Cashier one rang up an order, read the total on the machine’s readout and took her customer’s cash. To make change, she first worked the register’s keypad, read the total to be returned and then counted out the change before handing it over in a pile to her customer. The customer then checked the change before leaving the line.

The second cashier went through the same steps, but did not look at the machine until she did the math while counting out the change to the customer. The customer thanked her and left the counter.

Not only did the second cashier do her work faster, but her customer had more confidence in her ability to give him the correct change. It was a quick, collaborative effort, in which the cashier engaged the customer in doing her work.

Which approach do you think would work best when engaging a company to improve your business processing?

The first delivery of donated materials Monday, February 1, to a Tallahassee, Florida, donation hub included bottled water, food, medical supplies and personal hygiene products. The company is headquartered in Tallahassee.

A second delivery of diapers, clothing and other child care supplies on Tuesday, February 2, was purchased with employee donations.

“I’m very proud of the response of our employees to the call for help,” said Image CEO Rick Griffith. “Our employees have always responded in times of need.”

The 2010 outlook was buoyed by an expanding partner program and new inroads in government and commercial sectors for Image API’s business process improvement solutions and component offerings of content management software and services. Participants, including executive management, professional and technical services, and production, heard about new teaming agreements and contracts during the three-day event.

“Because our solutions create operational excellence in content-intensive business processes, they fit perfectly into what we believe many companies and government agencies will be re-focusing on in 2010,” said Steve Pendleton, Image API Vice President.

Image API forged new partnerships with three leading companies in 2009 to deliver business process improvements to customers throughout the eastern seaboard and Florida. The company also won state term contracts in the southeast and northeast and landed new business in Washington D.C., Texas, and Florida.

“We know that customers turn to our business process improvement technology and services to eliminate the bottlenecks impacting their abilities to serve customers, work faster, meet new regulatory requirements, and so on. Based on what we’re seeing in the market, we believe that pent up demand and an improving economy will drive many more new initiatives in 2010 for the kinds of solutions Image API delivers,” said Pendleton.

So here’s an idea for avoiding this situation. Write your email first and put the recipient’s “To” name in last. This will give you time to think about your recipient. Any other ideas out there?

Image API was awarded all four Project Areas on the new contract allowing the company to continue providing analysis and design, development and integration, and operational support to the State. For the first time, Image API also sought and won the ability to offer staff augmentation services.

“We are very pleased to once again qualify for the contract,” said Steve Pendleton, Image API Vice President. “We’ve helped Florida government achieve many of its goals for improving processes through automation, content management solutions, and business processing and look forward to many more opportunities.”

The 3-year contract enables Image API to design and implement solutions that achieve value for the citizens of Florida on a daily basis and to help state agencies and local governments deliver superior service at lower costs.

“As a vendor to state government, we have to show value and be competitive, and we can do that at substantial savings to our government clients who use this state term contract,” said John Graeler, Image API Enterprise Solutions Manager for the Southeast. “This is a great procurement vehicle not only for the state, but for county and city governments.”

The Florida IT Services contract streamlines the procurement process by pre-qualifying vendors and pricing and by reducing the cost and effort associated with soliciting competitive bids. The term of the contract is from September 15, 2009 to August 31, 2012.

For further information on Image API and how Florida state and local governments may secure services from Image API through the contract, contact John Graeler at john.graeler@imageapi.com.

“Buyers understand the benefits of moving to a digital platform for capturing, storing, sharing, and protecting information assets. But ECM systems need thoughtful planning and precision deployment in order to generate positive returns, especially during the current economic situation,” says Griffith, President and CEO of Image API. “One thing we absolutely know, it’s that ‘work done right the first time’ delivers both immediate and long-term value.”

Griffith and company developed a process to ensure that both the system and its implementation meet the organization’s goals and operational routines predictably and efficiently. Image API’s ECMplement Process(sm) is designed to consistently deliver projects on schedule and to ensure the cost savings and satisfaction customers expect from their purchase. It’s specifically designed to eliminate scope creep and project fatigue.

Image API’s ECMplement Process works through a series of orderly steps honed from 15 years of extensive ECM and process engineering experience. It virtually eliminates change orders, cost overruns, delays, and the career suicide that plague failed transitions from paper to digital content.

The ECMplement Process proactively applies the principles of open-dialogue communications and partnering. It utilizes solid project management methodologies to create a well-reasoned path from start to finish, marking key steps, deliverables, and measurements along the way.

Griffith offers a few more suggestions for buyers:

• Understand and agree with the implementation process.
• Buy only the features you really need now to avoid overspending on things you don’t yet need.
• Make sure you can easily and affordably add those extra features when you do need them.
• Ask yourself: does my organization have to change to fit the system, or is the system designed to fit how we operate?
• What’s the company’s track record? Check references.