Dear SaaStr: Our Biggest Potential Customers Are All Asking for Custom Features. When Do We Say Yes?
This is a classic enterprise SaaS challenge—balancing the need to close big deals with the risk of overextending your team on custom work. Selling 90% out-of-the-box is great, but that 10% custom work can quickly spiral out of control if you’re not careful.
Here’s how to manage it effectively:
#1 Agree You Will Do Some — But Only If It Can Be Reused, And Only For Top Customers:
Small teams — and even larger ones — aren’t often aligned on if they are willing to do the work at all to close big customers. First, align there. That you are willing to say, spend 10% of your story points on Big Deals. Then, agree you’ll do say 1 of them at a time, or 2. And only if you genuinely believe another Big Customer can use that same feature later.
#2. Set Clear Guardrails for “Custom” Work, So It’s Likely Not Really Custom In The End
You need a framework to evaluate whether a custom request is worth doing. The key question is: Will this benefit more than just this customer? If the answer is yes, and it aligns with your roadmap over even the next 24 months, prioritize it. All it’s really doing then is moving your roadmap around, not truly upending it. If it’s truly a one-off, you need to push back or in rare cases, charge enough of premium that everyone agrees it’s worth it. For example, if a customer wants an integration with a niche system, ask yourself if other customers will need it too. If even a few will, it’s worth it. If not, it’s probably not worth the distraction. But … almost always … it rhymes. Almost always, there’s another customer that will have that same seemingly “custom” request down the road.
#3. Charge for It, Generally:
If custom features or integrations are a pre-requisite for enterprise deals, customers are often OK paying. So try to monetize them. Position custom work as a premium service, and price it accordingly. This not only offsets the cost but also ensures customers are serious about their requests. For example, you could charge a one-time fee for custom integrations or even better, bake it into the contract as a higher annual price. The goal is to make custom work at least break even and not be a cost center.
#4. Leverage Configurability Over Customization:
Whenever possible, solve customer needs through configuration rather than customization. Build flexibility into your platform so customers can tailor it to their needs without requiring custom code. For example, instead of building a custom reporting feature, offer a configurable reporting tool that lets customers create their own reports. This reduces technical debt and makes your product more scalable.
#5. Outsource When It Makes Sense:
If you’re resource-constrained, consider outsourcing custom work to a trusted partner. This is pretty common and a great way to get started on integrations especially. For example, if a customer needs an integration with a specific ERP system, you can work with a third-party developer to get it done quickly. This allows you to close the deal without overloading your internal team. Just make sure the outsourced work meets your quality standards and aligns with your long-term roadmap.
#6. Create a “Custom Work” Playbook:
Document your process for handling custom requests. This should include:
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- Criteria for evaluating requests (e.g., strategic value, roadmap alignment, potential for reuse).
- Pricing guidelines for custom work.
- Approval processes to ensure consistency.
A playbook ensures your sales team knows how to handle these situations without making ad-hoc promises that strain your team.
#7. Use Custom Work as a Learning Opportunity. It’s Often a Chance to See The Future — Early.
Custom requests often reveal gaps in your product or opportunities to expand your offering. For example, if multiple customers are asking for the same integration, that’s a signal to prioritize it on your roadmap. Think of custom work as a way to stay ahead of customer needs—just don’t let it derail your focus. Your customers can often help you see the future here.
#8. Be Willing to Say No
This is the hardest part, but sometimes you have to walk away from a deal if the custom requirements are too extreme. If a customer’s demands will take months of engineering time and don’t align with your roadmap, it’s better to pass. Focus on customers who value your core offering and are willing to work within your framework. Saying no is painful in the short term, but it protects your team and product in the long term.
#9. Make Sure The Team is Great at Communicating the Value of Your Core Offering:
Sometimes, enterprise customers ask for custom work because they don’t fully understand the value of your out-of-the-box solution. Make sure your sales team is equipped to articulate how your platform solves their problems without customization. The more you can show that your core product meets their needs, the less they’ll push for custom features.
#10. Do It To Win Competitive Deals — Sometimes
You can’t say Yes to everything. But if you can say Yes when the competition says No, you will often win. Embrace this where practical. Saying No to avoid a little pain today may lead to years of regret if your competitor closes a game-chaning logo customer. And turns that “custom” work into a core set of features that beat you.
Look the goal is to strike a balance—be flexible enough to win enterprise deals, but disciplined enough to avoid drowning in custom work.
If you can manage that even partially effectively, it can actually become a huge competitive advantage, showing enterprise customers that you’re willing to partner with them while still maintaining scalability.
