Competing on the unpopular
As an executive of a company on the Inc 500 list, I’m getting lots of sales calls from people wanting to supply me with programmers. Most often, they want to supply me with programmers who are not in Austin, TX. Some are in other countries and some are just is different places. This got us thinking a bit about why people in Austin use Headspring. We have one location, and we serve clients in one region. People in Austin choose Headspring because we are real people working out of their offices. Real faces. Real relationships. Never mind the rigorous extreme programming practices that yield insane levels of quality.
Going forward, we are taking a stand. We are proclaiming from our home page: “No Offshoring”. That’s what we are about. If you call Headspring, you know what you are getting. Here is a clip from the home page.
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Comments
NotMyself said on 9.23.2009 at 11:34 AM
Why can't you guys have a Seattle office so I can come work for you? WHY?!?
Jordan Day said on 9.23.2009 at 11:37 AM
I'm a bit torn on this. I think offshoring is a really bad idea except maybe for the companies that are already large enough to have a substantial global presence (in which case I guess it's not even really "offshoring"), but I think a big "NO OFFSHORING" logo could be misused by others.
Maybe you should link your "No Offshoring" logo to this blog post or a page explaining things a bit more. While I certainly agree with the sentiment ("Real faces. Real relationships"), I would hate for this to become a xenophobic rallying-cry. I'm an American and admit that the idea of being replaced by some guy in Bangalore because he costs half as much (or less!) as I do is occasionally worrying, but you should be careful that this doesn't become some sort of "Indians need not apply" situation. I don't think that is *at all* what you are saying, but I'm sure you know how some people are extraordinarily good at taking things out-of-context.
That said, I completely agree that customers can usually get the best value by dealing with the "home team." I don't like offshoring, and think it's been shown time and again to not really produce the bang-for-your-buck results that all those business-school types were hoping for.
Jordan Day said on 9.23.2009 at 11:46 AM
After taking a moment to think over what I just wrote and looking at the way you're using the logo on Headspring's page, I may be overthinking this all (or projecting my own ignorance or fears?).
Really I guess you're using it more as a "Made in the USA" or even just "Made in Austin, Texas" badge than any sort of political statement, which is pretty inarguably a Good Thing. Letting your customers know that the guy who created the product they're using is their neighbor really only strengthens the relationship.
Matt Hinze said on 9.23.2009 at 11:51 AM
@Jordan .. for what it's worth, Headspring sponsors an H1 visa for an eminently qualified developer from India to work here in Austin. It's not about pandering to xenophobia, it's about providing an unparalleled experience for our customers.
Jason Meckley said on 9.23.2009 at 1:39 PM
People gravitate to pictures over text, so a "no offshoring" image brings about a negative connotation about "us (good) vs. them (bad)". it also conjures up images of oil drilling, not programming.
I like Jordan's idea of "Made in Austin, TX". it still keeps with your message of real people and it has a positive tone rather than a negative.
Craig Cavalier said on 10.04.2009 at 9:56 AM
@Jason: I quite like the "Made in Austin, TX" idea, but I think the "No Offshoring" logo gets the point across in a less ambiguous manner; *ALL* headspring software is made in Austin.
@Matt: It's good to hear that Headspring would be open to considering sponsoring talent to come work in the US. I'm a currently working as a Software Dev in London UK, but would love to have the opportunity to come work in Austin for Headspring (so much so that I sent them my resume last week)