How are SaaS and Enterprise Software Sales Different?
You might have come across SaaS sales job descriptions stating “x years quota achieving sales success, preferably/ideally in enterprise software sales (and SaaS sales)”. For anyone who has done or at least has familiarity with both SaaS and enterprise sales, there are clearly some differences… or are they clear?
In an attempt to clarify without “stereotyping” too much, here’s my quick take on some key differences:
* What is being sold:
SaaS: A relationship (long-term to get the recurring revenue)
Enterprise Software: A product (relationship is also important so more products can be sold)
* Sales mode:
SaaS: Sell over the phone/web, sometimes in person for large or strategic deals
Enterprise Software: Mostly sell in person. Meetings can also take place on the phone/web
* Sales productivity:
SaaS: More deals/rep, sales cycles tend to be days to weeks
Enterprise Software: More revenue per rep, higher cost for sales. Sales cycle can be weeks but more often are months
These differences may not keep over time. With proliferation of mobile computing and Web 2.0, end users / software customers have become more comfortable with and increasingly demand more SaaS offerings. Channel partners are also looking to get in the SaaS wagon as their businesses face narrower margins on current offerings. Software vendors, to stay competitive, continue (and for some, start) offering more with a SaaS model. The gap between SaaS and enterprise software selling are narrowing, driven by the three parties’ shift to SaaS. Would you be surprised to see in the not-so-distant future, that all software sales are done on the low-risk, pay-as-you-go model?
Friday, December 03, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
How is your -aaS unique?
When I saw a company advertising Infrastructure as a Platform (crossing out IaaS and PaaS in the process) at the Cloud Computing Expo (http://cloudcomputingexpo.com/) earlier this month, it occurred to me that -aaS has become well accepted (and crowded) that cloud providers, builders, and integrators are looking to differentiate themselves in less familiar ways to stand out in front of customers.
Speaking with vendors at the expo, it appears many try to differentiate with price, security, scaling, and integration: more hosting services are competing on rates and promotions, cloud security, provisioning, monitoring are getting better defined, FUD on scalability, uptime, and performance are all around, and integration (blurring) of public and private clouds are discussed/debated as the current and future trends.
Though the world is becoming flatter with the internet, only a few speakers made mentions of cloud computing outside of north America. In October Beijing unveiled a five-year plan for cloud computing with a market estimated at $30B: a translation of this page http://www.hdcatv.com/hdyzk/html/2010-10/14/content_23662.htm?div=-1 can give a better idea of what this is. The market shift is taking place quickly, and this will be a huge public cloud as it takes shape. Some leaders are developing capabilities in China: EMC already built 13 sites and grew to 1000 people working on cloud in different cities there, while most people don't see the cloud computing being relevant there in the next 2-3 years.
Are you a -aaS innovator? How are you differentiating from the "imitators"?
When I saw a company advertising Infrastructure as a Platform (crossing out IaaS and PaaS in the process) at the Cloud Computing Expo (http://cloudcomputingexpo.com/) earlier this month, it occurred to me that -aaS has become well accepted (and crowded) that cloud providers, builders, and integrators are looking to differentiate themselves in less familiar ways to stand out in front of customers.
Speaking with vendors at the expo, it appears many try to differentiate with price, security, scaling, and integration: more hosting services are competing on rates and promotions, cloud security, provisioning, monitoring are getting better defined, FUD on scalability, uptime, and performance are all around, and integration (blurring) of public and private clouds are discussed/debated as the current and future trends.
Though the world is becoming flatter with the internet, only a few speakers made mentions of cloud computing outside of north America. In October Beijing unveiled a five-year plan for cloud computing with a market estimated at $30B: a translation of this page http://www.hdcatv.com/hdyzk/html/2010-10/14/content_23662.htm?div=-1 can give a better idea of what this is. The market shift is taking place quickly, and this will be a huge public cloud as it takes shape. Some leaders are developing capabilities in China: EMC already built 13 sites and grew to 1000 people working on cloud in different cities there, while most people don't see the cloud computing being relevant there in the next 2-3 years.
Are you a -aaS innovator? How are you differentiating from the "imitators"?
Monday, October 18, 2010
Are Your Customer Relationships Driving Business Success?
The word customer derives from "custom," meaning "habit," and typically refers to a current or potential buyer or user of a product or service: someone who "frequents" a "shop" to make it a "habit" to "purchase" there rather than elsewhere.
Earlier this year I spoke to some MIT Leaders of Global Operations (LGO: lgo.mit.edu) students about the difference between "customers", “clients", "buyers", and "purchasers”, who they think their customers are and how understanding their customers can be pivotal for their roles and careers.
About a month ago I was reminded by Prakash Balebail of Estuate (www.estuate.com), a business partner I had the pleasure of working with while at IBM, how relationships with customers not only can indicate and drive the success of a company, but can be an identity differentiator (how others remember them with).
"All you need to remember are two things about my company," says Prakash contently, "every customer is reference-able and every customer is a repeat customer."
Isn't that something?
For Estuate to achieve this, the Estuate team has to bring significant value to their customers. Customers “value” what is different (be it service, be it product, and be it price if nothing else), and Estuate stays true to its motto: Extreme service.
Of course building an identity (of Extreme service) is not about what you say, but about what you do and the assessments that is triggered. It is about how customers perceive how they are greeted at the first meeting, about how their issues and problems are handled with professionalism, and about how they feel the door is still open for future business even after they decided to go with someone else for the time being... and throughout this journey, the customer needs perceive and value your difference. All of this assumes there is a compelling offer: in Estuate's case, partnerships with Oracle (http://solutions.oracle.com/partners/kini) and IBM (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/lowerdatabasecosts/estuate.html), as well as team's deep experience form the Estuate edge.
The perceived difference that is valued (by the customers) is referred to as marginal utility in economics. Marginal utility doesn’t stay… competitors are there to neutralize marginal utility all day long. So to stay competitive in the game (to continue to have customers "frequent" your shop), one has to continue to identify the new marginal utility, perhaps instead of trying to figure out why something that used to work no longer works.
So... what is your Marginal Utility to your customers? How do you plan to continuously improve it to drive success?
The word customer derives from "custom," meaning "habit," and typically refers to a current or potential buyer or user of a product or service: someone who "frequents" a "shop" to make it a "habit" to "purchase" there rather than elsewhere.
Earlier this year I spoke to some MIT Leaders of Global Operations (LGO: lgo.mit.edu) students about the difference between "customers", “clients", "buyers", and "purchasers”, who they think their customers are and how understanding their customers can be pivotal for their roles and careers.
About a month ago I was reminded by Prakash Balebail of Estuate (www.estuate.com), a business partner I had the pleasure of working with while at IBM, how relationships with customers not only can indicate and drive the success of a company, but can be an identity differentiator (how others remember them with).
"All you need to remember are two things about my company," says Prakash contently, "every customer is reference-able and every customer is a repeat customer."
Isn't that something?
For Estuate to achieve this, the Estuate team has to bring significant value to their customers. Customers “value” what is different (be it service, be it product, and be it price if nothing else), and Estuate stays true to its motto: Extreme service.
Of course building an identity (of Extreme service) is not about what you say, but about what you do and the assessments that is triggered. It is about how customers perceive how they are greeted at the first meeting, about how their issues and problems are handled with professionalism, and about how they feel the door is still open for future business even after they decided to go with someone else for the time being... and throughout this journey, the customer needs perceive and value your difference. All of this assumes there is a compelling offer: in Estuate's case, partnerships with Oracle (http://solutions.oracle.com/partners/kini) and IBM (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/lowerdatabasecosts/estuate.html), as well as team's deep experience form the Estuate edge.
The perceived difference that is valued (by the customers) is referred to as marginal utility in economics. Marginal utility doesn’t stay… competitors are there to neutralize marginal utility all day long. So to stay competitive in the game (to continue to have customers "frequent" your shop), one has to continue to identify the new marginal utility, perhaps instead of trying to figure out why something that used to work no longer works.
So... what is your Marginal Utility to your customers? How do you plan to continuously improve it to drive success?
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Good Time for Investment Opportunities?
Recently a friend reached out with an opportunity to invest in a social media company that impact business metrics. It is time for interested investors to help expand their footprint and offers to the market.
Some questions come to mind: what's the current valuation of the company? Any plans for series X financing? What about terms of conversion for any convertible note? Discounts? Caps?
http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/category/convertible-note-bridge-financing/
Is there a "pivot" - refocusing the company based on the description now and description of it at the beginning?
So a loaded question would be is this good time to invest in such opportunities (is there a good time)?
Recently a friend reached out with an opportunity to invest in a social media company that impact business metrics. It is time for interested investors to help expand their footprint and offers to the market.
Some questions come to mind: what's the current valuation of the company? Any plans for series X financing? What about terms of conversion for any convertible note? Discounts? Caps?
http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/category/convertible-note-bridge-financing/
Is there a "pivot" - refocusing the company based on the description now and description of it at the beginning?
So a loaded question would be is this good time to invest in such opportunities (is there a good time)?
Saturday, July 31, 2010
For Friends Who are Job Searching
Over the past few months several friends and former colleagues reached out to talk about job searching. These often turn from a 10 minute conversation to 30 minutes or much longer. This entry intends to provide a few pointers I have been sharing with each person so that a bit of work can be done up front by the job seekers and save some time for everyone. Keep in mind that I'm not a professional career adviser and face challenges myself whenever I'm in that situation.
First answer a few questions for yourself:
1). Where (physically and career wise) would you ultimately like to be, and what immediate goals are you trying to accomplish?
2). Given those goals, what are the type of jobs that will get you there (you may have to do some search... the roles don't have to resemble your current title/role)?
2). What skills or strengths do you have that will have you stand out with your potential competition, and what gaps/challenges are there?
Now you know the types of role you are going after, check the "general" pay to ensure you want to spend time/energy to polish your resume, write the cover letter, and network to get that first interview. A couple of resources I like are:
http://www.glassdoor.com/ and http://salary.com/
Job searching nowadays often involve the internet as well as your network... LinkedIn has become a popularly used tool... a few articles on this topic would give you a good idea on this (if these links don't work, just do a search on your browser with "LinkedIn job search":
How LinkedIn will fire up your career http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/
Improving the Odds For Changing Jobs http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704913304575371212488670790.html
Within LinkedIn, I suggest people first build out their profiles (start by searching for a few people in the same industry with profiles that look good and model after those). From there, search for jobs that may be of interest. An easy way is to select "jobs" on the upper right and click on "advanced", then isolate the search criteria to <100 jobs to browse through. With each job, you can look for people you may know who work at that company, or people you know who may know someone there. This helps increase your chances of getting your resume to the hiring manager.
Often people complain that they never get a call back, or any kind of response. There may be many reasons for that, but often the hiring manager never even got to the resume because there are so many people applying for it... and a strong candidate who is referred (you may be just as strong) got the interview. Take one example... when I applied to an earlier role via LinkedIn and at the company's job site, I also asked a former classmate who worked at that company to pass my resume to the hiring manager. I was later told that first day the posting went up on LinkedIn, there were 30+ applications, and the fact that I was a referral helped getting my resume looked at, and getting a phone interview within the same week.
Having a strong network on LinkedIn is key for online job search, as the search results are based on your connections. A friend (<100 connections) and I (~1000) did the same query where ~10 postings showed up for her and ~200 showed up for me.
Finally, after some of the prep work is done, make sure your resume and cover letters are crisp and relevant to the job... yes, you need a different cover letter for each application. Resources can help include professional career counselors/coaches, and websites that show samples... and yes, friends, too, but again, they are not professionals the help you receive may not help you get that job you want, and the ROI of hiring a coach may be worth it.
Over the past few months several friends and former colleagues reached out to talk about job searching. These often turn from a 10 minute conversation to 30 minutes or much longer. This entry intends to provide a few pointers I have been sharing with each person so that a bit of work can be done up front by the job seekers and save some time for everyone. Keep in mind that I'm not a professional career adviser and face challenges myself whenever I'm in that situation.
First answer a few questions for yourself:
1). Where (physically and career wise) would you ultimately like to be, and what immediate goals are you trying to accomplish?
2). Given those goals, what are the type of jobs that will get you there (you may have to do some search... the roles don't have to resemble your current title/role)?
2). What skills or strengths do you have that will have you stand out with your potential competition, and what gaps/challenges are there?
Now you know the types of role you are going after, check the "general" pay to ensure you want to spend time/energy to polish your resume, write the cover letter, and network to get that first interview. A couple of resources I like are:
http://www.glassdoor.com/ and http://salary.com/
Job searching nowadays often involve the internet as well as your network... LinkedIn has become a popularly used tool... a few articles on this topic would give you a good idea on this (if these links don't work, just do a search on your browser with "LinkedIn job search":
How LinkedIn will fire up your career http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/
Improving the Odds For Changing Jobs http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704913304575371212488670790.html
Within LinkedIn, I suggest people first build out their profiles (start by searching for a few people in the same industry with profiles that look good and model after those). From there, search for jobs that may be of interest. An easy way is to select "jobs" on the upper right and click on "advanced", then isolate the search criteria to <100 jobs to browse through. With each job, you can look for people you may know who work at that company, or people you know who may know someone there. This helps increase your chances of getting your resume to the hiring manager.
Often people complain that they never get a call back, or any kind of response. There may be many reasons for that, but often the hiring manager never even got to the resume because there are so many people applying for it... and a strong candidate who is referred (you may be just as strong) got the interview. Take one example... when I applied to an earlier role via LinkedIn and at the company's job site, I also asked a former classmate who worked at that company to pass my resume to the hiring manager. I was later told that first day the posting went up on LinkedIn, there were 30+ applications, and the fact that I was a referral helped getting my resume looked at, and getting a phone interview within the same week.
Having a strong network on LinkedIn is key for online job search, as the search results are based on your connections. A friend (<100 connections) and I (~1000) did the same query where ~10 postings showed up for her and ~200 showed up for me.
Finally, after some of the prep work is done, make sure your resume and cover letters are crisp and relevant to the job... yes, you need a different cover letter for each application. Resources can help include professional career counselors/coaches, and websites that show samples... and yes, friends, too, but again, they are not professionals the help you receive may not help you get that job you want, and the ROI of hiring a coach may be worth it.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Schedule Changes: Annoyances and Opportunities
Parents-in-law's visa delays meant a whole slew of changes: change of their international flight tickets, domestic flight tickets upon their arrival, changes to moving logistics...
Could others airlines afford the Southwest model? As long as one does not take the flight(s), those remain as credits for them? Given the recent hikes in random fees, perhaps not... the bigger question is does the Southwest model work in long haul flights, if people just cancel or change their flights without paying that penalty whenever they please? I fly Southwest when I can because I love the flexibility. Is it good business?
Parents-in-law's visa delays meant a whole slew of changes: change of their international flight tickets, domestic flight tickets upon their arrival, changes to moving logistics...
Could others airlines afford the Southwest model? As long as one does not take the flight(s), those remain as credits for them? Given the recent hikes in random fees, perhaps not... the bigger question is does the Southwest model work in long haul flights, if people just cancel or change their flights without paying that penalty whenever they please? I fly Southwest when I can because I love the flexibility. Is it good business?
Monday, March 29, 2010
Where do You Spend Your Time and Money?
Not surprisingly, many people spend lots of money on "E"... education, entertainment, eating, enjoying, earning, etc. Recently I came across a friend spending quite a bit of money on a personal coach, and another friend spending time recruiting others to join a financial investment group. Whatever happended to plain food, shelter, and clothing? Do we all have enough money saved up (our balance sheet) to ensure sufficient basic needs should something happen to our income?
Most don't think about retirement until retirement is here. This can be an ugly transition if not enough is saved up. With the economy still fragile, more and more articles on retirement and savings have popped up lately, including this WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126912089798665247.html?mod=WSJ_RetirementPl
I smiled when I checked my numbers as they appear to be on-track for retirement (assuming I keep working and saving), then frowned when I realized that I had to divide the number by two to account for both my husband and I... and subtract more if and when we have children.
Friends, before you make the next big purchase, or spend a large chunk of your time doing something, check your numbers and see if you still want to go ahead.
Not surprisingly, many people spend lots of money on "E"... education, entertainment, eating, enjoying, earning, etc. Recently I came across a friend spending quite a bit of money on a personal coach, and another friend spending time recruiting others to join a financial investment group. Whatever happended to plain food, shelter, and clothing? Do we all have enough money saved up (our balance sheet) to ensure sufficient basic needs should something happen to our income?
Most don't think about retirement until retirement is here. This can be an ugly transition if not enough is saved up. With the economy still fragile, more and more articles on retirement and savings have popped up lately, including this WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126912089798665247.html?mod=WSJ_RetirementPl
I smiled when I checked my numbers as they appear to be on-track for retirement (assuming I keep working and saving), then frowned when I realized that I had to divide the number by two to account for both my husband and I... and subtract more if and when we have children.
Friends, before you make the next big purchase, or spend a large chunk of your time doing something, check your numbers and see if you still want to go ahead.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Buying New Car in 72 Hours
Did the dealer take a loss on our new car transaction? I guess there may be an element of truth as the price (before taxes) was below invoice and according to some claims out there (http://blog.truecar.com/?p=107).
While sitting at the Berkeley library waiting for the car brakes to be checked for the nth time (the stubborn high pitch noise just would not go away) last Sunday (2/21), J and I chatted on Skype and realized that at the rate I'm driving, I'm super accelerating the repairs/maintenance schedule for the car. We decided to buy a new car at that moment, and agreed to do it fast. It's last week of Feb, so there's got to be some promotion going on. After some web research on Edmunds.com, kbb.com and test driving at a dealership that very night, we were down to a couple of models, with the occasional light hearted comment of "should we consider xyz model as well?"
By Wednesday early morning, I was half heartedly trying to convince J to consider mini cooper while we were looking at accessories we'd like on a Honda Insight. By 3pm, we had an offer accepted and were ready to get on our way to pick the car up. Note all this was done via the phone and web, during breaks/evenings while not missing a beat at work and school!
Come to think of it, our house buying processes were just as fast and efficient, though there were more elements outside of our control in that case. The learning from these: decide whether to buy, perform focused research, talk self out of regretting later by understanding how prepared I am financially for this decision, and the conditions that would not be acceptable (and be willing to walk away from something) and go at it.
In the mean time, I'm off enjoying my Insight!
Did the dealer take a loss on our new car transaction? I guess there may be an element of truth as the price (before taxes) was below invoice and according to some claims out there (http://blog.truecar.com/?p=107).
While sitting at the Berkeley library waiting for the car brakes to be checked for the nth time (the stubborn high pitch noise just would not go away) last Sunday (2/21), J and I chatted on Skype and realized that at the rate I'm driving, I'm super accelerating the repairs/maintenance schedule for the car. We decided to buy a new car at that moment, and agreed to do it fast. It's last week of Feb, so there's got to be some promotion going on. After some web research on Edmunds.com, kbb.com and test driving at a dealership that very night, we were down to a couple of models, with the occasional light hearted comment of "should we consider xyz model as well?"
By Wednesday early morning, I was half heartedly trying to convince J to consider mini cooper while we were looking at accessories we'd like on a Honda Insight. By 3pm, we had an offer accepted and were ready to get on our way to pick the car up. Note all this was done via the phone and web, during breaks/evenings while not missing a beat at work and school!
Come to think of it, our house buying processes were just as fast and efficient, though there were more elements outside of our control in that case. The learning from these: decide whether to buy, perform focused research, talk self out of regretting later by understanding how prepared I am financially for this decision, and the conditions that would not be acceptable (and be willing to walk away from something) and go at it.
In the mean time, I'm off enjoying my Insight!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Investment Opportunity?
One of the short sales I was following recently closed and another one is pending. Is it still a good time to buy and invest (interest rates are still low and prices have been flat)? A friend offers his step-by-step experience for his local market at http://utahdean.com/. My assessment at this point is unless I spend the time to look for gems and develop a network of people to help (as Dean does), I may be better off saving myself some trouble and put money in REIT funds? Am I missing something?
One of the short sales I was following recently closed and another one is pending. Is it still a good time to buy and invest (interest rates are still low and prices have been flat)? A friend offers his step-by-step experience for his local market at http://utahdean.com/. My assessment at this point is unless I spend the time to look for gems and develop a network of people to help (as Dean does), I may be better off saving myself some trouble and put money in REIT funds? Am I missing something?
Monday, February 15, 2010
TMA - total mass allowance
Recently heard baggage fees are going up again: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/3801089/airline-baggage-fees-chart-updated/, and also came across a friend's blog on "Unbundling of Baggage Fees": http://unbundling.wordpress.com/
This reminds me of my experience and conversations on Ryanair's everything charged a-la-cart model. I like my stuff, and carry my essentials everywhere I go. If we buy plane seat by the number, wouldn't it make sense for each seat to have allotted weight... not all bags are packed equal, some little carry-on's weigh a ton. Wouldn't be easier for the airline to manage load/balance by having everyone checking in stuff to step on the scale with their stuff (under x kg/lb is included with the seat purchase, and extra charge after that)?
Recently heard baggage fees are going up again: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/3801089/airline-baggage-fees-chart-updated/, and also came across a friend's blog on "Unbundling of Baggage Fees": http://unbundling.wordpress.com/
This reminds me of my experience and conversations on Ryanair's everything charged a-la-cart model. I like my stuff, and carry my essentials everywhere I go. If we buy plane seat by the number, wouldn't it make sense for each seat to have allotted weight... not all bags are packed equal, some little carry-on's weigh a ton. Wouldn't be easier for the airline to manage load/balance by having everyone checking in stuff to step on the scale with their stuff (under x kg/lb is included with the seat purchase, and extra charge after that)?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
In light of all the flight cancellations last week in anticipation for the big snow storm in the east coast, I wonder if there would be a way for the airline to play matchmaker for customers who would willingly give up seats to those who really need them... for the right price.
In my specific case, due to the cancellation of BOS->OAK 7:05pm flight on 2/11, I was rescheduled to 2/13 (thanks to AMEX travel that was on hold with Jetblue for about an hour). I proceeded to try flying standby on anything and everything on 2/11 without success to get back in time for a Lunar new year celebration on 2/12. I ended up purchasing a ticket with United (BOS->LAX) and another one with Southwest (LAX->OAK) to get back in time.
With this unplanned flight change and additional night of hotel stay, the extra cost ran ~$1200 for the return trip alone. As I checked in for my United flight in BOS at 5:45am on 2/12, the line for Jetblue extended all the way to security check areas.
This is the ultimate logistics nightmare: there was very little snow in Boston but much of the city was shut down on 2/10 and 2/11; conditions on 2/11 was fine for flying, but cancellations continued partly due to planes grounded in other locations.
"There were more cancellations than on 9/11."
"This is a super busy travel weekend."
"Our (Jetblue) system was recently changed."
If there had been someone on the 2/11 BOS->SFO 5:40pm flight (the one I could've booked back when I booked the flight, but opted to book BOS->OAK 7:05pm instead) who did not mind leaving on 2/13 instead (to take my seat), I would have gladly paid for such a switch.
Two questions: would it be appropriate for the airline (Jetblue in this case) to facilitate such a process in this type of situation? This looks like a business opportunity where we have willing buyers, willing sellers (assuming some don't mind giving up their seats), and an airline who may benefit by charging a modest transaction fee...
In my specific case, due to the cancellation of BOS->OAK 7:05pm flight on 2/11, I was rescheduled to 2/13 (thanks to AMEX travel that was on hold with Jetblue for about an hour). I proceeded to try flying standby on anything and everything on 2/11 without success to get back in time for a Lunar new year celebration on 2/12. I ended up purchasing a ticket with United (BOS->LAX) and another one with Southwest (LAX->OAK) to get back in time.
With this unplanned flight change and additional night of hotel stay, the extra cost ran ~$1200 for the return trip alone. As I checked in for my United flight in BOS at 5:45am on 2/12, the line for Jetblue extended all the way to security check areas.
This is the ultimate logistics nightmare: there was very little snow in Boston but much of the city was shut down on 2/10 and 2/11; conditions on 2/11 was fine for flying, but cancellations continued partly due to planes grounded in other locations.
"There were more cancellations than on 9/11."
"This is a super busy travel weekend."
"Our (Jetblue) system was recently changed."
If there had been someone on the 2/11 BOS->SFO 5:40pm flight (the one I could've booked back when I booked the flight, but opted to book BOS->OAK 7:05pm instead) who did not mind leaving on 2/13 instead (to take my seat), I would have gladly paid for such a switch.
Two questions: would it be appropriate for the airline (Jetblue in this case) to facilitate such a process in this type of situation? This looks like a business opportunity where we have willing buyers, willing sellers (assuming some don't mind giving up their seats), and an airline who may benefit by charging a modest transaction fee...
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