Sales are good for you!

Dedicated to Sales people and Software Developers

DisclaimerI’m mostly a software developer. Or, at least, this is how I’d like to be recognized.I have been a technical sales / pre-sales engineer / delivery manager. Ok, no more buzzwords.Yes, I can actually code in Java, Python, Groovy, etc …

The truthLet’s be honest: developers don’t like sales people. They look at them as necessary evil.Sales people don’t understand developers at all. They better understand their wife / husband than a software developer.But... The sad (?) reality is we often have to work together.

How developers see sales people?

How sales people see developers?

How sales people think about themselves?

How sales people are actually perceived?

Who all developers think to be?

Who developers actually are?

Sales for developersSales activities are vital components of your profession, like it or not.You are already selling when:

You send a CV.Apply for a job.Go to a job interview.Pitch your ideas / products / abilities.

Without sales…Nobody buys your services.Nobody knows about your company / product.You are probably going to be unemployed or underpaid.

You are already “selling”, aren’t you? Marketing yourself, through many channels

If you are not selling…You are probably just blaming colleagues, your company, the market, the society, the whole universe to be unfair with you.“Why the world can’t auto-magically acknowledge how brilliant and intelligent I am?”

Too old for moods!

If you are self employedYou know that you have to sell you services, right?It means you already had to undress you pyjama and went out to meet actual customers, I guess.You prepare quotes and send invoices, don’t you?

If you are an employeeYou must learn how to create a fruitful relationship with sales and marketing people.You should better learn how to leverage their knowledge and skills for your reciprocal interest.You must understand how your company makes money, because your salary doesn’t fall from the sky, believe me.

To be honestI think a good sales person should earn a lot of money (yes, even much more than you and me!).Very good developers are hard to find but......Good sales people are even a scarcer resource (believe it or not).

Why?!?Because a good sales person knows how to scale!They can multiply market share, customers and visibility (it means also your money, did you know?).This allows your company to pay your salary.Yes, developers create the software: but without somebody selling it then it will stay on the shelf.

SurpriseDo you know who actually have been some of the best sales people ever?Be prepared...

...Software developers!

Instructions for sales peopleWe, developers, are just human being, almost like you (can you believe this?).No, we don’t convert coffee into code (it is an urban legend, really).No, we don’t like to work almost for free, including weekends.

By the wayNowadays some developers are earning an awful lot of money, especially in some workplaces

Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, ...So, show us some respect, salesman!

But I digress… Let’s go to the point

Talk to us, sales!Explain to us what are yours and company’s targetsYou have a business strategy, don’t you? Developers are smart, tell us why, when, who and how.How can we help you with OUR customers? Yeah, those are not only YOUR customers.For God sake, before selling something we don’t have, ASK!

It is all about passionDevelopers are mostly motivated by passion and intellectual interests, less by money (unbelievable, isn’t it?)It doesn’t mean we can live by just fresh air and some pats on the back, received?If you can show your respect and passion, we can finally better understand you (maybe, who knows?)

Yes......I’m a software developer but I know how sales and marketing work, trust me.I am happy to work with you as soon as you don’t treat me with superficiality and condescension.We can definitely make a lot more money together, think about it. And having some fun, also (yeah).

info@maurizioturatti.com

http://www.maurizioturatti.com

https://twitter.com/mkj6

Thank you!