[Asterisk-Users] My consulting story

[Michael Welter]

When I review all the proposals I have submitted, I realize that I 
hardly ever sell to a prospect that has an IT staff, especially a staff 
of one guy who knows absolutely everything.  Now my proposals to such 
prospects are nothing more than a brief description of functionality and 
the pricing--no more DIY manuals.  I no longer mention brand names or my 
supplier names.

I've also begun requiring an up-front payment for additional equipment, 
especially telephone sets.  Some customers ask for terms, to which I say 
"Does Home Depot give you terms?".  I've been able to significantly 
reduce my receivables with this policy.

When consulting with a company with an established presence in the 
community, you really have to give then Net30, especially if they have a 
formal accounts payable policy.  For telephone consulting, you first 
need the client to demonstrate his willingness to pay, even if its just 
$100.







Technical Support wrote:
> That's the nature of consulting - you have to balance demonstrating 
> competency with solving the problem before being paid.  We've had many 
> similar experiences, and we now require prepayment for 2 hrs service 
> before we do any work (or even talk to the client for more than a 
> few minutes).  (Despite attempts by potential clients to make the sales 
> call into a problem solving call).  We have undoubtedly lost potential 
> opportunities, but our "walk away with free advice" effort has been 
> almost eliminated.
>  
> The same goes for proposals.  I can't count the number of times our 
> proposals have become a do-it-yourselfer's guide to setting things up by 
> themselves.  I think it's great if customers want to do it themselves, 
> but don't waste our time!
>  
> I understand of course that it's tough for users too.  There are lots of 
> self proclaimed experts on the list who after hours of billed time have 
> done nothing for their money (we've cleaned up after lots of those folks 
> too).  These are usually the same people sending out flame emails about 
> how smart they are and how stupid everyone else is.
>  
> MD
>  
>  
>  
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com 
> [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] *On Behalf Of *Voce Lavoce
> *Sent:* Friday, April 14, 2006 5:14 PM
> *To:* asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
> *Subject:* [Asterisk-Users] My consulting story
> 
> Hi everybody,
> 
> I would like to  be  awareabout what happened to me.
> Two weeks ago, on a Sunday morning a French guy called me. Ask me to fix 
> some problems  with his asterisk. After fixing  his problem, he asked  
> more and more, after 10 hours of work I ask him to pay me for the first 
> milestone. However, lucky me that I did not finish, since he never paid me.
> Be afraid and take your action if some french guy wants to hire you to 
> do some trunking with  the Philippines.
> 
> 
> Hope, that this can help someone.
> 
> See you
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
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-- 
Michael Welter
Telecom Matters Corp.
Denver, Colorado US
+1.303.414.4980
mike at TelecomMatters.net
www.TelecomMatters.net