Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Customer Hype

I guess I need to introduce the background before I start this post. I work for a start-up and am trying to generate some for my company through a few projects.

Lately, I've been noticing a trend in customers' behavior(at least among those I meet). Most of the customers that I reach out to for a project proposal ,presentation or initial discussions, seems to create a lot of hype about his knowledge of the internet and web and the technologies involved to develop a web application. He/She boasts about their knowledge of web much before Google started or how they've learnt using email much before I knew it or how even with a lack of programming skills or experience with a technology firm , they understand the intricacies involved in developing a functionality. Then there's another kind that simply thinks software isn't real estate or a factory, so it should be pretty cheap. As cheap as his monthly electricity bill.

All they want to say is - "We've seen it all"

All this seems to me as a ploy to indirectly tell me that - "Hey, I know what the hell you are trying to do and I very well know how much time it takes and how much it costs. So , beware, don't fool around with me".

Now, how do I get a customer out of this mindset and tell him that I'm there to help him and not milk him? Iam struggling at that.
Tough thing aye !!

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