When things go oh so wrong
Despite your best efforts to define & document the Terms of Reference, document the scope and educate your clients on what to expect (realistically) from a product deployment, things don’t always go like they should.
Sometimes, you’re too good for your own good and your clients come to expect the moon when what can actually be realistically delivered is Mir. Pointing them back to the TOR and Scope documents sometimes becomes an emotional, difficult process that has you and your staff wondering why you picked this website/scrm project in the first place.
In the case of Social CRM products, the danger that sales staff will oversell is high. And even when they don’t, tucked away in the blurry corners of high expectation is the unrealistic view that this rollout will result in C-Level management knowing all they need to know about customers at the ‘click of a button’. Despite our best efforts and great intentions, those expectations come creeping out of the blurry corners into the living daylight of Scope and Key Deliverables.
In my view, these three things are important (among others) to reduce the fallout should things turn out this way;
- Educate, educate, educate. Make educating the client on the real deliverables a priority from the start. Sometimes, people just forget. Documents with fancy titles (Terms of Reference et al) get lost in the inbox amidst the excitement of a system that will ‘change our lives forever’. Taking time to keep key influencers grounded in reality and watching out for telltale signs that unrealistic expectations are creeping in is crucial. This way, there are more people at decision-making level who have a clear picture of the real situation and are able to help you diffuse the situation.
- Plan for it. It just makes sense. The likelihood that some senior executive will introduce unrealistic demands is real. Sometimes, the account represents great future business for one reason or another. Telling the client to take their project and…put it away may not be prudent. Finding a win-win solution that resolves the problem quickly becomes imperative.
- Remember the point. There’s a reason why you’re doing what you’re doing. Going back to your own strategy, business mantra or mission statement can help guide you and your staff out of the mire of emotional email exchanges.
Have you had things go wrong? How did you survive it? Please do tell?
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