Achieving 100% customer satisfaction is the goal of any successful business, but it’s even more important for companies that offer B2B services. After all, if you’re not delivering your product or service to a high standard, you’re not just affecting the client – you could be having an impact on the way in which they handle their customers, leading to unnecessary losses further down the chain.
The fact of the matter is, people make mistakes. We’re only human after all, and regardless of whether they’re a junior software developer or a director, people of all skill levels can often overlook something in a web project, even if they’ve checked their work numerous times.
It’s crucial to check the product or application carefully and thoroughly within the development process. Testing and checking, though often laborious, needs to take priority. Here are the reasons why it is vital to test your client’s software before the web app or platform is launched.
Errors and Bugs
This may seem a little obvious, but errors and bugs in a software can take many forms, whether it is a simple spelling mistake in a system message or a bug that causes the software to not function as it should.
It’s not easy to guarantee the client that their new or bespoke software is going to be completely bug-free, but a combination of different testing methods and trials will ensure that there no problems that compromise the functionality.
You don’t have to be a technical guru to complete some of the testing. In fact, sometimes it is best to employ someone that hasn’t been involved with the actual development to manually test the system. Having multiple people checking the system for faults and errors is extremely important, as it’s always worth having another pair of eyes check over the work to ensure it meets all the required specifications.
Usability
No matter how sleek your software is, no matter how many bells and whistles it has, problems within its usability and design could mean the difference between a happy client and an unhappy client.
Users will find it difficult to navigate an illogically set-out system and will spend more time getting to grips with it than using it to their advantage. If the system isn’t intuitive, users will take an instant dislike to it and find alternative ways of completing tasks, invalidating the software’s purpose and wasting the company’s investment.
Building a Good Reputation
If a business has great relationships with its current and past clients, it’s likely to gain a large proportion of work from referrals. Word of mouth is a powerful force, and if your web developers begins to deliver client systems that have not been tested properly and fail to work correctly, you will not only lose returning business, but will gain a bad reputation, eventually resulting in flagging sales.
Less Maintenance Required
A shiny new system that has been correctly trialled and tested should not require a great deal of maintenance in the months and years after its launch. As well as establishing a better sense of trust in the product, this will also ensure that the client only needs to invest in a low-level maintenance or support contract, saving them money in the long term.
Karen Harding is the Marketing Manager for the one of the South East’s leading web and software development companies – Objective IT.