POC = DONE!
Yesterday I wrote about being busy at work with a POC, a proof of concept exercise with a prospective client. Well, as of mid-morning today it is D-O-N-E, done! I knocked out all the success criteria, including all the ones we agreed were optional in addition to those deemed critical, and including 2 that were added partway through (the notorious problem of scope creep).
It's a weight off my shoulders that this project has wrapped successfully. Although it hasn't gone badly at any point the past two weeks, there's been an ever-present concern that the next part of it could blow up or just go badly sideways. Fortunately such things never happened- though there were at least a few points where it seemed they might.
As I think back on this project there are two things I'd identify as having been key to my success. ...Well, three, if you count technical expertise. I tend not to put that on the list because it's assumed. Everybody knows that's a critical component. It's two other things that people in technical sales often don't think about or give short shrift to:
It's a weight off my shoulders that this project has wrapped successfully. Although it hasn't gone badly at any point the past two weeks, there's been an ever-present concern that the next part of it could blow up or just go badly sideways. Fortunately such things never happened- though there were at least a few points where it seemed they might.
As I think back on this project there are two things I'd identify as having been key to my success. ...Well, three, if you count technical expertise. I tend not to put that on the list because it's assumed. Everybody knows that's a critical component. It's two other things that people in technical sales often don't think about or give short shrift to:
- Planning. Plan, plan, plan. I put more effort into planning these projects that most of my colleagues do. I spend more time helping set appropriate mutual expectations with the client and trying to get as many possible problem areas as possible addressed in advance. But key to planning is also understanding that "Plan everything" is impossible. You can't anticipate every possible contingency... at least not in reasonable time and with limited resources. There's some art to planning to know when enough is enough.
- Assemble a team. You've got to have the right people to get the task done. One of the elements in planning (above) is ensuring the customer has the right expertise on their side. Generally that means 2-3 people taking active parts at various times in the project. So why should your side have just you doing everything? There's a lot of unfortunate thinking in most companies I've worked at that asking for help is not okay. It's like you're announcing you're underqualified for the job if you ask for assistance. What horseshit. I've always believed in asking for help. There's a balance, of course, as with planning. You can't ask for help on everything- otherwise you probably are underqualified for the role! But you need to know how to ask for help, and how to ask effectively, before problems snowball. Because if your project goes badly off track with problems snowballing multiple times, guess what.... People are going to think you're underqualified.