Nortel Promo Expires in December!

When Nortel product gets re-branded as Avaya I wonder what Jeff's opinion will be then? Good product will always be purchased by intelligent customers.

Considering the fact that delivery time on Nortel equipment is now 6 to 8 weeks - isn't this all a moot point?

What I found insulting is the charge that Nortel is trying to pull a fast one with our customers. Nortel traditionally runs promotions on our gear with 6 to 12 month periods. They ALWAYS expire at the end of the year, and then new programs are announced for the new year. It's a cheap shot. This program has been around for months. Discounts are a fact of life. Current economic circumstances for the entrie industry has led to some fo the best deals ever available - from all manufacturers. No doubt, ours is a tough sell, but we are indeed selling and selling effectively.

The other ridiculous concept that Jeff floats is that this gear is just going to evaporate come December. That's silly. The average lifespan of this type of equipment has to be at least 10 years. There will be many customers continuing to use their current investments for years to come. Avaya has already promised support for 3 to 5 years. Our partner ecosystem will continue to support any product for years after manufacturer support has stopped. This is already true - customers running software and hardware that is 15 years old or more can still buy used spare parts and get support from expereinced engineers.

So - to sum it up, I think there has been enough slamming of Nortel poeple and products on this message board. Clearly, the failed leadership has literally ruined many a person's life. The actions and inaction of leadership has been staggering - the result being ultimate failure. Like so many others, I personally lost tens of thousands in stock investments - my children's college fund. I was foolish - a hard lesson learned. What adds insult to injury are the disrespect and ridcule that come from peoples' frustration with their own losses.

We are all entitled to our opinions. My post was simply intended to point out that making a further investment in a current Nortel product is not an unsound practice. Many customers are doing so, with eyes wide open, to further their business interests.

Firstly, I agree with everything you say... But I also think you're all missing Jeff's point entirely.
He IS one of your customers. He is making a satirical critique (yes, a barbed one) about promotional sales emails he's getting from Nortel.
All I'm reading from his article is that these emails are not addressing teh obvious questions that he and all other customers must be wondering. Nortel Enterprise as a company has been flogged off, bought out... it went bust.
Surely any competent sales promotion should reassure customers with the very points FreeEnterprise makes? Actually mention Avaya, ongoing support, what happens to the business partner relationship the promotion proposes in mere weeks, when the Avaya purchase is completed?
Nortel sales must respond to these questions in every single sales proposal. That they don't in this promotion, I agree with Jeff, it's rather silly (putting it kindly). FreeEnterprise, you seem to assume "everyone knows" what's going on. No, they don't... I'm ex-Nortel too, I learnt the last place to hear what was really happening was Nortel's own management.
My last act before leaving my workstation was to write a little "d" with a smiley on my "I blieve" poster some hopeful put over all our desks :-)

Mike Z also floated the proven ridiculous concept that no Chapter 11 filing was imminent, and I can't help but assume that NT salespersons briefly parroted exactly that. After all, its their job to Believe and get the customer to Believe, too, as well, no?
Yours is not a Nortel product anymore, its a product Nortel managed to thoroughly hose despite its quality, which Avaya has picked up, for better or worse, so that life can go on. Maybe thats whats reassuring to customers; that its NO longer the samo, samo Nortel.

I'm siding with Free_Enterprise on this one. I'm surprised that you could convince yourself that the only logical reason why some customers are still buying Nortel products and that there are still dealers selling Nortel products is that customers are uninformed or dealers are trying to pull fast ones.

I'm not sure which customers you are dealing with Jeff, but I find it hard to believe there would be a customer evaluating Nortel enterprise technologies who would not be aware of Nortel's situation - especially in Canada. My experience is that there are very few customers in the market for this type of equipment who fit the profile of "clueless and have money to waste". There has to be reasons that go beyond uniformed or unsuspecting???

As for the Nortel dealers, they are the primary reason customers are still buying Nortel and it's not because they are pulling a fast one on the customers. As an Avaya dealer, you should know that many customers make their purchase decision based on their local dealer support. If the dealer thinks Avaya will step up and not shut down all of Nortel's products - which is what they've been saying so far, then why wouldn't a customer buy or a dealer continue to sell equipment that they know and that works and you can buy it at a good price?

Maybe the answer is that there are some customers and dealers out there that see the same value in the products and people that Avaya did to pay $900M. If we give customers and dealers any kind of credit, maybe ask them why and get the real answer, we might be surprised to find out that Nortel customers and Nortel dealers are quite rational and certainly informed after all?

Yes it is pretty silly to put out any promo like this that does not bother to address the buyout of Nortel in weeks, and what that means for the (very brief??) business relationship being flogged in the advert.
FreeEnterprise Nortel salesperson... what is insulting about Jeff's post? What is at all surprising in it? As a sales person, what on earth do you imagine customers are wondering? In not addressing that obvious question, that Nortel sales email deserves every word of satire and criticism. Can only wonder what the authors are imagining their few remaining customers think.

with the bankruptcy, uncertainity and selling of business lines, the move is fine. after all customer retention is top priority. if management wrapped around getting things done more quickly then at least customers would see a future. the longer they extend it the more risk in terms of eroding revenue, lost customers and aggressive competition. cisco could easily offer 30% to get the customer base - what would Nortel do then. offer 40%?

As a Nortel salesperson, I find this article to be offensive. Senior leadership at Nortel failed to turn the company around - yet the integrity of both the products and people of Nortel are still sound. Our customers judge us on these two key points, among others, and the success we have had this year demonstrates the depth of trust in our relationships. Avaya is demonstrating a similar culture, and this is both comforting and refreshing. I think Jeff's articles cheapen the true attitude and approach of Avaya. The products we sell today are indeed reliable, and will continue to be supported. Avaya did not push Nortel off the cliff - Nortel drove off the cliff. The value of the customer base, products, and employees are still there - and will continue for some time. That is my belief - because these are what my customers are telling me.

I'll tell you what I find offensive - people who are so blinded by loyalty to some dinosaur who had the last 20 years to upgrade their product line and has failed to do so; and is indeed still trying to peddle this stuff. They had their big chance when they purchased Bay Networks but instead chose to just kill it. Please stop insulting your own intelligence. I worked for Nortel for years. I saw this coming in 1995 when I was told by a senior account manager at Nortel that VoIP was a "fad" and would never work. I installed their product also as a VAR for years. Nortel was a company who made their name by thinking outside the giant Telco, large corporate box when they began and then became just that. For the last 20 years all they have done is dance on the string of the Telcos, ignoring market trends and customer needs. In the words of Dr. Phil, "How's that workin' for ya?"