[Asterisk-Users] My consulting story

Steve Totaro stotaro at asteriskhelpdesk.com
Fri Apr 14 16:26:01 MST 2006


Dont line item.  Dont mention Asterisk or the like.  Wording like "VoIP 
PBX" and list features.  Compare to 3com V3000 for features and 
pricing.  They will be similar for a four line system.  Then compare the 
pricing for upgrades such as a T1 card and extra chassis, now you are 
talking about a $5000 jump.

Make sure to make it perfectly clear that while all of the features 
listed can be done, they are by no means included in the proposal, or 
fall under "Advanced Configuration Per Hour" beyond the "basic" PBX 
functionality. 

Try to arrange an 50% upfront and 50% on customer acceptance, if that 
does not work go 20%/80%. 

Very true that large companies do not operate like that.  They also want 
to see that you are big enough to "float" that kind of expense (speaking 
as a one time purchaser of a 3com system for a large pharmaceutical 
company with three chassis, two T1 cards, six FXS cards 150 phones, 
total was about $150,000 if I remember correctly).  If they could not 
float that for 30 days then I would have a good feeling of them being 
around in a year due to cash flow issues. 

We were looking at Cisco but went with 3Com because 3Com actually one of 
their techs with the re-seller/installer and we liked to know that 3Com 
was that involved and supportive to it's re-sellers.

Thanks,
Steve

Michael Welter wrote:
> 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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