Conference 7.286::digital

    	Sounds like my thoughts when installing equipment I wonder
    what the customer thinks when they do ther own installation.

    
       PART IDENTIFIER: AA-PEKLC-RE.                  
       DESC: EDMATIC USER'S GDE
    
       Sooo...what the heck is an EDMATIC USER'S GDE?
    
       Mark :^)

    GDE is obviously 'guide'

    re.0 When you buy from DEcDirect, they turn the order over to the 
    manufacturing plant. Your part/product/whatever is shipped directly
    from the manufacturing site. Manufacturing plant warehouses generally 
    need a part number to understand what-in-heck you're talking about. 
    This is because our primary customers are _not_ civilians but product
    lines, planners, etc. who understand our system and know what they
    want. Also, we deal with a large variety of part numbers, and tend to 
    take the 'McDonald's' approach to parts. ("Parts is parts.") You want 
    parts? We got millions of parts. What part number? 

    re: .0
    
    I agree.  If there is a way to take action, count me in.  I like the
    idea of, for example, having a voice message on the phone that directs
    someone that doesn't know the part number to a person that can help
    them figure it out.  Even then, they should not have to remember the
    part number as THAT PERSON should then be enabled to help with the
    order.  I like the idea of using this note to discuss ideas for how
    this problem might be solved.
    
    Sure, we may need to "educate" the customer about how service will be
    faster if they look up the part number before calling us.  But, what if
    a customer doesn't WANT to be "educated"?  If I call up L.L Bean, I
    sure as tootin' won't respond well to an operator getting on my case
    for not knowing the catalog number of the boots I want.  They can
    handle it right for boots.  We should be able to handle it right for
    computers.  We can't keep operating in a mind set that demands more of
    the customer to get sales.  It's got to get easier and easier for
    customers to do business with us.
    
    Our processing orders by using part numbers provided to us by the
    customer should be a feature.  I think that if processing is slower for
    customers that don't know part numbers and don't want to use part
    numbers we should also support that process.  It's better than turning
    away sales.
    
    Steve

Re .0:

>We were vainly searching for part numbers for some of the binders that made
>    up the books, some of the cardboard boxes in the carton, and even the
>    sticker that identified the FORTRAN kit.
>
>    See, instead of sending the customer a packing list (things HE ORDERED or
>    should check to see if his order was complete) we were sending out our
>    Bill Of Materials (the document WE used to MANUFACTURE his order from
>    our inventory).

Yep, sounds like the script for me trying to check off the BOM shipped with my
VMS V5.0 doc set and V5.2 update kit ("U", "M" and "P" manuals).
				/AHM

	re .0:

	I agree 100%, Joe. You have seen a truth so simple and obvious
	that nobody in the decision-making hierarchy can begin to grasp
	it. Customers want their problems solved - the famous "solution
	sell" that we are always bragging about.

	Instead, Digital employees are totally absorbed in pleasing their
	bosses, getting one-up on their peers, doing well against their
	measurements (or, if they are managers, devising new numerical
	measurements).

	I have heard Ken Olsen say, in so many words, that if you believe
	everything can be numerically measured, you CANNOT BE A MANAGER.
	What he meant, I guess, was a ***good*** manager - there are plenty
	holding down jobs who fit the bill.

	The right approach MUST BE to imagine being a customer, and ask
	"what is the best treatment I could hope for?" and then try and
	deliver it. (Actually, you can go a step beyond and try to "delight"
	the customer, but not until you've met their basic needs).

	Things really haven't changed since I was in the Telephone Support
	Centre. We engineers argued that we should have knowledgeable,
	motivated individuals answering the phones, with the aim of
	resolving the customer's questions in the shortest possible time.
	Management decided to adopt the diametrically opposite course, of
	hiring individuals utterly ignorant of computing (they had to
	hire externally to be sure of this) who could put customers through
	the routine of "registering a call" before putting their problem
	in a queue. We also recommended an expert system to give the
	call-answerers full details of the customer's past history (e.g.
	novice, expert, critical, patient, etc), but this was pooh-poohed.

	As soon as managers become seriously interested in meeting customers'
	needs (rather than looking good internally) we will begin to do these
	things right. We are entirely capable of excelling - we just don't try.

	/Tom

    Another good trick is for the customer to be asked what DEC number a
    piece of equipment was purchased on.  This is our number(s) that we
    assign to a customers purchase.  Why should they have to keep track of
    our internal numbering systems.
    
    Rob

    I don't know if this belongs here or in 1718., but here goes....
    
    	Recently I called an insurance company about a claim. The digital
    voice told me to push buttons if I had a touchtone phone or hold the
    line for a warm body if not.
    
    	Each number represented something totally different. New Claim. Old
    Claim. Premiums. Inquiry. Non Insured Motorist. etc....also the
    extension of the person you wanted to talk to if you knew it.
    
    	After pushing the 6 for a new claim, I was given a new menu of
    numbers to push for the service I wanted. After puching the 3 the exact
    person I wanted with experience answered the phone. I was done in less
    than 5 minutes.
    
    	When a customer calls us, why couldn't the first response be
    electronic...."would you like like ...." Technical help for installion,
    technical information, Software, printers, PC, Workstations, blah,
    blah.
    
    	Follow this by "do you know or have a part number "y" "n"? If yes,
    you get an order person for hardware or software that has been trained
    in the field they service. If no, you get a person who is knowledgeable
    in getting you information and directing you the correct part. They can
    then take your order or direct you to the person for technical help you
    need.
    
    	It's not difficult anymore. Everyone uses it. I had a small
    business that failed this year (economy) but NYNEX and ATT had tons of
    options available that could make nearly anyone in the telex business
    really successful. They also have wonderfully product knowledgeable
    people assisting you from ordering the service you need in a price
    range you can afford to the products that will make phonig easier for
    you and your customers. I don't think that the DECDirect folks could be
    expected to be totally knowledgeable in all of DEC's products, thereby
    putting them at a disadvantage the second they answer a call. That's
    not their fault....it's DEC's. It's a loop that has to be closed in the
    future if we wish to stay competitive in the phone market.
    
    	As an aside. DEC also believes that the people placed in management
    positions are managers. Wrong. Managers are the result of training and
    experience. We don't train managers in what they will be required to
    know, how to operate, or even in DEC policies. In previous comapnies I
    worked for, there were management training programs that encompassed
    ALL of the parameters that were required for a manager. Budgets,
    negotiations, problem solving, etc. Most companies recognize that
    internal training is biased, so special programs are purchased to give
    a different/fresh persepective. So what happens here is is that Manager
    X started out as a tech 15 years ago. Became a workleader, supervisor,
    senior supervisor, and is now a manager. X went to some DEC programs
    but basically picked all of the ggod and bad habits of their
    predecessors. Why did I bring this up? Because it makes a point as to
    how difficult change can be for even the best managers, and how hard it
    is to get those changes out of the idea stage without posing a threat.
    
    	The system is entrenched. Territories are established. Change is
    very difficult. Closed minds are nearly impossible to open.
    
    Ken 

    There are some great comments and ideas in here - have any of you
    considered taking it through DELTA or better yet, directly to
    DECdirect? Especially .0?
    
    

    Questions for you people with direct customer contact.
    
    <flame on>
    	Who the h___ is in charge of planning the information systems for
    	Digital sales and service?  Why aren't these ideas on their desks?
    <flame off>
    
    Dick

re .9  (automatic answering systems)

Ugh no. I hate those bloody systems.  If I'm calling, I want to
talk to an intelligent human being who understands the problem
domain, not wander through some stupid menu maze.

Automatic phone systems are a cost-savings measure for the 
company concerned, and have very little to do with wanting
to better serve the customer.

re: .11

>    	Who the h___ is in charge of planning the information systems for
>    	Digital sales and service?  Why aren't these ideas on their desks?

Well, Dick my answer would be the Sales and Services business people.

As to why these ideas are not on their desks, just who's desk should they
be on? If we knew maybe they would be there...

- George

    re: 1718.33

>    The new DESKTOP DIRECT from DIGITAL direct marketing phone number
>    is 1-800 PC BY DEC (1 800-722-9332) and not 1-800-DIGITAL:
>    
>    "you're online to expertise in PC hardware, software, spreadsheets,
>    MS-DOS applications, Microsoft Windows and that's just for starters"

    Now we have two different places to call for (at least part of) the
    same damn thing!
    
    Although PC-BY-DEC is a pretty good phone number, mnemonically
    speaking, wouldn't it be really hip to dial just one number ("DIGITAL")
    and get anything you wanted from the company from mainframe sales, to
    service to PC software?  Again, why make the customer understand our
    internal systems?  They don't have to know from product lines or
    who's the VP empowered with integrating the low-end mumble metrics or 
    any of the other artifacts of our internal politics.

    Screw catalogs and part numbers and all of that stuff we needed when
    all we did was proprietary stuff. Since we're now in the PC business
    where people read a review in a magazine and want to have the software
    in their hands TODAY, let's work on making it easy for them to do it!
    
    We don't even have to advertise PC products.  The companies who develop
    it do it for us.  The magazines point people to what packages to buy. 
    All we have to do is convince people that if it has to do with
    computers, they should call our number.
    
    Our primary ad campaign should be that if you have a computer and need
    anything at all, from hardware, software, sales, support, advice, to a
    shoulder to cry on, just dial 1-800-DIGITAL and you'll be in touch with
    a pool of 100,000(?) people who want to take care of you.

    We already have the back end(s) to this with our hundreds of fine
    organizations who actually do the work.  We allegedly have the talent
    to do the job once we get our foot in the door.  I think we even sell
    service contracts for third-party hardware.  Now, it's just a matter of
    getting over the hump of getting the first contact.  Instead of
    educating the whole planet as to how we want to be contacted, let's
    train a pile of our own people to answer the phone and switch customers
    to whomever they have to talk to to get their needs fulfilled.  
    
    Be it the local field office, PC sales, or the CDROM job shop, one
    simple toll-free number will get you to people who speak your language.
    
    All a customer has to know is what he wants.  All we have to do is 
    figure out who can do it for him.
    
    Thoughts?
    
    -joe tomkowitz

>    	When a customer calls us, why couldn't the first response be
>    electronic...."would you like like ...." Technical help for installion,
>    technical information, Software, printers, PC, Workstations, blah,
>    blah.

Ugh.  No.  Yecch.
I hate those systems, too.
"Hey, (potential) customer, jump through my hoops."

Technologically speaking, you're suggesting a menu driven system
with low bandwidth and volatilely presented menus.
You spend 15 seconds listening to the options, and then have to remember 
whether 2 or 3 was the department you wanted.  (You had to listen to all
six because you couldn't tell if a later item would be a closer match
than the current one.)

Bad burden sharing (which is not to say it won't catch on).

- tom]

    
    	Does the Store help?  The E-Conn (formerly ESTORE) along with
        OMSEDI  Seems to be of some assistance.  Maybe it does go far
    	enough or reach the right customers?
    
    

re: .12,.15

those touchtone menus are not so bad, if you provide the option of
"escaping" to a human call-handler in each menu; also, they're usually
set up to repeat the list of menu options if you don't respond within
a given timeframe, so you don't have to do instant memorization

anything that's relatively simple, consistent, and couched in terms
that relate directly to issues the customer is calling about (vs.
arcane internal database terms) is bound to be a help

								paul

    I use the touchtone system that Investor Services has set up. I
    love it. It seems to have been done very well. It also allows
    you to 'escape' to a person if needed. 
    
    Jim C.
    

RE: .0

>    So why is this company so obsessed with inflicting our internal
>    processes on civilians just trying to buy stuff from us?  It seems like
>    almost  every group exports its information in the same format it uses
>    on its own systems which requires the receiver to understand the
>    originator's whole way of doing business in order to get any
>    communication going.

It is sometimes even worse than this.  There is strong evidence, it is only
evidence because no one will stand up and say that it is fact, that our part 
numbering system drove the software license tier of the VAX 4000-500.

For those unfamiliar with SW licensing here is a ClusterWide tutorial.

Every processor gets a SW tier from 10 on Workstations to 2400 for a 9000
and so on.

The part numbers translate like this

CW Rating	Part Number
10		QL-UPIA9-JB
20		QL-UPIA9-JC
50		QL-UPIA9-JD
100		QL-UPIA9-JE
200		QL-UPIA9-JF
300		QL-UPIA9-JG
400		QL-UPIA9-JH
600		QL-UPIA9-JJ
900		QL-UPIA9-JK
1200		QL-UPIA9-JL
1800		QL-UPIA9-JM
2400		QL-UPIA9-JN
3600		QL-UPIA9-JQ
4800		QL-UPIA9-JS
6000		QL-UPIA9-JT
7200		QL-UPIA9-JU
9000		QL-UPIA9-JV

UPI stand for Unique Product Identifier and is different for every product.
The last letter is for the power rating.  These are in alphabetical order with
the omission of I (as not to confuse it with 1), O (as not to confuse it with 0),
and R (not sure why).

The 4000-300 is a power rating 300 machine.  The 4000-500 is a power rating 900
machine.  I was stunned when I found this out so I called the product manager.
After some discussion this person told me that they had to chose 600 or 900
since those were the choices of part numbers.  Note 1716.19 in the 
ASIMOV::MARKETING notes file has a little more information on this.

So, our part numbering scheme predefined our business proctices for the 4000-500.
In real terms this translates into a higher than expected price for ALL
SOFTWARE that is licensed ClusterWide (the predominant offering today).  So,
Digital has to overcharge its customers because the part number "architecture"
won't allow the right price.  I don't know why someone didn't just invent a
new part number.

Ken Slattery

    .19
    
    I'm very familiar with our software licensing practices as I do SPS
    contracts here in Chicago. I have to agree with your response. You
    must be in Sales or software services. I had no idea that the 4000-500
    was rated so high. Licensing sure can get very complex especially on
    converting PPL's to paid up licenses!!

    Yesterday a V.P. of Lockheed Missle & Space Co. told 60-70 Digital
    people, in response to the question "What can Digital do better?":
    
    		"Digital has a very cumbersome licensing policy.  It's
    		confusing and too difficult.  You give us no incentives
    		for workstation licensing.  Consequently, you are losing to
    		SUN at Lockheed."
    
    Some additional thoughts from the field:
    
    	1.  Digital people use DECspeak, not English.  If you are a
    	customer and you don't speak this advanced language then you
    	can be made to feel like an idiot, albeit unintentionally.
    
    		"So you want SSS on your kernal node and SNS on 
    		each cluster node and then you want MDDS and LPS and..."
    
    	2.  Customers (and sales) have to wade through too many information
    	sources to find an answer.  DECdirect (pricing), Systems and
    	Options Catalog (part numbers and good technical info), Product
    	Bulletin (features and benefits), Price Book (if you know part
    	number), Customer Update (if product is really new; but no
    	pricing), and N/W Buyer's Guide (if network product) overlap each
    	other.  Regularly the info is incomplete or incorrect, so we have
    	to call the support hot-lines.  ("What does this REALLY mean on page
    	III.43?")
    
    	3.  Government (GSA) customers have to wait in the general cue at
    	DECdirect (yes, even to place an order) before they can get in the
    	cue for the "government group."  As if one wait wasn't enough.
    
    	4.  I tell my customers that without a DECnumber the world would
    	stop revolving at Digital.  
    
    	5.  Did anyone ever stop to think what it costs the corporation
    	to have "information search thrashing?"  Many, many times I found
    	myself in awe at the fact that there would 3 or 4 Digital people
    	trying to figure out a customer's software licensing scheme.  (The
    	SSS, SNS, MDDS, LPS nightmare above).  I'd laugh to keep from
    	that awful DECdeath, spontaneous internal combustion.  How much 
    	goodwill - and business - does it cost us to have customers suffer  
    	like this?  Why can't we use English instead of DECspeak?  
    
    		"Mr. Customer, do you want 'telephone support' or 'LPS?'  
    		 Do you want our 'update service' or 'MDDS?'"
    
    	The same Lockheed V.P. also told us, "There were always too many
    	DEC people at meetings."  Management's glib response was that has been
    	taken care of (TFSO).  I submit WE NEED those people because our
    	services and policies are too confusing and no one knows everthing.
    	
    The problem has not gone away; the level of pain is just increasing.

re .21

>Why can't we use English instead of DECspeak?  
    
   Three reasons.  
   
   1. We're too lazy to explain fully what we are offering the customer.
   
   2. We're in too much of a hurry to get the "cert" on the books to explain
      our offering to the customer in jargon free English.
   
   3. We really don't understand the gobbledegook ourselves, so we CAN'T
      explain it to the custumer.
      
imho,

Dick

    
    Perhaps I can offer assistance on part number complexity and the
    selling of services.
    
    I am the manager of a sales tool known as SWIFT.  SWIFT is a services
    configurator that asks questions, in english, that avoid the acronyms
    that seem to be so common today.  Depending upon the answers to these
    questions, SWIFT will generate a list of part numbers that equate to
    the service solution the customer desires.
    
    I'm in complete agreement regarding part number complexity.  I firmly
    believe that we as a headquarters organization need to provide the
    selling teams with automated tools to simplify the process.  SWIFT is
    capable of building a configuration that can be directly added to the
    AQS quote.  The result?  Ease of selling services and increased revenue
    by selling services at the time of product sale.
    
    As I do not commonly follow this file, please contact me directly if
    you have any questions regarding SWIFT.
    
    Kevin Duhaime
    SWIFT Business Manager
    DTN 297-5570 or Kevin Duhaime @MRO
    

    I saw Kevin do a demo of SWIFT last week.  It is truly an impressive
    tool which quickly (and easily) handles the complex job of configuring
    our services offerings.  We need more tools like this one!
    
    Chet Bowles

    Can a customer use SWIFT?  (No)  Why do we need tools to translate
    DECspeak into English?  Why cana't we fix the problems, not the
    symptoms?  Shouldn't we concetrate our efforts on eliminating the pain at 
    the **customer** level?
    
    Three years ago a high-level manager visited the field and told us,
    "We've heard the complaints about AQS and how difficult it is to use
    and read.  We understand.  And we are working on making it more
    English-like."  I have seen no change in AQS in this area in three
    years.
    
    We have people who get paid to know AQS and software policies. 
    Customers do not.  They pay by shopping elsewhere, where there is less
    pain.
    
    Color me skeptical.

    Kris,
    
    	I understand your concern regarding the tool.  A new tool that
    	promotes itself as the "total solution" is kidding itself.
    
	SWIFT is merely a tool that translates "DECspeak", (By the way, I
    	hope you don't mind if I steal this term),  into common English, while 
        keeping the business rules for ordering services as it's common
    	denominator.
    
    	If the business was "Simplified" there would be no need for SWIFT. 
    	Until that day is here, I will continue to work to provide the selling
    	team with a tool that makes their selling effort easier.
    
	You made reference to whether a customer could use SWIFT.  The
    	answer is YES.  Customers are using it today to order services through
    	the Electronic Connection.  If our customers can use it without any
    	formalized training, I'm satisfied that it's user friendly.
    
    	

    Just cruising through this conference and I came upon #1741.8, which is
    some kind of announcement extracted from VTX about some Board member or
    something.
    
    The reply is (at least when I looked at it) filled with blob characters
    for the escape sequences that VTX left in it (put in it?) when some
    poor soul extracted it.
    
    Do the VTX people really think that:
    
 More   --> 
)0lqwqwqwqwqwqwqkTMqqrrsssrrqq 
xdxixgxixtxaxlxWorldwide News                      LIVE WIRE
mqvqvqvqvqvqvqjqqppoooppqq 

   Thomas P. Gerrity, cont'd 

    REALLY belongs in an extracted text file, or is this just another
    case of dumping whatever is convenient on a customer and letting him
    figure out what to do with it?
    
    -joe tomkowitz

    No, the Electronic Connection is not on VTX.  However, if you connect
    (or Set Host) to DDD, you can type C ECONN and it will connect you to
    the Electronic Connection.  Try it.

    
    Version 5.0 of VTX (now shipping) has "enhanced" PRINT and SAVE 
    features so that you can avoid the escape sequence problems.   Also, 
    depending upon the infobase a VTX/VALU application can mail you the 
    original or postscript version of the document.
    
    Pat (VTX Support - Colorado Springs)
    

RE: .30 from AIMHI::BOWLES
<No, the Electronic Connection is not on VTX.  However, if you connect
<    (or Set Host) to DDD, you can type C ECONN and it will connect you to
<   the Electronic Connection.  Try it.

	I tried it. Where is node DDD. I dont find it. In fact your node
	doesn't even know of it.

Regards,
	Jim 

    DDD is in Nashua.  It works from my LAT.
    

Do the following:

Local> SHOW SERVICE DDD

Then please repor the node(s) that are listed.

Thanks-

Lee

    re .34 I just tried that and got a "SERVICE DDD NOT KNOWN". Then I did
    it for my own facility code and got the same thing.
    
    BTW I'm at NQO, one of the DECDirect warehouses and DDD is just about a
    mile down the road from me.
    
    Phil

Re: .35

May not work from your location....

The author of note .33 needs to perform the steps mentioned in my note
.34, the we can all figure out the DEcnet node name(s) for the Electronic
Store.

Lee

    
    	I always gained acess thru the LAT  by  using  CONNECT DESNET
    	This then will give you access by  Connect Store
    
    
    	I am at DDD and this works for me at DDD, PKO, ACO.
    
    				Brian