Ok, so – some people question the value of social media such as Twitter and Blogs within B2B, I know, as people here at AppSense often joke that I’m some sort of Twitter Monkey or Blog Bandit…charming! Even though these activities only take a very small percentage of my time in relation to the other work I do, I can see they are increasingly used by many as a core information gathering and communication tool which can link into track-able ROI, I have a perfect example how through the use of Twitter, an end user was able to learn about how AppSense enables Win7 migrations, and from that reach out and contact me to set up a meeting which has since resulted in them purchasing our user virtualization solution and starting their Win7 migration. – ahh, got your attention now?
When I was visiting our Manhattan offices earlier this quarter, I posted a simple Twitter update stating I was in NY if anyone wanted to meet up to discuss desktop virtualization and OS migrations (Or something along those lines) – from there I was contacted by a global investment and technology development firm with about 2,000 employees. I, along with one of the local AppSense Sales guys and a System Engineer went and met with the prospect in their building, only a few blocks away from ours.
During the meeting we learned their plans, concerns and time frames for their Win7 migration, and presented how we can alleviate some of those pains such as speeding up the migration process, ensure user adoption, improve user experience and reduce IT workload post migration. Together the end user and AppSense worked on a proof of concept and engaged with a leading AppSense reseller to formalize pricing etc… (At this point I was back in the rainy UK and stepped back from the sales cycle).
All in all, within 10 weeks of my initial Twitter post, the end user had tested, seen the value in AppSense, worked with a leading AppSense partner to purchase 2,000 user licenses of our software, and is now rolling out Win7 ahead of schedule…
Let this be a lesson to those who under estimate the power of social media, and, AppSense Sales folk, if you ask nicely – I may also do the same for you… for a 5% cut of total order value ;)
Cheers
Gaz
AppSense 