Wayne, I'm glad you're talking about this. I agree with all you've said.
Too many of us consultants miss an important fact of life: the software is only a small part of the value to the customer. Our services can, and should, be a larger part of visibility to customers. It doesn't happen automatically, but it is. vendor "project mgt" is weak at best when dealing with smaller customers, which most of Sage 100 customers are. Our mix of business application expertise and tech savviness really shine when trying to get a new enhancement in place. Both customers and vendors underestimate this until shit happens.
The vendor is completely on their own unless we are part of the solution. Explain to our customer that we have no responsibility for this new addition unless we are paid to help them get full value. We know that 90% of the time, the vendor will screw up and our customer calls for help. If we have chance, give our customer the choice: either sign up with us as their project manager before things start for 15%-20% of the vendor's fees and 1st year's subscription, pay much more to bail them out when the project is stuck in the mud.
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Jerry Norman
Smartbridge Partners
(512) 653-7498
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2023 09:21
From: Wayne Schulz
Subject: ISVs who want you to sign off on SOW for a conversation THEY had with your customer
The other trick that I've seen some ISVs pull is they sell their product in at least two parts:
License - which is frequently the "Sage Endorsed" portion - which they pay commission on
Maintenance - they frequently do not pay commission but may require your to invoice for it initially
Professional services - I've seen this be 50%+ of the initial sale - which most ISVs don't pay commission on
In this case, I wound up asking the ISV to send the invoice and related SOW for signature directly to the customer.
PS - the more customer account reps ( or whatever the current trendy name is ), the longer it takes to deal with these ISVS
PPS - In this case the ISV also wanted me to go to lunch and attend some webinars to learn how to sell more of their product. Presumably, so I could keep those $150 checks rolling..... (Insert eye-roll emoji)
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Wayne Schulz
wayne@s-consult.com
Schulz Consulting
(860) 516-8990
Moodus, CT
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2023 17:07
From: Kevin Moyes
Subject: ISVs who want you to sign off on SOW for a conversation THEY had with your customer
If you are expected to do a value-add service (like checking on other Enhancement compatibility, or actually doing the software install...), I could see the point of wanting your sign off (in addition to the customer's).
Otherwise, anything more than an "I am aware" acknowledgement is not appropriate IMO.
I will say it's nice they included you in the conversation. I'm pretty sure we've had things sold and installed without a word to us until something goes wrong (or a fun surprise during the next upgrade project).
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Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.