(ICU 04 Item 13 ) ----------------------------------------------- [10/07/04]
Subject: Cadence Sales
SHOW ME THE MONEY: Yea, we all like seeing EDA sales as the prostitutes
that they really are -- but show me one business that can survive without
a steady incoming cashflow? No sales == No tools & No support. So if
you really look at it holistically, EDA salesdroids are a necessary evil.
What's key here is HOW they do business with you...
Going from GREAT to HORRIBLE please rank the Cadence sales staff
equal to:
"Marry my daughter!"
good friends: ## 5%
Helpful friends: ##### 10%
Helpful business
acqaintances: ################### 38%
Indifferent Department
store cashiers: ###### 12%
Used Car salesmen: ########### 22%
Con artists just a few
steps ahead of the law: ##### 9%
Congressmen and/or
convicted con-artists: ## 5%
Cadence sales is somewhere between "Indifferent Department Store Cashiers"
and "Helpful Business Acqaintances". They don't seem to want to spend
a lot of time with us because we are a very small company (read "small
dollars"). But if they've sniffed around that we are talking to Magma,
I hear from them.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
For the most part they are helpful and eager to help find solutions,
although I'm tired of hearing they have a solution for everything and if
we just switch to Get2chip RTL Compiler, for example, all our problems
will disappear.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Most often "Used Car Salesmen", but occasionally "Helpful Business
Acquaintances". All too often they're focused on gaining marketshare
versus SNPS within our company.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
The only time you'll hear from them is when the scent of money is in
the air.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
The most annoying feature of the sales force is to push the product of
the day. You may have a problem that they have a tool that solves the
problem but they cannot stop pressing the tool of the day.
For example, we need help with IP generation/analysis and the Cadence
sales guy keeps pressing Get2Chip. The sales guy will then proceed to
hand out evaluation copies of Get2Chip to engineers. This causes a
huge waste of energy as our engineers go off to play with Get2Chip
instead of using the given Synopsys tooling. In some sense it is like
inviting a crack dealer into your house, it's a lot of fun but no real
work gets done.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Incisive: Used Car Salesmen
QX, VSOC, VoltageStorm, etc (Simplex tools): Helpful Business Acqaintances
Layout, Virtuoso, etc: Indifferent Department Store Cashiers
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
I know the sales guys from Synopsys and Mentor Graphics pretty well.
Cadence? I don't even know who it is. To be fair they have a new guy.
The last guy just disappeared. Probably anyone would be better than him.
He worked closely with my VP then dumped on me at the last moment.
Ended up being a lot of extra late night work for me for a tool that
he had already sold to my VP.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
When comparing to other EDA sales reps, Cadence sales reps seem to have
the least knowledge about their products. A lot of the times you will
have to figure out what you need (down to the license key feature name)
and then ask them for quotes.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
I would have to say our sales rep is one who falls into the "please, marry
my daughter! good friends" category. He is more concerned with getting us
the right tool, and the right number of seats than anything. It is this
very attitude, I think, that allows him to prosper as a sales person.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
They do talk to me but mainly when there is money around.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
On the surface helpful, very hungry to keep the tools in our company. But
follow-up is hit or miss, usually they don't ensure that the question
was answered. I talking about pre-sales questions.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
The Cadence sales force is OK. They don't talk to me in general.
Indifferent Department store cashiers
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
The sales guy and I are on a first name basis (Duffy). He's a pretty nice
guy (Used Car Salesman) that is dying to make happy (Marry My Daughter) so
that I buy more of their top-tier digital widgets. I get the name and
24-hour cell numbers of two PRE-SALES AEs. I'm pretty sure pre-sales is
where all the competent tech-support people end up. These guys are
friendly, available, and brilliant. I hope they get paid well. Viral
Mankad and Ravi Murthy (the AEs) have done more for some of my chips that
some of the designers I work with. They are _that_ good!
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Used Car Salesmen! Snuck in a tool/function that was useless without
another tool. We were so swamped we didn't check, paid for 8 months
of tool usage. Only interested in getting through to VP eng. Brought
lots of internal "experts" through who would claim "we'll have you up
and running in 4 hours, I promise, now lets talk about your next tool
purchase." Never heard back from them. Solved the problems ourself.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
I found that they rotate the sales force. I found out only after a
stranger (Cadence sales manager) calls and says "I will be your new
Cadence sales manager". This happened over the past 2 years. I found
them to just be a point of contact and most are trying to push their
specialty products like (Get2chip synthesis). I told the guy about 5
times that I don't do synthesis but only NC simulation.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
"Helpful friends" until we say that the price is too high, after that
they're arrogant b....
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Con artists just a few steps ahead of the law
They are trying to resell us the same products we already own as a "new"
product. Cadence has obsoleted tools that we have purchased and paid
maintenance on, for several years in some cases, putting the obsolete
tools with a few others in a bundle and then telling us we need to buy
the new tool to upgrade.
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