Repeat Business obviously happens because the company has a great product or a great service. In the software industry, do companies make the code base complex enough so that the maintenance comes back to them? I have heard of cases where companies say ya this code base has minor errors, let's ship them anyway, and let the customers come back for another change request on these. Then they would sometimes charge the customer for that.This question is specific to the software services industry. Do these things happen in the real world? I am trying to understand the business process.
What is meant by Repeat Business?
business
For a proper definition of repeat business, read jmort253's answer. Great answer (+1).Do bad practices happen in real life? Of course they do. Are they generalised? No, not really. But the boundary between good and bad practices is not strictly speaking black and white.I know of many suppliers of software and services that will very easily cry wolf for every tiny little change from the customer. Of course it is a change and therefore there are costs associated. But I have to say some are milking it in a fine way. Is it stealing? No. Is it a bad practice? Not really. Is it questionable? Certainly. There are cases when clients are taken advantage of (in some not always quite so apparent lock-in situation).These lock-ins happen for various reasons, just to name a few :long history with a supplier,high cost of entry for new suppliers,established know-how,established relationships (and therefore communication is efficient, company responsiveness is better than starting something new with all the unknowns newness brings),binding contracts or clauses of exclusivity,monopoly.