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The Willy

Important Reminder: This year's deadline is November 20, 2008!         No Exceptions!

My wife, Jean, and I love a good awards show. She'll make a nice dinner. We'll open a bottle of wine and then kick back and watch something like the Academy Awards. As I watched the  show several years ago though, I kept thinking about the awards I once gave. In the early days of my newsletter, Computer Aided Selling, I gave out several awards. However, in the mid-80's we were a little ahead of the curve though and I stopped giving the award.

Then, back in 1999, I decided it was time to BRING BACK THE WILLY! If you don't recall, that was the 50th anniversary of Arthur Miller's great play, Death of a Salesman. For many folks in sales, this was our first exposure to sales. 

Everyone remembers the line near the end of the play, "riding on a smile and a shoeshine." The line that always stuck with me though comes just a moment later; "A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." I know when I was having a difficult day on the road or just lost an order I was counting on, remembering those dreams I was chasing always kept me motivated. "The Willy" is awarded to honor products that genuinely help salespeople take better care of their customers and Sell More Now. In other words, "The Willy" is awarded to honor products that help salespeople achieve their dreams.  

So, until November 20, 2008 (Absolutely FIRM deadline - No extensions this year!!) I will be accepting nominations for the 2008 Willy. The categories include the following, though I always reserve the option to make special awards if something catches my eye!

So, let's first review my break-down of the market:

So, here are the main categories we plan to honor:

• Best On-Premise SOHO CRM Solution

• Best On-Premise Small Business CRM Solution

• Best On-Premise Mid Market CRM Solution

• Best On-Premise Small Enterprise CRM Solution

• Best On-Premise Medium Enterprise CRM Solution

• Best On-Premise Large Enterprise CRM Solution

• Best SaaS SOHO CRM Solution

• Best SaaS Small Business CRM Solution

• Best SaaS Mid Market CRM Solution

• Best SaaS Small Enterprise CRM Solution

• Best SaaS Medium Enterprise CRM Solution

• Best SaaS Large Enterprise CRM Solution

• Best Outlook CRM Solution

• Best Open Source CRM Solution

• Best DOMINO CRM Solution

• Best iSeries CRM Solution

• Best Tactical Sales Automation Solution (as many as appropriate)

• Outstanding Achievement in a Vertical Market Solution

• Outstanding Achievement in Drip Marketing (The Jim Cecil Award for Excellence in Drip Marketing)

• Outstanding Achievement in Sales Forecasting

• Outstanding Achievement in Marketing Support

• Outstanding Achievement in Field Sales Support

• Outstanding Achievement in Call Center Support

• Outstanding Achievement in Sales Management Support

• Outstanding Achievement in Customer Support

• Outstanding Achievement in a eBusiness Support

As is my custom, I reserve the right to announce awards in categories not mentioned here. Or, I might not make any award at all! For example, this year I did not see any Large Enterprise solutions that I thought deserved an award. So, I count on you to maintain a dialog with me and to sell me on the merits of your product or service!

I would also like to honor some of the outstanding VAR's and consultants out there. If you know someone working in this field who deserves special recognition, just send me their name and e-mail address (or phone number). I'll take it from there!

To qualify for an award, a software developer must complete our In-Depth Review Process before November 20, 2008. Again, this year, the deadline is absolutely firm! Don't wait until the last minute. Get it done early and I will gladly review anything new that you have to add closer to the actual deadline.

I'll write more about "The Willy" in coming months, however my objectives are simple:

• Recognize some great products

• Help people make better purchase decisions

• Have a little fun in an industry that too often takes itself way too seriously!

As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions or criticisms to help make this award program the best it can be!

So, who wants to win a Willy?

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