March 2012 President's Note By: Joe Finizio A New Spin It’s time to give the President’s Note a new spin. Over the past several years this column has had an inward focus with information on projects and initiatives at RSPA. It’s time for an outward focus to share observations and insights gained from our travels throughout the retail technology industry.

     March 2012 We asked: When you return from a business summit, how do you put into action what you learned and share it with your staff? Will Atkinson CAP Software “I love attending summits like INSPIRE because I always get a lot of great ideas from the presenters and from other business leaders. Events like this are a great way to bounce ideas and new concepts off of people that you don’t see very often in an intimate setting and I always get great feedback. I come back energized and excited about new projects and partnerships and I try to carry that momentum back to the office to get my team excited about where our industry is headed.

     March 2012 Meet the Member Spotlight INTRIX Technology | www.INTRIX.com Interview with: Jeffrey Connors - Chairman and CEO connect: Describe your business.

     March 2012 What is Your Loss Prevention Strategy? Vital Information for Your Retail Clients By: Scott Kreisberg When it comes to security and protecting your assets, you need a good strategy. You will know how good that strategy is when you try to balance the cash register at the end of the day; when you do your physical count; when you are faced with a computer crash; or when too many of your customers start having identity theft on their cards. Do you want to wait until then to find out that your protection was inadequate? The most effective method to achieve security has always been a layered approach.

     March 2012 [INSPIRE2012 Recap] Why INSPIRE2012 Education Was Priceless By: Mike Monocello Each year, whenever friends and family learn to which tropical destination I’ll be traveling for INSPIRE, I always catch eyes rolling and hear snide remarks as they assume the trip is nothing more than a paid vacation. While I can’t deny that the event does provide opportunities for some fun in the sun, those who attend know that the event is far from just a week long tanning session. Indeed, INSPIRE provides some of the best education you can find in the channel.

     March 2012 [INSPIRE2012 Recap] INSPIRE Day #3 Education Marketing & Sales Advice for Resellers By: Jim Roddy The education session on the final day of the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) INSPIRE2012 winter conference was titled “Become the First Choice in Your Market: Marketing and Selling to Meet Your Financial Objectives.” Business owner, consultant, and author Brett Harward led the discussion. Here‘s what I thought were the best VAR-focused nuggets of advice from this education session: Your marketing doesn’t need to sell.

     March 2012 Business Tip By Laura Vanderkam Are You as Busy as You Think? There was a time, not so long ago, when I was busy, busy, busy. At least I thought I was. I told people I worked 60 hours a week.

     March 2012 Legally Speaking By: Robert Goldberg Protecting Assets from Creditors In difficult economic times credit becomes tighter and tighter. When it does ease up, as it has appeared to do, creditors having learned harsh collection lessons seek greater assurances that they will be paid. Often requirements for credit terms destroy or interfere with the very organization of your business.

     March 2012 [FEATURE] INSPIRE2012 RECAP   Off Road, But Not Off Course .that was this year’s INSPIRE2012 theme. Boy were we off road (as you can see by the adventurous pictures here), but we were more on course than ever according to the attendees.

     March 2012 [INSPIRE2012 Recap] Education: It Was Time Well Spent By: Lauren Stark This was my fourth INSPIRE conference and what was especially memorable, besides the unique location, was connecting with first time INSPIRE “goers”. Perhaps what brought them to INSPIRE was a curiosity for adventure in a foreign country. Many described their impression of what INSPIRE was going to be as a ‘boondoggle’.

     March 2012      By: Ivana Taylor Still Don’t Get Social Media? Here’s What to Do About It Do you stay quiet on social media because if you admit that you don’t get it, social media experts look at you like you have three heads? You are not alone. A lot of business owners feel that this marketing tool is beyond their understanding and will remain so. If you secretly feel hopeless or stupid about social media marketing, read on.

     March 2012 New Member Spotlight ISIS | www.paywithISIS.com Interview with: Kate Long - Channel Marketing Director connect: Describe your business.

     March 2012 Why Do YOU Measure Performance? By: Stacey Barr Management gurus like Peter Drucker have long since put to bed the idea that measuring performance really does improve performance significantly more than if you don’t measure. But this isn’t the reason driving most people’s participation in performance measurement. Let’s look at a few of the most common reasons, and see how compelling they are.

     March 2012 Ask Our Legal Expert With Bob Goldberg Dear Mr. Goldberg, Our company just completed an audit by the Department of Labor. We were required to pay overtime wages, penalties, and interest to several of our technicians.

     March 2012 Ask the Management Expert With Jim Kahrs Question: What is the best way to handle an area or an individual that keeps making mistakes or doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere in terms of productivity? Answer: Have you ever had a moment when someone in the office did something that really didn’t make any sense? The response can often be, “But that’s the way we’ve been doing it for years.” Now recall what impact that has had on you, your staff and ultimately the productivity of your area. For example, let’s say your new sales reps can’t seem to get into the routine of entering all of their daily activities in your CRM system.

     March 2012 It Only Takes a Moment to Win (or Lose) Customers By: Charles Sujanksy The customer at the other end of the bank manager’s phone line was irate. Very irate. “I just can’t believe the way your employee spoke with me over the phone” she said in an agitated voice.

     March 2012 PCI Security Standards By: Mimi D. Hart Where PCI Went Wrong Compliance has become the goal of PCI, rather than data protection and fraud reduction. It’s high time that changed, says Mimi Hart.