THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: August 17, 1992 10:00 AM Monday; Rod Welch

Jim Ellis here to demonstrate SDS.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Follow Up
....SDS Automates Common Practices
....Integration
3...Identify the Customer
.......Comment
4...Making Money
5...Marketing Focus
.....Comment
6...Conventional Calendar
7...Manual


..............
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CONTACTS 
0201 - J. C. Ellis Management Consultants 510 254 5229
020101 - Mr. James C. Ellis

SUBJECTS
Sales force, develop
Regional sales managers
Organization structure
Research Application to market, Internal management
Making more money
Pricing Lists

0808 -    ..
0809 - Summary/Objective
0810 -
081001 - Jim explained general ideas he as formulated to market SDS.  I demoed
081002 - the program.  Explained our need to develop marketing expertise.  Jim
081003 - offered some helpful observations on marketing, and expressed interest
081004 - in working with us to prepare a preliminary business plan.
081005 -
081006 - Follow Up
081007 -
081008 - Discuss with Morris funding and scheduling to hire Jim for the prelim
081009 - marketing plan.
081010 -
081011 - Confirm understandings with Jim and request additional comments.
081012 -
0811 -
0812 -
0813 - Background
0814 -
081401 - From our discussion at the wedding, I expected Jim could help develop
081402 - avenues into major institutions like AT&T for marketing SDS, ref SDS 1
081403 - line 072003.
081404 -
081405 - He may also be able to assist in devloping strategies for selling SDS
081406 - such as the pilot testing plan he advanced at the wedding, ref SDS 1
081407 - line 072015.
081408 -
081409 -
0815 -
0816 -
0817 - Product Liturature
0818 -
081801 - Today, Jim initially commented on the adequacy of the SDS brochure and
081802 - the detailed statement of POIMS theory, ref OF 1, submitted to him at
081803 - ref DIP 1.
081804 -
081805 -     My general impression is that he feels the brochure covers too
081806 -     much territory and the technical statement sounds too technical.
081807 -
081808 -       His approach seems to be that xxecutives need to be told in
081809 -       summary form about the main benefits they will derive from a
081810 -       product or service.  Then they will follow up and you can fill
081811 -       them in on the details.
081812 -
081813 -
081814 -
0819 -
0820 -
0821 - SDS Explanation
0822 -
082201 - Initially, I gave some personal background that led to creating SDS
082202 - (e.g. military, general contracting, litigation, appellate work and
082203 - arbitration).  I explained an overview of the main components, and
082204 - showed how the pieces fit together by drawing some diagrams.  Tried to
082205 - present the concept of integrated scheduling and reporting.
082206 -
082207 - Jim seemed to follow this pretty well, based on a summary explanation
082208 - he made of his understanding after I finished, along the following
082209 - lines:
082210 -
082211 -    SDS Automates Common Practices
082212 -
082213 -    He observed that SDS automates well recognized business practices
082214 -    that most seasoned managers are trying to implement with manual
082215 -    procedures, and that this provides an avenue for presenting SDS as
082216 -    a way to improve personal and organizational productivity which is
082217 -    the objective of POIMS technology.
082218 -
082219 -    Integration
082220 -
082221 -    I noted that SDS also integrates previously distinct tasks, such as
082222 -    personal scheduling, reporting, filing, correspondence, Document
082223 -    Control, Contacts management, Flow Chart Planning (e.g. CPM, PERT),
082224 -    Cost Accounting, and Payroll.  This comprises POIMS technology:
082225 -
082226 -            personal and organizatinal integrated management
082227 -
082228 -    It also makes writing an effective instrument for critical analysis
082229 -    and discovery through self dialog, rather than solely a means to
082230 -    communicate with others, as it is in the main, presently applied.
082231 -
082232 -
082233 -
0823 -
0824 -
0825 - Marketing Strategy
0826 -
082601 - Identify the Customer
082602 -
082603 - Today, Jim expressed strong views on marketing SDS, based on his
082604 - consideration of product information so far.
082605 -
082606 -    He indicated it is not a good idea to approach executives and
082607 -    senior managers who do not already use computers, with a
082608 -    proposition that they to learn and use SDS to increase their
082609 -    productivity and income. [see also "Product Improvements, Manual,"
082610 -    below]
082611 -
082612 -    Jim advocated that management consultants whose business is to
082613 -    present methodologies for improving management productivity and
082614 -    provide support for implementation, would not be a good avenue to
082615 -    market and support SDS.
082616 -
082617 -       Comment
082618 -
082619 -       This seems to conflict with the thrust of the discussion at
082620 -       Pam's wedding where considerable attention was given to the idea
082621 -       of winning the committment of senior management for using SDS on
082622 -       particular projects, as a core marketing strategy, ref SDS 2
082623 -       line 81,
082624 -
082625 -       I guess this needs further consideration, if we get a chance to
082626 -       visit again under suitable arrangements.
082627 -
082628 -
082629 -    Jim recommends selling to existing computer users for under $100,
082630 -    rather than making a major attempt to expand the market by appeal-
082631 -    ing to people who want to improve management and by extension their
082632 -    income.
082633 -
082634 -       I pointed out that most computer users are not senior enough to
082635 -       have the experience to know why SDS improves their chances of
082636 -       success.  They do not know that short cuts to save time, usually
082637 -       take more time and expense.  Senior management is better able to
082638 -       appreciate the value of SDS, and thereon can mandate its use,
082639 -       even if not for themselves, as we discussed the other day, ref
082640 -       SDS 2 line 81.
082641 -
082642 -       My experience shows that the level of computer expertise is
082643 -       irrelevant to learning and using SDS.  The main difficulty new
082644 -       users have is understanding the methodology of integrated
082645 -       scheduling and reporting, ref SDS 1 line 351.  The critical
082646 -       factor is transitioning people who have a heavy schedule so they
082647 -       can continue to turn out their regular duties, while learning
082648 -       new skills.
082649 -
082650 -           This can include creating a Subject Index, Contacts data
082651 -           base and getting them started creating a diary so they have
082652 -           some intellectual capital invested to meet the high
082653 -           emotional cost of learning a new skill.
082654 -
082655 -
082656 -
082657 -  ..
082658 - Making Money
082659 -
082660 - Jim indicated he does not see how SDS helps people improve their
082661 - income, and recommended against presenting it in that way.
082662 -
082663 -       I noted that SDS improves the speed and accuracy of performing
082664 -       the primary management tasks:  to think, plan, remember and
082665 -       communicate.  It creates a direct link between what needs to be
082666 -       done today, and why; and it makes those links readily accessible
082667 -       to the User through succeeding levels of detail.  This augments
082668 -       an otherwise unique faculty of human intelligence to generate
082669 -       and apply knowledge and ideas.
082670 -
082671 -       Since "time is money" and "knowledge is power," a manager can
082672 -       earn more money by using SDS.  [Not to be confused with being
082673 -       paid more money, which is driven by a variety of factors besides
082674 -       productivity].
082675 -
082676 -
082677 -
082678 -
082679 - Marketing Focus
082680 -
082681 - Jim recommends against investing heavily in explaining how people can
082682 - improve their productivity and income using new capabilities avail-
082683 - able only in SDS.  He feels the major effort should be to show how SDS
082684 - helps managers fulfill their vision of management, rather than trying
082685 - to expand that vision.
082686 -
082687 - Our primary concern should be to get the product into the hands of
082688 - users, and then let them decide what to do with it.
082689 -
082690 -     Comment
082691 -
082692 -     My sense is that some combination of the two is needed.  If we
082693 -     cannot hold out the promise of advancing the state of the art,
082694 -     then our ability to deliver on improving performance is very
082695 -     limited.  There is no free lunch.  We cannot tell people they can
082696 -     get a better result without changing their conduct or without any
082697 -     effort.  The good news is that with a little of extra effort
082698 -     applied in particular ways, we can get a significant improvement
082699 -     in achieving our goals.  That is the truth of it.
082700 -
082701 -     The best example is writing.  It is accepted even though it is
082702 -     hard to learn because it is a very powerful tool by which we can
082703 -     capture, develope and recycle our knowledge and ideas, which in
082704 -     POIMS parlance is "investing intellectual capital."
082705 -
082706 -
082707 -
082708 -
0828 -
0829 -
0830 - Product Improvements
0831 -
083101 - Conventional Calendar
083102 -
083103 - Jim feels it would be nice to have a calendar showing things to do in
083104 - "summary" format.  He initially indicated this would be helpful to
083105 - carry, but realized the importance of having a connection with the
083106 - computer.  He ultimately seemed to feel the existing format is
083107 - adequate as a summary list of things to do.
083108 -
083109 -
083110 -
083111 - Manual
083112 -
083113 - Jim made a strong case that a manual is needed to support those who
083114 - have resisted using computers, but decide to try in order to gain the
083115 - benefits of SDS.  They do not want learn to use a computer from a
083116 - computer (i.e. using on-line Help).
083117 -
083118 - This proposition defines the market as encompassing the non-computer
083119 - using managers and executives we want to reach. They need a familiar
083120 - medium to transition them into using computers.  My experience shows
083121 - this group often needs personal support to accomplish the transition.
083122 -
083123 - In any event some level of manual support is needed.
083124 -
083125 -
083126 -
083127 -
0832 -
0833 -
0834 - Business Plan
0835 -
083501 - At lunch, I asked Jim how he feels he could contribute in helping us
083502 - apply his ideas and objectives for SDS.
083503 -
083504 - Jim thinks we need a business plan to launch SDS.  He proposes we do a
083505 - preliminary plan to cover the process of finalizing the product and
083506 - settle on primary target markets. He charges $1K per day, with no
083507 - minimum.
083508 -
083509 -
083510 -
083511 -
0836 -

SUBJECTS
Personal, Millie,
Family - Pam

0905 - Summary
0906 -
090601 - Joyce's wedding ceremony remarks.
090602 -
090603 -    Jim forgot to ask Joyce about this -- he will follow up when he
090604 -    gets home today.
090605 -
090606 -
0907 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"