Professional Services & Solutions

“The hallmark of a strong software professional services practice is to hold a continual recurring revenue stream from your existing clients.  “

• Knowledgeable Team – Passionate about the industry/software/solution
  
• Repeatable Delivery Processes with leads in each key implementation area
  
• Engagement Sales team focused on services selling with a presentation and ROI metric that can resonate with your target audiences.--- NOT A SOW.
  
• High Touch/Client Success Program within the practice coupled with Customer Satisfaction Surveys
  
• Cross Pillar – “ Delivery Synch “ Communications

Partnerships & Alliances

  “Every day new suppliers are entering our world while many of the significant names of the past are non-existent.”

• Analyze your internal product/sales weaknesses and find partners that synergize with these 

• Evaluate your partners and ensure there will be a “cultural” fit

• Jointly package solutions that will resonate with your partner’s clients.  Use questionnaires and surveys to determine- DON’T GUESS.

• Ensure C level buy-in with at a minimum 2x if not quarterly meetings with your partners’ COO/CMO 

• Have a dedicated and empowered Vice President assigned to each strategic alliance and ensure your alliance partner does the same.  Meet weekly at the start.

• Set up the design points and benchmarks to your initiatives and ensure they are discussed and followed.

• Create base hits—these will build momentum to the home runs.  

• Target a joint team wiling to be a beta for your new program in various regions.  These team members will be your advocates and cheerleaders.
  

Global Sales & Service

“Engagement and Buy-in across your organizational stakeholders will translate into faster closes and new opportunities.”

• Are your sales team members order takers or solution advocates?

• Do you have a sales methodology that you follow?

• Do you provide continual learning- even if it is in the form of a new book, webinar or podcast on selling to your team? 

• Small inexpensive tools can keep team members focused, strategic and refreshed.

• Do you offer a cross pillar Business Round Up at least twice a month with key stakeholders.

• Is every one in your company a sales person?  Have you enabled them to be?

Customer Success

“Customer Success does not mean a one-time sale.”   It is a long term view of your client relationships and the continual opportunity to offer increased shareholder value to their businesses.”

• What team in your company owns your client’s success?  Are they measured to do so?

• Do you understand your customers, their needs and their long term goals?

• What competitors do they speaking with-- and why?  

• How are your teams establishing and maintaining long term relationships?

P&L Management

A strong COO/or Department GM will seek to understand not only the functional teams underneath him or her but all set up key metrics focused on both the past and the future.

• How often are you speaking with your skip level subordinates vs your team leaders?

• Are you focused on long term shareholder growth and value or short term cost cutting? Do you have stated goals for both?

• Does your organization have ODC’s?  If so, when was the last time your teams sat down and worked through their strategic value? 

• Are your business processes optimized within each of your divisional units but also across each of your delivery structures?

• Does each of your reporting units have key measurements and objectives that focus on both the past predictive measurements but also the future?