Sale Strategy

Thu Apr 5 11:32:53 PDT 2018

Mike,

I have had the same experience with customers over the years when they 
wanted to move to something WINDOWSY.

The loss of speed and flexibility is very hard to handle.

I have had more than one customer return and fire up filePro to get the 
job done.

But I have also seen the price tag for a runtime/dev system push away 
small users.  How can you make a little app that could help a small 
business when the cost of the runtime puts you out of competition.  How 
do you justify an upgrade from a system that works perfectly at 5.0 to a 
5.8 version when the cost will be over $10,000 and the customer will 
have to spend even more to get any development in place to use the new 
features if they even have such a need.  Also the cost of actually doing 
the upgrade, since the system requires an entire index rebuild. In 
addition, in my experience filepro often breaks programming when you 
apply a new version to it.  This could disrupt the business while those 
issues are sorted out.

The requirement they make for a system to move from Unix to Linux but 
the Linux has to be a current version so they are required to upgrade 
however many versions, often just buying a new filepro.  I understand 
the need for cash flow but when a customer does not see the benefit  for 
the upgrade it is a hard sell.  This pushes customers happy with filepro 
but unhappy with the OS to solving their programming with something 
other than filePro.

I realize there are new features to be had in filepro, but I see those 
apps that were already "perfect" having difficulty with a price to 
upgrade when the new features are of no real benefit to them.

I have customers that have been using filePro since 1982 and by 1993 
they had it working the way they wanted.  We did an upgrade for Y2K in 
2000 and they have been working ever since with no issues, except small 
user errors.  How do you argue to a customer with that history that for 
a cost of upwards of $2000 they could get a new version with features 
they will never use?

I think filepro could continue to support older versions and make money 
doing it.  The support gives them an opportunity to up-sell if the need 
is there but also just make money on the support.

I think filePro is wonderful.  I can solve problems quickly and manage 
data well.  I just think it would have a wider audience if the pricing 
was more in line with other development software and runtimes were more 
competitive.

My two cents.  Likely about all it is worth.

Nancy

On 4/1/2018 8:55 AM, Mike Schwartz via Filepro-list wrote:
>> How do you guys manage to sale filePro today?
>>
>> $349 per seat is a price tag and then some ... I am one that believes that
>>
>> So, how about some tips on "filePro sale pitch" to win those ever present
>> battles!!!
>> --
>> Jose D. Lerebours
>       It is odd that a customer pays a few thousand dollars for a system,
> runs it for 15 years as the "heart and life-blood" of their business, then
> complains about paying another couple of thousand dollars that will probably
> carry the system forward another 15 years.  I bet they don't get 15 years of
> dependable life out of their delivery trucks or their office furniture...
>
>       Since they are happy with their old SCO operating system, why switch
> that to Linux?  I'm sure you can find hardware that will still run the SCO
> operating system.  Bill Campbell and others here on the list can probably
> assist you in virtualizing their old SCO server, if they simply want to
> virtualize.
>
>       Business decisions are ultimately ALL about payback.  So, when trying
> to sell a customer on upgrades, normally I emphasize the "quick payback"
> that they will get with the new reports or new filePro features.  However,
> since this is a "lateral" move to Linux and if they are not interested in
> having you do more programming to make use of the new filePro features, they
> won't get a quick payback on their investment.
>
>       So, the only payback they will get  is that the "heart and life-blood"
> of their business will have been overhauled; similar to buying all brand new
> delivery trucks.
>
>       It is probably worth mentioning the new filepro features to them.  For
> example, maybe they will want you to add filePro's direct PDF printing to
> their system.
>
>       Remind them that there is a heavy cost to switch software.  Just the
> function of SEARCHING for a new software package will probably  consume a
> LOT of man-hours.  They have to look at things like training and buying a
> LOT faster server and hardware system than their old filePro system
> requires.  Windows apps have their uses, but Windows systems are not always
> the best option for database systems, even if their users do not type 100
> WPM.
>
>       For example, a few years ago I had a large insurance brokerage who
> spent more than $350,000.00 to "upgrade" to a "canned" MS-Windows insurance
> database system.  After almost 3 years of testing and adding more and more
> Windows servers, they tried to go "live" on the new system.  Unfortunately,
> they never could get things to balance on the new system and found it took a
> LOT longer (like 10 times as long) to enter insurance policy info into their
> new system as compared to filepro.  Also, they just could not get the same
> "sort and select" reporting flexibility that their old filePro system had.
>
>       Finally all of their managers confronted the bosses and told them they
> were going to QUIT unless they went BACK to their old filePro system.  So I
> had to scramble for a couple of weeks to get them a couple of new servers
> and upgraded filePro system so that they could cut back over to their old
> filePro system!
>
>       One of my favorite sales phrases is:  "Every time a user has to take
> their hands off of their keyboard and move to their mouse, then scroll
> around a page and position the mouse to the next data field, they have lost
> a LOT of time."
>
>        So, in this case, I advise:
>
> 1)  Do NOT move off of SCO (Xinous) Openserver.  There's probably no valid
> reason to spend the money to do that.
>
> 2)  Think long and hard about considering moving to any new software
> package.  It will probably end up costing a LOT more than you thought it
> would.
>
> 3)  Non-GUI database applications are NOT dead.  They are typically more
> cost effective than GUI Windows based apps are.
>   
> Hope that helps...
>
> Mike Schwartz
>       
>   
>
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-- 
Nancy Palmquist         MOS & filePro Training Available
Virtual Software Systems    Web Based Training and Consulting
PHONE: (412) 835-9417           Web site:  http://www.vss3.com

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