Posted on

The Cost of Internal Resources

It’s important to remember when setting up a project, that the internal resources who will be involved are not free either. Generally speaking, the people involved in the delivery of a project like this ought to be top-tier performers (because their input is the most valuable) and, in getting involved with this project, they’re being pulled away from their day job.

Consultants should always remember that their clients do not live and breathe Salesforce; there’s a reason they’ve invited external consultants to be involved in the project. The time they’re devoting to discovery sessions, progress reviews and UAT is time they’re taking away from their “proper” jobs, and shouldn’t be treated lightly.

The client should have someone in mind who will end up being responsible for the Salesforce org once the project is complete. Ideally they should be technically literate, but they don’t need an IT degree or anything.

The key requirements for the Salesforce administrator are:

  • A good grasp of business process design
  • An understanding of good practice in data model design
  • The competence to communicate to senior management why certain requirements may or may not be advisable

That last point is actually of critical importance. It is easy for me as an external consultant who regularly offers advice to C-level executives to express an opinion to senior management and have it respected. After all, they’re going to value an opinion costing them over a hundred quid an hour as at least a-hundred-quid-an-hour’s-worth. Internal resources, on the other hand, are frequently told that the decisions they’re weighing in on are “above their pay-grade” or that they’re not fully aware of the facts. If that resource is responsible for the care and maintenance of a business-critical system though, their opinion ought to be considered at least as valuable as the system(s) they look after.

If you’ve any questions, or you think I might be able to help, I’d be delighted to hear from you! You can always email me, call me on +44 2393 96 06 42, request a (virtual) meeting or, if you prefer, fill out and submit the form on my Contact page and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Posted on

Inspirational quote…

Miss Tick sniffed. “You could say this advice is priceless,” she said, “Are you listening?”
“Yes,” said Tiffany.
“Good. Now… If you trust in yourself…”
“Yes?”
“…and believe in your dreams…”
“Yes?”
“…and follow your star…” Miss Tick went on.
“Yes?”
“…you’ll still be beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy. Goodbye.”

– Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men

Posted on

Feed your pipeline like you feed your dogs

Dogs...
Sharing a moment with Lexi...
Look after them, and they’ll look after you…

At the risk of stretching a simile, your sales pipeline is a bit like a faithful hound. It requires your attention on a daily basis. It should be a source of constant delight, and maybe an occasional surprise!

Also, like a faithful dog, it needs to be fed a proper, appropriate diet, or it’s not going to grow healthy and strong.

  1. Feed it the right kind of food. A growing puppy has different needs from a snoozy senior. You wouldn’t feed a Doberman on Chihuahua Chow. Similarly, the leads you’re feeding into your sales funnel should be, as much as possible, targeted and suitable for your business. If you’re selling fitted kitchens, say, you’re not going to get a great response from a batch of leads who all rent their homes.
  2. Feed it the right amount. Get this wrong, and you’ll end up with a sad, starved dog or a portly pooch. Similarly, you should know how much business you need to thrive, and how much would represent a glut that you might struggle to satisfy. Keeping the leads coming in predictably at a healthy rate is vital if you’re going to keep everything running well.
  3. Feed at the right rate. My dogs get their food in two meals per day, which suits them best. Even with dried kibble, it’d be a disaster to dump a month’s worth of food into their bowls at the start of each month and expect them to manage their own consumption until the next batch arrived! Similarly, for most businesses, buying in a load of leads at the start of the month (or quarter, or even the year!) and expecting them still to be fresh weeks or months later is not a great plan.

Ideally, then, you should be feeding your sales funnel with a regular, healthy supply of appropriate leads that will support your business goals. This is something we call the Rhythmic Acquisition of Customers, and it’s definitely something worth cracking. Let me know if you’d like a hand…

If you’ve any questions, or you think I might be able to help, I’d be delighted to hear from you! You can always email me, call me on +44 2393 96 06 42, request a (virtual) meeting or, if you prefer, fill out and submit the form on my Contact page and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.