What Type Of Software Is This?

The other day while at the book store, I came across some accounting software CDs strewn with other CDs and books in garage sale box.

How can any self respecting businessman (even a small one at that) pick up a copy of this cheap sale accounting CD from the box for his business to use? He'd think "what type of accounting system is this that would end up in a garage sale?"...and he's not even heard of free software yet! If he did, he'd probably figure "What type of software is this that you can just click and get it for free on the Internet?"

In most cases, this thinking "..what type of..?" continues and applies to the person on the other end - the guy promoting it. It goes "what type of person are you to promote something that cheap (that ends up in a garage sale box) to me?". It follows "What type of company are you representing? Or do you even have a company?"

Even small business owners have self respect when they shop for budget items.

The guy selling free software tried "No sir. This is open source program, very popular and respectable. Do you know Apache? It's also free.."

Businessman "You mean the one with war paint on his face fighting Custer in the movie?". Thanks to Hollywood, some things just get stereotyped.

For those of us who promote open source applications the above scenario though hilarious, is not unreal.

If we think about it, what do people actually buy from a garage sale box? Most likely something for a hobby, say something you want to learn about but a new book costs a bomb. Maybe a recipe book, taichi and of course the fast outdated tech books. We're talking about something 'light' or outdated that ends up in the garage sale box. Certainly not for something that's as important as accounting software for any business to use.

Perhaps open source businesses need to emphasize on the word solutions instead of free or open source. Package the software into a decent looking box. Show the customer that there are costs by itemising, 'software cost' foc, show a charge for download, copy, packaging, transport and include training, upgrade, email, telephone, etc support services, add them up and show a 'total solutions' cost. Stack the costs up against proprietory solutions and very likely open applications looks a better option for the customer. The idea is to show that there is a cost for the solution you are selling - just like any other product. The marketing campaign may be capped by putting it as a summer offer - normal say USD400 now only USD199.

James NK Khoo is the owner of Qwenkay Information http://www.qwenkay.com a company providing accounting and content management systems software support. He is also the publisher for Go Uncle Web http://www.gouncleweb.com, a practical online business and web oriented guide. James has been in the commercial and industrial sector for many years.

If you need solid practical advice with accounts/bookkeeping or a budgeted yet decent website, contact him at james@qwenkay.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Customer Service Information:

Related Articles

Cultivating the Trust Factor
In today's highly competitive economy, it is difficult to maintain a significant market advantage based on your professional skills alone. Developing a trusting relationship with your clients is key to your success.
Make An Action Plan To Improve Customer Service
Customer Service is a critical factor for keeping your clients coming back and ensuring they'll refer you to others. Growing your business will be a difficult task at best if you don't perform, meet and exceed your client's expectations, and provide service that creates customers for life.
Establishing Yourself as an Expert in the Eyes of Your Customers
The most important aspect of a successful business is developing the correct mindset toward your customers. And this is not the over used phrase The customer is always right.
In the Villa of the Sick Cat -- A Lesson in Customer Care
If you're a pet owner, you know the stress of having a sick pet and you know that having a great veterinarian is a wonderful thing. My cat, Zoe, came down with a nasty infection that had me racing off to the vet's office last week with an unhappy, howling kitty in tow.
How to Transform Your Voicemail into an Effective Medium of Communication
"Hi this is Randy. Leave me a message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Communicating Value
Abstract: People buy for their reasons, not yours. This article covers the key elements that prospects want to hear you talk about.
Are You Giving Your Customers Enough Reasons To Return To Your Business?
Good customer service just isn't enough anymore in the marketplace in which we live. Times are changing and business owners are learning that they need to create such an awesome customer loyalty program that they are always at the forefront of their customers' minds on a regular basis.
Profit from a Customer Service Recovery Program
A client recently said to me: "Most days things seem to run smoothly; but whenever we have a customer complaint, we seem to collapse. Where are we going wrong?"How you handle and solve customer concerns and complaints is a measure of your standing in the "excellent", "bad", or "mediocre" category of customer service.
Add Value - And Kill Mediocrity in Customer Service
There are two kinds of customer service we all experience occasionally, outstanding customer service, and bad customer service. What we experience most of the time is mediocre customer service.
Managing Your Business When One Client Takes Alot of Your Time
How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack because of a client's needs?I try to live by the 80/20 rule: working from my home office 80% of the time and working onsite with clients 20% of the time. But, the past week has been the exact opposite.
Be A Resource
What is one of the greatest ways to add value to your business? Nope, it's not giving away free merchandise, offering special discounts, or even creating a preferred customer club. One of the most valuable commodities that you can provide your customers is INFORMATION.
The Sellers Creed
I will not make sales. I will make Customers.
Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses
Can we be too good to our customers? No way! Our customers are the backbone of our business! They're right no matter what! But I'm sorry to disagree with you. As small, honest and legitimate businesses - we have a tendency to place our product quality above money.
Develop Loyal Customers for a Lifetime - part 1 (1 - 10)
Traditional marketing strategies encourage business owners to continually grow their businesses by adding new customers. In today's competitive world of business, it is more important than ever to aim for more transactions with existing customers by using the power of customer follow-up and attention to good service.
Clients - What They Want from You
A growing number of individuals are finding themselves called to help others and go on to fulfil this call by training to become a practitioner in one of the healing arts.The range of conventional, traditional, holistic, complementary and alternative therapies is extensive with new thoughts on old themes being introduced almost daily.
The Consumer Power
While most companies talk about consumer friendliness, customer centricity, customer relationship etc. more often than not they are mere lip service or jargons with little sincerity behind these grand sounding words.
Call Center Services - An Ever Increasing Demand
Are your company's call center services all that they could be? Even centers that were state of the art a decade or so ago might be out of date and inadequate today. As technology expands, so do clients' expectations regarding communication.
Stay - Say - Pay
Would you like to have customers that stay with you anddon't buy from your competitors?Customers that say nice things about your business to otherpeople; pay you on time and accept the fact that you might be a bit more expensive thenother suppliers?Of course you do but how do we perform this miracle? It'sdead easy really; you only have to consider two factors: be Reliable and be Likeable.It almost goes without saying that it's vital to have areliable product or service.
The History of CRM -- Moving Beyond the Customer Database
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of those magnificent concepts that swept the business world in the 1990's with the promise of forever changing the way businesses small and large interacted with their customer bases. In the short term, however, it proved to be an unwieldy process that was better in theory than in practice for a variety of reasons.
The 7 Principles of Business Integrity
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.