As a ‘veteran’ in the world of financial consulting Penny has learned many lessons throughout her 30+ years. In her latest position as Head of Customer Development for Sysynkt she’s combining her experience working both for the software authors of SunSystems®, various partners (including working closely with the authors of Q&A), and directly for her own clients with her passion for keeping customers happy. In the second of our ‘To Be Sysynkt’ series of chats we dig a little deeper into what success looks like according to Penny.
Q1: Hello Penny — you officially joined Sysynkt in October 23 BUT you’ve been working with, and on, our XFMS solution in your consultant’s role at TouchstoneFMS for nearly 2 years. So, what intrigued you and enticed you to become a fully-fledged Sysynkter?
David Singh from Touchstone introduced me to Sysynkt and Kalev almost two years ago and I had a real OMG moment. For me, it was like seeing Q&A for the first time — those old enough to remember that moment will know what I mean! My first thought was, “This is exactly what the SunSystems’ world needs — and everyone will want it.” That thought has not changed in the least and the more I work with Kalev and the team, the more excited I am.
I am very pleased to be bringing the possibilities of digital transformation to the world of SunSystems companion products by joining Sysynkt. We have such a talented, young team with a truly innovative product that I know we'll go far - watch this space.
Q2: As with all startups there probably isn’t a typical-typical day — that said what are your key activities/responsibilities/tasks and what would 24 hrs in the life PP look like?
My first job every morning is to check the support desk. I make sure we have nothing outstanding and everything is progressing as it should. It’s also the last thing I do every day (often in the evening!). My days are taken up with speaking to clients, partners, and prospects about our projects and prospective projects and I spend time every day discussing product too. We are a tight-knit team, and we all bring our experience when it comes to shaping the product. It’s crazy but I'm passionate about keeping our customers happy and luckily for me Sysynkt makes that such an enjoyable task. It's refreshing to be working for such an innovative, dynamic company.
Q3: What does customer development and customer success mean to you and is there a difference between ‘development and success’?
It may be an overused claim, but I firmly believe we are only successful when our customers are happy. Making more customers happy is my number one goal every single day. In practice, this means implementing and running successful, efficient projects and also building positive ongoing relationships with our customers — we genuinely want to hear their pain points and do our best to solve them.
You may not know this, but we go onsite to our clients twice a year and sit with the end users to get their feedback. This is a crucial part of keeping our customers happy and providing them with the user experience and functionality that makes their working life easier. The important thing is we are always doing our best and that our clients can see that. That is our goal right across our company.
For me, customer success and customer development are inextricably linked. However, if I were to make a distinction a key part of my customer development role is around the product direction. Direct contact with our clients and prospective clients means I know what they are asking for and this knowledge allows me to influence product development. As we all know every request cannot be accommodated as a priority in a product roadmap, but as the customer advocate, I can ensure their needs strongly influence our product direction so that we continue to develop a useful and effective solution.
Q4: What in your experience are the three top mistakes companies make when looking (or not looking!) after their customers?
There are many mistakes I’ve been witness to but three recurring and inexcusable ones as far as I am concerned are:
No. 1 Complacency. There are organisations who have been using SunSystems for 20+ years. Often these companies are sort of left to their own devices so long as the money keeps coming in. They often don’t know about nor get to reap the benefits of changes in the marketplace like Sysynkt.
No. 2 Lack of innovation. I have been in this industry a long time and I know how slowly change happens in our marketplace. By this I mean change in both the products and actual innovations in technology. We are all accountants after all and generally quite a conservative bunch. However, this means we have not taken advantage of all that SaaS, cloud and AI brings. This must change.
No. 3 Ignoring the little guys. Often companies are focussed on the big or prestigious clients and deals and the smaller companies are presented with huge barriers to entry when trying to take advantage of new products and tools that come along. They end up stuck with ‘previous’ generations of products. Luckily, Sysynkt smashes these barriers with features such as our unlimited users model.
Q5: How does Sysynkt’s software and the company structure make your job easier?
Truly out-of-the-box integration is a dream to work with. This, along with the clear and simple user experience and unlimited users, are the things that give me a thrill every time I use Sysynkt. It really is a joy to work with.
Each team member has clear responsibilities and is also encouraged to bring their ideas and knowledge to all areas of Sysynkt – there are no egos. The biggest difference between Sysynkt as a company and other places I have worked is that we walk the walk. Everything is automated. All our tools are SaaS and cloud — even our projects are managed on a cloud SaaS platform that integrates with all our other tools. I love it.
Q6: There are currently six main modules offered by Sysynkt that customers select as they need them. Tell me in one sentence the module and your favourite/most useful feature from each…
Banking – This is easy. The suggested payment run listing attaching all the actual invoice documents you are paying is such a valuable feature.
Purchasing Invoicing – Audrey! The way the invoices are ingested, and the data is extracted is honestly so impressive using embedded AI.
Procurement – The way we can control at each stage in the workflow, which data is mandatory, what attributes are visible etc. You can raise a purchase request and not even know who the supplier is or how much the items cost.
Sales and Service – Recharges. You can tag any purchase (expenses or purchase invoice) as a recharge and choose to recharge at cost or with an uplift or at a different price then pick these items up on a sales invoice. It is really neat.
Expenses - Our mileage expense calculator. You can see your route on a map and work out your mileage expense based on HMRC (other tax jurisdictions are available) official mileage rates. Super easy and saves time and money.
Integration and Plugins – Microsoft® Graph. This tool allows us to integrate with Teams, receive PDF invoices from your mailbox without polling for them, and work with any MS product.
Q7: You mention SunSystems a lot on the website and in your marketing — is this the only ERP Sysynkt is compatible with?
So, Sysynkt was designed from day dot to be finance system agnostic. Of course, having been designed by SunSystems consultants, there are lots of features and functions that will appeal to SunSystems user. We absolutely have it on our roadmap to create connectors to other Finance Systems. Watch this space.
Q8: How do (Team Sysynkt) make sure you are not only listening to customers and partners but actually acting on their feedback?
We take this seriously at Sysynkt. Much of the functionality you see in the Sysynkt XFMS came from a user request. Remember, both Kalev and I started as SunSystems users and one of the worst things for us was for good ideas and critical feedback not to be acted on. As I mentioned before – the bi-annual visits we make to each customer is just one of the ways we show how serious we are about listening to what our customers need and have to say.
In addition, part of what I do is to research how we can satisfy our clients’ requests. For example, I have recently been looking at carbon footprint calculations for our Expenses module. This came from a client’s request about whether we could do it. It is now very firmly on our roadmap. We also listen to our partners. From our two recent training events we raised dozens of enhancement requests, just through having open and honest conversations with the partners that were present.
We believe in collaborative ways of working. Every day we have a quick stand up to see what everyone is up to that day, and we also have regular open sessions where anyone can bring their ideas or frustrations, plus highlight anything they have heard a client ‘complain’ about. We also make sure our developers get out and meet the customers and see for themselves how the product is being used. This is so important if you want to have a coherent, well-designed solution.
Q9: What five attributes make you good in this role and why do you think these skills are necessary (don’t be shy now Penny!).
In short, I have several decades-worth of experience in implementing and supporting SunSystems for large multinationals (especially in Oil & Gas and Hospitality) and smaller clients. I have worked for the software author, Systems Union, and also the creators of Q&A on product design and have transformed business processes at hundreds of companies over the years. The main skills I bring are:
- I am a born problem solver – I really cannot help myself.
- I am one of life’s doers, so this makes me pragmatic and energetic.
- Analytical skills. I am good at getting to the heart of a problem or teasing out a client’s requirements.
- I am a people person so (I hope) this makes me easy to work with.
- I value collaboration and communication right across the company.
Q10: You’re known as PP, Penny, Penelope and Lady P — tell me more about who you are, and what occupies you when you’re not bringing happiness to the world of Sysynkt.
I am based in Italy, with my husband and teenage daughter, where I have lived for over 20 years. We have an olive farm and in fact I am Italy’s only British, Female professional olive oil taster. It is my passion project (aside from Sysynkt of course). Farming keeps you grounded and teaches you to accept what life throws at you. I think this pragmatism is just as useful in my professional life.
I also co-admin a Facebook group of nearly 5000 British citizens living in Italy which helps people with their post-Brexit rights. That has been very intense at times but also very rewarding. We have helped hundreds of people since 2016 and we regularly meet with the British Consular teams in Rome and Milan and the European Council Citizens’ Rights team. Our group has also given evidence to many UK Government Select committees over the years. I have a strong sense of fairness and I think that is why Sysynkt and the ethos of digital inclusion really chimed with me.