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Which is ironic because often times companies refuse to give budget numbers unless I sit through a damn demo first.... At this point I strongly disfavor compan

Which is ironic because often times companies refuse to give budget numbers unless I sit through a damn demo first.... At this point I strongly disfavor companies that do not publish their retail prices. everyone from Microsoft to SpaceX can do it, there is ZERO excuse for companies not doing it today

bruce511 4y ago
I'm a bit like you, I prefer published list prices. It really helps me if I know my budget is somewhere near your list price. But I'm also in a business where we don't. And the reason we don't is because hardware is involved, and so prices can vary by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. In other words it takes time to gather up your requirements, which include hardware, software and crucially install and support services. From this we can generate a quote. I'm not involved in the sales side, but I expect there's at least some demo as part of this process because it's helpful when reading the quote if the user has some idea of what they are buying. I don't think it's a terribly long demo though. That all said, it is helpful to both parties if budget is mentioned early. With software-only projects I will often give the caller some idea of budget very early just to make sure we're playing in the same ballpark. That saves a lot of time.
- nextaccountic 4y ago
  > But I'm also in a business where we don't. And the reason we don't is because hardware is involved, and so prices can vary by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. > In other words it takes time to gather up your requirements, which include hardware, software and crucially install and support services. From this we can generate a quote. IOW, if the customer were afforded just a little bit of price discovery the business would tank. Lots of companies have interactive websites where I can input all my requirements and it outputs exactly how much I'm going to pay, with no human in the loop involved.
  - brabel 4y ago
    But then, how can they overcharge you if they realize you're a noobie?
  - bruce511 4y ago
    The problem is that some customers pay 20k,some pay 2m. The range is too broad to make it as simple as filling in a web form.
- rwmj 4y ago
  And yet I can buy a car from a website even though cars are hardware that can vary in price by 5x or more.
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  That is still not a reason to hide price. At a minimum publish the range, but in the modern age these is very little reason a matrix or wizard could not be created to get that price. A F150 is almost infinitely configurable, yet I can walk through the website and configure my dream truck I will never actually buy because it is the price of a home and I don't want to live in it.... Further still most of the time when I see companies hiding behind 'install and support' my Spidey sense star tingling
  - jrs235 4y ago
    'install and support' starts to feel like buying a car where at the last step they start tacking on all these extra fees and 'services' and try to bleed you dry.

bruce511 4y ago

I'm a bit like you, I prefer published list prices. It really helps me if I know my budget is somewhere near your list price. But I'm also in a business where we don't. And the reason we don't is because hardware is involved, and so prices can vary by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. In other words it takes time to gather up your requirements, which include hardware, software and crucially install and support services. From this we can generate a quote. I'm not involved in the sales side, but I expect there's at least some demo as part of this process because it's helpful when reading the quote if the user has some idea of what they are buying. I don't think it's a terribly long demo though. That all said, it is helpful to both parties if budget is mentioned early. With software-only projects I will often give the caller some idea of budget very early just to make sure we're playing in the same ballpark. That saves a lot of time.

nextaccountic 4y ago
> But I'm also in a business where we don't. And the reason we don't is because hardware is involved, and so prices can vary by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. > In other words it takes time to gather up your requirements, which include hardware, software and crucially install and support services. From this we can generate a quote. IOW, if the customer were afforded just a little bit of price discovery the business would tank. Lots of companies have interactive websites where I can input all my requirements and it outputs exactly how much I'm going to pay, with no human in the loop involved.
- brabel 4y ago
  But then, how can they overcharge you if they realize you're a noobie?
- bruce511 4y ago
  The problem is that some customers pay 20k,some pay 2m. The range is too broad to make it as simple as filling in a web form.
rwmj 4y ago
And yet I can buy a car from a website even though cars are hardware that can vary in price by 5x or more.
phpisthebest 4y ago
That is still not a reason to hide price. At a minimum publish the range, but in the modern age these is very little reason a matrix or wizard could not be created to get that price. A F150 is almost infinitely configurable, yet I can walk through the website and configure my dream truck I will never actually buy because it is the price of a home and I don't want to live in it.... Further still most of the time when I see companies hiding behind 'install and support' my Spidey sense star tingling
- jrs235 4y ago
  'install and support' starts to feel like buying a car where at the last step they start tacking on all these extra fees and 'services' and try to bleed you dry.