Good stuff here, on how having a conversation with a customer can get to the heart of the matter, quickly. (And, as a bonus, take a competitor out of the game.) Nice.
Feedback in the Market
Talking to a customer over the week, someone who had decided to go with SAP for a big project, starting internationally.
“We looked at Peoplesoft for some of this stuff…”
“Hmm, I would say that they are probably SAP’s most competent competitor in ERP.” I replied. (Never be dismissive of the competition, it just makes you look small-minded.)
“Not since Oracle. We think it is suicide. We’re actually a bit annoyed, because we would have taken them for some elements of the roll-out otherwise.”
Now, this is someone telling me that they will no longer do business with a respected competitor because of an acquisition, and it was not me leading them into saying it. Interesting reaction.
From here.