There are upsides with all this economic disruption, although they can be difficult to identify and harness. For instance the sales volume of new and used cars are down for a lot of auto dealers, as are profits. But for the folks using my DCMS application for proactive and reactive marketing purposes their numbers are far better than their peers' numbers. They are holding their own. So the likelihood of me getting axed by a client who can see I am a large part of their current ability to survive is minimal (had been even in "good times"). But, it also means I am more likely able to get additional clients, if I want to take on more, as opposed to my "competition being able to add clients.
You see, all of my competitors are modeled on Sales Reps having to go to a prospect and close a deal, and the Rep is them paid a commission, and there are other hard costs involved that must be passed onto a dealer. So it is a fairly expensive matter for a dealer to say they will invest in a software package that will cost them a chunk of change up front, whether it "works" or not. And often "not working" is more a matter of internal processes using the software as opposed to the software being functional. In my case I can go to a dealer in these tough times and say I am willing to install my software, parlay the initial license fee and any recurring license fees for 3 months. At that I could even spread the initial license fee over a few months to help a dealer earn their way into the money to pay me. That way they have a chance over 3 months to see measurable results before investing one nickel. I can use their current hardware, and for me to weather a 3 month delay in generating revenue is not a stretch at all, as my current per client nominal license fee revenue stream is strong enough to let me survive just fine. I did not saddle myself with high expenses in the "good times", I built a model to survive tough times as I knew the cycle would turn sour at some point and I wanted to be a survivor, not trapped like a rat. The marginal cost to me is the investment of my time in a "Pay It Forward" manner. Once I am able to show measurable results to a new dealer client, no anecdotal suppositions, and he/she sees how very reasonable my fees are in comparison to how much they are earning with my software (in both revenue and profit terms) it becomes a no brainer. I take all the risk up front, and end up with a very happy client very short order. For a dealer who does not want to let me take that risk, and turns me away, well, I am certain there are plenty of other dealers out there who are eager enough to do anything reasonable that will work with me. And if I do not get the job done, we part ways (never has happened) and all I lost is a little time. In a sense it is going to be easier for me to collect new clients in these tougher times than in the past when things were so good that dealers felt a solution like mine was not really needed. TV, radio and newspaper ads are what they felt drove their business. Funny how that works out... The only thing that keeps me from gaining explosive growth is my desire to be able to provide the best possible support for my clients. If I take on too many clients I will end up having to compromise somewhere, and from what I have seen in our business the support is the first thing that gets clipped. I could do without my reputation getting tarnished. Gil > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of David Smith > Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 7:25 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [NF] Microsoft Commercials > > > What He said! :) > > David Smith > Systems Administrator > Doan Family of Dealerships > (585) 352-6600 ext.1730 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.upstatedigitools.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Gil Hale > Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 6:40 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [NF] Microsoft Commercials > > > They should probably suspend all advertising campaigns until this > > crisis is over. > > > > Which crisis? Apple sales increasing at an increasing rate, Linux use > increasing at an increasing rate, hard-to-ignore-any-longer howling of PC > users in pain with Vista being jammed down our throats, the > number of folks > buying more expensive PCs just to get the XP Pro downgrade with the Vista > upgrade option instead of raw Vista, (non)performance of the financial > industry and US economy as a whole, increasing rate of inflation (which is > being masked as an increasing amount of fuel and food items as a > percentage > of purchases are removed from the total bundle of goods to "adjust for > market conditions"), civil rights being stripped away from US > citizens under > the pretense of being necessary to save us from "the terrorists", > "we don't > get it" response to M$ advertisements, success of Apple ads, success of > Linux despite no real ads, the persistently long & not-so-slow > slide of the > US dollar's exchange rate against other currencies, or "name > whatever other > crisis you want"? > > On the bright side, I can still deploy compiled VFP apps without > paying any > additional fees to M$ <g>... > > > Gil > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Paul McNett > > Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 11:59 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: [NF] Microsoft Commercials > > > > > > Jeff Johnson wrote: > > > I just saw a new Microsoft commercial. Everyone - including Bill > > > Gates > > > - says "I'm a PC." It will be interesting to see how they move > > to plan C. > > > > They should probably suspend all advertising campaigns until this > > crisis is over. > > > > Paul > > > > > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
