41–50 of 171 posts
>Zuora came up with the phrase “subscription economy” to name the trend in which buyers increasingly choose recurring service payments over outright purchases. It's not a trend where buyers choose recurring payments, but where companies only offer services through recurring payments.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A trend rarely happens on only one side of the demand-supply axis. There is definitely a trend towards subscriptions, especially for SMBs, but enterprise and individuals as well. It's so much easier to pay a monthly or yearly fee then up front, especially for companies - both in terms of cashflow , accounting practices and stability. Some companies has gone that route that have customers on both sides of the aisle -…
Adobe is arguably the poster child for a software company for which subscription vs. one-time licenses is a particularly polarizing question among its user base. For companies, it arguably didn't matter much and access to the current versions of the entire portfolio was probably a win for many. At the same time, some Adobe software was and is widely, but often casually, used by a fairly wide range of consumers who we…
My assumption at the time was they had no choice to go to a subscription model at that time, because the other option would be to instantly demolish the finances of every broke graphic designer out there, which would possibly cause an exodus to a cheap or OSS option and risk their ability to stay the dominant player.
"Name a big, relevant change in the world". Example given from Zuora, "We now live in a subscription economy". Except one problem: Instead of a nice solid color on the background of the slide, or a city skyline... ... it's a full shot of a skinny young blonde girl's legs. Like, can you sales guys be any more predictable and sexist? I'm sorry, this frat house behavior really needs to stop. There are so many better way…
It's absolutely a deliberate choice to include an attractive woman in that slide's background photo, just as it was a deliberate choice for the doors to be gold.
I'd guess that people looking at the slide most consciously notice the conspicuous gold doors.
But we all also notice that there's some sort of person standing there. That person is greeting us with a smile.
We may not process it consciously, but many viewers of the slide are definitely also attuned to the attractiveness of the person. We might notice the bare legs, the skirt, the shoes, the braid of hair casually laying on the shoulder. The bit of midriff showing.
Many readers will think "sexy" even if we're not aware of the thought.
This choice is intentional, because sex sells.
The majority of the intended audience is straight men, so this is probably an effective sales practice, but at the same time it strikes some of us as cheap. The body of the woman in this photo is being used as an object and simply as a means to an end. And the audience is being appealed to on a basis unrelated to the value of the product for sale.
Try these ideas:
- Imagine the same photo, but where the woman is dressed in [more modest] business casual attire, holding a binder with notes for an important meeting.
- Imagine the same photo, but with an attractive sexy man smiling at us. Maybe he's showing some toned biceps or perhaps even a glimpse of abs.
- Imagine the same photo, but with a middle-aged white man dressed in a suit and tie.
- Imagine the same photo, but with a large black woman beaming confidence in formal business attire.
In all of these cases (except maybe the abs), you probably wouldn't consciously notice the details, but they would definitely all color your subconscious impression differently.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A trend rarely happens on only one side of the demand-supply axis. There is definitely a trend towards subscriptions, especially for SMBs, but enterprise and individuals as well. It's so much easier to pay a monthly or yearly fee then up front, especially for companies - both in terms of cashflow , accounting practices and stability. Some companies has gone that route that have customers on both sides of the aisle -…
Adobe is arguably the poster child for a software company for which subscription vs. one-time licenses is a particularly polarizing question among its user base. For companies, it arguably didn't matter much and access to the current versions of the entire portfolio was probably a win for many. At the same time, some Adobe software was and is widely, but often casually, used by a fairly wide range of consumers who we…
#1. Name a Big, Relevant Change in the World
#2. Show There’ll Be Winners and Losers
I would have guessed most people attending sales presentations would be looking to fulfil a need they had already identified.
That this works is evidence that people are stupid and they suck.
Everyone likes to think that sales and marketing doesn't work on them. More often than not, I find this attitude in people who have no decision-making authority anyway.
Of course you will go on to answer all of these in detail, but the deal is practically won by the time those questions are asked. And that's how you end up with poor software or massive enterprise consulting contracts that aren't helpful to anyone. Meanwhile the sales team goes off and hunts down a fresh client.
>Zuora came up with the phrase “subscription economy” to name the trend in which buyers increasingly choose recurring service payments over outright purchases. It's not a trend where buyers choose recurring payments, but where companies only offer services through recurring payments.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Adobe is arguably the poster child for a software company for which subscription vs. one-time licenses is a particularly polarizing question among its user base. For companies, it arguably didn't matter much and access to the current versions of the entire portfolio was probably a win for many. At the same time, some Adobe software was and is widely, but often casually, used by a fairly wide range of consumers who we…
Yeah, it's an interesting question if Adobe is going to hurt their channel of new users with this.
At the same time, as you suggest, those large numbers of non-corporate users almost certainly helped Adobe emerge as the de facto standard that it became.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure they do. 3D TVs and bent TVs are two glaring examples of something people never wanted. The only way companies could uphold that view was by ensuring that no manufacturer had sensible alternatives - effectively forcing people that wanted a TV to buy it. And then pretending that the sales were proof that people wanted it. It is the exact same with the majority of subscription services. For a company I get that it…
Bent TV probably no since they are mostly viewed with other people, but ultra wide bent monitors are super nice, especially for gaming. I go this way instead of VR which seems to take time to 'get there' (also HW requirements are easier to pay for).
That this works is evidence that people are stupid and they suck.