As we wrap up the work for the Spring 2010 release we have begun planning for the Fall 2010 release.  I’ve got to tell you that we are excited about how the Fall release is shaping up and wanted to share that excitement with you.  With the Fall release we are planning on knocking off the next two big items you’ve voted for on UserVoice.  Those two items are the ability to import cash receipts from Excel or CSV directly into Payment Management and the navigation changes shared in a previous blog.

Now for the exciting part….

We want to accomplish these items through the following:

• A substantial redesign around module navigation
• A refresh and update of the user interface
• A redesign of Payment Management and Cash Receipts

In all these changes we really want to focus on the user experience, especially in the area of Payment Management and Cash Receipts.  Over the years Payment Management has been the biggest pain point for our customers and we have collected a lot of requests and ideas and hope to incorporate as many as we can in the redesign of the module.

Who wants to help?  In order to accomplish all this we will be once again incorporating the help of user design teams built with people like YOU!  If you are interested in being on the UI/Navigation team or on the Payment Management team please let me know by emailing me (jeckert@ewsgroup.com).

We’d like to congratulate Hilldrup Moving & Storage for receiving the American Moving and Storage Association’s 2009 Agent of the Year Service Excellence Award. The award was given during AMSA’s convention this past week in Phoenix, AZ.

The award reflects AMSA’s and the industry’s commitment to excellent customer service, and is presented to agents nominated by their affiliated van line based on customer surveys and van line experience. Nominations are judged primarily on customer service assessments and industry awards and recognitions.  Consideration is also given to additional factors such as leadership, innovation, community involvement and activities that enhance the industry image.  Hilldrup was nominated by United Van Lines, Inc.

We’re very proud and honored to have Hilldrup as a MoversSuite customer. Over the past several years, they’ve been instrumental in pushing our products and services to new and exciting places. We look forward to even more great things to come from our relationship in the future.

You can read the entire press release on Hilldrup’s site.

Given the success of using UserVoice for capturing and voting on enhancement requests for our Fall 2009 release and the positive feedback from our users, UserVoice will be used by MoversSuite going forward for collecting customer enhancements and feedback.  At this point our UserVoice Enhancements Forum is open and can be accessed to enter enhancement requests and to vote for those you feel are most important.

We want this to be a tool that is used continually throughout the year.  A place where the MoversSuite community of customers can collaborate on enhancement requests and elevate through voting those that are most important.  The goal is to get as many of our users involved in the process as possible which will lead to better design which leads to a product better suited to your needs.  Users can change votes as they see fit, and as enhancement items are completed by MoversSuite, votes will be returned to be placed on other items.

The UserVoice site still has all of the enhancement requests gathered during the process for the Fall 2009 release.  You will notice that enhancements that have been completed or are in process are marked as such.  As we plan for each subsequent release, the current number of votes and time estimated to complete the enhancement will be used to determine what enhancements will be included in that release.

Many of our customers have existing logins and those are all still valid.  If you are new to MoversSuite and don’t yet have logins to this site please contact Darla Gillaspie (dgillaspie@ewsgroup.com) to be setup.  Once Darla has set you up as a user it is then up to you to enter your enhancement requests and vote.  The number of logins available to your company is determined based on the number of MoversSuite user licenses you have purchased.

To access the site now click here: http://feedback.moverssuite.com

Building upon the excitement of our newly branded EWS Group website, we’d also like to announce our presence on Twitter and Facebook. The social media outlets are good ways for us to keep you updated of events, webinars, training and give general glimpses of what’s going on here at EWS Group.

We look forward to engaging with you in the virtual world!

I can’t believe how I excited I am to announce our newly designed website and blog for EWS Group.  I am not exactly sure what this says about me, but I look forward to everyone’s analysis. 

Anyhow, this has been a big project and my excitement stems not just from the website finally being live – it’s that this site is really about where EWS Group is going and the promise it holds.  We undertook the rebranding project because we found ourselves pushed into new areas by our customers.  Some of that has come in the form of improving MoversSuite by tackling real problems like managing all the paper in a move and a better system for collecting accounts receivable.  Other pushes have come in finding ways to increase revenues through lead and sales process management or reducing operating expenses by simply bringing payroll processing in-house.  Each time our customers ask us to help, we grow as people and as a business.

This site not only allows us to better communicate what we can bring to our valued customers and new prospects; it challenges us to push ourselves to make sure we are bringing them the best that technology, process and people have to offer.   This is a big responsibility and one that we are eager to fulfill.  Please take a few minutes to check out the site.  We would love to hear your thoughts.

And come back often.  This is just the start.  We don’t want this just to be our site.  We want it to be your resource.