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Years ago, I was the Concierge at a resort hotel in California. At this hotel, the Concierge is essentially the person who “knows” things and can answer questions for guests. One day, a businessman asked the front desk clerk to make change for a twenty-dollar bill. The guest then walked up to me with a stack of one-dollar bills and said, “We’re going to play a game: for every correct answer, I’ll give you a dollar.” I’ve never enjoyed the game of “20 Questions” more than on that day. In under five minutes I made 17 dollars in tips from the guy, missing only three of his 20 questions.

I spent the next hour looking up the answers to the three missed questions and called the guest in his room with the answers. Three days later, when he checked out of the hotel, he handed me a five-dollar bill, and said the extra two dollars were an advance payment for the questions he would have on his next visit. I still owe the guy two dollars.

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” - Louis Pasteur

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Good post Kurt…enjoyed it 😊

Whoa Kurt!  I need this translated into an attention deficit version.

Yep it was a little long 😊

Saying that it was a fantastic read and very nice of you to let us see your inner thoughts on this kind of thing Kurt so thanks for that.

Best wishes,

Mark

That was a fantastic read - thanks, Kurt! Those questions at the end have given me something to think about - some of them would definitely catch me off guard! I would love to hear how you respond to them. 😊

Great post, really enjoyed reading it ... knowing too well these kinds of people and their questions/remarks.

I love Xippty!

Xippty is getting a code overhaul as I understand it. Be prepared at SXSW 😊 

Actually I’d love to hear how folks would answer some of Kurt’s other numbered questions since #4 doesn’t really count - we know it’s just another (potential) client angle/tactic.

Nice write-up Kurt, I picked up on this bit:
• Talk about the goal as if you’re already on the team.

Is anyone like me and if things are going good then it’s “We”? We could do this, we could do that, but as soon as the situation get’s tense or even unfavorable, then it is suddenly no longer a team effort, and it is time to back away from the cookie jar, lol.
Working part-time in the retail sector that’s an easy fix, “You need to speak with a member of Management…” end of story.
When it’s a client relationship, it takes some quick thinking not to back yourself into this corner, by taking the lead in problem situations and suggesting a beneficial plan of action, and not one that derails the project to the “dumbest guys in the room” (I’m guessing everybody’s read that one).

Thanks for the Top 10 list to selling EE as the solution.

I’m stumped with question #6:
“6. The other CMS we’re looking at is only $100 per seat. Look, we can’t afford $250 a year for every person in our office, do we look like that kind of operation to you? “

The licensing doesn’t work this way does it? Couldn’t admin’s just be member’s of a group and unlimited, no extra charge?

4. My nephew is a professional web designer and he uses Xippty, and Xippty is free and is used by a lot of people, and he says that your software is kind of difficult to use and he doesn’t know anyone who uses it.
...
8. Has your firm ever worked with a company our size before?

Fun post. These two stump me always. When answering the first I sound offensive, when answering the second, defensive.

@tzMedia, right, EE doesn’t use a “per-seat” licensing model. The question is comparing trains to bicycles.

The question is asked from the perspective of someone who assumes that EE is licensed differently than it is. Some business software does sell for around $250 a seat, so if the person in the room has used software and paid for it this way in the past, they may assume that all really good software uses the same model. Well, its just not true with EE.

Due to EE’s pricing, and all it can do, some people assumed that I must have been talking a per-seat price, because they’re thinking

“how could any software we can get for $250.00 (total cost of license) do everything this guy is talking about?”.

You caught the issue right away, because you’ve likely read the license, but nearly all the folks I’ve pitched to, have never seen it, so they are confused about how the ownership of the software works.

Just for the record, at the time of this original post Xippty appears to have very, very little competition on the web and is an unregistered domain.

That may change at some point, but at the time of this post, it was meant to represent some software no one has heard of.

And please, please don’t run over and register it if you’re not going to use it. Its a fun name and some company that will actually use it for something fun should have it.

LOL Kurt, I did that same search and was amazed that you had come up with a completely original word.  It didn’t occur to me to run out and register it.  I think it can only be a spoof CMS now though.

Could be a fun site…

Funny. Kurt you should change careers, get in the naming business 😊

And please, please don’t run over and register it if you’re not going to use it. Its a fun name and some company that will actually use it for something fun should have it.

Don’t search for it through Netsol, either as then it WILL be registered…by Netsol!!!