What now?
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Why are they buying the other package? Is it reasonable to try educating your user base? Does it come down to price? Find out what the users really want. Even the coolest and most effective features are a waste of time to write, if the user doesn't get, or isn't willing to change their habits. you may find you need to rewrite some things, but listen to the consumer first. BW "Gandalf. Yes. That is what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. *I* am Gandalf the White." - Gandalf the White
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
You could always litter your killer app with adware and give it away for free, then people will pay you just to get rid of the ads. :suss: :eek: ... KIDDING! Put down the napalm! I don't do this nor do I in any way condone it! - Nitron
"Those that say a task is impossible shouldn't interrupt the ones who are doing it." - Chinese Proverb
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Industrial Espionage. Simple. Find out what they have that is so special and steal it. Works like a charm. :suss:
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Andreas Saurwein wrote: Because its too hard to change habits of users I think that is the problem... Even if your product is superior, changing user's habits is quite a difficult task! Good luck! --------------- Tired of Spam? Introducing InboxShield® for Microsoft® Outlook® http://www.edovia.com
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You could always litter your killer app with adware and give it away for free, then people will pay you just to get rid of the ads. :suss: :eek: ... KIDDING! Put down the napalm! I don't do this nor do I in any way condone it! - Nitron
"Those that say a task is impossible shouldn't interrupt the ones who are doing it." - Chinese Proverb
Thats not easy with apps which are to be used in large networks instead of standalone computers :( Most admins/network owners wont allow that.
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
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Andreas Saurwein wrote: Because its too hard to change habits of users I think that is the problem... Even if your product is superior, changing user's habits is quite a difficult task! Good luck! --------------- Tired of Spam? Introducing InboxShield® for Microsoft® Outlook® http://www.edovia.com
Well, but thats the reason for the product :) Ah, the curse of security products... :omg:
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
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Industrial Espionage. Simple. Find out what they have that is so special and steal it. Works like a charm. :suss:
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
That is like when the developers of a superior word processor go to find out why the people buy a wordpad like app.
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Andreas Saurwein wrote: Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. As Bill Gates has shown it is equally the marketing strategy and the product itself which supports success. One more reason why so many brilliant coders languish in back rooms and blindly ponder their relative lack of success. Your competitors are probably marketing their product better. But to be sure, name your product and name their product and then we can give you our view
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaPaul Watson wrote: "The Labia [cinema]... ...was opened by Princess Labia in May 1949..." Christian Graus wrote: See, I told you it was a nice name for a girl...
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That is like when the developers of a superior word processor go to find out why the people buy a wordpad like app.
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Fair enough. Well if Industrial Espionage wont work, how about some Industrial Sabotage? :suss: Brian has already covered all of what I was going to say.
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
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Why are they buying the other package? Is it reasonable to try educating your user base? Does it come down to price? Find out what the users really want. Even the coolest and most effective features are a waste of time to write, if the user doesn't get, or isn't willing to change their habits. you may find you need to rewrite some things, but listen to the consumer first. BW "Gandalf. Yes. That is what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. *I* am Gandalf the White." - Gandalf the White
Thats easier said then done. A product which is sold by volume not by single license has pretty different sales mechanisms. And this is even more true when we talk about security products. Potential buyers seldom tell you what they want, because they dont even know it. Its like "Hey, I want something to enhance the security in my network, but it must be simple, cheap and require no maintenance." That simply does not exist. You may have one but not the other. And sacrifying security for simplicity? Price is normally not a matter - except when talking about obvious value for money. If you get 100% security for X$, how much you would spend for 80% security?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
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Andreas Saurwein wrote: Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. As Bill Gates has shown it is equally the marketing strategy and the product itself which supports success. One more reason why so many brilliant coders languish in back rooms and blindly ponder their relative lack of success. Your competitors are probably marketing their product better. But to be sure, name your product and name their product and then we can give you our view
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaPaul Watson wrote: "The Labia [cinema]... ...was opened by Princess Labia in May 1949..." Christian Graus wrote: See, I told you it was a nice name for a girl...
Marketing strategy is a good thing but expensive. Thats definitely one point where our competitors are leading: burn-money for marketing, etc. I cant reveal details about the product here and now because of political reasons. But I'm pretty sure you heard neither of our product(s) nor of the competitions product :) Our products are not desktop applications.
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Figure out three major things that you think will make your users purchase your product. Then beat your customers over their heads with those three things ad nauseum until they get annoyed with your pestering and buy your product instead. If you're not a good salesman and are not good at pushing a hard sale then you may want to consider partnering with someone who's really outgoing, extrovert, and has a lot of energy. Bill Gates partnered with Steve Ballmer early on who's the cheerleader and main sales guy. Gates just mainly thinks of the strategy, features, etc. while Ballmer makes the sales most of the time. This is the reason Ballmer is now currently President, while Gates has switched roles to Chief Architect or something from being President.
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Andreas Saurwein wrote: Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. As Bill Gates has shown it is equally the marketing strategy and the product itself which supports success. One more reason why so many brilliant coders languish in back rooms and blindly ponder their relative lack of success. Your competitors are probably marketing their product better. But to be sure, name your product and name their product and then we can give you our view
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaPaul Watson wrote: "The Labia [cinema]... ...was opened by Princess Labia in May 1949..." Christian Graus wrote: See, I told you it was a nice name for a girl...
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Marketing strategy is a good thing but expensive. Thats definitely one point where our competitors are leading: burn-money for marketing, etc. I cant reveal details about the product here and now because of political reasons. But I'm pretty sure you heard neither of our product(s) nor of the competitions product :) Our products are not desktop applications.
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Andreas Saurwein wrote: I cant reveal details about the product here and now because of political reasons. But I'm pretty sure you heard neither of our product(s) nor of the competitions product Our products are not desktop applications. Unless you have a really good reason right there is a missed free marketing chance. My company may be small but we network with a lot of clients and agencies. Often we have simply relayed a third-party product or service onto a client we could not directly serve. Often it has just been a product someone has popped into demonstrate and left their business card behind. The relay may take months to ever occur, but it is an inexpensive way of networking your product. Networking is so, so powerful and cheap. Plus network leads are a lot more warm than cold pamphlet/magazine/TV campaigns as they are recommendations by trusted partners. My two cents :)
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaPaul Watson wrote: "The Labia [cinema]... ...was opened by Princess Labia in May 1949..." Christian Graus wrote: See, I told you it was a nice name for a girl...
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Figure out three major things that you think will make your users purchase your product. Then beat your customers over their heads with those three things ad nauseum until they get annoyed with your pestering and buy your product instead. If you're not a good salesman and are not good at pushing a hard sale then you may want to consider partnering with someone who's really outgoing, extrovert, and has a lot of energy. Bill Gates partnered with Steve Ballmer early on who's the cheerleader and main sales guy. Gates just mainly thinks of the strategy, features, etc. while Ballmer makes the sales most of the time. This is the reason Ballmer is now currently President, while Gates has switched roles to Chief Architect or something from being President.
At the level where we operate we seldom have a chance to directly talk to the people who are in charge of the budget. The curse of having large organisations as customers. We have another product that sells good, but it covers a slightly different area and is superior to the competition in many obvious means. The product I'm talking about is superior in a technological sense but the average customer wont realize that. Its like explaining to a customer the difference between a using MFC or WTL. They dont care even if they understand. And they dont see it.
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
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lauren wrote: btw paul tell me this isnt true No! It is perfectly true... or at least the About page[^] for the Labia says so :) The Labia, originally an Italian Embassy ballroom, was opened by Princess Labia in May 1949 as a theatre for the staging of live performances
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaPaul Watson wrote: "The Labia [cinema]... ...was opened by Princess Labia in May 1949..." Christian Graus wrote: See, I told you it was a nice name for a girl...
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Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Sell it for a lower price?
"Perhaps the truth is less interesting than the facts?" -- Amy Weiss, RIAA's Senior Vice President of Communications.
It's the new math! 421 == 156 ! -
Andreas Saurwein wrote: I cant reveal details about the product here and now because of political reasons. But I'm pretty sure you heard neither of our product(s) nor of the competitions product Our products are not desktop applications. Unless you have a really good reason right there is a missed free marketing chance. My company may be small but we network with a lot of clients and agencies. Often we have simply relayed a third-party product or service onto a client we could not directly serve. Often it has just been a product someone has popped into demonstrate and left their business card behind. The relay may take months to ever occur, but it is an inexpensive way of networking your product. Networking is so, so powerful and cheap. Plus network leads are a lot more warm than cold pamphlet/magazine/TV campaigns as they are recommendations by trusted partners. My two cents :)
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaPaul Watson wrote: "The Labia [cinema]... ...was opened by Princess Labia in May 1949..." Christian Graus wrote: See, I told you it was a nice name for a girl...
I would hazard a guess that it's internal politics. More than likely, if he goes and blabs, those that work with him will use it as a way to bad-mouth the to PHB.
"Perhaps the truth is less interesting than the facts?" -- Amy Weiss, RIAA's Senior Vice President of Communications.
It's the new math! 421 == 156 ! -
Imagine you have written a nice, shiny product, ready for sale now. Everyone agree it's good and useful, but yet the customers are not willing to buy. Because its too hard to change habits of users, because it just does what it should, because no admin has time to set it up and maintain it. All these among many other similar reasons. Competitors offer a less complete solution but yet they sell. What you would do? Add more features? Ease restrictions on functionality?
I don't think this is a serious possesion, and the evil most likely comes from your hand. Colin J Davies, The Lounge
Better marketing will help. But there's also the old axiom - it takes money to make money. Perhaps you could offer a competitive upgrade or some other free-bee (xx days of tech support) for customers who switch over to your product? Word processors (Word, WordPerfect) used to do that all the time, back when there was competition... :suss: Even a broken clock is right twice a day.