ATCP, LLC

It used to be, years back, that a certification meant that you were knowledgeable. Problem was, it really only meant that you were able to pass the kind of test given, and that you had enough short term memory to cram for the test’s material. Certifications do not now, nor have they ever, indicated wisdom or knowledge in the application of one technology into the infinite variety of prospect environments.

If anything, these days too many certifications mean that the person has no time for a real job in the real world, and is virtually useless in a Sales Engineering situation. With thousands of certifications for thousands of applications, which ones do you pick? Oh yeah, and there are more every day! Would you bring a perpetual student on the most important sales call of your career? Of course not. More »

Q: With the apparent shift from a direct software solution to one of a more bundled offering with OEM providers such as Dell and HP, could you share some thoughts as what is driving this trend?

This is an old shift, and it happens all the time. While every software vendor want to burn CDs and count their money, consumers don’t, well, consume like that. All software vendors create “solutions”. That is, if you ask them. In reality, though, they are simply applications-applications that need a machine to run in/on. True solution selling involves not leaving a single decision with the prospect/customer.

Unfortunately, if all you sell is one piece of the “solution”, you are leaving other decisions out of your hands. Many times, a prospect will consider the prospect of putting all these pieces together simply too difficult, and will dismiss the entire concept. So how do you battle this?

You “package” your software as a “solution”. You take all the guesswork out of the equation by acting as the expert you purport to be and put the software in a place/configuration where it is most effective. The reasoning is that prospect/customer is, understandably, the least qualified to make this combination in a way that will work best. Hardware is no good without software, and software is no good without hardware. So why would any software company NOT want to do this?

The reason is all about money. You figured it was getting to that, right? The first cloud on the horizon is that lead exchange programs are notoriously one-sided, and always lead to rough relations between partners. In other words, who owns the account? Should the hardware folks sell a solution that they didn’t write? Will a bad solution running on their box bode well for their image/branding?

The second problem is finger pointing. In the heat of troubleshooting, it is common to divert blame (I coined the term Blame Management in the mid-90s). The customer just sees a solution that doesn’t work, and a few responsible vendors acting, well, irresponsible.

Next is the problem whereby your partner, whom you are forced to combine forces with, has an inferior product. The result is that you look bad, and all they care about is moving product, not repeat business.

Finally, the question of support. When the solution stops working, who do they call? Will the software vendor require that the customer first call the hardware vendor to rule out their hardware before they pay to take a peek? What about the other way around?

If you were a prospect given the, well, prospect of these very likely and common scenarios, you might vote to put the pieces together yourself. The vendors might well even agree with you.

Q: Do you believe this is a trend that will continue? What are the product development trends?

Like I said, this trend is set on a pendulum. Pundits like Forrester and Gartner make their money telling companies how they should change what they do. If they came in and said the last folks that were there did a great job, they couldn’t very well justify a paycheck, now could they? So do the math. If you are buying components, they will suggest “solutions”. If you have “solutions”, they will suggest “best of breed components”.

If the company can’t afford to tell one of these companies what they want to be told, they can supplant this entity with a consultant. The result is the same.

pat
:)

Qualification is simply the transition from [unqualified] prospect to [qualified] opportunity. In the pipeline/funnel, this means that all the things that are needed for this prospect to want/need/desire our product and services are there.

More specifically, qualification involves an opportunity possessing all of the following:

1. Access to the buyer
2. The prospect knows, and agrees to, what they are buying from us
3. The prospect knows, and agrees to, the approximate cost of the solution or DSO (Discreet Sales Opportunity)
4. There is DRM (Date Related Motivation), or what some people call a “pending event”
5. [optionally] An identified project or budget line item set aside for the proposed solution

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This has been a long time coming. As a Sales Engineer, I spend a LOT of time on the road. I can’t even estimate how many hundred thousand miles I’ve driven. I’ve been a passenger in every kind of vehicle, too. After a while, if you keep your eyes open, you start to see patterns.

There are habits that I have seen all over the world in drivers. Habits that drive me insane, that is. There are a few scenarios that I have seen over and over again, and I am convinced that drivers are not aware that they are doing them.
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On July 4th I had a night shoot, and the next morning when I looked at my Canon 50mm f/1.2 L lens, it had condensation under the plastic focus indicator cover. I immediately sent it into thier New Jersey facility (Canon Factory Service Center 100 Jamesburg Rd Jamesburg, NJ 08831), and after about a week I am told that my lens will cost too much to repair.

Norris, a supervisor at their repair center, explained the situation to me thus:
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