Take Your Developers with You

When was the last time your developers spent time in front of your customers? If you’re like most of the business owners I work with, you probably think that the job of meeting with customers is your job, or maybe the product manager’s job.

Product managers define it. Developers build it. Right? Um, no.

When you don’t put your developers directly in front of customers, they often don’t get to hear the unfiltered truth about the product. Important details or nuance get lost in translation, or the developer doesn’t get to see the user struggle to use what they’ve built.

Secondarily, it’s great to get everyone “out of the building” every now and then. Getting a free lunch on the company or perhaps even taking a trip to a new city can be a great way to reward team members.

Last, and perhaps most important, it knocks down walls between the different areas of your company. Developers realize that not all sales reps (or customers) are idiots, and sales reps get to know the people who are building the product.

Just Remember

Getting your developers out to meet with your customers is critical to your success, particularly in the early going. Don’t make the mistake of sequestering them in a dark room and throwing food under the door. Developers are people, too.

Your Assignment

The next time you’re doing customer discovery, drag at least one of your developers along with you to the meeting.

If you’ve got big customers who are important, take a road trip and bring your developers along to meet with them.