Fabulous stuff Sue. Can I forward a copy to Mr Gates!!! :)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stubenvoll, Sue" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 7:10 PM
Subject: RE: Resellers et al
>
>
> > ----------
> > From: Stubenvoll, Sue[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Sent: 08 August 2001 08:10:46
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: RE: Resellers et al
> > Auto forwarded by a Rule
> >
> >
> Hi Peter
>
> I confess I've never liked selling software packages alongside advice but
> I've been in and out of reselling software (currently out) in a few
> countries so thought my experience might be useful (without quoting the
> products to save embarrassment <g>). Four lessons:
>
> Lesson 1: It's got to work ALL the time:
> Our customers (3,500 of them in the South Island) are a pretty go ahead
> bunch and our whole ethos is about building great customer relationships.
> As a result they expect heaps of value for money from us. So if we sell
> something it has to work perfectly. Hmmm! I was shocked to find when I
> arrived here 6 years ago that one product our services team had installed
in
> heaps of sites simply kept breaking down and, worse, that the product
> supplier *charged our customers (or us) for the analysis time to fix
bugs*.
> As the reseller we became the jam in the increasingly skinny sandwich. To
me
> that's iniquitous. If the stuff doesn't work (really doesn't work - not
an
> 'OCU') then the originator should pay for both the programming time AND
the
> analysis time to fix it, not the customer (or reseller). After a lot of
> soul searching the services team moved themselves and their customers to a
> better product.
>
> Lesson 2: It's got to be flexible enough to give real value to customers
as
> individuals but be dead simple to maintain
> One size doesn't fit all. But I was once called in to manage a team who
> built custom solutions with spare consulting resources who then
disappeared
> back to consulting jobs (not here). You guessed it. Maintenance was a
> nightmare but the true costs were hidden as long as the sales volumes
> continued to grow - sales funded maintenance. When we did some
projections
> we were either going to have to charge an arm and a leg and get dedicated
> resources for maintenance (increasing costs and defeating the original
> idea), or become more standardised and start pyramid selling (impossible
> with custom solutions and shrink wrapped sales was not our market), or
lose
> a bundle as sales slowed down. We sold the business.
>
> Lesson 3: It can't be too cheap
> It costs quite a lot (time and $$) to keep people up to speed and have
> enough people trained to give decent coverage on each product. In return
we
> look for products which don't make us a fortune in commissions but which,
as
> well as lessons 1 and 2, give us an opportunity to offer 'value added
> services' so we can grow our business - could be as simple as designing
> special reports through to helping restructure a chart of accounts,
improve
> some business processes, get better information, sort out a coding
problem,
> empower people - all that good consultancy stuff that advisory firms and
> resellers do (or try to do). When a product is too cheap our customers'
> perceptions are that it should work out of the box. So the package has to
> cost enough (and therefore give enough value) to set an expectation of
> sufficient additional services to cover our training and sales costs.
> Nowadays implementation costs are about 0.2:1 for small packages to 1:1
(ie
> the same again as the cost of the software) for major packages (SAP
> implementations were nearly 8:1 originally). So we're interested in up
> market solutions which cost more but deliver more, rather than shrink
> wrapped stuff with no added value opportunities.
>
> Lesson 4: Relationships are key
> We don't just build 'selling' relationships we need 'buying'
relationships.
> Our customers want us (and the package) to be around for the next 5 years
at
> least. So any software probably needs to be updated and expanded several
> times to stay competitive. Again, our reputation gets hit if we sell
stuff
> that's not 'future proofed' - that means finding solution providers who
look
> ahead and have a competitive development plan and enough funding to carry
it
> through - plus listen to their agents and customers.
>
> Hope these thoughs are of use to anyone looking for an agent.
Incidentally,
> we don't sell software at all now at KPMG, only inspiration and
> perspiration!
>
> Good luck - Sue :)
>
> Sue Stubenvoll, Director, Management Consulting
> KPMG, PO Box 274, Christchurch, New Zealand
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> DDI +64 3 363 5781 or 021 535 781
> Fax +64 3 363 5766
>
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