How We Work

What clients value

From experience, clients evaluate us primarily on a handful of signals. The weighting varies by engagement, but the mix typically looks like this:

Quality of Work

60–70%

We commit carefully and deliver predictably. When constraints move, we renegotiate scope, timing, or budget with options—not surprises.

Communication

15–20%

We don't go dark. We acknowledge messages quickly, give status before we're asked, and turn ambiguity into clear next steps.

Attitute

10–15%

We treat the product like it's ours. We propose improvements, align on outcomes, and measure impact—not just output.

Personal connection

5–10%

We're friendly, respectful, and easy to work with. We aim for productive energy in every touchpoint.

Professional presence

5–10%

We run tight meetings with agendas, decisions, and notes. We come prepared and we follow through.

How clients value us

Now that we understand what the client values, the next step is to align the value we deliver (perceived value) with the cost to the client.
The perceived value is the combination of the factors explained before. Clients naturally benchmark what they pay against the value they feel they’re receiving. Our delivery operating system is engineered to keep perceived value consistently above cost.

In the illustration above, the first four contributors deliver perceived value that exceeds their cost. The last contributor’s cost outweighs the perceived value, so the client will not engage that option.

In daily life, we constantly assess whether something is worth buying by comparing cost to expected value.
Example: If you need transportation for a weekly 5 km grocery run, you have many choices—bicycle, motorcycle, car, bus, or even a commercial airliner. A motorcycle (or a low-cost ride-hailing trip) offers high utility at a reasonable price; a Boeing 747 provides capabilities that are unnecessary for the job at an astronomically higher cost. The value-to-cost ratio clearly favors the motorcycle (or ride-hailing).
Clients evaluate us the same way. Our mandate is simple: systematically raise perceived value (outcomes, speed, reliability, communication). This ensures the value we create stays above the price the client pays.

Developer A - overall positive

For Developer A the perceived value was sill overall very positive even though the personal apperance was bad. Maybe the person did not turn on the camera in meetings @jemika 😘

Developer B - overall negative

Developer B delivers the same quality of work as Developer A. You might expect this to create positive client value, but it doesn't. Poor communication and professionalism can easily outweigh excellent work quality, resulting in an overall negative perception. This demonstrates that great work alone isn't sufficient—all dimensions matter.

Key takeaway

Great work quality is necessary—but not sufficient. Weakness in communication or professionalism can erase perceived value quickly.

Our golden rules

We keep our rules simple, but the ones we have are non-negotiable.

Response time

Always respond within 24h. During Work Hours within 1 hour

Communicate problems

If you are unhappy or have a problem you can always contact me.

Professional presence

Camera on in meetings, prepared with agenda items, respectful communication at all times.

Proactive problem-solving

Don't just report problems - come with potential solutions or alternatives.

How to work on a task assigned to you

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) ensures consistent delivery and maintains the quality standards our clients expect.

Communicate

As developers, our job is actually up to 80% communication and research and only 20% implementation because understanding the problem is most of the work. We ask precise questions and give options for possible solutions so the client doesn't need to do research to understand the question.

Be Proactive

Sometimes issues are missing important documentation or even entire requirements. We make it easier for the client by trying to find the right requirements and presenting this in a structured way (User Journeys etc.). This provides the client so much value because we're proactively helping to design the product.

Document

We should document as much as possible because the client will see mostly what is written in Jira issues so we should put as much information as possible in there. Clear documentation ensures transparency and helps maintain project continuity.

Loading diagram...

Jira Integration

Each employee will get a Claude Code Pro account that can connect with Jira. Using this you can automatically document commits using the Jira MCP. Please ask here: accounts@desent.io if you have not gotten access to Claude Code Pro.