Steve Jones (Twitter | Blog), The Voice of the DBA, is hosting the T-SQL Tuesday blogging fest over on SQLServerCentral.com this month. This months topic involves businesses and what they really want.As many of you know, I am the owner of a small software company that satisfies a niche market. I’ve been in business for 13 years now, and am still working on the same core application. I constantly find new features and functionality to offer in the app, continually improving it for the benefit of my customers. I think it’s safe to say that I understand the technical challenge that my software accommodates, as well as the business implications involved. I also have a very good appreciation for the logistics involved in the business process, and the most efficient ways to accomplish the business goals.Occasionally, we will come across a customer that thinks their method of accomplishing the business’s goals is the only correct one, even though my experience clearly indicates there is a better (more efficient) way. I was talking to Ted/onpnt (Twitter | Blog) yesterday about this very same topic. The conversation went something like this:George: You should see the frickin hoops I gotta jump through for this one customer. I feel like a whipping boy.

Ted: what did they have you doing??

George: They refuse to use (software) they way it was intended. They want a “Blah Blah Report” where each….. This report is not accurate because (software) wasn’t designed this way. Instead, each… then a report showing… should be used instead.

Ted: so they want you to write a report that doesn’t even reflect the way the system works.

George: It’s like…. well…. trying to use Excel to manage a sql database.

Ted: LOL

George: Yeah. Write a report that magically gets info, never makes a mistake, and base it all on completely unrelated information.

Ted: LOL

George: oh…. and I’m supposed to make it faster, too.

Ted: ROFL but of course!Whenever I run in to a problem with a customer, I try to use the following steps.1. Manage expectations at the beginning. This allows you to prevent possible complications in the future by expressing what the customer should reasonably expect from the software.2. Effectively train the customer in the proper operation of the software. Part of the training process should be the “big picture” because it allows them to see and appreciate your methods for handling the business problems in an efficient manner.3. When a customer has unrealistic expectations, it’s important to explain (at a high level) why they are unrealistic. Explain the benefits of the currently implemented method and the draw backs with their proposed method.4. When they insist on new/different functionality, you should attempt to work out a compromise that allows your existing functionality to satisfy their requirements. Often times, a small tweak to current functionality will satisfy their requirements.5. When all else fails, the customer is always right. If you refuse to implement the functionality they want, you run the risk of losing their business, and potentially word-of-mouth business as well.As developers, we have a responsibility to provide software that makes our customers job easier and more efficient. We also have a responsibility to advise them of alternative methods (new to them) that would improve their efficiency. If all else fails, be prepared to give the customer what they want.