Conference 7.286::digital

    Xerox have just outsourced their IT to EDS

    ...for the largest sum ever paid for outsourcing.

    Yes, in excess of $4B!

    Why do I consistently see us (Digital) hire people or make what looks
    like a big announcement about dealing with another company, and then 
    the other company is spending money with our competitors?  
    
    It must be just timing.

    
    
    	didn't training just lay off most of the staff??
    
    
    
    	rth

    Yup, they laid off technical trainers so they could hire sales training
    VPs so they can train the sales force to sell the stuff we ain't going
    to be trained to support because we don't have no trainers left...
    
    

    <2950.6 >
    
    
    Ahhh....yet another brillant strategy!

I would like to voice a different point of view...

XEROX has always been noted as having one of the best trained Sales forces in 
the industry.

Last time I looked, our sales force wasn't as highly regarded.

If this guy can bring the kind of high quality, intense training to Digital 
that is used at Xerox, we might still have a chance!

Rick C

    
    
    .-1
    
    	you may sell it, market it and have a quality sales force..
    	BUT if the field can't install it or fix it, what good is it?
    
    
    	rth

>>XEROX has always been noted as having one of the best trained Sales forces in 
>>the industry.

Not too hard to train salespeople if you only have a few products to worry 
about.

If new VP Aslin was able to find his way through the Xerox Training Center
in Leesburg, VA (a maze that makes the Mill look like a walk in the park),
I'm sure he can use those skills negotiating his way through the Digital
bureaucracy.

Also, re: EDS winning outsourcing at Xerox:

The $4B number is to be paid over 8-10 years. And having been intimately 
involved with Xerox over the past 4 years, it will be quite an accomplishment 
for EDS to make a profit in that time. Xerox is pretty tough when it comes to 
negotiating contracts with vendors.

We are lucky, though, as we opted to partner with EDS rather than
ISSC (aka IBM) or CSC/Andersen so we are hopeful that Digital will make some 
money off of this deal. More so than we would have if Xerox had not gone the 
outsourcing route.

Regards,

Jim
Xerox Acct Team
Rochester, NY

    
    
    re: .11 
    
    	I agree, every insurance agent or car seller could sell
        photocopiers as well; however, in order to sell complex
    	software concepts and solutions to IS management, one need
    	to add some intelligence, right?!
    
        						-helmut

    
Re: .13

>>    	I agree, every insurance agent or car seller could sell
>>      photocopiers as well; however, in order to sell complex
>>    	software concepts and solutions to IS management, one need
>>    	to add some intelligence, right?!
   

My point is that we, the Digital sales force, are expected to be able to
sell "complex software concepts and solutions" to both IS and business 
management, while knowing their business as well as they do, PLUS be
conversant with the thousands of products in our price book.

I would maintain that training a copier sales force might be a tad bit
easier.  

Bob

    Re .-* (trivializing the abilities of Xerox people), having been an
    engineering partner with the Xerox folks from Printing Systems
    Division, i've had a chance to peek into their sales and marketing
    worlds.
    
    Xerox is more process-oriented than a few other large companies that
    i've worked with.  Sales training there leaves few things to chance. 
    Xerox has a rich suite of software, hardware and peripheral products
    (albeit mostly related to publishing and printing worlds) and their
    complexity can be dizzying for the uninitiated.  They don't get to stay
    a top dog in their business with simple products and mediocre sales
    force.
    
    --svb

>My point is that we, the Digital sales force, are expected to be able to
>sell "complex software concepts and solutions" to both IS and business 
>management, while knowing their business as well as they do, PLUS be
>conversant with the thousands of products in our price book.

Well, sure, that's why you guys get the big bucks...     :-)

I worked with a salesman who formerly worked for Xerox as a salesman and a 
district manager.  

I rarely if ever heard him complain about the vastness of our price book.  If 
he got in over his head he had technical support resources to bring to the 
table.

What I learned from him was that there is more to sales than knowing which 
gadgets do what.  There is a whole sales process and discipline to being 
successful in sales...whether you're handling corporate accounts, mid-sized 
accounts or going after new business in the SME market.

According to him, the discipline and process are what are absent within 
Digital's sales organization and I suspect it didn't take a world-class 
salesman like Ed Lucente long to figure that out either!  Hopefully, it won't 
take him too long to transform the sales force and processes.

I find it almost comical that although we work for a company who has never had 
a good reputation for Sales or Marketing, we are being so critical of 
"outsiders" with successful track records from companies with successful Sales 
and Marketing.  

These guys know how what it takes to be GOOD at Sales and Marketing.  

Maybe if we are open-minded and listen, we'll learn something!

Rick C

>>    Re .-* (trivializing the abilities of Xerox people), having been an

Son, if you re-read my notes, I never said one word about the abilities of
the Xerox sales force.  I merely made the observation that training prople in 
a limited set of products seems easier than training in a much larger set.
It seems as tough my somewhat facetious remark opened a can of worms here.
I have little regard for Digital's sales training (7 years selling for DEC)
and only hope that the new guy can turn things around.

Bob
 

Another interesting point is that Xerox is only just starting to automate its 
sales force with Notebook PCs and associated networking. Unfortunately, last 
year when they were evaluating Notebooks we had little to offer. They have 
standardized on the IBM Thinkpad and will roll-out thousands of these across 
the U.S.

Sigh,

Jim
 

    The absolute best salesperson that I have observed in my eight years
    with Digital came to us from Xerox.  She has commented many times on
    the quality of the training she received there.  This salesperson has
    consistently uncovered new business each year.  She has turned accounts
    around that would have nothing to do with us.  She is the best user of
    resources I have ever seen.  She has had three separate territories in
    three years.  Most amazingly, though, is that she hardly knows a disk
    drive from a tape drive.  Now, one cannot attribute all of this to her
    Xerox training, but she will be the first to tell you how much better
    it was that what she has had from Digital in the past.
    
    Let's avoid pre-judging our new man.
    
    CW

    I'll put in my positive comments on Xerox's sales force, they're very
    good, and they've been working on commission for years.  Only problem
    is because of this they often work on a 'what can I sell this week' basis.
    
    Re:Xerox negotiators, yes, they're tough.  I was involved in a day long
    session with some of them a few years ago.
    
    /d.c.

    Though Xerox reps may have always been on commission, and have had a
    rich history of superior training, I would venture to guess that never
    did someone on high come down and cut their base 20% - 40% and call it
    incentive...
    
    	

The former Worldwide Account Group Manager for the Xerox account, Jerry 
Marterella, used to be a Xerox Sales Rep. He was, in my opinion, one of the best 
Account Managers in Digital. Unfortunately, he left the company last summer.

Jim
    	

    The best sales training I ever had -- and the training that I apply
    with great success to this day -- was from a former Xerox sales rep
    turned professional trainer, Mike Bosworth.