You know that feeling when you commit to taking on a project yourself—then discover just how inexperienced and busy you are to actually complete that project?

I recently experienced that feeling when my wife and I decided it was time for a new living room coffee table.

"Don't worry... I can build one for us" still echoes in my head.

I looked up different types of wood, different plans, different DIY websites for inspiration (and a clue how in the world I was going to build a table), etc. After a couple months of research and night terrors, I told my wife that maybe I couldn't build a coffee table and that we should just look into buying one.

The same example can be used when companies plan on creating their own sales-enablement app in-house.

Why Create an App In-House? 

Understandably, companies try to take advantage of in-house expertise or resources, so they can avoid using a third-party developer or purchasing an additional software service to address their app needs.

Sometimes, a team member builds a simple iOS game app that is even in the App Store. That can be considered app development expertise in-house, so why not take advantage of the resource you already have?

Should you buy or build an app for your field sales and service teams? That's a crucial question many companies struggle to answer.

There are benefits for going the DIY sale-enablement app route:

• You work with your own team of employee developers tailoring your sales app to your specific sales process.
• You choose all the sales app's appearance, features, and functionality.
• You avoid Apple's sometimes lengthy approval process for submitting to the App Store.

At the same time, there are disadvantages you could be encountering with your DIY sales-enablement app project.

These disadvantages may even hinder your app's launch and effectiveness for your reps in the field.

Why Reconsider Creating Your App In-House?

In a recent article, a medical equipment company's head of systems support gave this gem of a quote after launching her company's in-house app.

"I learned to use it by bashing my head through it," she said. "I haven't had any training whatsoever. It may be clunky a bit and have done better at certain things, but it worked for us."

Umm... That is not something I would want to tell my CEO.

"Look, boss... This app is clunky, I have a headache from bashing my head through it, and it could perform certain functions a lot better."

If you're going to invest in a sales-enablement app for your field reps to increase productivity, drive sales, and enhance your customer's buying experience, it makes sense to get your field reps involved in the project early.