Yesterday afternoon, we formally launched Inquisix private Beta. Many of you already received your invitations and are now members. It’s been a long time coming, but it is exciting to see so many people sign up so fast. The more members and contacts in the system, the better it is for everyone, so keep those invitation requests and contact uploads coming.

We have a lot of features and enhancements in the pipeline, but we can’t do this without you. Everything we do will be based on customer feedback, so please let us know what you think. Very soon, we will have Customer Forums up and running- you can have a real impact on making your product better suited to your needs!

If you are not a member, and you would like to participate in the Beta program, request an invitation. At this stage, we will not be open to everyone because the salespeople that join the beta not only need to share but also must have something in common – in this case an overlapping rolodex. If you sell into companies, industries or titles that no one in Inquisix does, then there won’t be anyone to trade with. So as we get a critical mass of salespeople that sell into the same industry or job title, then we will invite them all to join at once. You can help this process by inviting your sales buddies to join Inquisix too.

Happy Selling!

Michael and I have known each other for a long time. While he and I have a passion for technology, Michael’s skills are selling it, and mine are designing and building it. Along the way, I’ve purchased over a million dollars in hardware/software and hired dozens of people. Michael had a great post on cold calling as a sales rep, but I want to discuss cold calling from the buyer’s perspective.

It is simple really. I will not take cold calls. Don’t even try. Whether it be to sell a product or a recruiter trying to push a “hot new developer,” I won’t take the call. If you do happen to get through to me, I will politely stop the pitch before it gets too far. My time is too valuable. If there is something I need, I will do some research on possible solutions. The research usually means talking to my colleagues and even trusted sales reps to find options. More often than not the result is that my network helps me find the right person, and that person will contact me to start the sales process. I have three or four sales reps, and even a recruiter or two, that I will be a customer of for life. The reason? They helped me connect with the right solution to a problem — even if they didn’t provide it.

The bottom line for me is that I want to be referred to both an appropriate product and a sales rep that will help to provide a solution to my problem.

Forget the cold calls….

August was a big month for Inquisix. Until August, we were a team, an idea, and a great product getting ready for Beta release. Now, it’s official. We are Inquisix, Inc. Stay tuned for product and release details.