My People Need to Talk to Your People

All parties must understand their roles and responsibilities and work in harmony for a smooth implementation. It's a good idea for both you and your customer to identify all parties involved in the implementation: "This is what I'll do, within this time frame, and these are the people to involve." Parties involved may include management, operations, accounting, manufacturing, engineering, shipping/receiving, inventory control, technical people, delivery people, and so on. You can't do it alone, so draw on the strengths of your internal customers and your customer's people to ensure a smooth, speedy, hassle-free implementation. With all parties working in harmony, the story of these four people becomes a reality:

WHAT WENT RIGHT?
This is the story of four people: Everybody, Anybody, Somebody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Nobody was sure that Anybody would do it but instead Somebody did it. Nobody got angry because it was Anybody's job. There was no need for Nobody to blame Anybody—Somebody did the job Anybody could have done. Nobody made excuses but Everybody was satisfied.

Communication at the best of times is fraught with uncertainty, biases, and individual perceptions. Effective communication is a topic onto its own. Poor communication often results in costly oversights and mistakes. Communication is a very delicate, fragile process. As responsible sales entrepreneurs, we need to ensure an effective exchange of information.

For larger, more sophisticated deals, I suggest both parties safeguard themselves against the normal pitfalls of communication and consider drafting a letter of intent or a letter of agreement. I don't mean a legal document that requires hiring a lawyer at $50 for every three minutes, I simply mean putting a letter together on your company letterhead outlining the logistics of the deal. Who is doing what and by when? You and your customer can review it for accuracy and completeness, signing your respective copies.

Part of your responsibilities also include avoiding, or at least minimizing, user error. To do so you must evaluate your customer's abilities, technical or otherwise, and recommend training if necessary. Research suggests that up to 30% of the time customers are wrong. Reported product and service problems resulted from customer error, product misuse, or failure to read the instructions. Customers do screw up, but as professionals we have to allow them to maintain dignity. It takes a strong attitude to let certain things go while biting your tongue. You must also make your customer aware of the break-in period, the time required to fully appreciate the benefits of your product or service. This may not be apparent initially. True happiness will only come once everyone is using your product correctly.

Tim Commandment #8
Create an action plan.

Ask: What are my implementation strategies?