How not to sell $10,000 support contracts
Like most people today, I buy things online. Books, music, clothes, electronics, and subscriptions to magazines. For me, it’s often a more enjoyable shopping experience than going to a store—except groceries, which I still prefer to pick up in the supermarket. Another thing I wouldn’t buy online: anything costing $10,000!
Among the extremely small segment of businesses that sell such high-ticket items online is RhoMobile, which offers a mobile web application development framework based on the programming language Ruby. Their application framework is open-source (and of course, free) but they sell premium support for their products as well. That’s not unusual—many open-source software providers model their businesses this way—but what struck me was the method in which RhoMobile presented this option for purchase. A $10,000 support contract is not just another book or sweater to drop in an online shopping cart; it’s a major business investment. (The same argument can even be made for their similar offering for small businesses at “just” $1,000 annually.) Yet there it is, smack dab on the page next to a nice Google Checkout button.
A support contract like this ought be negotiated based on requirements of both the purchasing and service-providing businesses. The license agreement covers all the details like definitions, incident response time, etc., but I find it doubtful a company would spend that kind of money without establishing a relationship with the company. Sure, providing basic information and a contact phone number or e-mail form on the sales page is appropriate to begin the discussion. But this Google Checkout approach is simply wrong and illustrates that RhoMobile might not understand their customer.
To be clear, I am not saying the support offered by RhoMobile isn’t worth $10,000; it might be a real bargain—I don’t know as I’ve not used their support. What I am saying is the method by which they are selling (or should I say “trying to sell” as it can’t have been many) is inappropriate relative to its price. It’s like walking in to a Tiffany’s and seeing that the salesperson about to sell you a $10,000 ring is wearing a garishly-colored polyester uniform and a paper hat: it’s just not right.
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I love that they are using Google Checkout. If you’re going to charge $10,000 for something on your site, don’t you think it’s worth building a custom shopping cart for it?
I don’t know when it happened, but I’ve just visited the RhoMobile site again and noticed the Google Checkout option is gone. In its place is an invitation to contact their sales department with a simple e-mail link. Much better.