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RE: Opinions: Small Companies running Domino ~Arnold Dwonumanakoi 13.Jan.03 10:05 PM a Web browser General All Releases; 6.0Windows 2000, Windows NT, Linux - RedHat
Hi Frank
My company used to sell Domino and LAN software until we focused on app development - yes, Domino of course.
We found little difficulty in selling Notes originally and then Domino, against anything else. We even managed to flip customers poised for NT, to buy Novell Netware.
Looking back, I think the main reason for our success was that we almost always found issues/requirements beyond (way beyond) the initial challenges the potential client was trying to tackle. If they wanted mail, we also highlighted contact managment (sales force automation) integration. If they already wanted the two, we also highlighted marketing and what is now known as CRM. Once those forthcoming needs were highlighted it was easy to show how Domino was cheaper overall, given that it was much more than just mail. You get the picture. Cost became at worst a minor issue which we got over with ease by simply highlighting wait for it .... not even the "future" development capabilities that Domino flavored RAD offers/offered but rather huge number of benefits that they could immediately factor into their costs.
Do I hear you say like what?! Simple, we merely pulled straight out of the box, the bundled templates, perosnal journals, doc lib, Discussion DBs etc. We showed the personal interests profile in the discussions and how it mailed you with anything that related to 'you the user'. We showed how anything could easily be mail enabled coz the mail and the app engines were already there. The method that we employed worked extremely well thanks to the rich content of the Domino bundle. I suggest when a client mentions the MS Bundle, you/we fight back with an avelanche of Domino bundled apps. We literally experienced cases, where the customer said "... enough, we've heard enough ... give us a formal quote ASAP, we're having this ...".
More specifically about Domino capabilities for small companies, I'd say the integarated security in the NAB, all umpteen levels of it down to field encryption, plus the tremendous relaiability and stability of Domino compared with the competition (we have a Domino server running mail and apps, that has never crashed. Never. We have downed it once every 5 or 6 months for various app upgrades etc) means that you can even use the argument of: "what is the cost of half a day of down time and the hassle/cost of getting up and running again?" The smallest of customers recoginse, if you point it out, that half a day of down time due to unreliability or viruses easily wipes out any savings. We always offered to the cusomers (with tremendous confidence): "Now the choice is yours. We will install which ever you wish." It never failed. There were times that the order was not placed at all, but there was never a time that the order was placed for the MS bundle instead of Domino.
What small companies lack by way of resources/funds, they make up for by way of shrewdness and very importantly by the desire to grow - offer them "... Domino, the solution that actively helps you do just that ..." and they'll take it.
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. . RE: Opinions: Small Companies runni... (~Arnold Dwonuma... 13.Jan.03) 
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