Hey Pi:
I never said sales reps not using SFA was a good thing - I just was reviewing what I've seen out there.
I also think that reps would be more productive and more competitive if they used a good SFA offering. But, the real world story is that most don't.
Over time, maybe with another generation? Perhaps - but that's 10 years away.
Anyway, there is a big difference between sales reps having some input, and the day-to-day development effort of these products.
I"ll give you a funny example:
Years ago, I personally designed and wrote the first Vantive SFA prototype, using our own customization tools and a little help from one of our technical gurus. It was very simple. It was really just a mockup, but it was something to show a few customers. They liked it. As a sales person, I knew what I wanted. As a company executive, I thought this was a way to break the log jam in-house - something to get started on, a stake in the ground.
You should have seen the hue and cry from the engineers - they had a million reasons why it wouldn't work, how I didn't understand, etc.
Mostly, they were upset that they had been jacking around, talking about a prototype for months, and I built one in a weekend that customers liked.
The engineers spent another 2 or 3 months, getting to the same point I was. Really frustrating. This was about 6 - 7 years ago.
I would say that in many (not all!) software companies, there is a similar attitude - sales people sell, developers develop. There is some lip service - but that's about it. Too bad. |
