quote:
Originally posted by geoschmo:
Treat the customer right.
Trained, curteous support.
Value added products.
1) TANSTAAFL (Heinlein) There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. The cost of those lunches is bundled into the products, plus overhead for the salesman's time and a profit margin. I DO NOT LIKE PAYING FOR THOSE "FREE" LUNCHES AND "GIFTS".
2) The product should be DESIGNED FOR EASE OF USE, so the customer USUALLY does not HAVE to get help. This is NOT the case for Microsoft products, especially for third party software developers.
3) You have a strange notion of VALUE if you think adding it in dribbles at the PRICE of a MAJOR upgrade is okay when the COST for each dribble is that of a MINOR tweak.
I know from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that 3) occurs. I will not name the company, except to say that I developed a product that had 8x the performance of the existing product at 2/3 the cost. Another department had developed another upgrade for the same product at 3x the performance and 3/4 the cost. Marketing told me that my product would be offered to the customers two years down the road but ONLY AFTER THE MARKET DRIED UP for the lesser upgrade. I left that company soon afterwards.
I can not speak for Aaron and Shrapnel, but their philosophy seems to be in line with mine. Basically :
1) Offer the best product you are able at the lowest price you can afford, with a comfortable but not excessive profit margin.
2) Give good customer support to your CUSTOMERS, but do not force them to pay for trying to lure in those who are only POTENTIAL customers.
3) Let the merits of the products speak for them.
4) Do not promise then fail to deliver.
5) Do not try to baffle the customer with ********.
6) Go for steady long term growth with a satisfied and ever larger customer base, not a QUICK KILLING.
Maybe Richard would care to post Shrapnel's guidelines for customer relations ? The only thing I can add is that I am 100% satisfied with the support so far, and 80% satisfied with the product I bought. It exceeded my expectations but fell short of my dreams. With input from customers like me Aaron probably will make SE IV so much better that MOO3 will be a laughingstock when it is finally released.