On the road to sales and product alignment
I once worked in an oil and gas project where the IT component was less than 5% of the total cost. One of the senior managers from the oil company told me he wants to have a bet with me that the IT element will be late and cost more by at least 10%. His argument was that we in the IT business have all the best methodologies (usually copied from other industries) but we rarely deploy or stick to our own preaching.
It is quite common to hear arguments between sales people and product development (product people) regarding the true status of product availability. Sales people will always sell what they can and easy and promise the heavens. Product people will try to bring them back to reality or join in the enthusiasm and agree to deliver features and elements that do not exist. We all know the end result of such discussions – the client has delays and usually has to pay more.
All of this can be fixed in a very short time but it requires the human factor to be better managed. I am not a tech head! I am a marketer but, Application Life Cycle Management (ALM) and Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) are a set of methodologies, processes and tools that I promote as they help me to bring more value to the vendor and to the customer. Alignment and discipline are keys to a cost effective and measurable value all around.
Think about it this way - When a sales organisation works in partnership, enabled by transparency and common goals with the product group it has a better chance in selling a product. The customer has detailed understanding of the delivery and the true costs required. The holy grail of up-selling and cross selling becomes simplified as the trust between buyer and supplier exists. The value of customers is not only in their expenditure with you but also in how they promote you and add to your brand.
If this short description and scenario sounds familiar then next time I will be expanding on some of the first things to implement on the road to sales and product group alignment.
By the way, the manager from the oil company was right!