I talk to many customers who are dealing with various challenges in their business. A few of these poor customers have so many problems they don’t know where to start. While this may seem sad it’s actually a good thing in a way: It’s a Target rich environment. The downside is these same customers can be very gun-shy.
So how do you take a customer that is facing the implosion of their business due to various and sundry problems and turn their situation around? Engage! But don’t just show up and act like their therapist; you’re not qualified for that kind of work. No, no, no! You should be there to help and have a plan to get that help in place. This involves the use of a sound Engagement Methodology.
Sure you say. We’re done here. I have one of those thingy’s so I can go watch TV now. Ok fine. Go ahead and watch TV, I’ll talk to the adults now. It’s not enough to have a Methodology it has to be sound and you have to follow it even when it seems unnecessary. Actually, it’s even more important to follow when you THINK you don’t need too. Something about ‘best laid plans’ comes to mind.
Too often people approach a problem with a preconceived notion that they already have the answer and are just going to insure that their answer is the only one that makes sense. This is a recipe for guaranteed disaster. More importantly, it violates your Engagement Methodology. A good Methodology must include a discovery step very early on. If you skip this step how successful do you think you will be? It’s only the basis for all actions going forward so I’m sure things will be just ducky if you skip it.
Brian Philbin, Halloween, 2010
The good news is that if you are not doing this process as the Lone Ranger you will have other team members to keep you honest but you shouldn’t be so quick to jump in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound a customer screaming, well that’s what I’ve heard. You have developed a Methodology for a reason so let’s assume (yes I know all about assuming) that we are going to follow it. It’s documented so it should be no problem. What’s that you say? It’s just in your head? Write it down!!!
Now that we have set our baseline that we all agree we will follow our documented Engagement Methodology we will probably run head long into a small quandary. Many customers want to see ‘their application’ before they will agree to go forward. This scenario is best described as my pal Rich explains. You go to a tailor to buy a custom tailored suit. The tailor shows you lots of fabrics, styles, colors, takes your measurements, etc. He writes up your contract and asks you to sign it. You refuse. After all, how can I sign for something I haven’t seen yet? It’s just good business to wait for the deliverable before I agree to anything isn’t it?
Here’s the problem, the tailor won’t start making the suit until he knows you are going to pay for it. You won’t agree to pay for it until you know it’s what you want. Stalemate? Perhaps, but what if you looked at it a bit differently. This tailor has been in business for many years. He has custom tailored suits for hundreds of customers. He can show you various examples, let you talk to several of his customers and puts his reputation on the line that you will be satisfied with the outcome. Now will you sign? What if the answer is no?
The same situation occurs in Mobility projects. Many times a customer wants to see their actual app before they are willing to even agree that they will select you as a vendor. Not that they want to see another app that closely resembles their business but THEIR APP. Is this unreasonable? They are planning to spend quite a bit of money for your stuff, it’s only fair. Or is it?
In this case, as in many aspects of life there is a certain amount of trust that goes into your Engagement Methodology. You trust that your customer will be actively involved in the project and pay you and the customer trusts that you will deliver what they need, on time and on budget. But you need to both take a leap of faith for this to work.
Here’s a suggestion: Include ‘mutually agreed’ in the title of most of your Methodology docs and clearly communicate that both parties have to agree to the design before the development work is started. BOTH parties have to be actively engaged and communications are paramount. With a documented Engagement Methodology it’s easy to explain the process to your customer and gain their buy-in. They may ask for some additional reassurances (like seeing other suits you have tailored or talking to other customers who bought suits from you) but to keep the Methodology intact you have to have these steps as part of a milestone or gate or it’s just window shopping. ‘If we provide you with X and you are satisfied we will progress to Y…’
So when you get into that chicken and egg discussion of ‘…I won’t agree to buy until you build what I want and show it to me…’ you can quickly move to an actionable process that fits well into your Engagement Methodology without needlessly extending the sales or development cycles. And remember, the goal is to help the customer gain confidence in your ability to help them solve their problems so it’s time worth spending.
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Tags: Brian Philbin, Business Mobility, Business Process, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Futures Today, Mobility - General
