You lose one now and then

I lost a Kerio MailServer customer this week. They had used the software for a few years but when we sent the renewal offer for this year, it was returned marked "Cancel". I sent email to my contact at the company to find out why, but that bounced, so he's likely moved on to another company.

I checked to see if there was some support issue that might have caused unhappiness: they had only one minor support issue from 2006. Maybe somebody new decided they just had to have something else and that was that.

Hey, it happens. Maybe they have an inclusive support contract for everything Microsoft. Maybe the new person just prefers Microsoft or maybe they are a long time Exchange expert. It's OK: Kerio isn't for everyone. I don't like Exchange (I certified in it back when I did my Microsoft MCSE), but if someone knows it backward and forward, I can certainly understand why they'd prefer to use that.

I have a slightly biased comparison of Exchange vs. Kerio Mailserver. You can easily find other articles touting Exchange as the best mail server ever.

But l never mind Exchange, you can deploy completely free, open source email . There are incredibly good choices available today. Admittedly these may require more technical knowledge, but they are excellent products for those with the skills to use them.

You can also use hosted solutions. Those can be pricey, but they remove all support burden and can make a lot sense, particularly for small companies. I have an article here that compares Gmail's hosted services to an in-house server - Gmail comes out very well at 10 users or less.

Kerio Mailserver fits best in smaller companies(10 - 500 users) that don't have strong IT resources or where the IT department is stressed enough and doesn't need or want to have to spend a great deal of time with email. Kerio is simple and reliable.

Yes, I'm biased. I sell and support this product. But consider this: I sell Kerio because it is so easy to deploy and because it usually requires minimal support. I don't charge extra for installation assistance or on-going support - that's all included. If it were difficult or troublesome, I wouldn't be able to do that; I'd have to add on extra charges.

Kerio's pricing is very competitive. For example, a 50 user license with McAfee virus scanning is about $1,500.00 for the initial cost and subsequent yearly renewals are under $500.00 (see Current Kerio Pricing for exact costs).

Remember, that includes installation assistance and on-going support if needed. A hosted solution could easily run $1,200.00 or more every year.

Kerio has a free 30 day demo and of course I can help you install and configure that. Contact me by email or phone with any questions.

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Mon Jun 22 23:15:58 2009: Subject: Maybe it is because you didn't "sell".   anonymous


Or maybe another sales guy came in and actually kept in contact with them. Your comment that you emailed your contact and it bounced and you're assuming he's probably moved on is very telling.

The fact that you didn't know he moved on tells me how good of a salesman you are. We send out "How are we doing" comment cards. We always call into our contacts at least twice a year just to check in and see if they have any issues. A sale is a sale but the service after the sale is what keeps them coming back.

There is nothing open source that even comes close to competing with Exchange/Outlook.



Tue Jun 23 03:25:32 2009: Subject:   anonymous


We are moving all all customers to Google Apps, while the cost per year is higher $50 per use per year, the zero footprint/almost zero maintenance yet still getting a decent reseller discount profit is tough to ignore.

With their new Google Apps Sync, all my users can use Outlook as they normally have and it is always off-site. Would be something good to look at..



Tue Jun 23 11:11:02 2009: Subject:   TonyLawrence


Google is good, but it is expensive and there are other disadvantages to outsourcing mail. I have recommended it to some people. It particularly makes sense at the low end.

As to the "telling comment". Yes, I'm a horrible salesman. I do NOT keep in touch with customers until it is time to renew or something important arises like a critical security upgrade.

I am always available, and many of my customers will tell you that they deeply appreciate how helpful I have been when they actually need help, but I just do not pester people for no reason.

I'm a tech guy. I'm not a salesman. I am quite sure that I could make a hell of a lot more money if I were more pushy and aggressive, but that's just not me.

Now for your "telling comment". Nothing that begins to compete with Exchange? THAT tells me a lot about your technical knowledge, so I guess we're even.

I guess I'd rather give the customers honest technical support rather than be the glad hander who pushes Exchange on them.

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