Selling to developers

Most dev teams are going to make the technical decision internally. They likely have a process for making build vs buy decisions.

While buying software off of the shelf wasn't as common in the past, it's a quarterly decision for most CTOs these days.

These "build vs buy" decisions often look like a pros and cons list you would build out for decisions in your own life.

It all ends up being an expected value calculation, though devs (individual contributors) sometimes forget a few factors:

  1. Their own time
  2. The overhead of hiring
  3. Bus factor

CTOs know how to account for these and they often do. But individual developers are a bit different — they're mostly focused on the task at hand (what your software does).

The solution:

  1. Ask to help with their build vs buy decision and contribute info you see other companies use
  2. Show them how to use your software

It's really that simple.

Yes, getting budget, figuring out internal politics, understanding their security requirements — these all take time.

But getting the technical win? It's as simple as winning the "build vs buy" decision and making sure they really know how to use your software.

Stay up to date

Don't miss my next essay — get it delivered straight to your inbox.

Related Content