In the software industry, I believe there is often a somewhat strenuous relationship between developers and salespersons. Yet, there is often a perceived symbiotic relation between them. The developers develop and the salespersons sell. One couldn’t exist without the other.
So far so good. Let’s assume (and hope) for a while that a salesperson is actually better at selling software than a developer. That’s good, right? The developers can focus on development and the salespersons can focus on selling. Everyone’s happy. Where does it go wrong then? When the salesperson also decides on new features.
Features sell. Promises sell. The more a salesperson sell, the more successful he/she will look. After a salesperson has successfully sold a new feature, the torch is passed over to the unknowing developers who can do nothing but nod their heads and start implementing the requested features. After all, the features have already been sold.
Now, most things are — fortunately — possible to do. But there are still at least two problems:
- Salespersons cannot give accurate time estimates because they do not know what they are talking about.
- Developers get frustrated because they do not really want to implement some salesperson’s idea and then the famous torch gets passed on to someone else.
It does not have to be like this and I know that in many companies, developers actually have a say in what features are feasible to implement. But I have a feeling that as soon as a company grows and the distance widens between developers and salespersons, problems will arise. That’s why we do not necessarily want to grow — at all.
Hmm, I actually wanted to write a blog post about how awful it is to be disturbed in one’s work due to supporters with frustrated customers on the phone. But there you have it. I added supporters to the rant in one sentence.
I need to laugh more.