4 ms·

A related question, for my own interests... how able do you feel to automate things at work? If you find a tool that can automate a severe pain point, can you b

by beat 10y ago

A related question, for my own interests... how able do you feel to automate things at work? If you find a tool that can automate a severe pain point, can you bring a vendor in for a demo? Can you get a budget or get a manager to pay for automation tools? As a founder about to hit the market with an automation tool, I'm very curious about the roadblocks and resistance that engineers perceive about bringing in tools that can save a lot of pain and money.

btown 10y ago
It's generic advice, but: Make sure you're solving the manager's pain point, not the low-level employee's (i.e. "this gets the information/service to you with a higher guarantee of quality and always at your fingertips" rather than "this saves your employee a lot of stress"), and make sure you're marketing to the manager, not just the low-level employee. And if you get lower-level employees as leads, make sure they have the ammunition (white papers, etc.) so they can escalate to their managers in terms of solving their managers' pain points.
- beat 10y ago
  Thanks. I've been thinking about that and how to present it. It should significantly reduce the duration of downtime incidents, which is a strong sell point if I can phrase it right, but I feel like my best sales force could be senior/lead engineers who want to make their lives easier. White papers are a fine idea!
- DrJokepu 10y ago
  Actually, if you really want to score some office politics brownie points, you should try to solve the manager's manager's pain points!
  - beat 10y ago
    I'm thinking of focusing on downtime and shortening recovery time from failures as a marketing angle. It's not the only problem I'm trying to solve, but it seems like a solid sell for management's pain points. Whether or not they care if their engineers are miserable, they care if they're losing a thousand bucks a minute on a down system.
pryelluw 10y ago
Feel free to email me to bounce some ideas around. I do this too. No bs or strings.

by beat 10y ago

btown 10y ago

It's generic advice, but: Make sure you're solving the manager's pain point, not the low-level employee's (i.e. "this gets the information/service to you with a higher guarantee of quality and always at your fingertips" rather than "this saves your employee a lot of stress"), and make sure you're marketing to the manager, not just the low-level employee. And if you get lower-level employees as leads, make sure they have the ammunition (white papers, etc.) so they can escalate to their managers in terms of solving their managers' pain points.

beat 10y ago
Thanks. I've been thinking about that and how to present it. It should significantly reduce the duration of downtime incidents, which is a strong sell point if I can phrase it right, but I feel like my best sales force could be senior/lead engineers who want to make their lives easier. White papers are a fine idea!
DrJokepu 10y ago
Actually, if you really want to score some office politics brownie points, you should try to solve the manager's manager's pain points!
- beat 10y ago
  I'm thinking of focusing on downtime and shortening recovery time from failures as a marketing angle. It's not the only problem I'm trying to solve, but it seems like a solid sell for management's pain points. Whether or not they care if their engineers are miserable, they care if they're losing a thousand bucks a minute on a down system.

pryelluw 10y ago

Feel free to email me to bounce some ideas around. I do this too. No bs or strings.