My Account rep - MAX for $995

[Guest Taxed]

Any ideas why you were ignored as a beta tester?

Did you attempt to contact them?

[Terry O]

ATX appears to have written me off as a user even though I was a Beta tester. No one calls, no emails with special offers. It appears everyone else including previous but not current users are getting special offers.

I am just sick over the decision of what software to go with. 15 year ATX user (since Parson's was purchased and eliminated by Intuit).

Absolutely hate Drake,

Many other programs (OLT, Tax Act, etc.) are missing forms or states that we prepare.

ProSeries requires a bunch of extra add-ons to give me a usable program (most notably the import module).

Don't like the layout of any other program.

Sorry, just venting.

RBowersea - -you are not alone - -I am AMAZED at the lack of dialogue between sales & beta testers - -we heard from them at the beginning, and I did get a call during the first week - -then - - - -

(listen to the sounds of crickets) - - -nothing - - - and yet I see others being reached out to - - -hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Jack from Ohio]

RBowersea - -you are not alone - -I am AMAZED at the lack of dialogue between sales & beta testers - -we heard from them at the beginning, and I did get a call during the first week - -then - - - -

(listen to the sounds of crickets) - - -nothing - - - and yet I see others being reached out to - - -hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Others of us put much more effort, time and communication with the people at ATX. Despite the opinions of some on this board, the CAB meeting was very productive. I have promised to give you information when I have finished all my advanced testing. You do not know all that is being done behind the scenes.

[kcjenkins]

It is still strange, tho. BTW, I got a phone call from "my rep" yesterday, which started with "I talked to you at the _____ Show last month..." [did not catch the location] which, of course was impossible as I did not go to any of them.

[Jack from Ohio]

CCH is still rift with the disease of "not communicating between departments." I am dealing directly with the builders and techs of the program. I am waiting for the next call from my sales rep. I guarantee that my sales rep will not know that I was at the CAB, nor that I was a beta tester. I will do my purchase, if I decide to stay with ATX, from the top, not the sales department.

[jklcpa]

CCH is still rift with the disease of "not communicating between departments." I am dealing directly with the builders and techs of the program. I am waiting for the next call from my sales rep. I guarantee that my sales rep will not know that I was at the CAB, nor that I was a beta tester. I will do my purchase, if I decide to stay with ATX, from the top, not the sales department.

I'm not specifically picking on CCH, but that is unfortunately the case with all of the vendors. We preparers have only contact with the sales team that may not have all of the facts in place for us to make very informed decisions about our purchase, and the program we are given to test drive is from the prior year.

With all of the problems that the ATX program had last year, I have to agree with Eric's statement in the last month or so that CCHSFS needs to go beyond their SOP to reassure their customers that things will be different going forward. Having a sales rep talk in generalities doesn't carry much weight at this point, especially after the repeated promises of fixes over the course of this last busy season.

[Guest Taxed]

You bring up an important point. Let me explain.

When I went to a sales presentation of Drake, the salesman who was hosting greeted us warmly and then said I am NOT a tax preparer so don't ask me to do a complete return here or show you how something is done. I will demo you a sample return. And on he went with his canned script.

When I worked for a major benefits company the salespeople of the software that we used were ex benefits technicians. They understood the business and the account manager would actually sit down with you for a whole day and see your operation before recommending the software solutions. That relationship was let me show you how I can solve your problem, rather than I got the best widget in the market.

[JohnH]

Maybe most tax software sales reps are not people who can actually prepare tax returns because tax preparation pays more than selling the tax prep software. I'm a sales rep in my other life, and I just don't see how the pricing struture for low-end software could ever produce commissions sufficient to make it worthwhile to sell tax software rather than prepare tax returns.

[Guest Taxed]

I am not sure what a Drake or ATX salesperson's average salary is, but you are right I suspect it is less than what a self employed CPA makes on average. However in my opinion, it would certainly be helpful for the overall sales process including new customer satisfaction if the salespeople knew how to do a 1040 with Sch A and talk the same lingo with its customers.

I don't know what you sell, but I am assuming you know your potential customer's needs and can talk to them in their lingo and show them how your products provides them solutions.

[JohnH]

I sell capital equipment to medical facilities, pharmaceutical companies, and research institutions. For some of it, I know a great deal about how it works and what it does. But for quite it bit of it, I don't have a clue about how to use the end result. All I know is how to get the result. When I'm talking with them about that equipment, I do the same thing the Drake rep did - I tell them the truth right up front. Most of my customers appreciate the honesty and the fact I'm not trying to BS them, although I'm sure there's an occasional doctor who asks why they don't have MD's selling this stuff. I suppose my answer would be the same as what I speculated about the tax software sales rep.

Or I might try a little humor by reversing field and tell them about the sales rep who asked for $300 per hour to prepare a price quote. The doctor objected and said even he doesn't earn $300 per hour. To which the sales rep replied, "Don't feel bad - I didn't earn $300 per hour when I was a doctor either." It all depends upon the circumstances and the audience.

[jklcpa]

JohnH, you bring up an important aspects of being a good sales person, and that is knowing your audience and addressing their needs, wants, and concerns. A good sales person can be taught how best to present a product's features and benefits, but a great sales person will tailor the presentation to that potential customer. The ATX reps would be more effective if they know who has attended the sales conferences, knows the mix of returns we prepare, and the client base we serve. Knowing about the customer's needs makes it easier to get the add-on sales.

[JohnH]

You're exactly right, Judy. The average sales person tries to sell features & benefits, bells & whistles, toys & playthings. The exceptional sales person figures out what the customer needs, and especially where the customer has pain. Then he/she makes sure he/she educates the customer so they realize just how bad that pain can get.

Providing relief from the pain is a whole lot easier than selling features & benefits. It doesn't even require being the low bidder. Getting the order is almost an afterthought. But you must have a product that will deliver relief - guaranteed. No excuses. Right now I don't know how the ATX sales reps can overcome that hurdle.