Loading...
Answers
MenuHow to attract more corporate clients if you are a small software development company but have a proven track record?
We are a software development company with only 8 employees but all of us are seniors in different fields. We have developed 2 products from scratch for a big international company with over 35k employee (6-12 months developments). One of them is an app which is mandatory to use for all of the 35k employees. We passed all request from integration with Active Directory, SAP, GDPR, Russian legislation, Penetration tests and a lot of paperwork which are highly demanded if you are working with an international company.
Answers
Great question! This is a similar issue all enterprise-focused companies face, which I've experienced many times.
I'd recommend creating content that leverages your experience:
1. Create detailed case studies about each of your large projects, featuring the customers branding clearly. Seek permission before doing this,
2. Create white papers for each of your key learnings from the project. For example, I'd love to know how Russian law impacted your project - "Developing software that complies with Russian data protection law in 2019'
3. Create short blogs which summarise the white paper, ideally with a video. Offer the whitepaper as a download in exchange for an email.
4. Promote the blog posts on LinkedIn with paid advertising, aimed at your ideal customers.
Happy to jump on a call and discuss how I've successfully used to approach to win customers.
Hi,
Below are my suggested methods. There are many more but I don't want this answer to be too long.
1. Ask your existing client/s for referrals. If they were happy with the work that you did, they should be happy to do so. If you feel the need, offer them a 10%/$X discount on the next project for every client they refer. This is 'win-win-win' situation because you get more clients, they get a discount, and they use your services again.
2. Ask your existing clients for a written recommendation which you can publish on your website + permission to use their logo on your website.
3. Publish as much content as possible on your website - about the projects you've done, potential projects, your fields of expertise (obviously you need to have a professional and trustworthy looking website). each article/post should be about 1.5 pages (Microsoft Word). Make sure the content is focused to your customers (so probably not too technical).
4. create a free 'get a quote tool' - many customers check online to get an estimate of how much the project will cost. If you have an automatic online tool, this can attract a lot of customers. I have personally used such a tool and I was very impressed with the company's website and free tool.
5. Partner with organizations/companies that work with your target clients - for example: I work with lots of entrepreneurs and many of them ask me for referrals to various types of service providers, including programming companies. These companies give me a small percentage of the profits they make from my referrals (of course I only refer to companies which I know and trust as my reputation is worth more than the referral fee).
I've successfully helped over 300 entrepreneurs and will be happy to help you.
Good luck
That's great news about your success so far. I've done enterprise business development for enterprise technology, workflow reengineering, and strategy projects. I've also been on the buying side (part of a $110 million IT budget for a name brand Wall Street firm.)
Given that you have 8 people, I will assume you have to be very focused with your business development time and money. My quick reaction (unencumbered with too much information) is that you should focus on getting warm introductions, direct conversations, and face-to-face meetings. This will take some strategic networking. Sources of network include your team's own relationships, referrals from your happy clients, and any meetings of similar client companies. One piece of marketing collateral worth producing is a one-page case study, highlighting your project, preferably using your client's name. (If you can't get permission, just describe them in general terms.) You can use the piece to focus your story and share with prospects.
That's all I can think of without more context. Set up a call, and I can help you think through business development strategies from the sell side and the buy side.
It is amazing to read how much your company has achieved. To attract the corporate clients as you have talked about, you must sharpen your marketing skills.
The way enterprise technology and software companies need to approach marketing themselves is evolving and it is imperative to leverage tactics that will produce real results. To maximize their investment in marketing initiatives, organizations should look for strategies and tools that have the most potential to engage decision makers by proving that they understand what challenges their target industry faces, that they are a thought leader and have a unique solution that can provide substantial ROI.
Webinars are particularly useful, because by requiring people to exchange their contact information to register, you will be able to build your contact database and engage in marketing or sales activities with those contacts in the future. There are few things more powerful from a technology marketing standpoint than your target buyer saying to themselves, “That solution worked for another company just like ours, so maybe it will work for us to?” That is the point behind client testimonial videos.
You can read more here: https://www.insivia.com/7-key-marketing-strategies-technology-software-companies/
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Related Questions
-
How do we get our clients to give us a personal introduction to other people who are capable of becoming clients?
The one word answer is: ask! Make it a process to systematically ask every client for referrals. Referrals from happy customers are indeed one of the best ways to generate new business. When and how to ask is a matter of taste and practice. Let me give you two examples which apply to B2B. 1. Ask as soon as your prospect has made his buying decision. From Steli Efti, Startup Sales Guide - www.startupsalesguide.com "When a prospect has already made a buying decision, say: Great, but I can’t let you buy just yet. Right now, we are a startup. This means we focus all our energy, time and resources on delivering as much value as we can to our customers. We don’t have a big marketing budget. If you are happy with our product, please recommend us to others who you think might benefit from our solution as well.” 2. Ask when you are about 2/3 of a project, or when you have significantly progressed in the relationship with your buyer. Here is some great material by Alan Weiss: - Asking For Referrals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXJXukZB94s - How to maximize a referral: http://www.contrarianconsulting.com/how-to-maximize-a-referral/ Hope that helps. Put it into practice this week and let us know how it goes!NB
-
How do you determine if a business idea is worth pursuing?
You ask the customers, and gauge their level of interest. Better yet, get yourself in front of some customers, and instead of telling them what you make or do, ask them what they need. When you notice that many of them need the same thing, and if it is something you can make or provide, you then have a business idea worth pursing.DF
-
How can a small offshore development company find companies/software sales people to sell their service in the US/UK?
My company does a lot of consulting with offshore firms who are looking for a way to generate new business, so I hear this question a lot. My first reaction is that you need to totally reverse your mindset when you talk about your own company. You mentioned that you have: a great software developers team, proven track record, passion, real value But, everyone says that. There a 10,000 companies that have those things, so a customer isn't going to notice it. You need to figure out what your company is best at (doesn't have to be technical) and present it as a solution to a specific problem that clients have. Maybe a speciality, or really good project management, really good communications, a special expertise or experience, a personality, experience with a certain type of client.. really anything.. But, there must be some thing that makes your company 'special' otherwise you will be lost in the mix. Don't worry about things like rates, or the fact that you have 'great' developers. Those are generic. Think about why a client would really choose you, and try to build on that! After you understand your company identity, it gets much easier to identify and engage marketing channels because you understand your target.DH
-
How can I go about finding a business partner for my startup?
Hello! Aside from the typical website platforms, I would recommend using Twitter's hashtags and user handles. Try following and using the ones that your potential prospect or otherwise ideal partners would be following and start sharing about your work, your progress, and outreach for a potential partner. If possible try to be local when doing so. But obviously, some to use include Startups.co, Basecamp, Inc 500, yesPHX, BetaBulls, MPV, Lean Startup, Lean Methodologies, TechCrunch, etc.HV
-
What would be a good approach for marketing a software development businesses?
For software development business LinkedIn ads, content marketing and Google Adwords don't work well. The best and most cost effective method is email outreach. Try to find the contacts of key decision makers in Bay Area from your target companies. You want to present yourselves as custom mobile and web development specialists and highlight your core competencies to get an initial call to discuss their mobile strategy or software development needs. Attaching your case studies how you helped other similar businesses and your portfolio can be extremely helpful as well. Try to always focus on the benefits in you pitch that they can get by working with you and point their missed opportunities of not having certain types of software or apps for their business. Clients love that software development companies have not only strong execution but also ideation skills. Hope this helps. If you have any questions I am also available on call for your convenience.AA
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.