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The day we calculated we had 40 days left earlier than chapter, I noticed we weren’t simply scuffling with gross sales — we had a basic course of downside that was undermining all the things we would constructed.
It was 2014, and our customized software program growth firm had been working for seven years. We had proficient builders, we delivered high quality code and our shoppers have been usually happy with our technical work. But we remained what I might name a “storage firm” — unable to interrupt by to sustainable progress regardless of our technical capabilities.
The technical excellence entice
Like many software program firms based by builders, we would fallen into a standard entice: believing that technical excellence would naturally translate to enterprise success.
We would spent years perfecting our coding practices, studying new frameworks and delivering stable software program options. Our assumption was that good work would communicate for itself. What we hadn’t realized on the time was that our inner processes have been creating friction that technical talent alone could not overcome.
Key warning indicators we frequently ignored:
- Consumer relationships beginning nicely however turning into tense throughout undertaking development
- Working in reactive mode somewhat than a proactive communication
- Working onerous however not getting referrals
- Issue predicting timelines regardless of technical competence
Figuring out course of gaps
We began analyzing our processes systematically and found that certainly one of our large blind spots on the time was shopper communication throughout growth. We have been glorious at understanding technical necessities and delivering options, however we hadn’t developed efficient methods to align with shoppers about progress, setbacks or adjustments.
This created a sample the place shoppers felt disconnected from their very own tasks, and sometimes had unsuitable expectations. In accordance with Challenge.co’s 2025 survey, 68% of individuals have stopped coping with an organization and moved to a competitor on account of poor enterprise communication expertise, but we have been optimizing purely for technical outcomes.
The partnership administration answer
Somewhat than implementing customary undertaking administration methodology instantly, we centered on what we known as “partnership administration” — actively managing shopper relationships alongside technical supply.
Our partnership administration technique included assigning devoted relationship managers to every undertaking, implementing proactive communication somewhat than reactive updates, translating technical realities into enterprise language and vice versa, specializing in alignment somewhat than simply reporting standing and creating templates for widespread eventualities equivalent to scope adjustments, delays and onboarding.
The affect exceeded our expectations. Shoppers started expressing higher confidence in our work, even when tasks encountered technical difficulties.
Making a construction that works
As communication processes improved, we addressed different operational areas that wanted construction. We adopted Scrum methodology however tailored it to incorporate common shopper involvement somewhat than treating it as an internal-only framework.
Key areas we improved included standardizing how we onboard new shoppers, creating constant undertaking kickoffs and milestone opinions, organising clear processes for dealing with scope adjustments and technical points, including common undertaking opinions that included shopper suggestions and monitoring each undertaking supply and the general well being of shopper relationships.
These adjustments helped be sure that each engagement began with a transparent framework and continued with structured checkpoints to maintain tasks on monitor.
We additionally started measuring a broader vary of metrics, together with shopper satisfaction, communication frequency and relationship well being. We have been capable of higher perceive how shoppers skilled our work, determine potential points earlier and strengthen the belief and transparency which can be vital to long-term partnerships.
Overcoming challenges
The transition wasn’t with out difficulties. Some workforce members initially resisted further construction, viewing it as forms.
The important thing was exhibiting how the brand new processes truly made their work simpler somewhat than more durable. We saved programs versatile whereas sustaining consistency, and after we noticed early enhancements, we made certain to acknowledge them. Coaching everybody on the brand new communication and undertaking administration approaches took a while, however individuals progressively noticed the advantages.
What I discovered attention-grabbing was how course of enhancements affected our inner tradition. Having clearer programs diminished day-to-day confusion and freed up psychological house for extra inventive and strategic considering.
Measuring success
The adjustments did not occur in a single day, however we began seeing significant progress that collected over time. Consumer satisfaction improved dramatically, our undertaking timelines grew to become way more dependable, and referral enterprise grew considerably. Our workforce appeared genuinely happier and extra engaged, too.
What began as operational fixes progressively remodeled how we labored. By 2018, we would developed from a struggling storage firm into a company that caught the eye of potential acquirers. Our technical expertise have been nonetheless essential, however it was the stable operational basis — mixed with different strategic enhancements we would made — that basically made us engaging to potential companions.
Ideas for rising software program firms
Our expertise means that course of innovation will be as essential as technical innovation, significantly throughout progress phases.
Listed here are some beginning factors for comparable circumstances:
- Audit shopper expertise from their perspective, not simply technical supply
- Establish communication gaps in your present undertaking workflows
- Implement common check-ins and reporting programs to maintain everybody aligned on progress
- Assign relationship administration duties
- Measure shopper satisfaction alongside technical metrics
- Create templates for widespread eventualities to make sure consistency
Probably the most invaluable lesson could also be that constructing sustainable enterprise processes is itself a technical downside price fixing systematically — it simply requires totally different instruments and approaches than writing software program.
