upon successful completion of background checks and other verifications.
• Local candidates (Mumbai/Pune) are preferred for this position.

Compensation

This position has a (1) fixed base pay, (2) a very attractive performance commission structure and (3) annual bonus. Performance commission is based on assigned sales quota / targets for acquiring new business and for extension of existing business.

MOM of Jan:Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup Group

Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup Group met after a long hiatus at Blue Dots Consultancy Services. 15 people registered but due to some unforeseen circumstances only 6 could attend.
Surag R spoke in detail about his experiences as a tech pubs manager, and the diverse roles a technical writer takes up in his/her job. He narrated anecdotes about job interviews and stressed on the importance of ‘enjoying the job’ and ‘to do what you are good at’. Varunshi spoke about his experiences as technical writer and the challenges faced in jobs.
Rest all shared their experiences and discussed varied topics on tools, hierarchy of technical writers, concepts, interviews etc.
It was an enjoyable experience and we look forward to more people and interactive discussions in near future.

Building Rapport with Customers

There is nothing more annoying and disturbing than crossing the last hurdle. In my profession, receiving the cheque and closing the deal is a challenge. Any amount of patience and motivational speech cannot  help. While it is of course an inevitable thing that happens in sales deals closure, over the years I’ve tried finding out ways and devised approaches that could help me in receiving payment from customer on sales deals:

1) Building a close rapport with the customer is important. But when do we start building rapport? Do we wait till the implementation rolls in and customer starts using the product or service? I think it starts from the very first day you make that call to the prospect. The customer should be your friend. Anything related to his business, you should be the first one to know. Be his/her guide and his/her friend. Like a product or service, customer-sales relationship needs to evolve.

2) For every deal that you close, you need to give a bit more to your customer. And obviously bit more efforts on the side from a salesman to understand the customer business and assist him/her with suggestions to make it more productive. I know it is easier said than done but it works. For example- the customer is starting a business in fashion management and needs couple of folks to handle his IT. Get your contacts across, train them on your product and get it accessible to the customer. The customer will not only thank you for your service but will pay you at the first instant.

3) In one of my closure deals I had the customer interacted with me over a month. And then he got silent. Absolute silence. I was trying to call him up but no answer and thought damn this is going nowhere. But then one fine day, I just texted him (for he wanted a plumber to do his water clogged maintenance work). He responded and apologized for the delay. I still did not ask him anything about the deal. He rang him up the next day and we talk. We converse on cricket, girlfriends and wives, politics, Aam Admi Party and then couple of business problems to his solutions. He talks about his financial turmoil but he goes ahead and paid us the cheque. This goes to show how rapport is important.

4) You have to take strong action at time. And I have done in situations where your customers have started using services and not paid up. In case of SaaS based products, it is easier to cancel the services because it is hosted in Cloud and you can do so, but it is a little tricky for on-premises software. But there is no business with money and you should never forget about it.

I’ll be interested to know from the sales fraternity on their approaches to build rapport with customers.

Noticeable Questions on SaaS Deals

In one of my busy sales days, a colleague of mine knocks at my cubicle. We were from the same team. He sat down and nervously panted out that he simply cannot sell a SaaS based solution to prospects who have no website of their own. I knew he had been in the org. for almost 1 year and his performance has not come close to what it was earlier. To add to that, he had been provided a target of 10 customers and after first week he was completely disturbed. I thought of instead of telling how to address the challenges I should get some pointers from him on how he gets on with his job.

• The first thing that he wants to know from any prospect or lead is do they have a website of their own. This is important for providing any business solution online. How does it makes sense to provide any value proposition to any lead who does not have anything to do with any website. He does manual work probably still in pen and paper age and dreams of using technology. It is very difficult for you to sell a SaaS based solution to them.
• Perpetual licensing gets the customers sign on quickly with the notion that they own a software and may or may not need to pay a recurring fee yearly. This recurring fee attributed to an annual maintenance fee supports upgrades, new releases and customer support cost. But the SaaS based model does away with a  lot of these areas. To start with the subscription fee includes everything-right from setting up the infrastructure for the software to training to deployment.  And you can opt for a monthly subscription. This takes customers some time to understand software ownership vs software service.
• You’ll have to be online if you wish to be on Cloud. Many a times you will get customers apprehensive about moving from an offline model to online. How do you satisfy a customer requirement and making his transition easier is a job.
• Since it is a service and hence companies are tied up with couple of vendors data storage, messages, multimedia and all. All this includes services cost. Sometimes a SaaS based company need to provide information and many a times a customer used to perpetual license model are apprehensive of dealing with multiple vendors.

And there are more but I need to go and celebrate Vijaya Dashami. In the next piece I shall try to address couple of these issues in real-time scenarios.

Every business needs Cold Calling!

To start, Cold calling is extremely fun. I say this from my professional sales experience, which is limited and counting. And though in a job I concentrate my time and effort in and out in product and services sales, I do not mind making cold calls occasionally. Most of the readers are aware of what cold calling is but let me explain a bit from my end.

Cold Calling as defined by Rajdeep Gupta is opening or striking a conversation to lead into a business or partnership achieving a mutual goal. I know am not going to win a Nobel Prize for this definition but that’s what came to my mind now. Every business needs sustainable customers. And Customers are always your assets. Without customers any business would fail or the shop has to get closed. But how do you get a customer?

My observation is customers are everywhere. You may bump into them while crossing that street, or strike a conversation while waiting for that car in an airport or get acquainted by a common friend. But these instances of acquaintances happen from time to time or maybe accidental. Sales need prospects every time.

Let us assume that I am working on a Cloud Mobile Workforce Management software service. To start with product sales, I decide that am going to penetrate the Indian market. I start my research which is easily accessible on internet. I get thousands of people/companies who are using or planning to use Mobile for their management services.  Out of these thousands, I prepare a list of 100 companies that are Tier 1, another list of Tier 2 and so on. It done, now what?

Generally, I start with preparing a list created in MS Excel or these days in Google’s worksheet that has columns- company, customer, mobile#, email address, status, The first call is the most crucial one and also the one that sets the platform. I select the company after a) doing a bit of research on the services offered, clients, customer reach and new news in the market and b) any updates that you could get on company merger or its latest annual report. These two things gives me enough impetus to know and understand that am conversing with the right customer segment, budget and what are they into. Now, the timing of the call could be tricky- is it an early morning or an afternoon or evening? I chose based on my schedule because if I start looking into all the other areas I may never make that call.

The phone# listed in the website generally gets you to the front-desk reps or the IT department and sometimes to the Marketing team. I do not push hard right away but based on my experience it is better to call up and intimate that you have great news that you to share with the team. Now, if you are put in line to that team it is your chance to make that sales pitch. I tend to be as calm and composed I could be and wait for the recipient to first speak up. Once we are done with the round of introduction, I confirm that our discussion will be short. Understanding their requirement is key to sales but that may not come on the first cold call, So, I figure out that a sales pitch of 1 minute with a request for further discussion. It could lead the prospect a) to give me the name of the contact generally addressing and b) existing setup, they are happy with it and do not wish to change. I do not think the latter response should make one sad because I would follow-it up saying that would they mind if I could have them in our list for a newsletter or so. How rude it can be!

Once the first cold call is done, prospect details are entered in a customer relationship management to take it further. Initial part of cold calling has lead me to certain prospects and deals that get resulted in a day or two and also folks who have never picked up the call again. But that is the job of sales reps. You are offering them a business solution and so if the prospects are not interested they have the right to slam the phone over your face. But that should not deter you from cold calling.

The objectives of cold calling are many folds but I guess it has one important one- announcing the competitors and market that you are in business. You need a seed of thought to implant in customer’s minds- a 10 second call will do that. A word of advice- Don’t take anything personal and keep your emotions checked while making a cold call.

6 Reasons why I love Working in Startups

There is another aspect that work life brings-challenges. And one such challenge is working in a small startup. I have been fortunate enough to work in a few multinational companies and at the same time in start ups.

Couple of reasons why start ups throws challenges especially from a sales perspective:

1) The objective of any business is to make things and sell things. If you are not doing any of this, you are wasting your time. Salesmen in startups are coocons working on weekends to close sales. Their objective is generate leads quickly, setup the initial conversation with the prospect and then driving it to the closure as quickly as he/she can. There is no ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ in startups. To go through the entire sales cycle process that faster without missing out an active customer focus and research would be a crime and that itself is a challenge.

2) Salesmen especially in the managerial role are sometimes faced with challenges to pick and choose what works for the team than the company- decision to hire a new sales guy than have a new coffee machine, decision to have more business cards than a new printer, decision to move into a new CRM than sponsoring a conference and so on.

3) Compensation and that’s what drives 99% of sales folks in a start ups is quite good but the challenges and responsibilities that it brings are enormous. For example- in a Cloud SaaS based company, it becomes more important for you to ensure that your clients dutifully renew the deals because their reluctance for renewal will negatively affect your compensation.

4) The product is like your baby. With its little progressive steps, you’ll get delighted. There is a personal relationship with every clients coming on board in a start up. Something enticing while doing a demo or standing in a booth with a prospect, you observe his actions and see the beam of his smile that the product has met more of his requirements

5) The team buys its own propaganda, and fully expects customers to leap tall buildings to get to your product. You never dreamed that customers would be slow to accept an unproven product from a startup in the middle of an economic downturn. To build a company from that crisis needs certain willpower.

6) I have observed in my short stint as a sales rep a lot of sales reps expects to be noticed when they get a deal. In a start up there is more probability for salesmen to be acknowledged for their performance. There is more satisfaction that meets your eyes, and that is just my personal opinion.