Connect2Field

Last week was a really big week for us at the Connect2Field office with Reckon Limited (ASX listed: RKN) making a strategic investment in Connect2Field.

This is a pretty big deal for us and we wanted to reach out to customers (current and future!) to explain who Reckon are and why is this good news for Connect2Field. Reckon is an Australian company that is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Around 500,000 small businesses use one or more of their products which are currently focused on the accounting space. Many may know Reckon as the company behind the Australian version of Quickbooks.  Reckon as a company turns over just under AU$100 million a year and are a good sized company who will be able to assist teach us lots as we progress on our plans of growth moving forward.

Since we started Connect2Field in December 2009, our aim has been to make a difference to service businesses around the world; improving the way in which companies run on a daily basis.

Our loyal users don’t need to worry though, nothing is going to change around here - it’s business as usual; we will continue to evolve the Connect2Field product, we will continue to integrate with a range of accounting applications and we’ll continue to focus on helping improve services businesses around the world.

We would like to welcome the Reckon team onboard - and we look forward to your involvement in the evolution of Connect2Field!

The Connect2Field Team

Creating and running a business takes up a lot of your time and resources. Each second of every day is valuable, which is why efficiency is so important to make the most of your time! Google Documents makes it easy to create, manage and share documents from wherever you and your team are which makes your life a lot simpler.

Benefits of using Google Docs for your business:

• One location in the cloud to access all of your files from anywhere
• Document company info and important documents
• Produce slideshow presentations
• Create PDF files
• Share files with your field and office workers

As ‘the cloud’ grows more popular, many business are seeing the benefits of storing vital information to do with your business in the cloud - where backups and storage become simultaneous. With Google Docs, you can access all of your stored documents - much like the way you access your Connect2Field data from anywhere with internet access; giving you more freedom. All that you and your colleagues need to do in order to access Google docs is to each set up an account.

Any company venturing into the cloud can compile a list of any important information such as usernames and passwords - it’s important that you centralise this information somewhere that is easy to access for everyone. Every company also has their own systems and documents internally, and these can be saved so that other fieldworkers and office staff members can follow them with their google accounts.

Google Docs is a really easy way to create slideshow presentations that can be updated in real time by the relevant people in your team. You can even add charts and diagrams as well as using animated themes within Google Docs to make a professional and useful presentation for your service business.

We use Google Docs everyday here at Connect2Field to connect with our team members who are often out and about visiting clients or on trips and it saves us a lot of hassle being able to edit documents from wherever we are and in real time!

It could be a great timesaver for your service business as well as helping you to consolidate all your service businesses projects and operations within the cloud...why not give it a try?

The Connect2Field Team

We’re happy to announce that our new iPhone and Android Connect2Field app is now officially available on both the iTunes and Android app stores ready for you to download or to upgrade the current app you have been using.

We are really excited about this app as it’s a lot more user friendly and has vastly improved functionality. Releasing this app has taken a bit of time as we have had to rewrite it from scratch. Moving forward you should see many more updates becoming available on a regular basis.

This version is really a starting point for the Connect2Field app which will be consistently and constantly improved. Our development team has set up a program which will include new updates to be released every 4 weeks. We hope you enjoy using the app and if you have any questions or comments feel free to let us know.

The Connect2Field Team

When you are firing off emails constantly throughout day, it really pays to write as clearly and concisely as possible for colleagues, clients and potential clients who are likely to be as busy as you are.

How many emails do you get to your inbox that you simply do not have the time to read because they are long-winded or complicated to understand in a hurry? It is fair to say often our sent emails are sitting amongst 186 other unread mail items; so it’s best to get to your point and do it well.

Connect2Field's top tips for writing great emails;

1. Use hyperlinks - such a simple thing to do, but you’d be surprised how many people do not use them. A busy person will not have time to Google everything. Most email systems will have a button you can use to insert the relevant link behind your text. Make sure you check that the link also works!

2. Keep your eyes on the CC & BCC - where possible it’s good to personalise your emails. However if you are sending out to a large mailing list this is not always feasible. It is good practice however to not just fire off pointless emails to your whole customer base just because it’s partially relevant - if people aren’t interested in what you have to say the chances are they will be less likely to open an email that IS important.

3. Be concise - this is perhaps the most important rule to live by. People get bored easily. Make life simpler for you and your recipient whilst including all important information such as contact details or deadlines. Only include the essential content - could you say in 5 words what you’ve written (or typed) in 10?

4. Check you are sending your email to the right people - needless to say this is very important. I don’t think your clients want to know what you want for dinner!

5. Write a relevant and meaningful subject line - this way, people will already have some idea of what your message contains. Also, if it’s important you can catch their attention when they are looking through their inbox!

6. SPELL CHECK. Badly spelt emails reflect really badly on you and your company.

By shortening your emails, checking and being concise you will find it actually saves you a lot of time to spend doing other important things within your business.

Got any more suggestions? Feel free to write your comments below!

The Connect2Field Team

Yesterday was an important and exciting day for us at Connect2Field as we were able to announce that our initial round of capital raising has been closed. Our funding has been provided by several private equity investors based in Australia and New Zealand.