General Consultant Discussion

Ok yes let me provide you with all the information and if you want call me and I'll walk you through some best practices. Cost? Ha surely you jest - it's on the house!!

You do get some doozies!

Sounds like a great referral to @ClarkWalliser or @BarbaraGoldstein, I think Walnut, CA is just a hop skip and a jump away......

No, that's very close to me, but mysteriously we won't be able to find it. Let's give it to IIG.

Nope, Southern CA. (Pass the Buck!)

We have Walnut CREEK up in NorCal, which is where this DIYer will be soon enough.

It's very rare that a web inquiry such as this (not referred, prior customer, etc) converts unless you are charging 25% less than the lowest competitor and you've given them a not to exceed (aka worst billing method for consultant because you assume all of the risk). And when / if it does convert it's even rarer for it to become a recurring revenue customer. Usually this would be a one and done where you barely make any money. If they come back to you it's typically for either free questions or to continue asking little ""quick questions"" which they don't expect to be billed for. A decent number of them also don't have Sage maintenance which is often the reason they're looking to do some type of workaround (VI instead of EDI).

You can tell there is an issue since he continues to refer to the software as YOUR software. It appears to me, that he thinks you are the publisher of the software and that you would do this for people who would have bought YOUR software. But I know you do get a lot of people fishing so maybe not. I have had some inquiries like this and I let them know that it IS NOT my software. That we are resellers and developers that can add functionality to SAGE's software called Sage 100 but Sage Software is the publisher/owner of the software. Usually that sets them in the right mindset knowing that there will be a cost for what they want me to do or they ask for the best way to contact Sage.

The common thread in most of these communications is the customer is looking to do it themselves. That's fine. I've no problem with that. I just don't call up my local carpenter and ask them what I need to buy at Home Depot and how to hang the door so it's not crooked.... Yet there is this pervasive online theory where customers think all this is free and part of their entitled support.

But people do feel like they can go to home depot and ask the sales guy, who might or might not have any experience with the door you would buy, would tell them what he feels you need to do to hang the door so it is not crooked. Lets go to the store and ask the sales guy how to hang the door. He should be fine with it, he wants to sell the door. Long ago when you would go to the hardware store it was fine to do this since most of the time you would buy the door from the sales guy and he had some markup already in it to cover the sales guy who has knowledge. But with the internet the customer might ask the sales guy but buy somewhere else at a cheaper price. People have been trained to use the internet to get free info and cheaper purchases. It is amazing to see what people feel they should get for the purchases they make. I believe I saw an article about Cisco getting rid of Linksys because of the way the consumer expected things to be done. The low cost/high demand/High expectations on what should be included. Naturally consumers (especially small business) take this feeling to work with them. In your case he is doing the same thing but has no door to buy from you. Unless you get his ROR and subscription renewed through you before you answer or sell him the EDI/what ever.

Great analogy @WayneSchulz