Conference ilbbak::us_sales_service

    Charlie - I agree.  Your comment about Bob Hughes reading the file is a
    telling one because in many conferences people are complaining because
    senior management DOESN'T read the conference.  I have seen no
    publicity about this file and word of mouth doesn't do it.  Perhaps the
    moderators/Sales management should consider a mailing to Sales folks,
    who get so much mail already, on the notesfile and how it should be
    used as a vehicle for sharing and feedback.
    
    How much more productive could we be if we shared our successes in a
    notesfile where discussion and dialog would lead to the best possible
    solutions for our problems, and the best possible audience for our
    opportunities. 

    Charlie and Maxine,
    
    I believe that the major issue is that people just don't read the NOTES
    conferences ... and I believe that it is due to the amount of time and
    effort that the field people put into their jobs. We have to get the
    word out and then we have to prove that it is an add-value resource for
    them. One thing that I do is that I send people a quick directory of a
    conference from time to time showing the latest subjects and replies. 
    
    This is a reminder that the Conference exists and it shows the reader
    very quickly what is contained.
    
    Other than that, its a matter of people changing behavior and making
    important NOTES conferences a priority at least once a week. That can
    come through encouragement, participation, and commitment by all of us
    who want to make a positive contribution to the sales efforts in the
    field.
    
    One other thing that should be investigated is the responsiveness of
    the network connection from the field offices. One of the fastest ways
    to discourage participation is to have long delays between keystrokes.
    The sales reps and support people cannot wait for 30-second response times.
    
    Regards,
    
    Bob

    I'm a field people and a mostly read-only follower of this conference.
    I follow this conference to get pure, undiluted Bob Hughes. The Bob
    that we get down here on the ground has been filtered, edited and
    abridged by several layers of management, who, I'm sure, mean well. The
    "specialization" memo is an excellent example. If not for this
    conference I would have never seen or even heard of it. So, (with the
    possible exception of this reply :-) I tend to keep my mouth shut
    unless I have something useful to contribute. 

    There are lots of tools, etc. in place to handle "issues"; they must be
    working, too, since so few make it here. I'm grateful
    that this conference, generally speaking, has not devolved into a
    "whining" conference or another outlet for content-free marketing hype.
    I also appreciate that there isn't a lot of idle chit-chat going on
    (again, with the possible exception of this note string :-).

    Larry,
    Formerly Los Angeles Accounts Group
    Formerly EIS
    (Current birdcage perch unknown.... :-)

    Thanks for your interest in getting more interaction within the US
    Sales and Service Conference. The following is one of many
    communications that have been sent to the field.  If your neck of
    the woods has not seen these, please do forward on.
    



                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:     22-May-1991 02:49pm EST
                                        From:     Susan H Murphy @MKO
                                                  MURPHY.SUE
                                        Dept:     National Accounts
                                        Tel No:   264-0723

TO: See Below

Subject: "U.S. SALES AND SERVICE" VAXNOTES CONFERENCE                           


Attached is the announcement of the "U.S. SALES AND SERVICE" VAXnotes 
conference.  To ensure the validity of answers provided, you are being asked to 
represent your function as a member of the "VAXnotes Answer Team."  Your 
membership will require you to add the "U.S. SALES AND SERVICE" conference to 
your VAXnotes account.  We are asking you to periodically access the conference 
and respond to questions and comments.  You may also be contacted periodically 
    for advice and counsel on how to handle questions needing official
    policy answers.

Thank you for your support.  We will be looking for your registration entry in 
the "U.S. SALES AND SERVICE" Vaxnotes conference. 


                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:     15-May-1991 02:57pm EST
                                        From:     Susan H Murphy @MKO
                                                  MURPHY.SUE
                                        Dept:     National Accounts
                                        Tel No:   264-0723

TO: See Below

Subject: "U.S. SALES AND SERVICE" VAXNOTES AVAILABLE                 


TO:	 Level 2 Sales Mgrs
	 AVPs
	 Sales Support
	 EIS
	 CS
	 Admin
	 OPS

*************************************************************************
PLEASE FORWARD THIS INFORMATION ACROSS YOUR ORGANIZATION TO ALLOW FULL 
PARTICIPATION.
*************************************************************************

May 20th marks the opening of a new VAXnotes conference titled "U.S. SALES AND 
SERVICE."  As we near the beginning of a new fiscal year at Digital, we have 
the opportunity to participate in a new way of managing our company with the 
entrepreneurial spirit fostered by the New Management System (NMS) and 
Account-Based Management Structure (AMS).

The changes will generate many good questions.  The answers need to be 
communicated and understood at all levels and functions of the organization 
for there to be successful implementation of NMS and AMS within Digital.

There are many methods of communications available, but your particular 
question may not have received a response thus far.  The "U.S. SALES AND 
SERVICE" VAXnotes conference has been created to capture those outstanding 
comments and those unasked and unanswered questions.  The VAXnotes conference 
will be moderated by U.S. Sales Headquarters, with representation from all 
Account Team functions.

Please feel free to participate by using one of Digital's unique system 
strengths -- VAXnotes.  Here's how:


1.  Access VAXnotes from DCL (the "$" prompt)

    Type NOTES <cr>*				      *<cr> = carriage return

    	   e.g.	   $ NOTES <cr>


2.  Add the "U.S. Sales and Service" conference to your personal notebook

    At the "Notes>" prompt, type the following command:

    	   Notes> ADD ENTRY GERBIL::US_SALES_SERVICE <cr>


3.  To participate in the "U.S. Sales and Service" conference
    	   
    At the "Notes>" prompt, type the following command:

    	   Notes> OPEN US_SALES_SERVICE <cr>

    It will take a few moments to access the conference through the network.  
    The first UNSEEN (UNREAD) note in the conference will appear on your 
    screen.  A carriage return will page you through the note and subsequent 
    replies.

    To view all notes available, type DIR at the "Notes>" prompt.

    To read a given note, at the Notes> prompt, simply type the number that 
    appears in the far left column, and press carriage return.

    To reply to a note you are reading, type REPLY at the "Notes>" prompt.  
    VAXnotes will open up a window for you, where you can enter in your text.  
    When finished, type Ctrl Z (by holding down the CTRL key and pressing the 
    Z key at the same time).  VAXnotes will close the edit session and ask 
    for a title.  Enter a title for your note, and press the carriage return 
    key.  VAXnotes will then tell you your note is complete, and ask if you 
    would like to enter it into the conference.  Type "Y" to enter the reply 
    or "N" to not enter the reply.


Regards.

      Also, as co-moderator of this conference I do encourage additional
    questions or comments on issues facing the field, especially related
    to AMS or NMS. Bob Hughes does see all questions, comments, and answers
    not someone with access to his account.  There is also a defined answer
    team from other field functions that help with specific questions. We
    hope that all questions are answered that need a "headquarter" type
    answer, in a timely manner, as the conference is accessed daily to check
    for questions. Please ask again if you feel the answer has yet to be
    answered fully or to your particular need.
    
        Look forward to more interaction after the holidays.
    
      Happy Holidays!

    Sue, why not have bob mention the notes file during his monthly Sales
    Focus DVN?  I know it is widely viewed, and people will get the
    message. tjk

    re.2: You're right; we field people have even less time now than before
    to read something that isn't directly related to satisfying a customer
    need. Before the last field-nucing took place I had 50+ accounts and a
    1.4M budget; now I have 100+ accounts and a 3.4M budget and far fewer
    Support people and others (proposal team, etc.) to help out. So reading
    this notes file is an occasional thing just to tune in on some of the
    other real things (i.e. actual field things and not marketing hype)
    that are going on elsewhere. Of course I often wonder at the frequency
    with which some people seem to actively participate. I hope they're
    watching on a window of their workstation while they do their regular
    work (I don't have that luxury; my field-Sales-standard VT100 doesn't 
    have that feature yet....!). But I am happy that some do take the time
    to share their opinions and experiences, and contribute to the
    discussions which attempt to work the bugs out of ideas intended to
    "make DEC work" even better. And knowing that RCH really is at the
    other end is encouraging and hopefully won't inhibit anyone to speak
    out honestly.
    
    Ciao, and GOOD SELLING!
    
    Fred
     

    Reference Note 53.3.
    
    Thanks for the feedback!  It's been said that 25% of any communication
    is lost in every level of management (4) and 50% is lost if it goes
    West of I-495.
    
    I'm happy you're getting some of it!
    
    rch

    Thanks for the suggestion to include reference to this conference in
    one of Bob's Sales Focus DVNs.  Are there any other suggestions anyone
    may have to create this conference as a first place a sales rep or
    field person may turn to find an answer to AMS or NMS questions? Bob
    has recently asked if we should continue with the conference if it is
    not addressing its original goals of answering questions the field has
    been having trouble getting answers to.
    
    Look forward to your suggestions. 

Since I started this line of discussion I will take a shot at proposing 
solutions. I was a member of the District Workstation Team conference and 
much of my experience with this type of conference is from there.

1. Get the word out. Sales Update, Sales Flash and DVN's
2. Make sure people who want to participate but don't know how have an 
   easy way to learn (publish a users guide)
3. Establish a clear goal for the conference. I would include, in addition to 
   NMS and AMS the ability to discuss any and all sales issues that affect
   our ability to get sales (we are often our own worst enemy), or deliver on
   the promises that resulted in sales.
4. Commit to responding to queries within a certain period of time (DWT was 
   24hrs). The objective is not necessarily to answer ever question quickly but
   to acknowledge that effort is uderway to find an answer or resolve the issue.
5. Allow disenting opinions. If it truly a goal of the conference to foster
   open and frank discusions (that result in feedback to upper management since
   the file is monitored by Sales HQ) then it is imperitive that all points
   of view be encouraged, acknowledged and respected. If there is even the hint 
   of censorship (execpt for corporate policy violations) then forget the whole 
   thing.
6. Publish the answers to DVN questions here. In fact this should be a regular 
   and early posting for announcements made by Sales HQ.
7. Pose questions and solicit answers (what if we changed xyz policy to abc). 
8. Encourage ABU's, PBU's, IBU's, etc. to pose questions for input and to 
   identify individuals who will respond to questions and issues brought up in
   the file.
9. Don't be overly restrictive of note content. remember every normal 
   distribution has a few items that are over 3 standard deviations from the 
   mean.

Re: <<< Note 53.9 by MADWT::HENDERSON >>>

I agree 100% with the previous reply. Find ways to encourage the use of this 
valuable conference; don't write it off. This is one of the very few ways we 
have to directly communicate with upper management.

Regards,

Jim Mickol
Xerox Acct Team

    RE: Note 53.9
    
         Thank you again for your excellent suggestions. Right off the bat
    we will use your first suggestion of promoting the conference during a
    Sales Focus DVN.  Please tune in to the next Sales Focus DVN on January
    20th at 1:00 pm (EST). We have made arrangements to have instructions
    on how to get into the conference during the DVN. We are also
    investigating how to post the questions and answers from the DVN in
    the conference. Your other suggestions are well taken and we have tried
    to do just what you suggest, with renewed interest and activity the
    level of information provided and internal use by non-sales groups can only 
    get better. We will rely on you to continue to post questions and
    issues that the field needs additional help or information on.
    
    Thanks again.
    Sue

    I must have missed it!  I sat through the DVN (maybe missed some of the
    `fill' that came before Bob came on, but not much).  I heard Bob
    mention this conference once.  And then it was part of a longer answer,
    so if you missed the notes conference phrase, you missed the
    advertisement, such that it was.
    
    A shame, seeing that the DVN was on education.  It seems the audience
    should be been educated about this.
    
    A suggestion...Do not place `advertisements' for the conference before
    or after Bob's and guests' messages.  Make it part of their message.
    Looking around the room during the DVN, people are not paying attention
    to the screen until Bob comes on and people walk out during the
    question and answer period.  If you want to get a message out, you are
    going to have to have Bob state it.
    
    tgc