In a world where technology changes at the speed of light, some principles for selling custom software development remain timeless. Discover the enduring sales strategies that have stood the test of time and will set you up for success, no matter what comes next.

As the General Manager and an Account Manager at SSW, I’ve had my fair share of challenges in selling custom software development. It’s a field filled with complexities, risks, and uncertainties. But over the years, I’ve discovered that certain sales principles, when applied with care and understanding, can turn these challenges into opportunities. Let’s explore these principles in detail.

Figure: Cialdini formalised these in his famous book, Pre-suasion, but I’ve put the below in my own order of importance

1. Authority: It’s About Proof, Not Promises

The Importance of Authority: In the competitive field of custom software development, establishing authority is paramount. It’s not about claiming expertise; it’s about demonstrating it through tangible evidence and a consistent track record.

Example from SSW: Over the past 30 years, SSW has been actively creating and curating industry-leading practices on software development and project management. This collection, available at ssw.com.au/rules, serves as a resource for both our team and the broader community. Mentioning this in meetings isn’t merely a talking point; it’s a concrete demonstration of SSW’s authority on the subject.

Further Insights: Authority is also built through case studies that showcase problem-solving capabilities, certifications that align with industry standards, and hands-on expertise in Scrum and software development. It’s about transparency and a willingness to share the process, making clients feel at ease.

2. Reciprocity: More Than Just Freebies

The Power of Giving: Reciprocation is about offering something of value to create a sense of obligation, fostering a more engaging relationship with potential clients.

Example from SSW: At SSW, we’ve taken the concept of reciprocation to heart. Whether it’s through free initial meetings, giveaways like USBs and Notebooks, or providing valuable insights into the latest industry trends, we strive to give before we ask.

Further Insights: Reciprocation goes beyond tangible gifts; it’s about sharing expertise and knowledge, demonstrating commitment to the client’s success, and building a relationship founded on trust and mutual respect. It’s a subtle yet effective way to show potential clients that we understand their needs.

3. Building Trust: Honesty is Our Best Policy

Why Trust Matters: Trust is the cornerstone of any successful business relationship, especially in a field as complex as custom software development. Clients often come with their own set of fears, uncertainties, and doubts (FUD), and addressing these feelings head on is essential.

Example from SSW: In a recent meeting with a potential client, I openly discussed the risks involved in custom software development and how SSW has successfully navigated similar challenges in the past. This candid approach not only built trust but also helped alleviate the client’s FUD by demonstrating our expertise and commitment to transparency.

Further Insights: Building trust is about being open and honest about the challenges and how to overcome them. It’s about showing empathy, understanding the client’s concerns, and providing reassurance through proven strategies and examples. By acknowledging and addressing FUD directly, we can turn potential obstacles into opportunities for connection and collaboration.

4. Solution Selling: Tailoring to Needs

Understanding the Client: Every client has unique needs and pain points. Understanding these and tailoring the pitch accordingly leads to more meaningful connections.

Example from SSW: By focusing on solutions rather than generic services, we’ve been able to resonate with clients on a deeper level. We listen, understand, and create a customized approach that speaks directly to their specific needs.

Further Insights: Solution selling is about empathy and customization. It’s about moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach and crafting a proposal that aligns with the client’s unique requirements and goals.

5. Scarcity & Urgency: Limited Availability and Time-Sensitive Offers

Principle:

Scarcity and urgency are key sales drivers. Scarcity highlights limited availability, while urgency speeds up decision-making. In custom software development, these can be combined for a strong sales pitch.

SSW Example:

Our developers are in high demand for their expertise and quality work. We emphasize:

1. Limited Availability: Our top developers are often fully booked.
2. Time-Sensitivity: Deadlines and project timelines add urgency.
3. Limited-Time Offers: Special pricing or features are occasionally available for quick commitments.

Further Insights:

This isn’t artificial demand; it’s our business reality. Limited availability and time-sensitive offers create urgency, encouraging clients to act quickly for the chance to work with our top-notch team.

Other Sales Principles:

6. Commitment and Consistency: Encouraging clients to make small commitments can lead to larger commitments later on. It’s about building momentum and consistency in the relationship.

7. Social Proof: Sharing testimonials, case studies, or endorsements from satisfied clients adds credibility and demonstrates value.

8. Likability: Building rapport and finding common ground fosters a positive relationship. It’s about connecting on a personal level.

9. Storytelling: Using stories to convey information makes it more engaging and relatable. Sharing success stories or client experiences adds a human touch.

Conclusion

Selling custom software development is a complex and nuanced task. But by applying universal sales principles such as building trust, showing authority, practicing reciprocation, and being candid about the challenges, we can turn potential risks into opportunities. These principles, while illustrated through my experiences at SSW, are applicable across various fields and can be a valuable guide for anyone looking to enhance their sales approach. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting in sales, these insights offer a roadmap to success in the ever-changing landscape of custom software development.

So, at the moment, I’m thinking a lot about how to take advantage of ChatGPT, so I thought I’d map it all out into a blog post to help me crystalise my thoughts. I’m also, of course, using it to help me write this… here goes 🙂

What is GPT-4?

GPT-4 is an artificial intelligence language model developed by OpenAI that has the ability to generate human-like text, translate languages, summarize documents, and perform a wide range of natural language processing tasks. In this blog post, we will explore how you can use GPT-4 to improve your productivity at work and ensure that your employees start using it too.

Writing Assistance 📝

One of the most useful applications of GPT-4 is writing assistance. Writing is a critical aspect of many jobs, and it can be time-consuming and mentally taxing to produce high-quality written content. GPT-4 can help you overcome these challenges by providing suggestions for improving the clarity and tone of your writing. Here are some examples of how GPT-4 can help you write more effectively:

1. Emails: Writing clear and concise emails is essential for effective communication in the workplace. With GPT-4, you can input a few keywords or a rough draft of your message, and it will generate potential sentences or paragraphs that you can use or modify to suit your needs. For example, if you’re struggling to find the right words to express gratitude in an email to a colleague, you can input a few keywords like “thank you” or “appreciate” and let GPT-4 generate potential phrases that you can use in your message.
2. Reports: Reports are a common type of business document that can be time-consuming and challenging to write. GPT-4 can help you save time and reduce the amount of mental energy required to write reports by generating potential sentences or paragraphs based on your input. For example, if you’re struggling to find the right words to describe the results of a study in a report, you can input the key findings and let GPT-4 generate potential phrases that you can use in your document.
3. Presentations: Presentations are an essential part of many jobs, and they require effective communication skills. GPT-4 can help you generate compelling and engaging content for your presentations by providing suggestions for improving the clarity and tone of your writing. For example, if you’re struggling to find the right words to describe a product or service in a presentation, you can input some basic information about the product or service and let GPT-4 generate potential sentences or paragraphs that you can use in your presentation.
4. Web Content: If you need landing pages, or really any content for a web page, GPT-4 can generate great content, tailored for your target audience. Just make sure you include enough parameters into your prompt to make the output generated optimal for your specific case. A generic promp will produce generic content.

Research Assistance 🔍

Research is another critical aspect of many jobs, and it can be time-consuming and challenging to find the information you need to complete your work. GPT-4 can help you overcome these challenges by providing research assistance. Here are some examples of how GPT-4 can help you with research:

1. Article Summaries: Reading and summarizing articles is a common research task that can be time-consuming and challenging. GPT-4 can help you save time by generating summaries of articles based on your input. For example, if you need to read a lengthy article for work but don’t have time to read the entire thing, you can input the article and let GPT-4 generate a summary that highlights the most important points.
2. Related Articles: Finding related articles to support your research can be challenging. GPT-4 can help you find related articles by analyzing the content of the articles you’re interested in and suggesting other articles that are related to the same topic.
3. Keyword Suggestions: Choosing the right keywords for your research can be challenging. GPT-4 can help you by suggesting keywords based on your input. For example, if you’re researching the effects of climate change on agriculture, you can input some basic information about the topic and let GPT-4 suggest keywords that you can use to search for relevant articles.

Customer Service Automation 🤖

Customer service is another area where GPT-4 can help improve your productivity. Automating simple customer service tasks can save your employees time and allow them to focus on more complex issues. Here are some examples of how GPT-4 can help automate customer service:

1. Frequently Asked Questions: Many companies have a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) that customers ask repeatedly. GPT-4 can help you automate the process of answering these questions by generating responses based on the question. For example, if a customer asks “What is your return policy?”, GPT-4 can generate a response that explains the return policy.
2. Simple Inquiries: In addition to FAQs, many customers have simple inquiries that can be handled quickly and easily. GPT-4 can help automate the process of answering these inquiries by generating responses based on the inquiry. For example, if a customer asks “What are your store hours?”, GPT-4 can generate a response that provides the store hours.

Translation 🌐

Translation is another area where GPT-4 can help improve your productivity. Communicating effectively with people who speak different languages is essential in today’s global economy. GPT-4 can help you overcome language barriers by translating text between languages. Here are some examples of how GPT-4 can help with translation:

1. Business Documents: Many businesses have documents that need to be translated into multiple languages. GPT-4 can help you save time and reduce the cost of translation by automatically translating these documents. For example, if you have a product manual that needs to be translated into multiple languages, you can input the manual and let GPT-4 generate translations in the desired languages.
2. Customer Communications: Communicating effectively with customers who speak different languages is essential for providing excellent customer service. GPT-4 can help you overcome language barriers by translating customer communications. For example, if a customer emails your company in a language you don’t speak, you can input the email and let GPT-4 generate a translation that you can use to respond to the customer.

How to Ensure Your Employees Start Using GPT-4 💡

Introducing new technology to your employees can be challenging. Here are some tips to help ensure that your employees start using GPT-4:

1. Provide Training: Make sure to provide training on how to use GPT-4 effectively. This will help your employees feel more comfortable using the technology and make them more productive.
2. Set Expectations: Let your employees know how you expect them to use GPT-4. This will help ensure that they use it in ways that align with your business goals.
3. Offer Incentives: Consider offering incentives for employees who use GPT-4 effectively. This can help motivate them to learn and use the technology.
4. Lead by Example: Make sure to use GPT-4 yourself and share your experiences with your employees. This will help demonstrate the value of the technology and encourage your employees to use it too.
5. Share Wins: When someone has a big win using it, let everyone else know, so that they can emulate the behaviour.

Conclusion

GPT-4 is a powerful technology that can help improve your productivity and save you time. Its writing assistance, research assistance, customer service automation, and translation capabilities can all be invaluable assets for businesses. However, introducing new technology to your employees can be challenging.

By providing training, setting expectations, offering incentives, and leading by example, you can ensure that your employees start using GPT-4 effectively. With the right approach, GPT-4 can become an integral part of your company’s technology stack and help you stay ahead of the competition.

Chris Voss is the expert on this topic, and I highly recommend his book “Never split the difference: Negotiate as if your life depends on it”.

Most people go into a negotiation assuming that it is a zero sum game, and that their opponent in this win-lose encounter is the adversary. The best negotiators, on the other hand aim for a win-win solution, and enlist the help of their negotiating opponent in battling the situation instead.

Your main goals should include:

• Doing all you can to show the other side that you are negotiating in good faiths
• Becoming genuinely interested in what drives the other side
• Building trust-based influence through the use of tactical empathy, or deliberately influencing the other side’s feelings
  • Aim to deactivate negative feelings and magnify positive feelings

Tone of Voice

Combative negotiators will often use an assertive tone of voice, and this often just gets your opponent off side. Instead, use a mix of these 2:

• Playful/accommodating
  • This is the voice of a bear of truths delivered gently
  • It promotes collaboration
  • Use it approximately 80% of the time
• Late night FM DJ
  • Use when they’re upset or agitated
  • Soothing, downward inflection
  • Use to highlight an unalterable fact

If you can nail the right tone, you’re that much closer to building trust-based influence and moving together toward a great deal.

Mirroring

This is the conscious repetition of your counterpart’s words. Mirrors are designed to show the other side that you’re listening to them and understanding them.

Example:

• Your negotiating partner: “I’ve had a really difficult year, and it seems like you’re discounting all of the financial and personal stress I’ve been under.”
• You: “Financial and personal stress?”

Mirroring is a rapport-building technique with wide applicability. It works as well at cocktail parties as it does during hostage negotiations.  Mirroring can be an effective means of quelling the often reflexive hostility of confrontational people.

Mirroring can also be used to gather intel. Using it will lead your counterpart to not only repeat themselves but to elaborate and offer additional details. This expands what you know about them and their position.

Labelling

Labelling is used to give voice to the other side’s feelings.

• It looks like…
• It seems like…
• You look like…

Note that you should avoid the 1^st person here… don’t say “I’m hearing…” or “I think…”. That would only signal that you are number 1 and everyone else is an afterthought. Keep it about them.

Labelling is designed to let the other side know that you understand their feelings, to help build relationships, and to gather information. It can be used both to reinforce positive emotions and to counteract negative emotions.

Example for a negative:

• You: “It seems like you’re finding this project frustrating”

Example for a positive:

• You: “It seems like you’ve been working really hard to make sure this project succeeds”

Dynamic Silence

Leaving a pause for a little longer than feels natural can in some cases help a lot to bring out more information.

Calibrated Questions

Calibrated questions are how and what questions structured for maximum effect. They are designed to change the power dynamic of the negotiation and force consideration of your position into the equation. In other words, they allow the other side to see things from your side of the table and allow everyone to keep their sense of autonomy intact.

Example:

• You: “How am I supposed to do that?”
• You: “What are you trying to accomplish by doing that?”

These questions also help cultivate the illusion of control in your counterpart. They can serve the same purpose as why questions while sounding less accusatory. Why questions tend to trigger a defensive posture.

Accusations Audit

Unexpressed negative emotions never die. They fester like an infection.

In preparing for a negotiation, you’d be well served to perform an accusations audit, during which you’ll create a comprehensive list of all the negative assumptions, thoughts, and feelings you think the other side may be harbouring against you.

Be exhaustive. Your goal is to list all the possible negative emotions and get out ahead of them. You want the other side to come back and say, “Hold on, you’re being too hard on yourself.” This would be an ideal response, as now your opponent is showing empathy for you.

Yes and No Questions

When it comes to a line of questioning, there are three types of yes answers :

1. Yes as a commitment (used to agree)
2. Yes as a confirmation (used to affirm commitment)
3. Yes as counterfeit (used tactically by someone who doesn’t trust you, feels trapped, or wants you to go away)

Often, a no can be much more valuable than a yes. In certain circumstances, people feel safe and protected by a no.

So, a question like:

1. “Is this a good idea?” may be better phrased as “Is this a ridiculous idea?”
2. “Can you agree to do it this way?” could be better presented as “Do you think it’s unreasonable if we can both agree to take things in this direction?”

When answering a yes question, people are going to feel that every piece of information they provide is another commitment to be made. By contrast, a no relieves them of the sense that they may have just surrendered their entire negotiating position.

And don’t forget that no is equally valuable to your own cause. After saying no, use dynamic silence to let it sink in, demonstrating to your partner that you stand by your word.

Defeating Fear of Loss

One of the primary negative emotions that can derail a negotiation is the fear of loss. Neuroscience teaches us that fear is a dominant factor in human decision-making. Use your skills to try and figure out what the other side is scared of losing.

Know that people will begin to talk about a deal being “fair” once they feel backed into a corner. Fairness, in this moment, becomes the end all/be all of the negotiation. People will even walk away from a good deal if they feel like they’ve been treated unfairly.

If you get the sense that the people across the table think you’re being unfair, encourage them to speak their minds about it. Then ask for a few examples of how you’ve allegedly been mistreating them. You may find that the other side’s idea of fairness will result in something that’s totally unfair for you. The key to negotiation may be deference, but that doesn’t equate to subservience.

Do whatever you can to deactivate this fear of loss—remember your mirrors and labels—and keep your negotiation grounded, collaborative, and positive.

Bargaining Strategies

When negotiating, it’s always best to steer clear of a bargaining situation. But sometimes it’s unavoidable. Below are the stages of the Ackerman system. It’s paramount to employ tactical empathy between each round:

• Establish a target price for the goods you want to buy.
• Make an initial offer at 65 percent of your target price.
• Assuming no deal, raise your price by 20 percent.
• Assuming no deal, raise your price by 10 percent.
• If still no deal, raise by another 5 percent.
• Your final offer should be an odd number, and you should be prepared to include some non-monetary compensation to show them you’re committing all of your available resources.

Body Language and Speech Patterns

We all have one way of telling the truth. If you can identify how your counterpart looks and sounds when he or she is being honest with you, then you’ll be able to detect any deviations from that pattern that may signal a lie. Keep the following in mind:

• The Pinocchio Effect
  People who are being dishonest tend to use more words and effort than necessary to communicate their point.
• The 7-38-55 Rule
  In interpersonal communications, 7 percent of a person’s effort is conveyed via spoken words, 38 percent by tone of voice, and 55 percent through body language.

When you’re at the negotiating table, pay attention to how people speak and act. Do the words they’re saying match up with the way they’re carrying themselves? Look at the people who are not talking—what does their body language signal to you? People who are being sincere don’t typically calculate their body language. The opposite is true of people who are being dishonest.

If you sense people are being deceitful, deploy a label using your inquisitive inflection: “It seems like I’ve missed something here?” A lie indicates that the other side is afraid to tell you the truth—they perceive you as a threat. In short, you’ve just encountered more negative emotions to be deactivated. To help defuse them, revert again to the late-night FM DJ voice, avoid all traces of accusation, and get your counterparts to drop their guard.

There’s a filter I try to use every day to make sure I’m maximizing the effect my work is having on the business. It’s called the 80-20 rule, or the Pareto Principle.

The theory states that

• 20% of your customers will give you 80% of your revenue
• You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time
• You use 20% of software features to get 80% of the value of that software
• 20% of the population control 80% of the wealth
• 20% of the players in a sports team create 80% of the wins
• You spend 20% of your time to produce 80% of your day’s output
• And the one we really care about today: 20% of the effort you make produces 80% of the results

It comes down to whether you use your time efficiently or effectively. AKA working smarter, not harder.

Efficiency

You may spend a busy day getting a lot done, ticking off a lot of tasks, having a lot of meetings, and finishing the day thinking, “I used my time efficiently today and got a lot done”. You give yourself a pat on the back and think you did well, but did you actually do anything useful today? Or did you just complete a bunch of stuff that didn’t really matter.

Effectiveness

Instead, take some time at the beginning of the day to work out which of the tasks on your plate really matter. Which ones will unblock others and allow them to get more done. Which will have a disproportionate result on the business. Over time you’ll be able to work out a hierarchy of work, allowing you to do it in the right order every time without having to think too hard about it. You may find that you end up getting fewer tasks done in a day, but the ones you did were important, and really made a difference.

This past year has been surprisingly busy for IT professionals. When COVID hit, we all battened down the hatches, expecting a potential business downturn. However, within a month, a wave of new business hit our doors, as companies realized they needed to be able to offer their services online to stay relevant.

This, of course, was also the point that we had sent everyone to work from home, and since our main point of difference from overseas development houses was our locality and communication skills, this was a risk for us. The solution was to make sure our consultants were able to be as effective as possible while working remotely.

If you are facing the same challenge, here are some tips:

Webcam and mic

The experience of speaking to someone on a video call can range from terrible to excellent, depending on a few things.

If the webcam and mic on their laptop is not up to the job, get them an external webcam. Even a simple Microsoft Lifecam for AUD $100 is usually sufficient and has a decent inbuilt microphone.

If you want to one level higher, you can fork out $600 for a full Marantz Turret with a high quality camera, mic, and light. However, be aware that this will not be centered with their screen, so often they will not look like they’re looking at the camera.

 

Video call background

A good background separates people who look like they were forced to work from home and those who can thrive there. It’s not always possible to do all of these, but in a perfect world you do as many of the following as possible:

1. Keep it tidy. A messy background can be distracting
2. Close doors and cupboards
3. Possibly use a screen behind you – ideally with company colours
4. Digital background options
   1. Blur – simple and effective
   2. Take a photo from where your webcam usually is at your desk at work and use that as your digital background

Touch base

We take general office banter and water cooler talk for granted and, although some of us feel like we spend all day on Teams calls, you should remember that there is another extreme for people who do not get to talk to anyone all day.

Make sure everyone you’re managing is part of a team and do at least a Daily Scrum call to check in with each other each day. If you’ve got people who are not part of a larger team, consider having a daily check-in call for those people yourself. No one should be left without any human contact for days at a time as it can be isolating and demotivating.

Think “Remote first”

In the instance you have some people co-located, and 1 or more people remote, it’s best to prioritise the remote people as much as possible. They are missing out on the body language and non-verbal cues that the rest of you will enjoy, and they will not be able to hear any muttered back channels, so whenever someone talks, make sure they talk towards the mic.

Daily Scrums

Even if you don’t usually use Scrum to manage your staff, Daily Scrums are a very valuable tool to quickly touch base with your team and make sure they’re on track, both with how much they’re getting done each day, and whether their understanding of the project priorities line up with yours (i.e. what order the work is done in).

Ideally you can use something like Azure DevOps to prioritise and track work items, but even a free tool like Trello can work in a pinch.