A software services company has 3 main moving parts:
- Delivery
- Recruitment
- Sales
Delivery: impact of agile
More than 21 years ago, the Agile Manifesto was born out of discussions and debates between practitioners in software development.
Since then, agile and Scrum have been used extensively by software services companies to organize and manage their delivery process and teams.
One could argue that this has played a fundamental role in the growth of Central and Eastern Europe software companies over the past 2 decades.
On a global scale, given the ubiquity of access to information, best practices, methods and tools, we can safely assume that the Delivery part is “solved” for software services companies.
Some companies are better than others at the Recruitment part.
What about Sales?
What worked
For many years, a vast majority of outsourcing companies have used the “pick us because of our lower rates” argument to convince customers and win projects.
As quality delivered increased, costs have also gone up and this pricing strategy is less and less effective.
In some cases, it even becomes an obstacle, as low rates mean that they cannot compete on salaries with other companies that are looking to hire software engineers (tech, financial institutions, media, automotive, etc.).
The consequence is that the Recruitment and Delivery models they have built, which have been working so well for many years, are also disrupted.
One possible solution
Value Selling offers one way out of this difficult situation.
Just as Agile offered a clear, actionable, repeatable path forward for the Delivery of software projects, Value Selling is a philosophy and framework that can help software services companies create a more sustainable business model.
The Agile Manifesto is a list of universally accepted principles.
There is no equivalent for Value Selling, but here are 2 different versions, from different sources.
Bob Apollo, a sales practitioner
https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/the-fundamental-principles-of-value-based-selling
#1: focus on the value of solving their problem
#2: be specific about the value you offer
#3: create and capture mutually meaningful value in every interaction
#4: facilitate their buying process, not your sales process
#5: if you can’t contribute distinctive value, qualify out
Hubspot
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/value-based-selling
1. Do your homework.
2. Don’t jump into your sales pitch too early.
3. Communicate how your product provides value to the customer.
4. Focus on teaching instead of selling.
5. Guide the prospect through the buying process.
6. Keep a personable approach.
7. Add value during every interaction.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Success for software development companies doesn’t come only from mastering the delivery and technical aspects of the business.
It also requires a structured and disciplined approach of the sales process.
Value Selling can be a very good starting point for you.