Q.    Where do I start? Should I get a secretary to enter my data?

Now that you have an overview of what the program does and how it does it, you're probably asking, what do I do first? If you have been in Mary Kay for more than a couple of months, you have some catching up to do. This section is designed to keep you from wasting time. Let's start this discussion with some realities. 

First, you have a paper system now and you are about to switch that to a computer system. It's not going to happen with a snap of a finger. For the next while you will be operating with a combination of the two. 

Second, computerizing your business is supposed to save you time, not increase the time you spend in administration. Where you are in your career depends on how you spend that valuable booking, coaching, selling and recruiting time you have in your otherwise already busy schedule.

Third, you are in Mary Kay for the long haul. Two years from now, will it be important to know what a customer bought three years ago? I don't think so. What's important is  that the conversion of your system from paper to computer not interrupt your business today.

That being said, I often hear users who have every intention of retracing every step they did in their career for the computer. I try to discourage this every time I can. Here's what I recommend for everyone:

1. If you have a selling business (ie you're not a full-time Director with no more customers), the very first thing you should do is go to your shelves and take a complete inventory of your present stock. And put it in your computer using the Enter Stock Holdings of the Inventory and Orders module. If you find that you have outdated product on your shelves (and by that I mean items that are no longer on the order form), go to the Order Form Structure Change option of the Inventory and Orders module and choose the Add Outdated Product option to enter these items. 

While you're entering the data on items in the current order form, take a few minutes to also set max. and min. levels at the same time. You could set the minimum level to one less than the maximum. Then, once your shelves are full, every time you sell a product, DCMS99 will place a replacement for that item on the order form.

2. If you plan to use User-Defined Lists to categorize your customers and others in your career, you should consider creating them now, using the List Membership Utility of the Names - Record Maintenance module.

3. Start recording your sales in the Integrated Sales option of the Personal Sales module. Start entering the sales you have as of today. That way, your inventory is kept up to date, you start to build your customer records and your service schedule, and can take advantage of the inventory systems ability to make  out orders for you. The Integrated Sales option allows you to add customer records as you go, so you kill two birds with one stone.

4. Enter your business associates, team and/or Unit members into the program so you can start tracking their performance and progress, create newsletters reports, print newsletter labels, etc. You can do this using the Add Names option of the Names - Record Maintenance module.

5. Discuss with your accountant how to categorize your expenses and start entering your business receipts (starting from today) into the Business Expense module.

6. Now that you're on your way and current with today's data, you might have some time to enter data more data for the "completeness" of your records. You can start working backwards to the beginning of the current tax year, for sales and tax records, or the beginning of the current Seminar year for Unit and Offspring production info. When you're entering the results of previous sales for the tax year in the Integrated Sales option, be sure to say "No" to the prompt which asks whether or not you want items sold at this sale to be taken from stock.

The foregoing is just a suggestion. Of course, you can do just about anything you wish. The above aims to get you started quickly and with a minimum of disruption in your business. If you were to start from the first minute of your career, you might never catch up - not to mention the good booking, coaching and recruiting time you'll be using.

In conclusion, start recording your business as of today. Use your paper records in tandem with the computer for the next while until you have enough of your business on the computer. In a year from now, you won't have to refer to the paper records very much at all. Eighteen months from now, you'll forget you ever had paper records.

Should I Get a Secretary to Enter My Data?

By all means, yes. The DCMS will give you its fullest benefit when you have someone else do the grunt work of doing the inventory and putting your historic data into the machine. I do recommend, however, that you get the ball started and that you enter your current sales. I recommend this for several reasons. First, you should now how the program works and how the data goes in, and more importantly, how to get it out. Even if your husband is the one who is helping you, he's not going to be available every time you want an address or phone number or how much your business associate needs to order this quarter for her ruby star.

The second reason you should put in your current data, is that is how the data acquires meaning. Did you go through school using other's people's notes? Probably not. This data comprises the notes you write to yourself about your business. You will remember that new consultant or customer much better if it was you who entered her data. I have to admit, my wife doesn't use the program herself. I enter all of her pertinent data, but it comes at a price. There are some people in her Unit (particularly the out-of-towners) who she doesn't know or remember the names of, which can be embarrassing - particularly when an adoptive director calls to discuss the Consultant. 

Finally, you should know how to run the program so you can instruct and supervise your secretary and so you know what you can expect from the program in return, If you allow your secretary to decide how your data is being entered, you lose considerable control over vital information. 

So in conclusion, let your secretary do the mundane administration and get you caught up, but I would recommend that you add names, enter current unit and offspring production and record current sales yourself. I hope the foregoing has helped get you started.

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