Adrian Slywotzky Quotes

“I don’t understand why the computer guys let others sell the follow-up memory, why the car guys let others sell the insurance and the extended warranty, and so on.”

“It’s a completely different business model! – he exclaimed – You need different skills, different people, different systems, different databases. There’s also less psychic satisfaction, less glamor, and less visibility compared to the glamor of the original equipment business.

As in ‘I sold ten auto insurance policies today’. Big deal! Or ‘I sold ten elevator maintenance contracts today’. Big deal! You don’t get great press notices or win trips to Hawaii for that.”

“The big-ticket hardware folks invest the capital, take all the risks — which are huge — suffer the losses and the write-downs, and then let somebody else capture the business that has predictability, lower price sensitivity, higher margins, recurring revenue, and the opportunity to create an ongoing customer relationship, because the frequency of purchase is ten times greater than the frequency of the initial transaction.”

“When you point a finger at someone, always remember that three fingers are pointing back at you.”