A tale of two projects

It was the best of times It was the worst of times
It was the age of wisdom
It was the age of foolishness

Recent projects within the Aspect Healthcare Services practice have given me pause to reflect on the overall synergy between the Account Executive and the Engagement Manager.  I will cite two examples illustrating the odd and even rows of the above poem.

In an ideal project, the Engagement Manager is tasked to help write the SOW, then they are expected to deliver the scope defined (and only that scope) within budget and timeline.  To do this, the EM must be VERY knowledgeable about the scope of the project.  When the customer asks for something outside this scope, the EM must politely say NO or exchange functionality for the new request.   If the EM does not say no, the timeline usually goes awry and the customer relationship gets into trouble.   If the EM says no too much, the customer relationship gets into trouble.   This is where the AE earns their pay.  I expect AEs to have weekly (or so) outreach with their active customer to be sure the relationship is not in trouble and, if it is, to help with damage control.  Often the AE only has to show where the EM is working on the best interest of the customer to resolve these concerns.  This single act would have saved several high profile engagements and caused escalation in time to correct issues and keep strategic references.   Similarly, the dearth of this follow-up in a couple of instances has caused us to lose referenceable customers and overspend on the project budget.  

For example, Everyone communicates at least once per week with Customer A.  When something gets off track, we are able to sense the concern with the customer and correct it before it ruins our business.   THIS is the synergy that grows our business.   While it might seem to be “too much” at times, there is no denying it works.

 Alternately, we just lost our shorts on the Customer B project.  This was sold with the intent to be a flagship engagement where we would use Customer B as a reference to open doors for us all over the country.   Instead, we have to hope they don’t complain too loudly and we complete this engagement to the point they continue using our solution.   This probably could have been escalated and prevented if the AE had followed up routinely.  

This approach may not work every time, but it sure helps shift the odds to our favor.   Think about it.