It’s said that by 2026, 75% of all apps will be built with the help of low-code or no-code platforms. As Chief Revenue Officer of low-code application development platform vendor Neptune Software, Bart Meursing has witnessed a boom in application development software since taking up his role at the company earlier this year.

With the rise of the number of digital transformation tools available, he’s been thinking about how consumers know which to choose to bring future-proof success to their businesses. He shares:

“A question that’s been on my mind for the past few months is how do customers know they’re making the right decision with the technology they choose? We’ve seen rapid growth in the no-code/low-code space this year, with more platform vendors to choose from than ever before. Companies like Neptune, for instance, risk being lost in the battle for customers’ attention with such diversified offering. That is not the same for each enterprise’s strategy and challenges.”

Bart claims the key to technology vendors remaining front of mind for customers is through recentring relationships in the business-to-consumer process – from marketing to sales to customer service.

“It’s important to be obsessed with your customers,” he said. “You have to know how they buy, what they buy, and ultimately, focus on their satisfaction. Businesses that know they can make a positive difference to their customers’ work lives differentiate themselves from their competitors by having an exceptional customer-centric focus.

“Too often, companies make lofty promises that they can’t keep. This alienates customers. Why would you trust a brand that doesn’t stick to its word? By being customer obsessed, you always know what the customer wants, even before they do. This solves real problems for people, and generates trust.”

Speaking on the outlook that growth in tech is finished, Bart said: “The news lately has been filled with talk of large technology companies making redundancies and scaling back. If you aren’t in the know, it would be easy to think that the age of growth for technology companies is over, but that isn’t true.

“Yes, the tech industry is changing, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. We’ve seen a huge boom in the availability of no-code/low-code and digital transformation software over the past year. This has been brought about in part by a talent shortage, as the technology plugs gaps for companies that don’t have access to skilled coders or senior developers.

“Simplified technology gives talent power. People with little to no prior knowledge of tech can shift into IT and forge new careers for themselves. At the same time, companies can involve and truly bridge business and IT. One of Neptune’s clients has had member of staff join with a background in gardening – that person isn’t necessarily who you’d think of to become a software engineer.

“These opportunities alone make the tech industry more sociable. People can learn on the job and anyone, regardless of their career history, can step into a world where there’s huge potential. This diversifies teams too, as it opens doors for those who wouldn’t stereotypically go for a role in our sphere.

“As we start to build these teams, we are continually pushed to recentre relationships for new employees and for customers. Neptune, and businesses like us, are at the forefront of this change in the industry. We provide the services that ease the skills-learning burden for new IT starts, leading to shortened timelines for projects and greater efficiency for businesses as they deliver for clients. This leaves more time for customer interactions and strengthens confidence in delivery promises for both the seller and buyer. This, in turn, leads to stronger business/consumer relationships.”

Bart concludes: “In 2024, tech professionals need to retune their focus from service provision to relationships. People buy from people, after all. Utilising no-code/low-code platforms is only one way to do this, and I encourage everyone seeking to strengthen their business models next year to prioritise people and watch their company transform.”

About Neptune Software

Neptune Software is a rapid application development platform vendor with more than 730 enterprise customers and over 4 million licensed end users globally. Their mission: empower IT departments to drive business results.

Neptune Software’s leading low-code, SAP-centric, enterprise app development platform – Neptune DXP – digitises and optimises business processes and user interfaces – at scale and with ease. The platform gives IT professionals the right tools to build the apps they need.

Neptune DXP provides a fast, cost-effective, and future-proof way to industrialise the development of custom applications, turning your IT organisation into an app factory, saving time and money on development, integration, and operations.