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(Welcome to Tapsauce’s new series, where Rocksauce Studios team members will share what they’ve learned and observed during the previous week. Today, we have sales expert David Blakeslee.)

1. Set expectations correctly the first time. This is vitally important when you work with clients in the app development market. And it’s not just important to set expectations the first time — you’ve got to keep setting expectations. Many times, clients have million dollar ideas, but only have a $100,000 budget. In order to keep the team happy and in order to keep the clients happy, I always try to set expectations about what can and cannot be delivered.

More after the JUMP…

Let’s talk about return on investment, or ROI. In any other industry, ROI is one of the tools used in calculating the potential success of a venture. Not so much in my field: it’s impossible to calculate in the app industry! Why? It’s simple: the numbers are not released. Apple and Google hold onto those numbers. Because of this, the only time you ever hear the specifics of a ROI in the mobile app world is when a company is highly successful. Only then will the records be made public. Many of my clients ask me what their ROI is going to be and I usually can’t supply them with a direct response. It’s almost impossible to determine, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try!

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As a business development consultant at Rocksauce Studios, I work with clients every day to help them prepare their project to present to our creative design team. Here’s how it works: I’m contacted by a client with an app idea that they want to develop. I then help them define what they want their app to do, how they want it to function and help create a main features list. When we have a solid project, I assist them in presenting it to the guys in the creative side of things and bring the whole thing to fruition.

When you work in the business side of things, honesty is vitally important. For as long as anyone can remember, sales people have often been portrayed as crooks, shady used car salesman types. It’s my job to win the trust of a client and let them put their faith in me — I need them to trust me and I accomplish this by being on-the-level in every possible way.

More after the JUMP…