The Difficulty of Being Flexible

Customers call (Yaaa! Keep calling!) and they ask questions that I WISH were as easy to answer as to ask.

"So, you guys sell DVR software?"

Yup. ... And hardware. And parts of hardware. And complete systems. And we help design custom systems and...

So,... er, um. Yup. We sell DVR software.

See, we don't have a problem BEING flexible. We have a problem SELLING flexible. People want to hear Yes or No to their questions. And if you pay attention, you'll find that most people ask questions with a bias such that the answer for which they are looking is 'Yes!'

Lately I've been working on determining what the customer or potential customer is REALLY trying to find out and then answering their question in such a way as to help them get what they want (whether we provide what they want or not) and get them to the point where they CAN get what they want. Some folks call looking for a systems installer — "That's not us, but we know lots of those folks, so where are you located? Maybe I can find someone we've worked with in your area for you." Some folks are looking for a 100% exact MATCH for what we sell here at Airship — Digital Video Recorders — and we end up with a PO and an Invoice and a new customer. Sweet! Some folks want a customized UI — OK, get them to our VP of Development.

And on and on. Still, it's often difficult to explain to people just what all we offer here. Yes, we have canned solutions. But we also have A LOT more than that.

Like beer. There's beer in the fridge. Stop by and have one sometime and find out what ALL we really can do for you. (PS, snapshot above taken with Airship LD Series DVR Server and a very small, 'stealth' style analog camera at DCIF resolution.)

- Gryphon MacThoy