[asterisk-biz] Why so many international customers ask for free samples

[Trixter aka Bret McDanel]

On Mon, 2008-10-27 at 13:42 -0400, Peter Beckman wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, Trixter aka Bret McDanel wrote:
> 
> > do you pay for the gas in the tank when you test drive that new car?
> 
>   No, but if my average sale was between $10,000 and $40,000, I might be
>   willing to throw in $10 for you to test drive.
> 
>   VoIP isn't a single sale, it's sales over time.  It'd be like giving
>   someone a car in hopes they buy a fleet over the next 2 years.  I'm sure
>   lots of people would say they're looking to buy a fleet just to get a car
>   "sample."

that is why I included stuff about the vetting process, sales people
have to be fairly good at figuring who is a real buyer and who is just
asking questions because they are bored.  If the customer is a real
customer, they are doing more than just residential service, then I dont
see why a free sample would be bad.  In essence that is what AT&T,
Tmobile and other large carriers do, at least for mobile service, but
they do it in a different way - if you cancel in X time you get a full
refund on the service, so it works out for a sample on the residential
type service, but with a guarantee that there will be purchases later.  

I do not think this is a good tactic for larger customers though, since
basically they are asking to give you money, they should not be made to
jump through hoops to give you that money.  What generally separates
residential vs larger customers is the amount of profit each generates.
-- 
Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com     Bret McDanel
Belfast +44 28 9099 6461        US +1 516 687 5200
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