Now I'm used to dealing with hard nosed corporate buying teams in IT, Finance and Utilities, but am interested in what you guys believe is the best approach to take when dealing with the programming / gaming community.
What can I expect?
Selling to programmers is much more like selling to teens. Expect a short attention span and snap decisions; collectively we tend to trust our instincts.
But these aren't the usual teenager instincts. Unlike the average teen, programmers are extremely bright and well educated, and will usually make a very careful (and extremely rapid) examination of the numbers and details before making the decision.
Many times they can quickly review the details and immediately dismiss a product that doesn't meet their needs. Respect that.
For complex products a few days of tinkering is generally more than enough time for programmers to make an informed decision. But it may take weeks or months before they get around to those few quick days. If you're making the sale be prepared to wait several months before they're ready to decide. I've talked with salesfolk who said they think programmers aren't giving them a fair evaluation because they haven't had time to look at it properly. But in actuality the programmers had already searched it out online, hooked up the system, tried it out, found a bunch of actual bugs, asked questions directly to the library's dev team to discover these were common flaws in the system, and come to a well-researched decision against the product.
Don't be evil or stupid.
That includes things like don't spam, don't entice me to opt-in, don't require any information or temporary login accounts. A single spam, even a semi-solicited spam, creates such a negative backlash that it undoes other ads. Don't try to upsell, even if it occasionally works. The backlash from a single negative sale attempt, or worse, a negative experience after the sale, will quickly spread around the community.
When you are in discussions jump immediately to exactly what you are offering and why it helps. The technical specifications are far more important than testimonials. Be prepared to answer technical details immediately, and be prepared to back up your statements with precise examples.
If you are selling software, it absolutely must include source code, it absolutely must include support, and it absolutely must be made available for an extended period before purchase.
What are the big issues that you guys face out there and if there were solutions to those problems, what would they be and how would you want to be engaged by that solutions vendor? [/quote]The same problems everyone faces: Limited time and money.
If you can provide a product that does what I want to do, but provides it faster and cheaper and with fewer bugs, then you've got a chance. I don't care if it does more than I want, extra features are often seen as a bad thing since it incurs computer costs even when they aren't used.
, as my prospective employer has told me that it is a unique environment and spun me out a bit as a result. 
