We can’t win, so we might as well laugh! For your reading entertainment, here’s the recent “circular” conversation that my husband had with Quickbooks customer service regarding an upgrade for the 2009 version.

Very professional isn’t it?

Has anyone had a good customer service experience on instant message? I don’t think I have. It’s hard to get someone who doesn’t speak your language to understand what you’re looking for on IM!

PS By the way, if you can find out what the upgrade price is for Quickbooks 2010 for Mac, let us know

When I started this company, my husband and I researched solutions for hours and hours. I ultimately chose Freshbooks because it met the needs of Coleman Unlimited. My husband’s company, however, was using MYOB. He recently switched over to Quickbooks, hoping it had gotten better than complaints he’d read on the Internet.

The GOOD:
From an invoicing perspective, Quickbooks is very user-friendly.
I like how the program’s interface makes it really easy to see what invoices are overdue, as well as view your income in different time increments. The Transaction Center is the most useful screen when billing.

I hear the PC version is better than the Mac version, but I’ve never experienced the PC version, so I don’t know what I’m missing.

We like most of the basic features of Quickbooks 2009. It’s pretty easy on the eyes. We also like the Home page and its workflow diagram that breaks out tasks.

It’s also easy to receive payment and record deposits. And the bottom line decision-making feature: our accountant can open it and is very familiar with the program.

The BAD:
Data importing is more difficult than it should be. If your bank or credit card pays Intuit (maker of Quickbooks and Quicken) enough cash, you may have a direct connect function where the transactions just flow right into the program.

However, if your bank doesn’t line Intuit’s pockets with enough cash, you’ll experience what we did last week. We went to Bank of America to download our data, but guess what, a Quickbooks (QBO) file wasn’t available to download (at least not for free). What? Now what?

We spent about 4 hours trying to import our bank data. After much searching on the Internet and reading various angry accounts from Quickbooks customers, we discovered that Intuit apparently charges banks to allow them to provide Quickbooks (QBO) downloads. Therefore, Bank of America, wanted to charge us to get QBO downloads (and even discovering this took us through a maze of bad Bank of America customer service… but that’s another story).

Wait a minute? Didn’t I just buy this software program? Aren’t I the customer? Why should I have to pay the bank to get a download of their transactions when I can easily read it on their website? ARRRGGGHHH!!!

We finally discovered a satisfactory solution, but that still doesn’t give us back a half a day of unbillable time. (I’ll skip my treatise on why corporate greed shouldn’t infringe so much on basic customer service–but it shouldn’t!)

Other nit-picky things I wish were different in QB 2009:

• I have yet to figure out how to duplicate invoices. There’s a menu item for it, but it is always grayed out.
• The memorized invoices list is a bit wooden and unfriendly. Why can’t it just be called reoccurring invoices?
• You lose all your new data if your server connection crashes during an active session. It looks like it is auto-saving, but it’s not. Close the program often if you are working in it all day.
• The report center shows pretty charts on the preview cover flow window, but in reality they are pretty boring.
• Can’t multi-select rows in memorized invoices or importing transactions.
• Have to set up a new category for every payee and classify them as vendor, customer, employee or other. This is a bit time-consuming and seems a bit unnecessary.
• Never supported Macs as well as it should.
• It seems like Quicken has some more advanced usability features than Quickbooks.
• You can only search customers by the first word in the title field, not by your contacts. It looks like it is using Spotlight, but not really.
• Customer service has a lot to be desired (see below).

I’d give Intuit’s Quickbooks 2009 a very Microsoft average “C” rating. They improve the program only when necessary, but everyone uses it. I look forward to the day when a superior competitor comes on the scene.

In the past 4 months, Linkedin has really started taking off. I think it’s starting to reach critical mass: everyone is starting to use it. Along with the growth of people using it, the groups function is continuing to mature. Coming from an association management background, I knew the groups could become powerful. Why? We all need recommendations, resources, and peer advice. With the downsizing of America, many of us lack co-workers with whom we can discuss and share ideas.

Now when I go to a local association chapter luncheon, like PRSA, I can build relationships with the people I meet. I send them a Linkedin invitation, and then I can see when they’ve changed jobs or gotten a recommendation. This starts conversations that would have never happened before.

Plus, smart associations are building groups for their members so that they can network and share resources, articles, and ideas. My local PRSA chapter looked into creating a listserver 5 years ago, but it was too expensive. Now that same group has a free Linkedin group that will complement its face-to-face meetings.

I’m excited to see that others are beginning to catch on to the great possibilities for connection through the Web.

By the way, I received some great packing tips and recommendations for movers from the LinkedWorking St. Louis group. Read the comments here.

How do I know?

On company websites of all sizes, I find typos, outdated information, vague details, and very little about the people who work there and the products or services they sell. Sometimes its even a chore to find a phone number – hard to believe, but true!

Ironically when I make it through the red tape to appropriate person to interview for the article — usually a marketing director or CEO — then I am often sent a capabilities brochure on the company. These brochures are amazing: great photos, interesting text, and all the proof that this is indeed a professional company.

So why is it that the boss cares more about a printed piece stored in their backroom than the website which is available to entire world in one click? Because that’s what they see. They aren’t looking for information about their own company. They are looking to hand something to someone they meet. And yet, if they actually went to their own websites on a regular basis, I think they would be shocked at the less than professional image they are projecting.

So if you are part of a company, go to your website. Pretend that you are a first-time visitor. And if you can’t, ask someone else to check it out for you. Get their honest opinion. Then consider: what image do you want to project to the world?

I read this quote in Maximum Impact’s Leadership Wired newsletter today, and I thought it was very wise.

“The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good, and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.”
~ Robert P. Vanderpoel

Interestingly enough, my husband is what many people would consider “an early adopter” of new technologies. We have many amazing technology tools that enhance our lives (and yes, he did wait in line to buy the iPhone on the first day).

However, in many cases, he waits quite a long time (sometimes even longer than the general public) to buy into new technology. When I ask him why he’s still waiting, he almost always says that the technology isn’t ready yet. Like the quote says, he’s waiting for the technology to be better than the previous solution before making a change.

1. Remember the Milk (rememberthemilk.com) – This is a free, incredible tool for managing tasks and to-dos. It has tagging, date, location, time estimate, frequency, and notes. You can enter everything in quickly and easily with the keyboard commands or email your tasks to it. I use it for all of my to-dos (including GTD – Getting Things Done) and to clean out my email inbox. I also find its weekly planner function to be very useful. (Bonus: Nice iPhone interface)
2. Google Calendar (google.com/calendar) – I ditched Outlook this year and opted for Google’s free online calendar. I can have several different calendars for work planning and now I can also share with my husband or my clients without cluttering up their calendars. You can just check each calendar to show it or hide it. I have about 9 calendars I use. It’s easy to add events through the Internet, cell phones and text messaging. (Bonus: Nice iPhone interface)
3. Basecamp (basecamphq.com) – This is more of a business tool, and you do have to pay for it. But if you work closely with others on projects or have get a lot of approvals on text, this tool is worth its minimal cost. I use the whiteboard group editing function newsletters and press releases as well as other text that needs approval by many people. The to-do list is also useful for communicating with others and following up on progress. It saves me hours every week!
4. Google Reader (google.com/reader) – Another free useful tool from Google… I just started using Reader, but my husband, Brett, loves it and has been using it since it came out. Here’s how I use it: I come across a URL of a site that I am interested in, but I don’t have time to read it all right then, and I would like to come back to it later as a resource. Most sites have RSS feeds now, so I just grab the RSS link and add a subscription in Google Reader. Then I can see the headlines and a some of the stories of all the articles on each of those Web sites, all at the same time in Google Reader’s interface. I can group the Web sites into folders, mark the articles as read, see pictures, and search all those sites for keywords. It enables me to review hundreds of Web sites in one easy location. (Bonus: Nice iPhone interface)
5. Wordpress (wordpress.com) – Want to share your thoughts, observations, photos or resume on the Web? You can register for a free Web site with many great features. It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends.

Let me know how these tools work out for you or if you have any cool tools to add.