Hi Joe and All,
I recieved a response from an e-mail I sent John Slitz awhile back. Here it is FWIW, my letter first and the response:
>>> Don Earl <don.earl@MCI2000.com> 11/13 7:39 PM >>>
Dear Mr. Slitz,
I have seen a lot of commentary on Novell executives going out to talk
to existing customers about marketing. So far I have seen absolutely
nothing about anyone going out to talk to potential customers that are
not part of Novells' installed base. I fail to understand the
rationalization that growth can possibly come from talking to the same
people over and over.
You mentioned real estate in your interview. When was the last time you walked into a real estate office and counted how many un-networked
computers were on the premises. You would be hard pressed to find less
than 10 in even the smallest office. Ask them if they have ever heard of Novell. Ask them if they subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. Ask them how many computer trade publications they read. Ask them if they have ever heard of networking and if they have any idea how much easier their jobs would be if all those computers were tied together.
What if instead of depending on the person answering the phone to write a note about a call that could mean thousands of dollars, and put it where the salesperson may or may not find it in time, the salesperson could just plug his laptop into any phone line and check his e-mail or retrieve copies of contracts and faxes? What if he could instantly trade leads with other affiliated offices any place in the world? What if he could instantly send important documents and information to any customer that has a computer? What if he could easily pull up information on properties that others in office are advertising?
In Tacoma, WA alone there are over 4000 licensed real estate
salespeople. The more successful ones have a computer at work, a
computer at home, a laptop in the car, a pager, a cellular phone, a fax machine and any other piece of technology he can think of to get the job done more effectively.
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO REACH THESE PEOPLE?????
WHERE IS THE NEW BUSINESS GOING TO COME FROM?????
Regards,
Don Earl
Hello Don,
I can certainly see that you believe that there is great potential in the real estate market for Novell and I agree. However to answer your question about new prospects in a broader manner you've hit one of my hot buttons and I agree 1000%.
To reach new users we are pumping up our partnerships with both hardware and software companies Compact and Oracle are at the top of this list. Our advertisements are turning toward stronger product messages that demonstrate customer success with our products and that is key to attracting new customers.
In forming new relationships we've hire Chris Stone as Sr. VP of Strategy and Business Development to focus his industry knowledge and contacts on building a stronger base of applications that exploit the performance, scalability and reliability of Novell products as the right choice for running their applications.
Thanks
John |
