[texasbigdata]

I've had the exact opposite happen, but granted more consulting than dev.

1. Know someone at the company or a key advisor 2. Spend time together 3. Hear "we think we need help but we're not sure where" 4. Respond relatively insightful with 2 or 3 things they could do that are valuable and force rank them 5. Get feedback 6. Price it. Explain value. 7. Deliver

In my eyes if you're helping smaller companies sub say 1000 employees the value you bring is in knowing what to do. And telling them. They need you to understand the universe of options, what you've seen at other places (i.e. experience) and to weigh in on what works. They largely have no idea how to move the boulder otherwise you would not be there.