When I started my professional career, I began at an IT company.
My job centered around organising diaries, keeping projects on the straight and narrow, and generally making sure my boss got to the right place at the right time.
I spent many a youthful and fun year there. And it was actually the place where Lindsey and I first met.
Blimey, what is that, 20 years? Yikes. That makes me feel old.
Anyway, I spent many a year working with state of the art technology. And this continued throughout the rest of my professional career. Always being lucky enough to have access to the latest technology.
This meant I've found it easy to get to grips with technology I've been newly introduced to. Technology some of our clients may be using.
But this week, a new client introduced me to a peace of technology I'd not seen before.
It was something that manages contact records - called a CRM (customer relationship management).
I've used similar tools such as SalesForce, SugarCRM, and HubSpot, but this tool utterly bamboozled me.
I spent ages trying to get to grips with it. Far too long. My pride keeping me at it.
In the end, all it took was a ten minute conversation with the client to suss out all that was needed. And the rest of the project went smoothly.
So this small business tip has a couple of learnings:
Don't assume everything will come naturally. And don't let your pride leave you banging your head against the wall.
Don't be afraid to ask your client for help. You'll likely find it reduces the amount of time you spend scratching your head.
Best, Sarah