The world is full of software development companies that hope to make it big. However, take a look at the kind of feedback that clients have, and you’ll discover that coding and delivering a reliable software package is far from a smooth experience.
The entire process is rife with areas that can trigger a host of issues if everyone isn’t giving it their 100%. From bugs and communication failures to missed deadlines, software development for clients is often messy.
That said, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to put out projects that have clients repeatedly leaving positive feedback. With a little guidance and experience, this is very possible. So, in this post, let’s quickly explore three ways to orient your development to maximize client happiness.
#1: Ensure You Incorporate Quality of Life Features
Two of the skills that you want to develop when interacting with clients who want something designed are interpretation and prediction.
Not all clients come with specific requirements about what they want. Many of them choose to hire an ISV because they want you to handle all the decisions.
A happy client is one who hopes you will be a mind reader and know exactly what they are looking for. The good news is, that it’s not that difficult to predict with some degree of accuracy the kind of features and design choices a client will want.
Say they have contracted you to design a client portal package for their business. The features they expect are fairly straightforward. Login, data tracking and management, appointment scheduling, etc.
However, one feature that you might overlook is some sort of billing or payment system in case the client wants to sell something through the portal.
This is where those predictive skills come into play. Empowering ISVs with essential payment features is an obvious step that any CEO or owner of a software vendor company should have focused on already. Customers expect ISVs to provide their end users with some sort of integrated payment functionality.
#2: Bring Your A Game When Communicating
One of the biggest complaints that clients have when hiring an ISV is the communication experience. This is also made a little more complicated when the ISV is based in a different country with employees who aren’t familiar with the client’s communication style.
However, even when dealing with clients from the same country and everyone speaking the same language, issues still arise. This isn’t always the fault of any one party. Programming for a specific requirement is not always easy.
Some problems can be highly technical, and explaining them to the client in a manner that they understand can be a frustrating experience. No matter how annoying it can be, stay respectful.
It’s best to find ways to ensure problems and unnecessary back and forth are mitigated by having a solid understanding of the project requirements at the start.
This means being willing to ask a lot of concise questions and focus on open-ended probes. If you ask questions that only yield “yes” or “no” answers, the client doesn’t get a chance to clarify what they are looking for.
#3: Learn From Your Mistakes
While it’s tempting to always want to blame a bad experience on a client being unreasonable, there might sometimes be two sides to the story.
If a client is disappointed and dissatisfied with the final product, conduct an AAR and find out what went wrong.
It might seem like a waste of time since you may want to move on to the next client, but it’s worth putting some effort into this. As with any after-action review, the four aspects to focus on would be:
- What was expected?
- What actually happened?
- What went well?
- What can be improved?
This type of structure allows you to ensure that mistakes become a valuable learning opportunity. AARs are valuable in any situation where you have a specific goal that has been set.
Say the final deliverable met expectations by your client, but the process was plagued with delays and communication breakdowns. Conducting an AAR can help you come up with actionable steps to ensure you don’t repeat the cycle with future clients.
Final Thought
To quickly summarize this, remember that running an ISV can be challenging. Not all the clients you get are going to be understanding and comfortable to work with. You will have your share of contracts where it seems like every single interaction leads to additional problems and issues.
That said, you are only able to grow as a team if you can work with and satisfy both, reasonable and difficult clients.
Remember, try not to take things personally and focus on moving you and your team forward, learning from each experience as you go.