The smaller map shows sequenced delivery orders for a route. Click the link below to see detailed driving directions in a new window. From the new window, you can print two different ways. File | Print uses the default layout or customize it with the Print link (upper right corner).

View Larger Map w/Detailed Driving Directions

Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/yzma6wv

At first glance, that seems reasonable for both parties. The person gets real-world results and we get a potential customer. The problem? It’s a waste of everyone’s time.

Optimizing scheduled delivery routes for any particular industry is complex. There are many considerations with data validation, quantities, revenue, route geography, driver compensation, delivery restrictions and so forth. It’s not possible to take a data file separated from the real-world needs and create a useful scenario for comparing different routing applications. Handing your data to the vendor and asking them to push the Route-O-Matic 9000 button doesn’t tell you anything about the steps involved in getting those results.

Any decent routing application will generate approximately the same results given the same data. However, because of the reasons mentioned above, it’s impossible to actually implement those routes on the street. And the vendor won’t be building those routes for you after the purchase is made. Evaluations should include how much time, work and effort will it take to get similar results on your own.

Here’s some guidelines for evaluating a routing and logistics package:

1. Ease of use. How long does it take to get results? That includes installation, setup, training, data import, routing and publishing. It varies greatly between application, but several weeks (and even several months) isn’t unusual.
2. Ease of transferring data in both directions. Data must flow between the billing/CRM system and the routing system. Most packages only include manual import and export. That’s time consuming, error prone and cumbersome.
3. Quality of mapping data. Few vendors use the latest data from TeleAtlas and NAVTEQ. Those two are widely recognized for providing the most up-to-date and accurate mapping data.
4. Applicability to task. Does it work for your specific industry and routing needs? Most packages were developed primarily for dynamic routes in specific industries. Make sure it works for yours.
5. Cost. Purchase price, upgrades, maintenance fees, training and consulting can easily range from $10,000 to well over $100,000.

Here’s how Headlight meet those guidelines.

1. Ease of use. Create an account and watch the online video tutorials.
2. Ease of transferring data in both directions. The import wizard matches fields, geocodes in real-time and summarizes the results. For scheduled delivery routes, Smart Sync completely automates the data transfer process.
3. Quality of mapping data. TeleAtlas and NAVTEQ are both used.
4. Applicability to task. Specifically designed for smaller companies to quickly plan routes, spot routing problems, evaluate changes and simplify daily tasks. It’s routing software that offers a smarter way to manage delivery vehicles and service routes starting at only $97 / month.

Let’s say you wanted to buy a new table saw. Asking the manufacturers to cut a pile of boards just proves THEY can cut boards with it. Unless you’re planning on outsourcing the project entirely, you need to roll up your sleeves, turn it on and try it yourself. It’s the difference between reading car reviews online and taking that shiny new car for a nice, long drive.

Try Headlight with our 100% no-risk guarantee

Email is ideal for supporting software and web apps. Phone messages are typically vague (e.g. “Hey, it's John. There's a problem with Headlight, call me back”), don't ask specific questions and never include helpful items like logs, links, screenshots or error messages. Email allows for all of those things.

Email is time independent, allows multiple support people to cooperate on a single incident and tracks all communications. That dramatically shortens the time required to resolve an incident – which is a key metric – and lets us review support tickets after the fact. Many times, those reviews results in new features or changes that prevent that particular incident for everyone, including people who aren't yet clients.

Here's a good example. Our next release includes a highly visible link on the login screen called “Can't login?” that links to a post titled Headlight won't let me login. It highlights the top five reasons for login failure. It quickly addresses 99% (perhaps 100%) of all login errors AND is much faster than making a phone call. It's available 24/7, can be bookmarked, sent to other users and often includes screenshots. Which is just about perfect for task based explanations.

We regularly evaluate whole bunches of software. Web applications, development tools, graphic utilities – it's a long list. Part of that is finding great tools for MobileIQ, part is finding great recommendations for others. Having worked with MANY different software vendors, it's clear our perspective on support differs markedly from many others.

Phone support provides three options. None work well for application support.

1. Calls are answered immediately. Regrettably, this rarely means a highly trained, competent rep just picked up. It's often someone tasked with picking up the phone quickly, followed by shuttling between different departments to locate the right person. Once the support process actually begins, you have no idea whether it will take five minutes or five hours to resolve. Be prepared to repeat the whole story again to another person after the first rep determines they can't help.
2. You're put in a hold queue. Same as #1, but this make the process even longer. How is spending time on hold helpful to anyone?!? It's not a good use of anyone's time, particularly an end user who certainly has more important things to do.
3. You leave a message with callback number. This is my all-around favorite waste of everyone's time. What are you doing when the call is returned? Almost certainly something different than before. It's extremely rare for someone to leave a message, receive a unscheduled return call and instantly want to drop their current work. You'e already moved onto other things, other priorities, other tasks. Now we're interrupting you, end up leaving a message (“Hey, it's MobileIQ Support just letting you know we called!!!”) and the phone circle begins.

We believe the best support call is the one that never takes place. It's far better to prevent problems entirely than answer the phone quickly. Our clients rarely ask for support because it's simply not needed.

Here's my quickie list for best application support. All provided via email.

Freshbooks @ http://www.freshbooks.com
Active forums, thoughtful answers, always looking for customer feedback. They do offer phone support, but I've never used it. See above.

37Signals @ http://www.37signals.com
One company, couple handful of employees and millions (!!!) of users. Try that with a call center.

SuperDuper @ http://www.shirt-pocket.com/superduper/
I honestly think they have an intravenous email drip. Or perhaps telepathic keyboards.

Here’s a way around all that.

It requires a little background knowledge, so let’s cover that first. Two popular delivery systems are fixed schedule and sliding schedule.

Fixed Schedule

This system guarantees only one delivery per month. The customer is scheduled one of two ways: using a specific date or using a specific day. For example, the “15th of every month” or the “2nd Tuesday of every month.”

There’s two significant problems with this approach.

1. Pint-sized February holds back all the longer months.  Since Feb. 30th doesn’t exist, the schedule can’t say the “30th of every month”.  And the “5th Tuesday of every month” won’t always work.  That often leaves too much month at the end of every delivery cycle.
2. The other problem is holidays. It’s tough to make deliveries when the office is closed and everyone’s out shooting off fireworks or grilling burgers. Most companies using a fixed schedule will “double-up” during holidays weeks. That means making five days of deliveries in only four days every time a holiday rolls around. Tough job for anyone.  Thanksgiving and Xmas are particularly grueling and it might take 2-3 weeks to catch up with all the late deliveries.

Sliding Schedule (aka “bump” schedule or “cycle” schedule)

This system takes an entirely different approach.

Instead of using calendar days, the company selects a “cycle” of delivery days that continually repeat. Let’s say a 20 day cycle is used (10 and 20 day cycles are common). The numbers 1 through 20 are used to represent unique route days. A driver will deliver all the customers on Route 1. The following day, all the customers on Route 2 are delivered. The third day, all the customers on Route 3. And so on until Route 20 is finally completed. Then it’s back to Route 1 and the process continues.

The clever part is how these days are mapped to the calendar. On the calendar below, the red numbers are the cyclical route days. By skipping over weekends and holidays (gray squares), all the problems with using a Fixed Schedule are avoided. Everyone’s happy.

Well, sort of. We still haven’t solved the “more than one delivery each month” issue. There’s another option when it’s important that “monthly service” means “exactly one time per month”.

Sliding Guaranteed Schedule

This variation of the standard “Sliding Schedule” adds closed days at the end of each month. The trick here is closed days are only added when needed. Exactly twenty delivery days appear in each month. July, October and December are all rather long-ish months. Each receives two additional closed days. August and September only need one. And for 2009, November doesn’t need any.

This systems guarantees three things:

1. Monthly customers only receive one delivery each month. Same is true for 2x and 4x customers.
2. Holiday weeks are treated no differently. No doubling up, working weekends or paying overtime.
3. Route day volumes remain consistent throughout the entire month. That helps balance revenue.

Are there drawbacks to this system? Sure.

Less route days are available during the year because you’re really taking 13x annually and converting to 12x annually for some customers. Depending on the number of holidays, about ten revenue generating days are pushed into next year. The fixed schedule claims to avoid this issue, but I’m convinced the cost of “doubling-up” offsets that extra income. Companies using a sliding schedule believe the value of fewer complaints, less overtime and overall simplicity outweighs the potential lost revenue. And keep in mind, your company can use a mix of these different schedules for different customers.

Thanks to Brian Kennedy @ Culligan of Plant City for posing the question.

Making decisions up front – and writing them down – gets everyone on the same page. Potential problems can be discussed and resolved early in the process before becoming real problems on the street.

Let’s start with the familiar case first. With equity funding, the investor is buying shares of stock, options, warrants or something equivalent. They have ownership in the company or the ability to gain ownership of the company in the future. The amount of ownership is based on the company valuation and amount of money being invested.

The investor can make money in two ways: loan repayment or selling stock. It might be another investor, an acquisition or an IPO. The difficult part – especially for new companies or startups – is determining a fair valuation and how much equity the investment is worth.

In royalty financing, the investor is buying a percentage of future sales. It’s basically an advance or loan to the company. Traditionally this type of finance has been common to investors in the mining and energy sectors, but it’s becoming more common for technology companies as well.

According to financial writer David Evanson, this type of financing works particularly well for established companies that have an existing product or service and emerging companies about to launch a product with high gross and net margins. He also believes it’s ideal for financing intensive sales and marketing activities.

Additional Resources

Small Business Encyclopedia
Article by David R. Evanson, Financial Writer (.pdf)