I've been working closely with Marketcircle since 2002 and consider them to be top notch. They are people of their word, and that is rare these days.

quote:

Originally posted by AJ:
We will not publicly discuss specifics of future versions!

Too bad, but fair enough.

But how about about some specifics about MAINTENANCE of the CURRENT version? There's a big difference between maintenance fixes and new feature development...

Instead of stringing everyone along, please at least be fair and tell us that the current version is frozen because you're working on the next big thing--so at least we know that we have to put up with it--and we're in for a wait.

quote:

Originally posted by MacAngel - Marni Melrose:
I've been working closely with Marketcircle since 2002 and consider them to be top notch. They are people of their word, and that is rare these days.

So far as I see, "their word" is "soon"...

Let's keep this thread on topic. No one questions MC's intentions or their capabilities--at least I don't. Having worked in the business communications and marketing fields for a quarter century, for small companies and multinationals, I'm suggesting that MC should invest some time to try to improve their external communications strategies and find ways to respond to users' questions and concerns without jeopardizing MC's R&D or market share. And, in the process, strengthen customer loyalty, which (in the long-term) has to be based on something other than the customer's transient perception that "there's nothing else really available at the moment." No one--aside from MC employees--wants MC to continue to put out successful, effective products more than Daylite and Billings customers.

@JRP, very well put. I think my intention from the start was to elicit some information from MC primarily to understand where they're headed and what to expect (to make some consumer decisions). I didn't intend to hold their feet to the fire for deadline commitments and neither am I trying to get info for a competitive product.

Somehow it has also been mis-construed as doubting MC's viability or truthfulness. In fact, I think I said that not being forthcoming does not mean bad things. AJ says they have reason to not blab about product plans and that's his prerogative. But it sounds to me like he's saying that the right reaction to getting mugged is to stay at home...

If indeed current users are being driven to seek alternates because of lack of communication, I would think there is some cause for concern on his part and to do what JRP is advocating.

Or maybe that happens later in a company's life cycle when VC's come in and "professional" management gets brought in... Run away, run away.... I'd rather see the founder get empowered to do the right moves at the right times and develop the traits needed as they go...

JRP, wouldn't you say this "external communications strategies" is part of why Boeing Corporation has TV commercials...?

Right on topic:

http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1050-ask-37signals-how-do-you-say-no

Wil Shipley, of Delicious Monster, has a, IMHO, more relevant post.

Thank You for Complaining

David, you are very right - Wil Shipley is bang on about what he's talking about.

Just adding my support to knowing more about where Billings plans to go. I've just spent a couple of hours today posting on different topics and looking for answers to basic questions that I couldn't find answers to on the Quick Help and here.

I think that better communication from MarketCircle to us users would have saved me so much time. A user manual and better answers from MarketCircle would help tremendously.

An example of a product that has constant user feedback and amazing response from the developers is Omni Group with the OmniFocus project. Not everything made it to version 1 or to the iPhone when that came out but their response and "openness" just reassures the paying customers that they are not being ignored.

So yes, in some respects, Daylight does seem to be the application that drives this company, but the paying users of Billings also deserve some info on what to expect in the future regarding bug fixes at least. You have probably the best product out there in this category so I'm hoping I won't need to look into the next one down the line to feel like I haven't been abandoned. Sorry for the rant guys!

Here are the things that I am looking for.....invoicing for multiple projects for one client....easier report interface (or just a cheat sheet on token scripts would help)!