Autodesk does NOT want you to know this...

Autodesk does NOT want you to know this…

I am a representative for a prominent Autodesk reseller, and I am about to tell you about a program administered by Autodesk that they do NOT want you to know about. Giving you this information puts my career in jeopardy. If Autodesk finds out who I am, they will most certainly put an “embargo” on my employer listing me as the culprit in their report and costing my employer thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Why would I take this risk? Because both I and my employer take great pride in our honesty and integrity, and Autodesk’s program forces us to be subversive with our clients. It is my sincere hope that revealing the truth will force Autodesk to rethink what they call the “ACE” program.

Autodesk maintains that the ACE (Autodesk Customer Engagement) program has nothing to do with the price that you pay for their software. The reality… the program can cost you $500 or more per seat of software that you purchase. Here’s how it works.

When a reseller begins working with you, they register a new ACE opportunity and send your personal information to Autodesk along with details of the deal that they are working on. Autodesk then sends you an email under the guise of a customer engagement survey asking you to confirm that you are working with the reseller and that you are happy with your experience so far. The email has two buttons… “YES” or “NO”. Pretty harmless, right? Wrong.

The details vary a bit from reseller to reseller, but here is the bottom line if you are doing business with me. If you click “YES”, I will sell you a seat of AutoCAD Inventor 2010 for $4,795. If you click “NO”, I will sell you that same seat of AutoCAD Inventor 2010 for $5,295. What’s worse is that whether you click “YES”, “NO”, or ignore the “survey” all together, all other resellers cannot sell you the same software for less than $5,295 without dramatically reducing their profit margin.

Basically, by clicking “YES”, you are giving me special pricing from Autodesk that allows me to sell you the software for less without sacrificing my profit margin. Of course, I can’t tell you that, but you will hear me say, “We will get that quote to you as soon as we can. By the way… would you mind responding to that Autodesk survey that they sent you?”

So what is Autodesk’s official stance on the whole thing? Here is an excerpt from the Autodesk ACE Handbook that is distributed to all salespeople at Autodesk authorized resellers.

“Definition of the ACE Program... ACE is designed to provide customers and prospects with a mechanism to provide feedback about their experience throughout the sales consideration process. Any feedback is directed back to you, the reseller, to provide you with crucial information directly from your customer.” – Autodesk ACE Handbook

Just make sure that your feedback is the “YES” button or it may cost you.

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