CEO’s Blog – Don’t spend too much time under the bonnet; remember to drive the car

Web developers are critical to the success of BigChange. They create the products that our customers rely on to build their businesses. They are solving problems every day, and working on new ideas and innovations that will ensure the long-term survival of this company.

Isn’t it strange, then, that the people who are building our technology have next-to-no interaction with the customers who will use it?

Back in 2016, my chief technology officer and I were flown over to Las Vegas by Google. The search giant must have spent a large sum on business class flights and hotels. They took us over there to meet the developers behind Google Maps. It was an incredible experience. We explained which APIs (application programming interfaces) we found useful, and what improvements we wanted to see. They couldn’t believe the things we were doing with their technology, or the sheer volume of APIs we were using.

They published a blog about us, which was great for the company https://cloud.googleblog.com/2016/04/BigChange-Apps-improves-mobile-workforce-productivity-using-Google-Maps-APIs.html

Google is investing in closing the gap between customer and developer and I want to do the same. This is why I am introducing a new initiative at BigChange – our very own ‘meet the developer’ event. Every six months, I will create an opportunity for our super users to come and meet the people who are building our platform.

For the developers, it will give invaluable insight into what they should prioritise, and should spark some great ideas on how to improve our product even further.

For the customers, it is an opportunity for them to see, firsthand, the caliber of our development team. It will also help us to drive home the fact the entire company is working for their benefit.

Customers can be demanding, as they should be. It can be frustrating to make a request and receive an IT ticket – you can feel as though your emails are just going into a black hole. Especially if you don’t see results straight away. I’m hoping that these developer days will humanise the process – our clients will see that there are real people at the other end of the ticketing system.

By connecting every person in our business directly to the customer, my people will be able to see the big picture. I don’t want any of the BigChange teams to be so focused on an app or issue that they lose sight of the users who need it – like a mechanic who spends so much time looking under the bonnet that they forget to drive the car. It’s another step in my plan to keep me and my colleagues here at BigChange completely engaged and focused on the customer. Wish us luck.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO