4 ms·

This thread is funny and depressing at the same time. So a guy found a way to improve his sales be significant number. Tons of people respond with "yeah, but it

by DenisM 17y ago

This thread is funny and depressing at the same time. So a guy found a way to improve his sales be significant number. Tons of people respond with "yeah, but it wouldn't work for me - I hate it". How is this even relevant? Clearly you are not his target audience. He has data to back up his approach, while you have a precious little of an opinion. It's not about you, it's about customers.

nzmsv 17y ago
This is a good point. I think many people here have at least thought of a startup, and often a startup idea is to solve some problem they are facing, or a way to make something better. So the natural way of thinking about customer service is "what would I like?" Of course, not everyone is alike (otherwise there would not be such a word as "geek" :) So what actually works in sales may seem counterintuitive. Which means that being able to see things from a customer's point of view is both hard and a valuable skill.
mattmcknight 17y ago
It is relevant because you are annoying some possible customers if you do this. It is worth knowing that it is not universally good advice. It could be that his software was mis-priced and poorly marketed (just added a link on download.com). Publishing his price may have hurt him if he was way over or under (making his stuff look cheap) other vendors. Getting sales leads certainly helped him, but there are other many ways to do that AND publish the price of the software. Price discrimination can be effective (see automobile sales), but it isn't exactly an endearing strategy.
- assemble 17y ago
  For business to business sales (especially the more expensive stuff), that is almost always how it's done. Call the vendor for a quote, they'll either tell you or send out a sales/marketing rep, lots of hand wringing, then maybe a deal of some sort.

4 ms·

This thread is funny and depressing at the same time. So a guy found a way to improve his sales be significant number. Tons of people respond with "yeah, but it

by DenisM 17y ago

nzmsv 17y ago
This is a good point. I think many people here have at least thought of a startup, and often a startup idea is to solve some problem they are facing, or a way to make something better. So the natural way of thinking about customer service is "what would I like?" Of course, not everyone is alike (otherwise there would not be such a word as "geek" :) So what actually works in sales may seem counterintuitive. Which means that being able to see things from a customer's point of view is both hard and a valuable skill.
mattmcknight 17y ago
It is relevant because you are annoying some possible customers if you do this. It is worth knowing that it is not universally good advice. It could be that his software was mis-priced and poorly marketed (just added a link on download.com). Publishing his price may have hurt him if he was way over or under (making his stuff look cheap) other vendors. Getting sales leads certainly helped him, but there are other many ways to do that AND publish the price of the software. Price discrimination can be effective (see automobile sales), but it isn't exactly an endearing strategy.
- assemble 17y ago
  For business to business sales (especially the more expensive stuff), that is almost always how it's done. Call the vendor for a quote, they'll either tell you or send out a sales/marketing rep, lots of hand wringing, then maybe a deal of some sort.