Compound Thinking

Marketing and Sales for Programmers

Most programmers (myself included) have an innately negative reaction to marketing and sales. Recently Philip Eby blogged about how his natural reaction to a particular marketing technique was so negative that he was literally afraid of the way he would be perceived if he used it. And the fact of the matter is that, in the minds of many of us marketing has become synonymous with mind games, manipulation, and outright dishonesty.

The other day we had an emergency need for a new parallel printer cable, which I went to pick up at a local electronics mega-store. Somebody greeted me at the door, asked what I was looking for, and helped me find it right away.

I knew I was going to pay some insane 1000% markup over the actual cost of the cable, but since we needed to get the printer running right away, I was willing to pay it. Sure enough the cable that I could have bought at buy.com for 5.99 was 34.95. But I needed the cable, and the salesperson was very helpful, so I was happy about the experience.

But then the salesperson tried to sell me a three year extended warranty for the cable! She told me that the didn’t work on commission (which I know is true). But she didn’t say they get an “incentive” every time they sell a warranty. I pointed out that the box for the cable said “Lifetime Warranty” and she responded by telling me that the manufacturer would never honor the warranty.

This girl had her pitch down cold. She flirted a bit, looked hurt when I didn’t buy the warranty, and pulled every trick she could to do what her employer told her she should. It didn’t work, but I’m sure she sells a lot of extended warranties.

It would be easy to think that means that success in sales and marketing is determined by how many unethical games you are willing to play.

Don’t get stuck with the sucker’s choice between “honesty in marketing” vs “effectiveness in marketing.” You can be honest about your product, passionate about what it can do for your customers, and effective in getting the right message to the right people at the right time.

I needed the cable, and the salesperson at this particular mega store was about to sell one of the highest margin items in the store. She could have turned this into an opportunity to make money, and provide an experience that would make me want to come back. But she did what she was told, she tried to sell me something I don’t want, need, or care about.

The key is to sell things that your customers will actually value. Then your marketing plan isn’t a game or a trick, it’s a free service. You are helping people find things they care about. Software that makes them more productive, software that allows them to connect with their friends more regularly, or software that helps them make a difference in the world.

Fundamentally I think programmers, project managers, and marketing people have to all be on the same team — creating things that make people’s lives better, and helping those people find that software so their lives can start getting better.

The whole team should be focused by user stories. Before you have users, tell stories about how you will help them, when you have users, gather their stories and tell and retell those stories. ake an actual difference in real people’s lives — that’s the stuff of great software and great marketing.