Companies with optimized NetSuite support save an average of 15 hours per week in manual workarounds and reduce system-related delays by 27%. Is your business leaving these efficiency gains on the table?
Many organizations invest in NetSuite to transform operations, but somewhere along the way, they find the system feeling more like a complex puzzle than a solution.
Stockton10 has worked with dozens of businesses that reached this exact crossroads.
Let's explore the five telltale signs that your business has outgrown basic NetSuite support and discover a better path forward that won't require becoming a NetSuite expert overnight.
Sign #1: Your IT Team Has Become Reluctant NetSuite Administrators
When IT teams are hired to drive innovation and strengthen technology infrastructure, the last thing they should be doing is spending 20+ hours weekly troubleshooting NetSuite issues they weren't trained to handle.
This scenario plays out in businesses everywhere:
- Developers are pulled away from critical projects to fix NetSuite errors.
- IT managers spend evenings watching NetSuite tutorial videos.
- Simple configuration changes require days of research and testing.
A technology company worked with us and discovered their technical support staff was spending nearly 50% of their daily workload manually generating reports in Excel, work that could be automated with proper NetSuite configuration.
Their purchasing department was particularly affected, with staff dedicating nearly half their workday to manual data entry tasks that NetSuite could handle automatically with the right setup.
The real cost: Beyond the immediate frustration, there's a substantial opportunity cost when technical talent is diverted from core responsibilities. And realistically, they're probably not NetSuite experts, which means they're taking longer and achieving suboptimal results.
The better approach: Dedicated NetSuite expertise allows teams to refocus on initiatives that drive business forward. With proper NetSuite guidance from certified consultants, teams regain valuable time while system performance improves.
Sign #2: You're Making Business Decisions Around System Limitations
Have you caught your team saying:
- "We can't offer that service because our system won't support it."
- "Let's stick with the basic process because customizing NetSuite would be too complicated."
- "We'll have to wait until next quarter to launch that initiative because of NetSuite limitations."
When your ERP system dictates your business strategy rather than enabling it, something's fundamentally wrong.
In one case study from Stockton10's experience, a trading company was struggling with a highly manual Lead-to-Order process that consumed their sales team's time and effort. The company was avoiding expansion opportunities because its NetSuite system wasn't configured to support a more efficient customer acquisition process.
Their entire workflow from website sign-up to customer conversion and first orders required manual data encoding, manual processing of contracts, and manual provisioning of customer portal access, consuming approximately 1-3 hours per customer per week.
The business impact: Every time organizations shape operations around system constraints rather than business opportunities, they limit growth potential and competitive advantage.
The solution approach: With proper NetSuite configuration and customization, systems should adapt to the business vision, not the other way around.
Expert NetSuite developers can create customizations that align with unique workflows and growth objectives, as Stockton10 did for this trading company by implementing automated DocuSign integration that drastically reduced processing time and eliminated manual data entry.
Sign #3: Your Response Times Are Hurting Customer Relationships
In today's business environment, speed isn't just a competitive advantage. It's a baseline expectation. When NetSuite issues slow response to customers, the impact goes straight to the bottom line.
The harsh reality: 68% of customers say they would switch providers after just one poor service experience, and system delays are often the culprit behind those experiences.
A technology client partnering with Stockton10 faced significant challenges with their Avalara tax engine integration in NetSuite. Their customers experienced delays and errors during the transaction process, with recurring authentication failures causing disruptions during both the testing and go-live phases.
The errors appeared as "This document used AvaTax Services: Authentication failed" messages that prevented invoices from being processed correctly.
What should have been a seamless experience for customers became a source of frustration and delays, ultimately impacting the company's reputation and customer satisfaction levels.
The customer service dilemma: Teams want to deliver exceptional service, but system limitations force them to make excuses or create manual workarounds that introduce errors.
The 24/7 alternative: Comprehensive NetSuite support includes round-the-clock assistance with guaranteed response times. At Stockton10, this is backed with a 30-minute response guarantee because in business, minutes matter.
Sign #4: You Can't Keep Up With NetSuite's Biannual Updates
Twice a year, NetSuite releases major updates that can impact customizations and workflows. Without proactive management, these updates can disrupt operations and create unexpected issues.
Companies with basic support experience an average of 3.5 days of system disruption annually due to poorly managed updates. That's nearly a full work week lost to preventable problems.
The warning signs include:
- Scrambling to fix broken processes after updates.
- Discovering new features months after they're released.
- Postponing updates out of fear, leaving security vulnerabilities unaddressed.
A healthcare organization faced this exact challenge. During a critical project to optimize their invoice and revenue recognition process, they discovered their NetSuite instance had numerous customizations from previous consultants that weren't properly documented.
When system updates occurred, processes broke down, requiring emergency intervention and causing significant business disruption. Each fix was reactive rather than proactive, creating a constant cycle of firefighting.
The reactive cycle: When teams are constantly putting out fires, there's no time or energy for strategic improvements. The organization becomes perpetually stuck in troubleshooting mode.
The proactive approach: Professional NetSuite support includes update planning and testing that minimizes disruption and maximizes the value of new features.
Stockton10's NetSuite experts analyze each update for its impact on specific configurations, test everything thoroughly, and implement changes during off-hours to maintain business continuity.
Sign #5: You're Not Leveraging NetSuite's Full Capabilities
Most businesses use less than 40% of NetSuite's functionality. That means companies are likely paying for powerful features that could transform operations but remain untapped.
The symptoms are easy to spot:
- Teams still rely on spreadsheets for reporting.
- Workarounds exist for processes that NetSuite could automate.
- Different departments use inconsistent processes for similar tasks.
A telecommunications/construction industry client approached Stockton10 with the need to automate their transaction approval processes. Their existing NetSuite implementation included basic functionality, but they weren't leveraging NetSuite's workflow capabilities effectively.
Staff were manually inputting rates for transfer orders instead of utilizing NetSuite's ability to automatically capture average costs. The company was also struggling with its invoice templates, lacking automatic e-signature capabilities that could streamline their approval and payment cycles.
By implementing proper customizations, Stockton10 helped them reduce human error, accelerate approval and payment cycles, and decrease administrative burden - all using functionality that was available but not properly configured in their existing NetSuite system.
The missed opportunity: Every unused feature represents potential efficiency gains, better business insights, or improved customer experiences that have already been paid for but aren't being utilized.
The solution: Ongoing system optimization that aligns NetSuite with evolving business needs. This includes regular health checks, workflow reviews, and strategic recommendations that help extract maximum value from technology investments.
The Crossroads: Three Paths Forward
If these signs seem familiar, your business is at a decision point with three potential paths:
Path 1: Continue with basic support and accept the limitations
This means living with inefficiencies and accepting them as a cost of doing business. When calculating the true expense, including opportunity costs, workaround time, and potential customer impact, this rarely makes financial sense.
Path 2: Build extensive in-house NetSuite expertise
This requires hiring dedicated NetSuite administrators and developers, investing in ongoing training, and managing the risk of turnover. For most mid-sized businesses, the investment required (typically $150,000+ annually) outweighs the benefits.
Path 3: Partner with specialists who provide comprehensive NetSuite support
This "third way" gives access to a team of NetSuite experts at a fraction of the cost of building in-house capabilities while delivering superior results through specialized experience.
Why Stockton10's Approach to NetSuite Support Is Different
Stockton10 has built NetSuite support services around a simple principle: business success comes first, not software.
What makes this approach different?
- Expertise depth: Stockton10's NetSuite-certified consultants average 8+ years of hands-on experience across industries, including wholesale distribution, manufacturing, technology, telecommunications, healthcare, and BPO.
- Guaranteed responsiveness: A 30-minute response time backed by a money-back guarantee because waiting isn't an option in business.
- Proactive monitoring: Identifying and resolving potential issues before they impact operations.
- Custom development support: Tailoring NetSuite to unique workflows rather than forcing businesses into standard templates.
- Global delivery team: With experts in Singapore and the Philippines, providing true 24/7 coverage with local expertise.
From Struggling to Thriving: A Client Success Story
A technology client approached Stockton10 with a critical NetSuite integration challenge. They needed to connect Avalara's tax engine with their NetSuite implementation to handle US tax declaration and filing requirements for operations across 10 states processing 100-500 invoices monthly.
The situation was compounded by the fact that the person who had started the implementation had left the company, and no documentation existed for the integration. Configuration elements like tax codes and tax groups didn't align with Avalara's recommended processes, causing significant errors during transaction processing.
Stockton10's team:
- Reconfigured the Avalara setup using a single tax code and tax group for US territory
- Created a financial report showing G/L impact of tax liability
- Developed a process for recognizing tax liability per tax authority and tax account
- Worked directly with Avalara's support team to resolve tokenization issues
- Provided comprehensive documentation and training
The results were transformative:
- Successful processing of US transactions across 10 states
- Reduction in transaction processing time from 6 hours to 4 hours despite the addition of US transactions
- Complete elimination of the authentication errors that had plagued the system
- Proper documentation ensuring future sustainability
Your Next Step: A No-Pressure NetSuite Health Assessment
If you've recognized any of these signs in your business, Stockton10 offers a free NetSuite health assessment. During this 30-minute consultation, you'll receive:
- A review of your current NetSuite setup and support structure.
- Identification of specific opportunities for improvement.
- Actionable recommendations you can implement immediately.
- Answers to any questions about optimizing your NetSuite investment.
Whether you choose to work with Stockton10 or not, you'll walk away with valuable insights about your NetSuite environment and clear next steps for improvement.
Ready to transform your NetSuite experience? Book your free consultation →
