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Back in the 90s we had a surprising customer who paid tens of thousands of dollars a year for a subscription. They never reported any bugs but seemed happy --
by gumby 4y ago
Back in the 90s we had a surprising customer who paid tens of thousands of dollars a year for a subscription. They never reported any bugs but seemed happy -- our salesperson would check in on them ever few months and got an annual renewal without fail.
Eventually she left (to get an MBA) and the guy who took over her territory had trouble reaching the customer on the phone. Eventually he did get a meeting and when he visited discovered that all our packages (software and printed docs) were on a shelf in a cubicle, and that they were uninterested in renewing. It seems someone had the budget to spend and everybody liked having the saleswoman come visit. But they didn't care about a visit from Norm.
A rather extraordinary waste of money, but helped our bootstrapped company!
- KeithBrink 4y agoDid you think about having the saleswoman continue to visit that one customer on contract? Pay a few thousand for the day, land the sale, then back to the MBA.
- gumby 4y agoGood idea -- but I never thought of it!
- xwdv 4y agoI could only imagine what this saleswoman was like to convince a company to spend tens of thousands a year just for a visit every few months.
- gumby 4y agoShe was quite attractive and fit, it is true (still is, 30 years later). We used to ski together. But more importantly as a salesperson she knew her stuff. She wasn't a developer, but she took the time to learn enough that she didn't waste the customer's or our team's time.