The Greed of (some) Suppliers
Lesedauer: 2 Minuten
Dear German enterprise software providers, relax! For once this column is not about you, your thick wittedness, your shameful behaviour towards customers or the poor decisions you have made when it comes to modernizing your system architecture.
“Greed knows no bounds”
The topic of today is a provider of cloud-based software. More precisely, a CRM provider for small and medium-sized companies. It is an international company with several small sales and consulting offices in Germany. This provider is, by a country mile, the greediest software vendor that Dr. ERPel has ever seen!
“Bill Gates couldn’t hold a candle to this!”
This provider is able to print money out of thin air. How does it manage this? First, the provider offers a free solution that has a limited set of functions. The number of leads and contacts quickly grows! Then, as soon as the system has delivered the first benefits, watch the user-count and said users’ appetite for more modules grow! In no time at all, the users are caught in the provider’s web. The provider’s strategy is predicated upon an extremely unscrupulous profit booster: Namely, that functions which are truly valuable to businesses can only be unlocked by purchasing the most expensive licensing option.
“75% surcharge, 100% profit”
Here is another astounding example: if you want to add the relevant industry category to any contact, a 75% surcharge will apply. This surcharge applies to all CRM users. This provider’s greed does not stop here, however. The number of CRM design elements is limited. Regardless of fields, views, or enquiries, everything is limited and can be expanded only in exchange for further payment.
One particularly egregious example is that the ability to tag contacts (an especially useful function) is only available for free for 10 days!
Dr. ERPel’s opinion? Thoroughly distasteful! And yet somehow also notable how resourceful one can squeeze 100% profit out of customers with 0% effort.
