Response to Response Point
July 26, 2007 – 7:23 amDear Response Point Team,
In your recent public blog you asked “What?s the best way for us to let small businesses know about Response Point?”. In meeting with the Vista marketing team in Denver a couple weeks ago they asked a group of MS Partners what they (Vista Marketing) could have done better to get Vista deployed in SMB where sales have not met expectations. Our response was unanimous. ?Put the product in the hands of your Partners BEFORE you release it!?. Vista RTM was not made available to partners until almost 2 months after RTM. I would think it should be prior. Don?t you?
I think Chris Rue sums it up pretty well in his blog and invite you to take his suggesting seriously and not have to have the same focus group at next year?s WWPC as Vista did at this one.
10 Responses to “Response to Response Point”
We wholeheartedly agree! I posted a reply to Chris on our team blog (blogs.technet.com/rp) this morning. It is important to note that physical phones and phone systems are not as easy to distribute pre-release as software is, so there are some practical limitations. But we certainly believe that getting product in the hands of our partners early is a top priority.
Thanks,
Jeff Smith
Senior Product Manager
Microsoft Response Point
By Jeff Smith on Jul 26, 2007
Thanks for the reply Jeff. Beta is good but NOTHING beats NFR. I know logistics are a block but if you offer a low cost ability for “serious partners” to acutally use it then they have a 1000% better chance of selling it. I currently resell several VoIP solutions and the first question the prospect asks is “Do you use it?”.
By admin on Jul 26, 2007
Real information about the product would be nice, Microsoft announced mid-March the presence of Response Point, it’s nearly August and still no further information about the product. I signed up for one of the vendors beta Respone Point program and never even received an email confirming my application. This comes back to another post made by a Microsoft MVP, some software/hardware vendors just don’t get how to get into the SMB channel…it’s by providing NFR, beta and direct support to the technology specialists providing everyday real advise to business owners about how to use technology in their busines.
Brian Williams
Advantech NW, Inc.
By Brian Williams on Jul 29, 2007
Hi Brian,
Actually there is some great training at http://www.msreadiness.com/responsepoint
By admin on Jul 30, 2007
Please… Share the technical information. I’m interested in hearing more. Our phone system needs to be upgraded and this may be a viable solution.
Thanks,
Bill V
By Bill V on Aug 7, 2007
I just recently went to a Response Point Hands on Lab. It was great! I got a lot of knowledge and am ready to sell the product, however I am wondering if there are any marketing materials available for the Response Point system so that I have something to show my clients. Thanks!
Jeremy Wight
By Jeremy Wight on Oct 15, 2007
Hi Jeremy,
We will have a variety of Response Point marketing materials available for partners early next month, including email templates, print ads, screenshots and other visual assets you can add if you wish to your website. A partner sales guide and whitepapers with additional technical details will also be available in the same timeframe. Look for a significant update of our microsoft.com website next month too.
As soon as we have our Microsoft Partner Portal site up with these new partner marketing materials, I’ll blog about it and let partners know.
Thanks!
Jeff Smith
Sr. Product Manager
Microsoft Response Point
By Jeff Smith on Oct 16, 2007
Hi Jeff:
Are the marketing materials available? With GA scheduled for today that would be really helpful.
Thanks!
-Greg
By Greg Sartz on Nov 12, 2007
Hi Greg,
We will have marketing materials, sales guides, imagery and white papers up on a dedicated partner site — www.responsepointpartner.com — by Thanksgiving.
Jeff
By Jeff Smith on Nov 12, 2007