Every time I show the clients Viewpoint technology, they are very excited about the possibilities. But when I talked to them about pricing and other restriction imposed by Viewpoint policies, the possible project goes down the drain or worse yet, an alternative technology is used.

I'm just confused, and wondered if Macromedia were to charge the same way Viewpoint did to have their player on a commercial site or even to register their product before it goes live would Macromedia be as successful as they are? I'm sure I'm missing the overall strategy of your company, and the focussed-specialized customers that you are aiming for. But, from my perspective, I wished the company would make this technology more flexible, be open to the "public", and for the company to steer away from this isolationism policy; that is, we should not pay to display your program or go through bothersome registration process.

Sincerely,
Vizal

Hi Vizal,

Have you actually talked to people in Viewpoint Sales on a per-case basis while you were demonstrating to your clients? If not, you really should get in touch with a Sales team member first. I think you'll find that they'll be pretty helpful, especially if you're losing projects due to perceived cost restrictions.

Chris

Hi Vizal,

Thanks for your comments. The topic you bring up is important.

The first point I would like to address is the perception of a high cost for a license. Cost is a relative thing, and it is relative to value. Viewpoint has solid data to support the value delivered. Value such as a 25% increase in sales of products visualized with VET, or a 71% increase in sales in stores using in-store plasma screens and products visualized with VET.

If you have sales of $100,000/month and using VET increases sales to $125,000/month, then Viewpoint should get reasonable compensation for the value added.

If you have sales of $1,000,000 per month and VET increases that to $1,250,000/month, then it is fair that Viewpoint gets reasonable compensation for that value added. There is a difference between increasing revenue by $250K and 25K, and there is a difference in the fee paid.

Because our first clients were very large e-tailers (Eddie Bauer, Sony etc) our compensation for licenses was larger. It seems to have stuck in the development community that all licenses cost $100,000 or more. That simply is not true. Licenses are based on many factors - monthly visitors to the site, type of products and so on. The goal is simply to receive fair compensation for the value added. Licenses can start from just a few thousand dollars per year and up.

As we continue to build data that shows the positive ROI on VET I feel your clients will understand the value being delivered. Think about this - By anyones estimations, Eddie Bauer is a very sharp on-line business operator...do you think they would continue to use VET if it did not deliver value (finacial returns) well above any competing technology?

OK, so how do you get the information you, and other content developers, need - license pricing for your projects? There are two ways to do this:

1) Go on-line to http://www.viewpoint.com/explore/quote.jsp and complete a request form. You will be assisted in getting the information you need.

2) Call 1-866-843-9764 (toll-free) or 801-619-4670 (outside North America).

Hope this helps and please let me know of any difficulties you encounter in getting the information or support you need to successfully pitch your VET based solutions to clients.

Best Regards,

Andrew Cook

Thanks for the replies.

Best regards,

Vizal