Cisco is a huge company. They have a market cap today of somewhere just north of 140 billion dollars. They’ve pushed forward some new technologies and created some really good products over the years.
Now let’s talk about my experience today. I had a good client ask me to find out some information about a new product Cisco is pushing. Because House Edge is a service company at our core I love to do the research for our clients. Furthermore, I believe that EVERY company is a service company when it comes down to it. You can buy a widget or a website from dozens of vendors. Service sets you apart from the competition. Great examples include Zappos, Nordstroms etc. You can buy shoes from a dozen places both online and in a store, but you use Zappos because of their great reputation for over the top service.
House Edge is similar in a lot of ways. Yes, we have decades of experience in gaming…but we still believe that it’s our service and our concern for our customer’s success that wins our clients over.
Now to share with you my 30 minute conversation with the online CISCO specialist:
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General Info
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| Chat start time | Jun 30, 2015 5:00:20 PM EST |
| Chat end time | Jun 30, 2015 5:32:29 PM EST |
| Duration (actual chatting time) | 00:32:08 |
| Operator | Joanna |
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Chat Transcript
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| info: Thank you for choosing Cisco. We will be with you shortly. info: You are now chatting with Joanna. Joanna: Thank you for choosing Cisco Systems. How may I help you today? You: hiya! You: I represent a digital marketing agency that focuses primarily on casinos Joanna: Hi how can I help? You: land based (FYI) You: I had one client ask about the XXX system so i had a few questions Joanna: Okay. You: Should I just start asking? 🙂 Joanna: Yes. You: what analytics can I expect to receive as part of the reporting module? Joanna: What do you mean? Joanna: Can you try to elaborate more on that? You: well some of your literature mentions gaining valuable insights on your customers when they are on site at your retail location…I’m wondering what kinds of insights? You: With the FB login…are you able to use the api to pull interests or just standard demographics? Joanna: Are you planning to implement cmx system? (I don’t even know what the system does at this point) You: my clients have asked for me to research the benefits. So if the benefits are substantial I can recommend it. if I don’t know what the benefits are, then I can’t recommend it. Joanna: The best thing that I can do is to have one of our Cisco partner to get in touch with you to give you more detailed and free information about the product, to help you decide of what is best for your company and give you more options if you need to. Joanna: And to make this successful, we will need the company name, physical address, your job title, and the approximate number of employees. You: You don’t have a white paper or a pdf outlining the benefits? I’m fine with giving you that information. But remember my agency, while employing just a few people makes the marketing decisions for 7 casinos with somwehere around 7000 employees. You: Or just a sample report? info: Your chat transcript will be sent to tank@houseedgedigital.com at the end of your chat. Joanna: We do have limited information to provide in Pre sales. And since Cisco partners are the expert in providing solutions to your network, it would be best then to talk to them. You: okay..can I give you my info, or is there a form? Joanna: I will need those information to be endorse to one of our partners. You: ReAdy? Joanna: Sure. You: House Edge Digital You: address You: My name is James Christensen – Partner / Director of Marketing You: I have approx. 10 employees servicing 7-10 casinos nationwide as well as a variety of other businesses. Joanna: Thank you. Can I have as well your email address and phone number? You: tank@houseedgedigital.com 520-743-3131 or 520-329-7591 Joanna: Thank you. May I know your role when it comes to decision making for this? You: I am the marketing advisor for my clients. If I tell them something will return a positive ROI they are likely to implement it depending on the capital expense. Joanna: Thank you. And will this be funded by your company first or your clients company? You: The individual clients Joanna: Okay. May I know how soon you will need it? You: I don’t know what “IT” does yet….so that’s a very difficult question to answer. If it gave me the life history of every customer that walked through the door I would suggest implementing is quickly. If it’s a snazzy version of Candy crush, I don’t think we’ll need it. Joanna: I understand. Do you have any other networking upgrade in the next 12 months that you want me to include in my research for you? Joanna: By the way, Rest assured that everything has been well documented and is to be forwarded to the local representative who’ll call you so that you won’t have to repeat everything to them. Joanna: And expect our partners call back within 1-2 business days. Joanna: Is there anything else I can help you with today? You: No thank you. I’d prefer an email, but I suppose if they must call. Joanna: Okay. Joanna: Before we end this chat, I would like to inform you that you may receive a brief survey about our interaction through email. Your response will be valuable for us to continue improving the service we provide. We would like to extend our appreciation in advance for taking the survey. Joanna: Thank you for chatting with us. Please click the “End Session” button on top to close this chat. |
So thanks Joanna. I know nothing about the system but she’s already trying to close the sale??? The end of the story is this. I found out what the item did through a series of complicated user forums. The functionality is extremely limited while the cost is very high.There’s a better way to find out more about your customers. I’ll tell you exactly what our services do from start to finish..no chat boxes, no sales reps. We don’t even have “SALES REPS” we have marketing professionals that want to help you with your challenges. Really want to know about your customers? Check out this short video