MARKET DRIVEN 

From Sales to Business Facilitation on the Internet

Written on April 22, 1996, for the Canadian Professional Sales Association, this article applies concepts introduced in my presentation at the Canadian National Internet Show, entitled "Beyond the Web: Doing Business as a Member of Virtual Communities" to issues related to selling online. 
 

In order to corroborate the value of the concepts that have motivated our products, prospective customers were asked to substitute the words "President's Planner with Agenda” or "Partner's Planner with Agenda" for each occurrence of the word "Newton" in Apple's promotional statement, below:

"Newton Intelligence:  Newton will actively assist users in their day-to-day tasks.   As  the device is  used, it  will learn more  about  the user  ...  to help  them  work  more efficiently.  For  instance, if a  user wanted to schedule "lunch with Jane", they  would  simply write  "lunch  Jane Thursday". Newton technology could know that lunch normally means noon, and that Jane in the individual's address  book is Jane  Green,  and  that  Thursday  probably  means  this Thursday.  A Newton device  would then suggest this to  the user, by opening their calendar to Thursday and scheduling lunch from noon to 1 p.m. with Jane Green.", from the Press Release announcing Apple's Newton Personal Digital Assistant.

An excerpt from President's Planner and Partner's Planner marketing materials.