You’ve been in Enterprise Software for years. What’s the most important lesson you wish you’d learned sooner?

One thing that a lot of engineers, engineering managers and even product managers overlook is that the lessons learned from D2C software (which is what a lot of startups offer) don't automatically apply to enterprise software. For example, I have seen enterprise users reject modern, flashy application interfaces and even ask for their green screens back, because the new applications were built on the wrong assumption that they're supposed to "engage" the user, when in fact, in enterprise, applications are often supposed to let the user get in and out with what they need, so that they can focus on their job. The application is just a tool, it's not meant to "delight" like it would a consumer.

The foundation of customer relationships begins with knowing your customer: what are the decision makers goals, definition of success? How are they measured/compensated? Then move to the company they work for, etc. In the process of getting to know them and their company you must build trust: that you understand them, and their goals, trust them and they will begin to trust you! Always do what you say and the partnership begins!

I think it is important to never assume that you understand your customers challenges… even two customers in similar industries and seemingly similar dynamics often have have very different ways they fundamentally manage their business to be successful… there are always critical subtle differences that need to be addressed in any solution ..

Understand your customer’s situation and try understanding their way of work before attempting to advise any changes. Sometimes, applying best practices is much more difficult than what it looks like to at the first look. And never underestimate the power of experience.

Learning and knowing your customer business in details enable you to swiftly address the pain points, accelerating the adoption and gain the most valuable status of a trustable advisor.

Don't waste your energy working against politics you can not change. Find the 1-3 positive impacts you can make within an organization and focus all your energy there. Don't get caught up in every demand or change. You'll burn out faster than you can blink. Focus on building relationships with your internal clients and support these people in every way possible. Be a supporter of what drives progress within the organization and don't worry about trying to fix every little detail. Use the method of: Once is an incident, twice is a coincidence, three is a trend.

An HBR article, “Culture Is Not the Culprit,” shares research findings: Culture isn’t something you “fix.” Rather, cultural change is what you get after you’ve put new processes or structures in place to tackle tough business challenges. The culture evolves as you do that important work.??Finding from ING’s digital transformation, “… when you change the way you work, you change the routines, you create a different culture.” Rather than talking about changing, we talk about learning. We ask questions like, “How do we learn how to learn? How can I make it safe for others to learn? How can I learn from and with them? How do we, together, establish new behaviors and new ways of thinking that build new habits? And, where do we start?”

Always be the “change maker” not the reactor to change. It’s easy to do the status quo to get by, but the real power play is knowing when to lean into the hard and try something new in order to grow and grow those around you to succeed.

Focusing on adopting and embracing change leads to highly productive individuals and environments. Spend time quickly pivoting where necessary, rather than getting caught up in negativity. You will see faster results and be happier in the process.

I consistently share a crucial insight with every customer: 'Embrace change,' even when it seems daunting initially. Without taking the risk to change and adapt, you might find yourself stuck in the Status Quo. Remaining stagnant not only hinders progress, but it also means falling behind. Meanwhile, your competitors, who are embracing agility and actively exploring innovative ideas for business improvement, can leap years ahead. It's essential to recognize that change is not merely about keeping up; it's about thriving and leading in an ever-evolving business landscape.

Pay the price prior to releasing SW, the return is much greater than finding problems after the implementation of the SW. When you land a new customer quality of experience makes or breaks a relationship!

Quality always matters a lot in adding value to the enterprise software. Identifying the bugs in early stages of development life cycle I.e in testing phase always reduces the cost and improves quality and customer satisfaction. Verification and validation of enterprise software is must to follow to improve quality.

Regression testing, stress testing, fault tolerance is a key area that needs perspective end-to-end. The layers that stack up is tremendous (browser, desktop versions, wireless connectivity, firewall, telcos, dc, application, data, policy, etc). With end users requesting for tablets, notebooks and mobile, these are all different devices with different os, hence that increases the variables multifactors..

Bad code is often insecure code and needs frequent refactoring. So good design and quality saves of the pain to customers and product managers.

Enterprise software vendors are always under pressure for time-to-market and sometimes quality gets compromised. This can be an extremely costly mistake because once you lose credibility with the customers it's very hard to win them back. And quality goes beyond just functionality and user experience. As more and more cyberattacks continue to occur through the software layer, it's super important to build security in through the SDLC. Customers are relying on vendors to provide a software that's free of major functionality bugs and security holes.

People buy from people they trust. Relationship and trust are the only things you can’t transfer or teach. Focus on your long term relationship and not your short term company goals and the business together will come.

Throughout my career, I've come to realize that cultivating meaningful relationships is the key to success. Whether it's with mentors, colleagues, partners, or customers, people are the driving force behind every accomplishment. Embracing curiosity and empathy while actively working to align shared goals has been pivotal. The true essence lies in collaborative efforts to achieve common objectives. I've discovered that these relationships not only propel professional success but also enrich life with unexpected joy and fulfillment.

Relationship is key in every aspect, more so in the enterprise software business, I have personally experienced great value in building relationships, your build trust and liking in the process and even though people move to other organisations relationships survive test of time

In my experience you can have the best idea in the world but unless you find the right people and partners to bring it to reality it will go nowhere. Sharing the concept and dream with trusted partners will allow you to grow and develop.

In Enterprise sales, you rarely win alone but you typically lose deals when you sell by yourself. Selling as a team is a critical skill to learn. Leverage your teammates, your manager, your VP, your pre-sales team, marketing team, and more. They bring a wealth of experience to help you better understand the value your solution can provide to your customer. "If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far go together."

- If you lose a deal because of some small, benign mistake….you didn’t have a chance to win it anyways - If your gut tells you something isn’t adding up it’s ok to be the one to fire a prospect or customer (transparency and trust are everything….again, if you’ve earned it) - The best customers are the ones that “fight up front” asking tough questions and pushing back, but if you’re executing on 5-10 tasks for them and they are at zero…..they’re never going to be a good or great customer long term - Don’t be too hard on people, you have no idea what’s going on in their life and if you do gain their trust then they’ll share almost everything

How you respond to setbacks is a critical factor in what you become in life. Those with a growth mindset that see setbacks as part of a life-long journey of continuous improvement will deepen and broaden their skills over time. Those with a fixed mindset that view setbacks as an indictment will find themselves trapped in a development cul-de-sac.

Building enterprise software can be a complex & challenging process, and it’s not uncommon to encounter mistakes along the way. It’s important to view these mistakes as opportunities for learning and improvement. Learn from mistakes is to conduct a thorough post-mortem analysis of each issue that arises. This involves identifying the root cause of the problem, assessing the impact it had on the project, and brainstorming potential solutions or preventative measures for the future. In addition to conducting a post-mortem analysis, it’s important to establish a culture of transparency and accountability within the development team & creating an environment where individuals are comfortable admitting to mistakes & working collaboratively

Learning from mistakes in enterprise software is crucial for continuous improvement and understanding your customers. Customer Relationship Managers are a key contributor for success due to the fact that they are closer to the business. Analyzing issues, addressing service requests and incorporating feedback from the business contribute to an ongoing improvement and more comprehensive roadmap. It′s one of the most important tasks for customers requests and enhancements.

Everything goes in cycles, nothing is really new. Understand the hype, look back to find similarities. Learn from past trends and apply learnings faster to be more successful during this cycle/

Enjoy the ride, I have been in Enterprise and the Telco space for over a decade and a half. Visited 44 countries. Each international meeting from the airport lounge, to the hotel lobby and understanding the different cultures is all growth and development. Helps you become more cosmopolitan within business.

Enjoy the ride it is fun, and in the sales world you can directly impact your earnings and career by engaging in good and bad situations. It may be hard for some but don't take things too personally and focus on the growth and achievements to make it more fun.....it has always worked for me. You should enjoy what you do or make some course corrections.....

Software sales is tough and rewarding at the same time. It’s a lot of Nos that you learn to overcome with creativity and never giving up. It’s also a chance to really enjoy the ride because not everyone can do this work. It takes someone who can grind it out day in and day out with lots of stressful days but it’s also a chance to stand back once in a while and take it in and be proud of what you’ve accomplished along the way.

There are no two implantations or two equal clients. The continuous learning provided by each of the clients provides personal value and the new incalculable clients.

A common folly in the enterprise software journey is that its just an IT project owned and managed by IT or CIO (esp if the IT / CIO creates such situation for their self importance) ..... such journey must be taken and enjoyed by the entire user community of the organization, that they feel being involved, and part of the decision making and acceptance. The IT or CIO dept is just a co-ordinator / facilitator, but the buy-in must be from the user BUs.

It's not just about landing the deal, it is about landing a customer who will be successful and accelerating their time to value- when doing that- you will grow your business

You’ve got to LOVE the process. Plain and simple. I see many reps starting out in BDR roles and dreading the mundane cold calls and outreach… those fundamentals will take you far in your career. Outside of building skill, they build resilience and character. Once you’re an account executive out in the field - it’s simply the beginning of a new chapter. Never assume you are the master.

When supplying enterprise solutions I learned one very important lesson ... You get one year to implement the solution, one year for the client so start seeing benefits and one year to bring users up to speed... The key thing to remember is they are all the same year.

Debugging skills are more important than programming skills. You will fix more code than you write. Especially in the beginning. Become a better problem finder and problem solver. That will make you a better developer. You'll have muscle memory against the pitfalls.

Deploying enterprise solutions is one thing… however, what we often forget is the transformative change that the organization must go through to adopt their new solutions.