Creative Agency Secrets

If you are selling enterprise software, here’s a book that you have to read.  My book review is here on Amazon UK

I have been speaking to Mike Barlow, the author and helping him promote the book over here in Europe.  Here’s part of an interview he gave to the SAS Institute blogs page

Information technology already surrounds us. It has achieved ubiquity. Like indoor plumbing and central heating, IT is now universally accepted and expected. It’s not going away. Over the next three decades, IT will become so thoroughly woven into our lives that the boundaries between biology and IT will become essentially meaningless. Barring some worldwide cataclysm, the demand for IT will continue rising for the rest of the 21st century.

So why aren’t IT suppliers jumping for joy? Because their lives are harder than ever! Despite rising demand, it’s more difficult to sell IT products and services than ever before. Here are two primary reasons for the sense of discomfort felt by IT suppliers:

1. Unyielding downward pressure on pricing.
2. Steadily increasing expectations.

Put those two reasons together and you get an environment that makes selling downright difficult. Even as demand skyrockets, IT has become a buyer’s market. There’s a third reason for the pain experienced by IT suppliers. This third reason is far more complex than the first two, and that’s why we devoted most of our book to examining it.
Here it is:

3. A fundamental disconnect has occurred between the IT supplier community and the IT consumer community.

We’re not exactly sure when the gap became visible, but it’s been widening steadily for about the past 15 years. Far from “crossing the chasm,” many IT suppliers have actually been digging themselves into a deeper hole.

I have been helped with contacts from Scot and Val - thanks guys!