Category: Seven Figure Software

What kind of results can you guarantee?

In a past post I referred to some podcasts on value, value pricing and software development. Michael had a few questions about the podcast. These are deep questions so I thought it would be fun to answer them in a video format where I can talk through the considerations and my response.

The second question from Michael:

What kind of results can you put in your proposals in a way that lets you put your guarantee under it and be 99% sure you will hit the results?

What if there are factors contributing to the the results that are not under your control? Do you usually measure the results in units like hours saved, new customers aquired etc. or more like “employees are able to do X with an effort no more that Y per week while processing Z number/percent of widgets more than before”.

Here’s my response:

When does a paid discovery project make sense?

In a past post I referred to some podcasts on value, value pricing and software development. Michael had a few questions about the podcast. These are deep questions so I thought it would be fun to answer them in a video format where I can talk through the considerations and my response.

The first question from Michael:

How and when do you recommend charging for a value conversation like in a payed discovery phase?

I am afraid that in the beginning with little practice, conversations digging for the value will lead to repeated long meetings (noooo!) and potentially a big loss of time/money. Sure qualification of prospects is a key factor but still I feel that DISCORVERING the value brings a lot of value in itself for the prospect.

Here’s my response:

Handoff erodes trust

When work is partitioned into intermediate results, results that may or may not lead to a desired outcome, responsibility fractures. In a chain of intermediate results, individuals do their part, like working an assembly line to produce a desired outcome. When the desired outcome involves the application of knowledge in a creative fashion, quality is no longer objective. The work…

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Budgeting should follow, not lead

Most organizations are ensconced with the specious practice of budgeting. It works well as a means to estimate costs and allocate money to make sure costs are covered. In addition to estimating costs, budgeting is often the means by which capital is allocated for potential investments. Often, budgets are established on a yearly basis and capped. Individuals or groups within…

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Coalesce Responsibility

One technique to establish an environment of direct responsibility is for an individual to absorb responsibility with a focus on absorbing responsibility that’s involved in establishing customer needs through to delivering customer results. But it’s not always possible for one individual to do all the work necessary. There often are many skills involved in doing the work to translate customer…

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Passing the torch

There’s no better way to be successful than to hold yourself accountable to the results you’re a part of creating. And not to intermediate results, but the actual end product or service you provide to your customers. In fact, success often entails being responsible for your customer’s success as well as your own. Many organizations struggle to be successful simply…

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Use does not imply worth

It’s easy to conflate the use of something with the worthwhile use of something. In other words, using something in a valuable fashion. Just because somebody uses something, doesn’t mean it provides them with value, let alone more value than it costs. Because value is subjective, I’ll give an example of my own. Email. Something that can be both worthwhile…

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Customer request is not customer value

Just because a customer asks for something, does not mean that what they ask for is actually valuable to them. And even if it’s valuable, it’s another thing to be worthwhile. To be worth more than it costs. When a customer makes a request, they’re starting a conversation. The first part of that conversation needs to be about why and…

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Prioritize based on customer value too

Very few organizations involved in software development, and in many other industries, get to the point where they prioritize the work they do based on the value it will create. Most work is prioritized based on one person’s opinion about what should be done next. It might be something they perceive as important, something that will solve a problem they’re…

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The spectrum of expertise

When you treat learning as an investment, you want to minimize unnecessary efforts. With the advent of the internet, learning seemingly became a free endeavor. You can learn just about anything online. And this is a great opportunity. However, it doesn’t come without a cost, albeit non monetary. You have to have an eye for what is and isn’t applicable.…

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