Conference 7.286::digital

Dan, since you sent me a VAXmail request regarding this topic, I'll kill two 
birds with one stone and answer here.

I was an Information Services Manager in Marlborough, working in the Corporate 
Administration group (reporting up to John Sims, VP Strategic Resources). 
Seeing where my career was heading as a middle-manager in "corporate", I went 
to COD 1 in MRO3 specifically targeting a job in the Rochester, NY area.

Early in my career at DEC I was a TOPS10 Technical Support person, but have 
been in management for the past 9 years. Trying to get a Managerial job in the 
Field without ever having worked in the field was an effort in futility.

I worked hard to "sell" myself by going directly to hiring managers and others 
in the field office. I must have talked to about a dozen people through a 
number of interviews (formal and informal) and had just about given up before
an opportunity arose where my current management skills would be a good fit.
I'm a Sales Support Consultant. These positions are typically technical and
I'm working at that. Fortunately my first assignment was as a Program Manager
working a datacenter consolidation for a large customer (Xerox). 

If you have never been in the field, the first thing you'll notice is that its 
different. I saw a level of teamwork and comraderie that was missing in the 
internal corporate groups. It seemed like there was so much work to do, that 
the only choice was to work together... there wasn't time to get on each 
others nerves. The pace is non-stop. I was in awe for my first few days here.

Although this move has been tough on my family (I'm in Rochester and my family 
is still back in Massachusetts right now until we get our house sold and all), 
I think its all worth it in the long run. The relocation process has gone
smoothly so far (knock on wood). COD has cut through some of the red tape.
The funding and training period allotted as part of COD certainly helped me to 
attain this position as it was less of a risk for the managerment here.

The field may not be for everybody. You've got to be committed to your
customers and BELIEVE that their satisfaction is the number 1 priority. One of 
Digital's problems is that Digital employees in key customer service positions
SAY they are committed to customer satisfaction, but they are fooling
themselves and their managers. However, the customer is not fooled.

I've been resident at Xerox for the past month and a half and I'll 
be honest with you, its been tough at times to be proud of Digital for the way
it treats its customers. I'm tryiong hard to become part of Team 
Xerox.... partnership: that's what Sales has to be.... we can't be just order 
takers any longer. At Xerox, Digital has a fairly large presence in a large 
multi-vendor datacenter and I'll tell you there are lots of computer vendors 
who would like to displace the eight 8xxx VAXes there. Along with the Account 
Exec and Customer Service Engineer, I'm working hard to enhance Digital's 
credibility and keep those very hungry competitors just that... hungry.

I'm very happy to be in the field and feel, for one of the few times in my 
twelve years at DEC, I'm truly contributing to Digital's bottom line.

Jim

    re: .1
    
    Jim,
    
    Keep up the good work.  We need more people like you out here in the
    field.
    
    Bob

    Re .0
    
    I like reading things like your report. I wish you the best of luck and
    I admire your courage to take a risk with your career, sounds like
    it's paying off.
    
    There's plenty to moan about in Digital (I've certainly done my share
    of that), but it certainly makes me feel good to read your story.
    
    I'd love to see more positive .0 notes that people can build on. This
    file needs those as well as the 'xxx sucks' notes.
    
    Dave

	re: .1

As one who looks for opportunities to improve Digital's effectiveness,
I would honestly like to know:

>One of Digital's problems is that Digital employees in key customer 
>service positions SAY they are committed to customer satisfaction, but 
>they are fooling themselves and their managers. However, the customer 
>is not fooled.

Could you be a little more specific?  How do they cut corners?
Is it speed of response?   Or is it something else?

>....its been tough at times to be proud of Digital for the way
>it treats its customers. 

Again, could you be more specific?  Is it partial shipments?  
DOAs?  Bad ship dates?  Poor service?  Late service?  Speed of
response?  Response by sales?  by service?  by presales support?
by a lack of depth in support?  by systems quoted that don't fit
the bill?  by overhype from HQ?  by overhype from industry marketing?
by what?

Please don't say all -- at least tell us what seems to be the
best and worst.

This is actually very important.  It's good to get an outsider's view
before you become an insider.

>Attending COD shows you that there are opportunities for employees out in
>the field.  The managers at COD explain the job and what positions they have
>available; attempt to sell you the job.  I don't have anything against them
>selling the job, but I'd like to get a view other than theirs.
    
>In particular, I'm looking at a Sales Support position.
    
    If you want another view, get one.  But, realize that "Sales Support"
    is not a monolith.  Every job in every branch of every district is
    probably different.  If someone has been trying to sell you a
    particular Sales Support job in a specific unit, talk to one or more of
    the people in that Sales Support unit, preferably ones you turn up
    through ELF or the phone book or some mechanism that doesn't use the
    person selling you the job as the source of names.  
    

Re .4:

My customer has recently had some less than perfect experiences getting help 
from our Mass and Colorado CSCs. Part of the problem was that the customer 
didn't really know how to best use the CSCs. We're working at educating them.
The problems have been escalated and gotten alot of visibility. We're 
planning some local meetings, a visit from CSC Managers and possibly a trip to 
CXO for the customer.

They have also had what should have been a trivial software installation of
SLS turn into mess involving the CSC, Product Management and CSSE. In essence
the product wasn't conforming to the SPD. And the version they evaluated this
past summer via Loan of Product, was a different version and performed
differently (i.e., it worked) than the one they got when they actually bought
SLS.

They had an SNA gateway running on a DECSA that starting acting up and we 
eventually solved it (after practically a month) by giving the customer a
DEMSA, without explaining to them why the DECSA (still a supported product)
was failing. We're still arguing with Engineering about who should pay for the
DEMSA. Xerox relied heavily on this gateway and we didn't look good at all 
(we're supposed to be the leader in networking, remember?)

And finally, this customer is paying in excess of $40K/month to us and I don't
think they are getting anywhere near the kind of attention from the managers 
getting credit for this revenue as they should for a customer this size.

In the Field there are "Salespeople" and there are the rest of us (SWS, 
Customer Services, PSS, etc). "Salespeople" have an image that isn't too hot 
amongst the "other" Digital employees in the field. Because of this image I 
have heard non-salespeople say "Selling is not my job", go have a Sales Person 
do that.

Well, excuse me, but I think SELLING is EVERYONE's job. And anyone who doesn't 
think so and believe in it and show it in their actions should be given the 
boot. I'll be glad to write a glowing recommendation to enable them to get a
job at IBM, SUN, etc.

We've got to all be sales people and do everything we can to build confidence
in Digital, its products, services and PEOPLE!

I'm stepping down off my soapbox now.

Jim

    Jim,
    
    I agree that it is everyone's job to "sell" our customers on DEC.  You
    sound down on parts of the organization that you feel do not take that
    approach to their jobs.  I work in CSC/CS as a Unit Manager for EICS
    District (after-hours business).  I would be more than happy to assist
    you with any problems you might have encountered with the CSC.
    
    I was a Corporate Account Manager in the TSP cluster before I came here
    and I know how difficult your job can be when it comes to dealing with
    the Center.  Give me a call if I can be of assistance to you or your
    customers.
    
    Also, I would strongly advise a visit to the CSC for your customer. 
    They learn a great deal about how we operate and get some great ideas
    on how they can better utilize our technology in their business
    (another sales opportunity?).
    
    Give us a chance and see what we can do for you ...
    
    Chuck Boutcher  DTN 592-7263  or  (719)592-7263.
    
    Note: As I work odd hours by most accounts, you can feel free to call
    me at my home number (719)749-2270.

    I have never been in jobs tht are not in the field in my career with
    DEC (4 years). But before my DEC career, I spent time in jobs that were
    'internal' jobs.
    
    It will be a culture shock for some who come to the field. I am in
    sales support and love it, but it is a non stop job with a lot of
    travel. Those who were used to coming in at 8 and leaving at 5 (or some
    set of regular in and out hours) will find that in the field you don't
    always have that luxury. The customer comes first and many times you
    spend 14 - 16 hour days working on many things at once. However, ther
    are times that you can walk out of the office at noon, be  gone the
    rest of the day on personal things, and nobody will say anything. There
    is no asking for the time off, you have the freedom to do it. The job
    is measured on performance not the number of hours that you put in.
    (Almost every week, I report greater than 45 hours.)
    
    The field is both challenging and rewarding. There are times that you
    get immense personal and professional satisfaction. There are some
    really neat jobs out here. I encourage anyone who is considering a
    field job to look seriously. Just read the trade rags to see what is
    hot in the minds of our customers.
    
    Re: quality and image. It is EVERY employees responsibility for image.
    This company is a great company and has the best to offer. Sure things
    can be constantly improved but we should do it in a constructive
    manner.
    
    Good luck to those seeking a field job.