OK, so you’ve sold a workflow solution to the client. That was the easy part. Now the nightmare can begin.
Did we say nightmare? We meant to say implementation.
When a project ushers in various departments within a client’s operations, it can sometimes lead to miscommunications, disagreements and internal arguments that need to be managed. Steve Behm, vice president of professional services for Flex Technology Group, sees a linear path that must be followed in order to have a successful (and smooth) implementation. It begins with agreeing upon where the initial work (which department) is going to begin, and developing a solid scope of work that all parties are in agreement of before starting.
“Once that’s completed, you have to have a good completion of work document, meaning everybody’s going to sign off on it,” he said. “I always like to say let’s take one step at a time, let’s not try to do the whole organization all at once, because that is a very painful process. There are just too many things going on, too many different people involved. It gets very cumbersome at that point.”
Scope Creep
If the client wants to make a change during the process, Behm says it’s important to document that with the change order, so that everybody is in agreement. Having it in writing is the key. And changes can happen at any point, particularly toward the end of the project (a.k.a. scope creep).
“People start learning both what these products can do, and the fallacies of the way things are done in their organization,” he said. “There are people within organizations who won’t say anything until you approach the end of the project, and they’re faced with the reality that we’re going to start rolling it out. That’s a relatively normal occurrence. You can reduce that by consulting with them on the front end, making sure you’ve got a good scope of work and keeping their people involved in it pretty much on a daily basis.”
Choosing one’s third-party partners can be a tricky proposition. Any failure on their part, be it technology, communication or otherwise, reflects back upon you, the dealer at the front of a project. Mark Lasinis, director of technology for Imagine Technology Group, had a painful experience with one vendor partner that did not deliver on its promise.
“The key lesson learned is to make sure you use very professional, ethical and extremely detailed specs of work from your partner,” he said. “You want to be as detailed as possible on the precise workflow and what is expected from them. This partner didn’t have that, and I take responsibility for not specifying even more detail. They were able to say that it wasn’t on the statement of work, but it was in every conversation that we had. The support from the second partner we used was so much better than we could ever have hoped for, and we’ve developed a strong relationship with them.”
Brad Yocum, market manager for Function4, notes that in its earliest implementations, his dealership had issues with understanding the integrations or compatibility issues that existed prior to starting on a project. Getting over those early issues has provided smooth sailing for Function4.
“We’ve got great staff right now that’s really well-versed and experienced in building out integrations with a variety of different databases,” he noted. “You always want to prepare for the worst. In most situations, we’ve been fortunate not to have any major hiccups in recent years.”
Ducks in a Row
Setting expectations for all parties involved, both internal and external, is critical to the ultimate success of a project, notes John Sutton, the national director of sales for Novatech. Dealers should also ensure that clients are aware of any requirements they must fulfill to meet that outcome.
“Too often, sales professionals get into the habit of agreeing with everything the clients are
