Too abstract
Shows up at: Technical proof
Trials end with “looks great” and no next step, because nobody measured the benefit, so it’s hard to justify paying over the free or in-house option.
Find the friction between developer interest and sales
Developers download, trial, and star your product, yet too few of those evaluations reach a sales conversation. Find out where they stall, and which three changes to test first.
Developer Pipeline Review$3,000 fixed feeFindings in 10 business days
The five points every review checks, and the stalls I see most often
- Positioning
- Technical proofToo abstract
- EvaluationToo risky
- Follow-upNo trail
- Sales handoffNo business case
Developer tools I’ve helped bring to market
ReSharper
NServiceBus
PostSharp
NDepend
Typemock Isolator
FDT
Developer interest isn’t turning into sales
You don’t need another list of tactics. These are the stalls I see most often. The review looks for others too.
Too risky
Shows up at: Evaluation
Adopting your tool looks like an all-or-nothing change, so evaluations stall before anyone commits.
No trail
Shows up at: Follow-up
Developers learn from your docs, webinars, and trials, but nobody can say who is evaluating. Sales shows up too early, too late, or not at all.
No business case
Shows up at: Sales handoff
A developer is convinced, but the case never reaches their manager or budget holder, so the opportunity goes quiet.
The developer starts the evaluation. A group finishes it.
Developers champion tools all the time. Turning that endorsement into a purchase takes their managers and budget holders agreeing too, and a story built only for developers doesn’t survive that room. A B2B buying group runs from 5 to 16 people, across as many as four functions (Gartner, May 2025 (opens in a new tab), survey of 632 B2B buyers).
Every evaluation that stalls with an unconvinced buying group is developer interest you already paid for in docs, DevRel, and content, with nothing to show in the pipeline.
Three changes, ranked, with a test for each
The Developer Pipeline Review connects an observed problem to a specific action and a measurable test.
Developers see the value, but internal approval stalls
No business case · Sales handoff
Finding 1 of 3Sample report page
Evidence
Developers complete a technical evaluation, but opportunities stall before engineering leadership gets involved. Follow-up focuses on features, with little support for explaining the business value, adoption effort, or risks to the wider buying group.
Change
Give the developer a concise internal business case they can adapt and share. Connect their technical problem to its business consequences, explain the expected value and adoption requirements, and address the questions engineering leadership will ask.
The review includes three prioritized changes, the reasoning behind each, and a test plan grounded in your journey and data.
Developer Pipeline Review
Find where developer interest loses momentum on the way to a sales opportunity, and decide what to improve first.
The review follows the path from interest to sales opportunity
We pick one journey, for example trial signup to sales opportunity. Using your materials and funnel data, I check the five points where evaluations commonly stall:
- Positioning: why choose you over the free or in-house option?
- Technical proof: what backs up your claims?
- Evaluation experience: what makes trying it hard?
- Follow-up: what happens after the trial or download?
- Sales handoff: when and how does a person get involved?
These five points guide the review. I look for obstacles at each, separating what your materials and data show from what still needs testing.
What you receive
- A diagnosis of where the journey stalls, supported by your materials and data
- Three prioritized changes, with the reasoning behind each
- A practical test plan your team can implement
- A findings presentation and one clarification round
Your team implements the recommendations. Campaign execution, customer interviews, new asset production, and ongoing management are not included.
What happens after you book
Nearly 20 years of marketing to developers
Britt King · Salt Lake CityLinkedIn (opens in a new tab).
Most of my career has been spent inside developer-tools companies, working on one question: how does developer interest become a sale?
I joined Particular Software in 2013 to help bring its new Particular Service Platform, built around NServiceBus, to market. As Marketing Director through 2026, I built the measurement framework we used to improve web-to-trial conversion, and worked with Sales to qualify leads.
Before Particular, I built a consultancy that helped developer-tools companies such as PostSharp, NDepend, Typemock, and Powerflasher go to market. My first developer-tools role was at JetBrains, introducing ReSharper to .NET developer communities worldwide.
The Developer Pipeline Review brings that experience to a single customer journey: finding where developer interest stalls, and deciding what to test first.
Founder & strategic advisor, GravityGears
Is this a fit?
- A developer product that needs a clearer route from technical interest to a sales opportunity
- An existing campaign or customer journey, with materials and data available to review
- A team ready to implement changes and test the recommendations
- You want an independent view of what to change first, before spending more time and budget
A few practical questions
What if our funnel data is thin or messy?
That’s common, and it doesn’t stop the review. I work from what you have, mark which findings the data supports, and turn the gaps into tests. Fixing your measurement can be one of the three recommended changes.
Why not hire an agency?
An agency is paid to run campaigns. This review tells you which change to make first, so any spend afterward, in-house or agency, goes where the journey actually stalls. It’s a fixed fee with no retainer.
Do you guarantee more sales opportunities?
No. The review provides a diagnosis and a test plan, rather than a revenue guarantee. Results depend on how your team implements the changes and how buyers respond.
Who will I work with?
You’ll work directly with me, from the kickoff call through the review and findings presentation.
What’s stopping interest from becoming a sales opportunity?
Britt KingFounder & strategic advisor, GravityGears
Bring one customer journey you want to improve. In 15 minutes, we’ll decide whether the review is the right next step. Just know which journey worries you.
Book a 15-minute fit call Prefer email? britt.king@gravitygears.com
Britt King
Test
Send the new business case to half of your qualified evaluators, and keep your current follow-up for the rest. Then compare how often each group brings in engineering leadership, and how many reach a qualified sales opportunity.