Many customers who commission the services of both external or internal consultants to deliver on their information requirements are disappointed by the eventual outcome. There are too many unhappy non-paying customers out there with an equal number of unhappy unpaid consultants/service providers – WHY?
Unreasonable requests from time to time can be a factor but these are far and few between. The primary reason for failure on these projects is a result of bad communication between the customer and provider.
Introduction
Many customers who commission the services of both external or internal consultants to deliver on their information requirements are disappointed by the eventual outcome. There are too many unhappy non-paying customers out there with an equal number of unhappy unpaid consultants/service providers – WHY?
Unreasonable requests from time to time can be a factor but these are far and few between. The primary reason for failure on these projects is a result of bad communication between the customer and provider.
Starting a project
Often the customer does not really know what they want – they know they need better information to run their business more efficiently, but what information? Who needs it and why? This is critical to establish at the start of the project. The customer should be asking questions like:
1. What decisions do I need to be able to make to have a better business?
2. What information do I need to be able to make these decisions?
Answer these 2 questions up front and you are well on the way to avoiding information overload, which can be very destructive. For the customer clarity is power – if you start simply and deliver value, and if you ask the right questions up front, your roll out will continue to add value to more and more people in the organization as you follow this simple method.
Often companies try to “run before they can walk” when implementing BI and the scope of the initial project is so complex that often not even 10% of it is achieved and the budget for the lot is gone. It is the responsibility of the service provider to ensure that this does not happen, particularly when it is obvious that the customer is uncertain about what their needs are.
In the weeks that follow, I will share a methodology that works more often than not, resulting in happy paying customers, profitable service providers, and ultimately customers who run more profitable businesses! This methodology is proposed in the context of using tools available in the market like Alchemex reporting software, designed specifically for SMEs to deliver reports in Excel and that ships with ready-to-use reports for specific install bases, helping customers and providers get a solution quicker. For example, if the challenge is to smartly deliver sales-related information to the sales force of an organization, then a typical approach would be to first see if the standard sales templates cater for the need. If they do, they can be used to fast track the solution. If they don’t, it may mean creating the solution from first principles.
Fortunately when Excel-based BI tools are being used, it is efficient to simulate the output of what the customer will get, because they can type it up in Excel with little effort. This forms the blueprint of what information will be delivered, and in what format it will be presented. This is an important aspect to get right, because this, right up front, is where things can go wrong. If you do not establish this, the customer invariably has one picture in their mind of what the outcome will be and the provider has a completely different picture – which spells trouble! Signing off this outcome between the two parties means the customer knows exactly what they are going get, and have acknowledged this. The service provider also knows exactly what to deliver and is committing to doing so with an understanding of what is involved to do it.
So it is important to understand your customer’s requirements exactly and sign off a physical layout of what you have agreed you will deliver, preferably designed by your customer with your guidance.
