Conference 7.286::digital

    I think part of the problem is that although there is a large "notes"
    culture at Digital, we have been told to basically be quiet about it or
    risk having it shut down.  I've never been encouraged to tell anyone
    "outside" what a wonderful system we have access to.  The emphasis has 
    always been on keeping "notes" use relatively isolated and protected from 
    the "outside".  
    
    Steve

    this is so true, example , i worked at EDS for 4 years befor comming to DEC,
    we did not know anything about notes, even though we all used DEC 
    computers, we worked on big software projects for GM, and a notes
    type software would have been a great thing to use as communications
    tools between the programmers, (the project i worked on was called
    GMT400, at one point we had 1,000 programmers on it (some were DEC
    contractors too), it lasted for more than 4 years).
    
    the other day , i was chatting with an old friend who is still at EDS,
    i was telling him about notes files and how good it is to use to share
    informations about projects , and how usefull it would have been if we
    had had it at EDS when that project was in progress, he still was not 
    aware that DEC has such a thing ! 
    
    Why is that? i dont know, iam just giving an observation.
    
    /naser

I'm not so sure that the perception that we intentionally keep the "notes
culture" quiet is a valid one.

The DECUServe system (which is "based on a conference culture") is widely
used by hundreds of customers and DEC employees alike and is, from what
I can see, actually patterned after the Easynet conference culture, to
a large degree.

They even have a SOAPBOX!

-Jack

    Our problem with advertising products like notes is that it competes
    against the other 59,000 line items we have to sell.  I think if we
    were to run a 2-page ad for one month, instead of the 'opening an
    airplane factory' NAS ads, showing notes and how people use it (Sample
    screens and such) we would be pleasantly surprised with some sales...
    
    Maybe even EDS!
    
    Rose Ann, you listenin?

    Picked up this months edition of LAN magazine. You know, the one that
    has the summary of the best network products of 1992 on the front
    cover.
    
    A considerable amount of coverage is devoted to the area of network
    management platforms. In fact 42 separate vendors are covered. Is
    Digital mentioned? Pick up a copy and see.
    
    This is a trend I see developing lately. 
    
    The question is, does "free advertising or mention" in industry trade
    publications make any difference?

	re .4:

>    Our problem with advertising products like notes is that it competes
>    against the other 59,000 line items we have to sell. 

	Which accounts for the fact that most account managers, let alone
	customers, don't know about it.

>    I think if we
>    were to run a 2-page ad for one month, instead of the 'opening an
>    airplane factory' NAS ads, showing notes and how people use it (Sample
>    screens and such) we would be pleasantly surprised with some sales...

	Are we allowed to run "product" commercials? I always believed
	there was a corporate injunction against that (dating from the
	Victorian era when only cads advertised).

	/Tom

One of my folks has outbound telesales going through records of who's bought
Rdb/VMS from historic sales records and software update contracts. He's
finding that:

	- It takes two phone calls to narrow into the real decision maker
	  from the information we have - and we don't comminicate with
	  these people normally

	- Two thirds of them have never heard that we sell a tuning tool
	  (RdbExpert) and would like to attend a seminar on it

	- One INGRES salesperson is targeting Rdb/VMS sites in one
	  geography very effectively - and we didn't know this because
	  we weren't keeping an ongoing relationship active with such
	  decision makers

We've got to do a lot better than this. The future market is likely to be one
where we either sell through relationships with specific individuals in
our customer base (� la MacConnection), or we sell complex products 
strategically to a few large accounts. I'd prefer to operate in the first of
these two options any day!
								- Ian W. 

    as an answer to the 'no product specific' advertising, the recent VAX
    Rdb/VMS ads in Digital Review (and elsewhere) point to the exception. 
    One problem is that it took YEARS for database systems to get approval
    to advertise like this.  What a novel idea,  advertise when the product
    is new and different...!
    
    How about an Xcursion ad?  Or an ad for a specific service that we knew
    customers would want and that we knew there was trained field force in
    place?
    

re: .8

I'm sorry - I guess I just don't understand some things about how we do
business. Maybe someone can help me.

Isn't it the responsibility of SALES (the account rep or account manager)
to know what a specific customer buys from us, what their needs might be,
and who the right people in the customer site to talk to are?

I see messages all the time alerting me to the fact that I should always
be working through the account team before I contact a customer directly
for just about anything. Doesn't that mean that there ought to be a mechanism
in place for anyone in the company to find the right account team and get
answers about a specific customer?

Confused,
-Jack

Sales normally sell significantly North of where the volume of low cost sales
get spent. If I had to rely on salespeople to communicate all the details of
the products I sell, i'd be dead in the water.

This is in no way being disparaging of salespeople at all; more a reflection
that over 50% of compute spend flies in under the radar.
								- Ian W.