I am going to share a story with you about software companies. First, a little background - I have worked in fortune 500 companies all the way down to two man software resellers in customer service, systems engineering, sales, and sales management. Why should you care about that? You shouldn’t - unless I was going to pass on to you inside information about how the big software companies work.

If you are upgrading software, renewing software, or changing software the LAST place you should go for a software deal is the manufacturer. Scratch that, if you are the CIO of a fortune 10 Big Fish, then call them up. If you are not, and run a small or mid-sized company, think again. And, if you have less then 500 users, forget it!

One of the biggest software companies that I represent sells only one product to small businesses - the highest priced package with the worst terms!

Now, before you call me up recommending we start picket lines in front of all the big guys, let me tell you why it is the way it is. The software companies that I have worked for paid good money to their sales people to close deals. Heck, they paid me great money to do it. For that model to work there was only time to hunt the biggest deals. Smaller deals got pushed off to sales people or customer service reps that had no time to really work with you.

That’s why from this point on, especially if you are a customer with under 500 users, you should buy all of your software from me! Bold statement? Perhaps. What my company has figured out (not sure why the big guys haven’t yet) is that while the profits may be smaller, the lifetime value of working with the little guy is much better. Let’s face it, there are only so many Big Fish. And everyone is trying to get their business. What I am banking on is that I can provide you such great service and such great deals, that I will earn a customer for life. FOR LIFE! And while I may not make the big money like working with the Big Fish, helping you (and lots of other customers like you) for the lifetime of your business is not only more fun for me, but is more valuable than any one Big Fish.

Let me prove to you how much I can save you on your software deals! If I can’t do it, then I will send you to someone who can - or buy the software for you!