7 Tips to maintain good software partner relationships

In a previous post, we explained how to find good software partners. The real challenge though isn’t in finding the right software partners. It’s in keeping them. Anyone in the software industry knows that maintaining long-term relationships with software development agencies is invaluable.

The benefits you get from a long-term relationship outweigh what you get from a short-term relationship by far. Special rates, prioritizing your work and having a reliable partner are just some of the perks. And that’s why you should be keen on maintaining good software partners and developing your relationship even further.

The following are 7 practical tips that you can use to ensure that your software partnerships will last for a long time.

1. Communicate clearly

This is something that applies to both of you and your software partner. Just like you expect clear communications from the development agency you’re working with, they expect the same thing from you.

The reason why clear communications are so important is that they prevent many problems before they happen. Having a meeting every now and then to ensure that everyone is on the same page results in much better-coordinated work and fewer problems overall.

Every now and then, make sure to touch base with your developers to make sure everything is going smoothly. You can even ask them what they think about the communications process, and whether they have suggestions to improve it.  

2. Show Appreciation

Gestures of appreciation are something that goes a long way in a software developer partnership. Whenever your development partners deliver exceptionally good results, tipping is a great way to keep them motivated.

When you do that, you’ll ensure that the developers will do everything they can to deliver results that exceed the “standard service” they usually provide. The value of the results you’ll get will surpass that of the bonus payment, making this a smart business decision to make.  

3. Build Long-term relationships

Another thing that plays a big role in determining the success of your collaboration with a development agency is the long-term relationship mentality. If you don’t approach an agency with such a relationship in mind, you’ll end up switching agencies quite often.

As a result, you’ll be missing out on huge benefits that come with long-term partnerships. In addition to that, you might find yourself wasting time and money by looking for new development partners more than you have to.

4. Reference new clients

The is a great way to increase your value as a client for your partner agency and help maintain that relationship for a long time. It’s also a strategy that won’t cost you any money. Share on X

Whenever you know a business that’s looking for development services, you can refer them to your software development partners. You’ll be doing a favor for your partner agency (giving them new clients) and for the person you’re referring (connecting them to a good agency). It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

In addition to that, you’ll increase your value as a client of that agency, since you refer new clients to them.  

5. Treat them as a part of your team

Good team spirit results in better products. This is true no matter what industry you’re in. And the same rule applies to your software development partner agency.

As a result, you’ll get better services and will be able to maintain your developer partnership for longer if you treat the agency as a part of your team. By doing so, you’ll have a much more productive work relationship and will be able to keep them for longer.

6. Keep them posted

In addition to communicating clearly with your software partners, you need to keep them in the know when it comes to your strategic plans. Instead of sending them a notification whenever something changes, try to keep them involved in your decision-making process as much as you can.

By doing so, you’ll get valuable feedback and insights that’ll help you make better business decisions, It also shows your partners that you care about getting them involved in the process, which is a nice gesture.

7. Be patient

Mistakes are inevitable. This is a universal fact that you have to deal with. It applies to your software development partners as well. No matter how good an agency is, a mistake will be made.

Of course, if the agency is good, the frequency of these mistakes will be lower and most importantly, they know how to recover from them. The worst thing that you can do is terminate your work with a good agency because they made a mistake. As long as they don’t make fatal mistakes all the time, you should consider this a good thing as they’ll learn from the mistake and keep getting better.  

Conclusion

A good long-term relationship with a software development partner is an invaluable business asset. The benefits you get from such relationships make any effort you put towards maintaining those relationships totally worth it.