Many years ago I was teaching an introduction to FileMaker class for folks that knew nothing about the product, or even database technology in general. When we started talking about the ability to sort records one student became visibly agitated. I asked if there was anything wrong.
This poor woman had created a FileMaker database to track her customers. For years she, as many had before her, tracked her customers in a card file system containing hand written data. This was an important move for her and her husband into the brave new world of technology.
In preparation she had spent many long days putting these cards in alphabetical order, so she could enter the customer records in the proper order. When she saw that FileMaker could sort her cards any which way she chose, it dawned on her how much time she had wasted, even with the best of intentions.
I often think back to this moment and realize how we as technical people just take these types of features for granted. We know what FileMaker is capable of doing, and the limitations that exist. Our clients, however, don’t often have the benefit of understanding all that FileMaker can do for them.
For me, the moral of this story is that we need to help our clients understand all that’s possible with the software that, in so many cases, is an important tool for their business operations.
We encourage our system engineers and developers to make our clients aware of what is possible. We often have deep knowledge of their processes and systems, and can advise of what might be possible.
But I also would like to encourage our clients to ask us, through our system engineers and developers, if there are capabilities that might improve their operations. Or dream and ask the things that, in your wildest imagination, might be possible. Remember that something that was not possible some years ago might be a built-in feature today that is easily implemented.
When I was building systems for our clients I often heard them ask questions like, “I doubt this is possible but could this software provide this capability?”. So often the answer was a resounding yes. And our clients were empowered by new functionality.
Earlier today I was reviewing a list of new features and capabilities in the latest release of FileMaker. And was happily surprised by the breadth of new features that give us even more latitude to make our clients’ business lives better. We’re all fortunate to have FileMaker and their wonderful team that truly works every day to help us build better software systems. They are really a wonderful partner and I know for certain they care.