In Colombia I Sell Software. In Mexico the Client Already Bought It — They Just Decide Who With. The Difference That Transforms the Sales Process.
There are two types of sales processes in software: one where you convince the client they need a system, and one where they already know. The second is completely different — and more effective.
Project App
Engineering Team
After the conversations with the two Mexico prospects this week, I kept thinking about something that seems simple but has enormous implications for how a software company should structure its sales process. There are two radically different types of sales conversations. In the first, the client arrives without clarity that they need software — and your job is to educate, convince, and justify the price before getting to the proposal. In the second, the client arrives knowing exactly what they need — and your job is to demonstrate you're who can best build it.
The Sales Process Where You Convince
This is the most common process in Colombia for custom software. The client has a problem but doesn't have clarity that the solution is software. Your job as a seller is to navigate that ambiguity, position custom software as the right solution, and justify the cost before the conversation gets to be about what to build.
- First meeting: 60-70% of time explaining what custom software is and why it has advantage over alternatives.
- Proposal: must include ROI justification and argument for why software is better than staying in Excel.
- Closing process: multiple rounds where the client reviews with other people who also have to be convinced.
- Average time from first contact to close: weeks or months.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- 1There are two types of software sales processes: convince and demonstrate. Using the same approach for both is the most expensive mistake.
- 2The client who already knows they need software isn't easier — they're more demanding. The skill you need is different.
- 3Identifying which process you're in from the first 10 minutes changes how you structure the entire conversation.
- 4Markets with greater software maturity have more type-2 conversations — that doesn't mean easier processes, but more demanding ones.
The two Mexico prospects this week were clearly in type-2 process. They arrived with the problem defined, with criteria to evaluate, and with willingness to move fast if the proposal made sense. That required a type of conversation I use less frequently in Colombia — not of persuasion but of technical and methodological competence. And that, for ProjectApp right now, is exactly the type of conversation we want to be in.
If you have a sales team selling software and want to talk about how to structure the process for both types of conversation, write to me.