Dear Robert,

   Thank you for considering Pathagoras as a possible solution for your document assembly needs. However, if the attributes listed in the matrix you have asked us to complete truly reflect the features you need in a document assembly program, I am afraid that Pathagoras will come nowhere close to being competitive.

   Pathagoras is a decidedly 'low tech' program. It has few of the non-document assembly features in your list. Its interface is much plainer (missing many of the fancy interface features in the list). The impressive sounding "support for transaction management & decision support in addition to mere document assembly" is not something that we have or do. Indeed, I don't even understand what it means! That is why I didn't think that completing the survey would be useful, and we therefore decline to do so.

   Was this list prepared by staff. Did actual or potential users participate in its composition? Does it reflect true company needs? Or was it drafted by a competitor's sales person. We do urge you to be careful in relying upon the 'comparison chart' in making any decisions if the 'chart' is simply a features list prepared by a competitor's marketing department. These charts tend simply to be 'features lists' which emphasize non-essential aspects of their own product.

   All programs will have many different elements that can be said to set them apart from the others. But many of these features simply do nothing to promote better document assembly. The list you sent is does not appear to be a 'needs' list.

    As you go through the selection process, please consider these core questions: 'Does the program do what you need it to do?' 'Does it do it in a fashion that the system administrator and your end-users will understand?' 'And does it do it in a fashion so that you can readily implement your document assembly goals?'

    If we are out of the running because we cannot answer even a third of the criteria in the list you submitted in the affirmative, then I will understand, and we will gracefully step aside. We have found a very substantial market with our low tech, 'feature-poor,' easy-to-understand product. (Actually, Pathagoras has tons of quite wonderful and useful features. They are just not the kind of features that have been emphasized in the matrix you sent. As one user put it, 'Pathagoras doesn't have a lot of the stuff the 'big guys' say they offer, but it is packed with the features I really need.')

    Let me know if you have any questions for me or if we can arrange some 'strutting our stuff' time. We will use your documents, not the one's that a salesman pre-created. That is how we think we can 'wow' you.