Successful B2B Product Implementations start in Pre-Sales
I was in a recent discussion with some new CS and PS leaders when the question of how to make product implementations go smoother. One of the most resounding answers was to get the team that implements the software involved in the sales process earlier. All agreed, but then the next question was, "how?"
This is a "simple, not easy" problem to solve. On paper, it looks simple- sales teams should involve implementation teams earlier, and there are tremendous benefits to doing so, right? This may be true, but it takes some smart thinking and relationship building to get the sales team to start involving your team in the pre-sales phase.
One thing that is usually common in the startup phase (think $1-$10MM sales) is that Sales is generally by this point in a world of pain when the Professional Services/Implementation team is created. Hard quarterly quotas that new or prospective boards are reviewing weekly or monthly. Most likely, there is not enough marketing air cover. Now that implementations are taking way longer than promised, a sales leader's busy day has now been added to by dealing with irate customers that are blowing up their phones and threatening to move over to the platform that your company just barely squeaked by for the win. In addition to all of that, 69% of Tech Buyers in a 2020 study said that buying Technology has gotten more complicated. That is why you need to bring the best team to the table when trying to close software deals.
Based on this, you should be the new best friend who can solve many of these problems. My advice is from Day 1 to work on your relationship with the Sales leaders, the Solution engineers, and the top salespeople. In my experience, this is the most neglected part of creating a successful implementation process.
An inexperienced sales leader will say most likely hesitate to involve the Professional services team early in the process. You will hear that bringing the team in before the deal closes will slow things down, confuse prospects and that the sales engineer has covered all the right things. It will most likely take another few weeks or months of free services, truncated timelines, and misunderstandings of features (cough overselling) before your CEO clarifies that your team should be part of the process.
An experienced sales leaders will know and recognize that having a Professional Services leader can help accelerate deals and make the installation stickier. They also know that having another adult in the room that is not on commission will help and not hurt the deal. You and your team are working every day with real customers and may be the only ones who know how customers are using the solution. You may also have the vertical experience of how others in your prospects' industry use the software. These are validation points that the sales team does not have, and when you or your team mention them on calls, they carry more weight than when the sales team mentions them. By saying no BS comments like "If you want to go live in 6 weeks, we need 4 to implement and test it" can help get a deal signed quicker than saying, "no problem! We have a great team that we can't wait to introduce you to after you sign".
In addition to the relationship-building that you are doing with the sales team, there are some other essential activities things that you have to do. First, talk to customers that launched and the ones in the middle of a terrible launch experience. Have empathy, and let them know that you were hired to fix things. I have found that this approach has helped to get an upset customer to open up. Hopefully, this goes without saying, but you must talk to your team and ask them what works and what doesn't. Take the feedback from your team and let leadership know that you have the data, and then propose solutions.
Many of you will focus on tools. I have certainly fallen into the trap of thinking that all of the problems will be solved if I just switched from PM tool to another. I will cover tools in a different post, but at a minimum, you need to make sure that you have at least a repeatable set of tasks and a tool (even if Google sheets) to assign and track progress. I mention this topic in this post because, if your company is selling into an enterprise, they will ask for a project plan and have someone walk their PMO through it. Beyond the tools question, I would expect you will be asked questions about meeting cadence, kickoff, resources needed, and security. By you and your team taking part in these conversations, you will establish the trust that your sales prospects are expecting from your company.
As a PS leader, you may need to take baby steps implementing changes. For example, you may have to roll out a flat implentation fee to get the sales team and customers used to paying for these services. A tiered approach with a la cart offerings may have to come after a few months of experimenting and getting feedback from the sales team, prospects, and customers.
To wrap it up, make sure to create lasting relationships with the sales leaders by HELPING them. Talk to your team, talk to your customers, and put your plan together and make sure that you have the necessary tools to be successful. If any of this sounds confusing, send me an email at jeff@jeffkushmerek.com, or schedule a call.