The “Take-over” syndrome

By : Suren

It is known that Oracle has grown through a series of acquisition and so have other companies in this industry such as SAGE, CA etc. However SAP have always been concentrating on growth from within, but all this has changed in the recent past, with SAP getting in on the act of acquisitions too.

With all the hype that business intelligence solutions are going to be in great demand in the future given its unique ability to support information requirements of all 3 levels within an organization and its ability to provide information from various sources has spurred up the demand for the best-of-breed vendor created solutions catering to this requirement, however with Oracle’s acquisition of Hyperion, SAP’s acquisition of Business Objects and IBM’s acquisition of Cognos, it is unlikely that the term best-of-breed solutions is going to be used again, atleast not when referring to business intelligence I would guess.


SAP very recently acquired a company named YASU which had staff strength of about 120 in India, Hyderabad, Santa Clara, California, and Princeton, N.J. It is expected that this company’s Business Rules Management System would be embedded in SAP Netweaver. Given that SAP SEM has functionalities that allow enterprise management to significantly accelerate and streamline the entire strategic management process, it’ll be interesting to see how the adoption of business rules would help with achieving this.

With SOA being considered as the future of SAP and with SAP’s Netweaver platform having the ability to perform data warehousing functions, just goes to show that the oppurtunities are endless and the technology to support this is closer than we think.

I would recommend to be on the lookout for opportunities to work with SAP BI as well and make some time to learn the integration options in it; it will provide you with a good overview on how the various modules have been designed to compliment each other, or in certain cases how we make them to.

Hope you found this post interesting and informative, your suggestions and comments are welcome at ssurenlk@msn.com.

Have a nice day.

S.Suren

For more information on SAP SEM visit http://help.sap.com/erp2005_ehp_02/helpdata/en/15/d75f3785b8fc49e10000009b38f842/frameset.htm

Interoperable Worlds !!!

By: S.Suren

In my previous posts I talked about how ERPs rely on excel and to what extent excel is needed in supporting an ERP System, when it comes to reporting and analysis etc.

Definitely this is something that the ERP Vendors have also been aware of and have identified that the best way to go about would be to integrate Excel with ERPs with regard to the business functions itself, to make work easier for the end users when it comes to using the ERP and excel together.

SAP has partnered up with MS and have developed the Duet Software for SAP, the Duet software enables seamless access to SAP business processes and data via Microsoft Office. SAP Terms that this development was done specially for those Information workers, yeah that’s right, its for those workers who work a lot more on excel analyzing and sorting information downloaded from the ERP itself. Initially this project initiated by SAP and MS Office was referred to as project “Mendocino” however later they changed it to “DUET”

Duet is sold and supported by both Microsoft and SAP. The product is available from SAP, as of June 28, 2006.

Looks like the Giants are beginning to address the fact that they cannot keep competing forever and have to tie their knots somewhere where there is no clear threat to either of them. Just for your information, there was a time when SAP and MS were considering merging, the idea came from MS and however this was later turned down due to reasons based on complexity !!!

However, I am sure a merger of this nature would have likely invited antitrust scrutiny. A merger of this nature would have outdone ORACLE, but ORACLE came back strongly to this saying that the market looked healthy and there was enough room for competition.

Coming back to the Excel integration, let’s look at ORACLE. They have also been ahead of the curve in this regard and have jointly with MS, come up with the technology via their Fusion Middleware that integrate business functions in ORACLE with MS Office.

Namely:

The technology and the products being, ORACLE Fusion Middleware and E-Business Suite,

the processes integrated being, Business Activity Monitoring, BPEL (Business process execution language) Manager and Business Intelligence (the ultimate module, I would say) and

MS office products being, MS Excel, Outlook and InfoPath.

ORACLE too have integrated with Office in such a way that 2 way information exchange takes place seamlessly and helps in increasing producvity of information workers specially.

I should say however that ORACLE has an impressive graphical display of performances and information in this regard.

For more information, check out this link below, it’s a very nice demo done by the ORACLE

Senior Director himself.

http://download.oracle.com/otndocs/tech/ias/Oracle_MSFT.html

So taking all the above into consideration and the demands of information workers, expect more integration with MS Office and ERPs in the future. I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to contact me on ssurenlk@msn.com if you have any queries.

Have a Nice Day !!

S.Suren

Consulting Between the LINES !!

By : S.Suren

Convincing the OBVIOUS

How often have you found yourself as a consultant, in a position where your customer is not willing to accept the changes you recommend, simply because he/she have got used to an old process and don’t wont to change it ?

I am sure you have all come across this issue. The normal argument the client would use would be to justify that the old process has been working fine; he/she would call up on old facts about how well the company has been doing in its 100 – 150 years in business and the increasing market share.

One very interesting comeback line for this is what I came across when reading an article by Dr.Alan Weiss (http://www.summitconsulting.com), where he asks the customer, what stops them from thinking that their market share can’t be more than what it is.

It’s all about persuasion, I guess, however as a consultant you need to be sure about what you say and recommend. Convincing the obvious in the best possible manner is something we consultants should have the knack of doing, and this is a talent arising out of marketing than anything else.

Learning to LOVE CHANGE

For those of you who have come across the “The Management GURU - Tom Peters” writings, I am sure you would know this.

This is one of the strategies he proposed to practice “Thriving on CHAOS”. This is very apparent in the IT world, especially when implementing a new system to replace another system that has been in existence for a long long time.

It is likely that the end users are not sure what they would be dealing with, it is now when we as consultants need to positively educate them on the benefits for them and teaching them to LOVE the Change.

There are more than a many practical ways of doing this, but the simple most effective way, would just be to get them involved in as much as possible in the change over process (referred to by TP as “Leading by Empowering People”), giving them the feeling of ownership and making them feel as an important element in the entire process.

At the same time, make sure that as a consultant you do not lose control of the situation, this would simply mean that the overall objective of improving the business process and efficiency maybe going of track to achieving something that is already been done in a totally new different way.

More soon....

Rgds
Suren

Whats it’s all about then??

Certain things ERP Implementation teams need to be aware of:

• The implementation of a system will not completely eliminate the amount of manual work done by a user.
• A system cannot cater to the inefficiencies of people, the process is what the system looks to streamline. Like the saying goes “Junk In, Junk Out”
• Don’t expect the system to do everything that it is capable of from the very beginning itself; because it will take time for people to adjust to the new system, only after the users truly understand the importance of the system and use it in such a way, will the system begin to generate value addition to the business.
• They say it takes about a 18 months for any system to begin return on investment, but don’t take this for granted, I am sure with the right methodology this time can be reduce. Another important things to consider is that, its also a known fact that the average period of a system to be in place before it requires an upgrade is 5 years, if this is the case, then that would mean that the system would be directly contributing to the business in full throttle for 3 ½ years (5 – 1 ½).
• The system will only be as good as the people using it and the processes built into it. Typically, like a car and its driver, a bad driver could even make a merc look bumpy.

Issues to be aware of when implementing SAP (Source: AMR Research)

• Allow sufficient time after the pilot goes live to refine processes. Continue learning SAP products to resolve issues and prepare for the next phase.
• Segregate responsibilities to ensure that conflicting priorities or unnecessary tasks do not cause costly delays. Certain business processes may not be relevant until later in the project.
• Change management is a big issue. People will always resist and have conflicting initiatives, including those dedicated to the project. Get people to focus on data clean-up and conversion.
• Master data management is equally daunting. Cleansing the data, creating new data and technically migrating the data to SAP should not be underestimated.
• Complete the global blueprint before starting the pilot and be mindful of how resources are allocated. Do not complete the global blueprint while implementing the pilot site. In AMR's study, the £2.6bn firm tried doing the two things at once and ran into unnecessary angst and shifting of priorities. It also indicted that, with hindsight, the team should have considered implementing Finance and HR globally first. Being able to segment SAP functionality and decide how best to deploy it is critical.

Hope you found this post useful. 

Have a nice day!!

Rgds

Suren

Consultant Skills Required in the Field

Some Useful tips from the Million Dollar Consultant - Alain Weiss

I’ve filtered the necessary skill points that need to be considered mainly in a project environment and added some practical tips on the following points in RED,

Consultancy Process

• A consultant's thinking should be at a degree of freedom more than that of the client's. Question the client's assumptions.

Practicality: Question when the clients states they don’t want change a previous process simply because it has been in existence for a long time. Remember this is just to question, why, perhaps there could be a reason why it is being done that way and if it fits with the overall objectives of the company and is producing maximum efficiency, then LET IT BE!!

• A consultant's insight is demonstrated as much by good questions as by good answers.

Practicality: Know the impact of your final recommendation on all other related aspects of the business before saying it aloud.

• Organisations are perfectly designed for the results they achieve. So start by assuming that nothing is happening by accident!

Delivery process

• Put effort into managing your clients' expectations - it will build good relationships.

Practicality: This is simple put yourself in the client’s shoes, and figures out what you would expect from the consultant with regard to that particular issue, and then skip back into your shoes (figure of speech!!) and do something beyond that expectation!!

• Remember that you are not a supplicant! Sometimes you have to say "no" to the client.

Practicality: A tough thing to do, but someone’s got to do it, only if in the best interest of the project.

• Manage the context. It is easy to concentrate on the content of a project, and totally overlook the environment in which it is taking place.

Practicality: Best way to avoid this is to keep other relevant parties informed as well when an important decision is made.

• Build client confidence in the early stages of a project by looking for quick successes and making sure the client is well informed about progress

Practicality: Putting yourself in the clients’ shoes should again do the trick here as well.

Interpersonal & Communications Skills

• When you aren't talking, you aren't screwing up! Consultants sell by how they listen as well as what they say.

Practicality: In any meeting give the customer the first 10 minutes of it, and if possible get others from the clilents side involved in the initial discussion too, this gives you time to assess the situations your clients are in and identify the key players in the meeting, then you can begin to discuss your points with these key players.

• The description of your services has to be so clear that a client can describe it to one of his or her colleagues

Practicality: After your initial discussion with the client on what your services or recommendation is about, make sure to draft a document with most of the exact same words you used during the discussion. However, I would recommend that you inform your clients to let you know if someone else is interested in your service so you could approach them directly, after all, it’s always better for anyone to hear it from the horse’s mouth!!!

• Speak the simple truth. Being truthful is simple, but keeping the message simple requires time and effort.

Practicality: Avoid Jargons, speak the customers language!!!

Skills for the world of consultancy

• In consultancy, the person is the product. Make sure your "product packaging" is good - you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Practicality: You are your own BRAND Ambassador, don’t let it go!!!

• In consultancy you sell and deliver promises. Winning and maintaining the trust of clients is therefore vital.

Practicality: You have probably heard this many times before but nevertheless here goes “Don’t make Promises you can’t keep, and if you can’t keep your promises….don’t make excuses!!!

• Murphy's Law of time for consultants: things always take longer - whether consultant tasks or client decisions!

Practicality: Well what can I say, that’s Murphy’s Law, but if we as consultants can add our own law to it, it would go as something like below :

"Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment, but….if it can be avoided it should have been atleast identified in advance “

The Stages of a Project that everyone knew, but no one wanted to elaborate on!!!

S.Suren

In this article I would like to mention that the difference type of stages in a Project Implementation.

Here are the six stages of a typical IT project:

1. Wild Enthusiasm
2. Total Confusion
3. Fear and Uncertainty
4. Search for the Guilty
5. Punishment of the Innocent
6. Promotion of the Uninvolved

I’m not saying that these occurs in every IT project, but common, it does happen in some and makes us wonder, if this is whats happening will it ever be looked into and corrected. The answer to that would be “No” I guess, simply because there will be always be a human influence on any project and as long as that happens, these things tend to happen.

Lets look at each of these stages in detail and see what can be done to make the most of these situations, for the good of course!!

1. Wild Enthusiasm – There is always bound to be some of this, expecially when it comes to implementing a new system, everyone is not quite sure what to expect and what will become of the old practices, this is where the consultant / project manager will have to step in and make sure to communicate to the users on what this project is all about, and what to expect and not to expect too. People handling skills at this point of time is crucial, but this is also the enthusiastic and enjoyable part of the project, this is best part of the project where the consultant /project manager can really build up a good rapport with the customers.

2. Total Confusion – Getting deeper in the project, the complications begin to arise to the top. This is when the customers are not too sure, who is going to take responsibility for the project and everyone make an effort to get prevailing operational issues sorted out, before the consultant digs deeper into their relevant areas. This is where the consultant / project manager needs to draw up a plan with clear guidelines as to who would be responsible for what, and he needs to make sure that he uses his rapport built in the first stage in getting the users to accept these responsibilities.

3. Fear & Uncertainity - This is bound to be there in every project, and is something that needs to be addresses with utmost importance, as this could escalate into something big and jeopardize the entire project. The consultant / project manager need to again communicate to the team the importance of knowing what to do, and the fact that crucial functions be double checked and confirmed before performing them. I have come across customers who sometimes are just too afraid to have to do anything with the project simply because all senior managers and directors are involved to some extent into the operational areas too, this leads to them not even making an attempt to question and clear their doubts about the project. As they say in an ERP Implementation expecially, there shouldn’t be a single stone not unturned, and if the above situation were to occur, a lot of important information would be lost. The Project Team should keep everyone informed on the importance of their input and assure them that they will always have the higher management support.

4. Search for the Guilty – My personal stance on this is, people will make mistakes and as long as they are involved in projects, this will happen; therefore it is up for the consultant / project manager to prepare for contingencies too. If in case, there is someone who is incapable of doing something that was assigned to him / her then this should be identified and that individual should be moved to something else they are capable of doing. I strongly believe that everyone have their strengths and weaknesses and a good manager should be able to identify this and make the most of that persons strengths.

5. Punishment of the innocent – As I said before, there is no need for this to happen if the previous can be done in a proper way. The reality is however that these situations do happen and I believe that if the consequence is something that can be sorted out without loosing a life, then it should just be done and the person responsible should be educated on the importance of his task and how the relevant task should be performed correctly.

6. Promotion of the Uninvolved – Well, the reality is that the person who stays late and arrives earlier than the boss, just prior to the project going live is who gets all the credit for the final effort taken. They say, there are two kinds of workers, 1. The person who can finish his work assigned to him double quickly and efficiently and so finds the time allocated for his work more than enough, 2. The person who cannot finish his work assigned to him in the time allocated, simply because he has not got his task priorities right, and ends up staying late and doing those things that need to completed in that day, that could have been done in the time provided itself.

The last point is controversial to say the least, and could be debated for the rest of mankind’s existence, but a good manager will know the difference and make the right decision. Hope you found this post interesting, your suggestions, comments and ideas are always welcome!!

Have a Great Day !!!

S.Suren

The CUSTOMISATION FLU !!!

This is one Flu that all project manager and consultants are likely to catch at some point of time or another.

If you have been involved in an ERP project, then I am sure there has been atleast one instance in which someone in the group would have suggested why not we do a customization for this process.

Having been in the ERP Industry as a systems executive / consultant / project manager myself I should say that, when the term customization is referred to itself, makes us go, “hold on now, there is some other way we can get this thing done!!!. This is simply because we understand how something as simple as a customization to add a text field in one column could change the format of a standard report printed in this process.

So then, does this mean that all customizations in a project should be avoided at all costs ????

Answer : Not necessarily I would say, for example there are companies that have there own terms and conditions with external parties and have their own unique way of doing business, for these situation it is not feasible to go for an entire change, thus in these situations it is often the case for some customization to suit the company’s need, but it should be kept in mind not to go overboard with the customization as it could be the beginning of a series of wrong moves which might jeopardize the entire implementation.

Keep these in mind…….

When designing and developing a customized solution it is of utmost important that a proper guideline with a single framework be designed for the customization work to be carried out, as it is often the case that the deeper you get into customizing certain functions the scope gets larger and you end up doing a customization that in itself takes up a large % of the standard ERP Solution initially proposed, this phenomenal is often termed as “Scope creep” in the project implementation environment.

As often the case, the customers would require that the smallest thing be customized as well, simply be saying “we pay we say”, the unfortunate things in these circumstances is that when the consultants start questioning other related processes and procedures that are linked to the customization, but in different areas of the business, the customers are often caught up and start up the merry-go-round process….Yippyyy!!!!

Therefore, it’s up to the consultant to make sure that the right people concerned are involved in the process and address the customization requirement.

One of my favorite independent consultants “Ipshita Basu” hits the nail on the head by saying that “ERP implementation is the right time for Business Process Re-engineering. Instead of modifying an application, it is better to modify the company processes as per the ERP standards since they already have the best practices incorporated in them.”

The truth is that unfortunately sometimes, consultants too, forget this is one of the primary objectives of the implementation and instead concentrate on configuring the ERP to suit the company’s present requirement than to actually try to do some business process re-engineering in connected areas as well. This is understandable sometimes given the knowledge that the consultant needs to have of certain functions of an ERP that he/she might sometimes totally forget to concentrate on BPR activities, process studies and the other fancy terms that we all like to talk about during ERP Implementations.

It is also a given fact that during the project there is always the likely chance that people from both sides will leave, this is something that the PM has always make sure to address as the IT industry is such a competitive field for everyone involved, you never know where the next knock on the door would come from. This problem is further compounded by the lack of proper documentation and the tracking of the changes which have been initiated, thus when a new person takes on a customization that was in progress he/she needs to start from scratch and this further prolongs the implementation, and we all know the other considerations related to this.

Finally, lets say the customizations have been done and now the process is in operations, and after a few years, its time for an upgrade and the ERP Vendors have the necessary patches to do the upgrade, but things are not going to be that rosy as additional customizations would be necessary to make the upgrade possible, and this is going to create a snow ball effect, but no worries this time we’ll plan ahead and get it right……aaachoooooo!!!!!

3 Cheers for EXCEL !!!

THE ROMANCE CONTINUES....

No, this is not a love story from the 18^th century, but I should say it is the closest relationship (integration in computer terms) ever between 2 softwares in the 21^th century.

I am referring to how much ERPs and other standard businesses applications rely on MS Excel to get things done. Whether its before, during or after the implementation of a system in business there is always a considerable amount of excel sheets being used and analyzed for various purposes from collecting data that is to be uploaded into the system as master records or to prepare templates, or even more to assign task and draw up a project plan.

It is arguable that project management tools such as MS Projects and MS Visio do get rid of the need to use excel for anything and everything, but come on, we don’t need to deny the fact that we all do go to ‘Start’ -> program - > MS Office -> MS Excel…. and voila, open up the software we all love but never say it aloud, at least not often enough.

Well, they say that MS Excel was voted as the best software of the century, rightly so to, I would say, imagine business without excel….and oopsss there goes all the hard worked analysis and tons and tons of financial data we had. If I asked you to imagine that MS Office Installations didn’t contain MS Excel and instead gave you something like notepad for analysis and stuff, would MS Office be as demanded as it is now.

Well just consider this, how many times have you seen those job ads on newspapers that say “General proficiency in MS Office is a must” well yes….MS EXCEL!!!!

S.Suren

About Me

Hi,

I'm Suren, I have had the opportunity to work with 3 ERP Solutions as a Project Manager / Consultant/ Executive and in this BLOG I'd like to share with everyone, my experience in implementing these ERPs.

I believe that to learn and understand an ERP you need to first look at it, at a conceptual level, once you have that part of it sorted the details are much easier to grasp. Most importantly, you need to have that knack to make things happen, a good ERP System probably has many best-in-class processes already built into it, its up to the intellectual ability of the consultant to adopt these or perhaps even alter them a bit to best suit the clients requirements, and oh yeah, smile when you do so, soft skills coupled with technical skills is what makes a consultant tick !!

Hope you find my blog enjoyable and informative.

Any comments, ideas, suggestions and questions, either regarding the industry or anything related to the blog posts are all welcome, you can contact me on :

Email : ssurenlk@msn.com

Skype : ssuren_skype

MSN Messenger : ssurenlk@msn.com

Disclaimer

The articles on this website are 100 % my own work based on my research finding, unless otherwise stated. The views expressed are my own and not of anyone else.Using this information is at the users own discretion and responsibility.

ERPs I have worked with :

SAP R/3 – FI/CO, PP

IFS Applications – Financials / Distribution / Business Intelligence

SAGE ACCPAC– SM, GL, AP, AR, IC, OE, PO

Peresoft Cashbook - V5.0

When ERPs get the taste of SOA !!!

Well then, whats SOA then and what is in it for us (ERP Provider) if we are to follow this architecture.

In my previous post, I have already quoted Mr.Hao He who had a wonderful article on what SOA is all about.

Today, I will be going into some detail on how ERP Providers around the world are looking to change their models and methodologies to fit in with SOA.

Starting up lets look at IFS, with a component based architecture in its armor from 1994 it has been among the pioneers in introducing a component based approach in providing a business solution. With the addition of SOA, IFS has taken the concept to the next level with the SOCA (Service-oriented compoenent based architecture) model.

This model not only uses the service oriented approach to architecture but with the inclusion of components makes it even more flexible and loosely coupled which by the way are the pre-requisites for SOA.

With this mix….it makes it possible to design business solution that integrates a collection of services or groups of components that perform business processes. With the primary objective being able to deliver platform independence and not being tied to a specific technology.

Since IFS has had component based architecture since 1994, the shift IFS has had to make to cater to the SOA concept is almost imperceptible and readily locks in with the component based style of delivering the end users business needs.

There are many more advantages of providing a component based model especially for business solutions, only a few of which I will just list down now, as this is not the core area I am looking to explain in this article.

Benefit from a component-based application

l Step-by-step

l Agility

l Open interfaces

l Efficient development

Now let’s look at another ERP Provider, SAP. SAP has begun planning for its vision of SOA, with its releases of narrowly defined models or packages which are based on its NetWeaver development and integration platform. Previously, they released large-scale updates of closely interlinked components and then later setup about defining the configuration of the necessary modules that would serve the business needs of the end users.

However, now with the provision of business models, SAP provides the ability to setup the system up and running quickly, still assuming that the particular business model supports the relevant business needs.If this is not the case, then the appropriate models will also need to be setup and then configured accordingly.

Now, getting back to NetWeaver, this service based platform comprises several technologies and components: a portal framework, business intelligence and reporting, Business Process Management (BPM), integration, Master Data Management (MDM), a common run-time application server, and the SAP application development and management platform.

Using this platform SAP is looking to make tune its architecture into a more SOA based style, however we should understand that given that a componentalised framework is a pre-requisite of SOA, its still got a few touch up work to be done on its business models, packages and sub-business models.

Given SAP’s increased interest in penetrating the small and medium enterprise (SME) market, its approach of providing process models ready for deployment makes a lot of sense and is something that will definitely be looked at closely by many industry analysts and competitors likely, and I, not being any exception.

Now, let’s turn our attention to one ERP Provider who are eating their chunk of the market by literally eating up other smaller ERP Providers, yes its ORACLE.

Oracle, calls it Project Fusion, this is there contribution to the developing a system that falls in line with the SOA concept, what they intend to do is provide a set of tools that will assist in modeling the business process as per the end users requirement. This would help in delivering components tailored to the end users environment. Interestingly this provides the ability to be more adaptable which is what large companies have learnt from smaller ones, so to say, and what they intend to do to be more successful in their business processes.

So the future looks promising for the SOA model, and I shall try my best to keep updating this blog with the other changes that come about.

Best Regards

S.Suren

Consultant

Some of the above contents were extracted from Joseph J. Strub’s article, and were modified to reflect my ideas taking into account other related information.

Ever thought of Project Management as a service?

Books teach you what u should and should not do, experience teaches you what is best way to do what you should do and should not do !!!

Remember, the right attitude is very important if you work in the service industry, like the old saying goes.... "Ability is what you are capable of doing....Motivation is what determines you to do it.........Attitude determines how well you do it"

Now talking about service have you ever thought of Project Management as a service?

How many of the projects that you know have been completed on time ? I know quite a few. How many of these projects have actually ended with the customer smiling and handing over to you the project completion form? The simple reason is that the customer was not happy with the way you delivered the outcome, maybe you did deliver a wonderful solution and the final outcome was excellent but then why was the customer not happy ?

It is more about the way you did it rather than what you did!!


The reality is that with the dynamic environment that surrounds today’s IT driven industries very few IT professionals even have the time to draw up new deadlines when the previous ones are not met, let alone the need to practice properly customer service management during the project itself.

The first thought that would pop up when we say the word project management is…..managing resources to perform an activity. Managing these resources is more than just using them cost efficiently, it also refers to using them effectively.

To use these resources effectively we need to first judge how effective they can be and how effective they are likely to be given the conditions they are going to work in.What then is these resources, is it the people, the capital, the materials etc etc?Well, the resources are nothing else other than what you have to work with.

Therefore, it is simply the elements in your working environment. Most of these resources are the same ones that are used in the service industry so why then can’t these resources be used in a project as a service element as well.Let’s now see how we can practice service functions in a project:Communication is one of the key ingredients in any project, this is what determines how well the project progresses and how well the outcome suits the requirements of the customer. Here we will be seeing how communication helps providing a better service during a project.


Your Late !!!


How many times have to you been late to a meeting? It is understood that there can be unforeseen circumstances that could have delayed you but was this communicated to the customer. If so, good, but how was it, done?

Did you inform the customer about the reason you were late after arriving at the premises or was it while you were on your way?If you did the first one, ie. To inform the customer after you had reached your destination, it is not going to make a big difference to how your customer feels. He is already upset about you being late and now a reason to justify this after the damage has been done is not going to smoothen off things.

If you informed the customer during the delay period, the customer would feel better since he knows what your position is and he will be glad that you called him and gave him the space to do other things that he might have to do until your arrival. The tone and words you use during this situation is very.


Hello, are you done?

How many times have your customers called you inquiring on the progress of an issue that you said you would report to them?Most probably many times. It is understandable that it can be hard sometimes to follow up on each and every issue when involved with many other things in the project, but, this small instance of the customer calling you would make him to think that you would not do it unless being reminded about it.This happening regularly would reduce the customer’s confidence in you and eventually affect your companys relationship with the customer.

The simple solution to this is to make a note somewhere that will remind you of this customer’s request, whenever you see this note just call the customer and inform him something about the status of the issue even if you haven’t actually started at it yet (anyhow make sure you have allocated time to atleast look into it !!). Doing this for one, would put the customer at ease because for him he would have least expected the call and to receive it when he is in the middle of his work would communicate to him that there is someone else at that particular time who is looking into his requirement.


This practice normally gives you that additional time to complete the work since the customer would understand that you are looking at it seriously. While working on the issue, it is best to call the customer and just confirm something about the requirement, this will have a positive impact.

What an opportunity?

They say that every unsatisfied customer says his experience to 11 others of who 5 say that to another 11 and this continues. By taking time to satisfy that one customer you are saving on a lot of unnecessary reputation loss.Has your customer ever jumped at you the moment you stepped into his office about your service, though he hasn’t met you anywhere before? Well I have had that experience, may be he was not satisfied with your company’s overall customer service, and he takes it on you since he knows that you are from that company.

If this is the case, it is like striking GOLD. Because the customer has never worked with you personally before and he would be expecting the same service from you too, but if you can calm him down and make sure that you look into his requirement seriously and keep him satisfied, this is going to be one happy customer.

Take time for this customer; look into what he is upset about, start work on it. Keep touch with him regularly, until the job is done. It is understood that the customer might then be more demanding since he would be under the impression that he needs to yell at you to get things done, let him know that this is not the case.


For instance. When you have completed a single task call the customer and let him know, he would atleast say “Thank You” when he does you let him know that the task was easier because of his active involvement (reverse psychology I suppose). Once you have completed the task fully, just let the customer know how resources from other projects were taken to handle this task and how other customers supported this.

He would appreciate this and the next time he calls you he knows that you would do your best and he would be nicer this time.

And there you are (11 + 5 + 11 + 5…..) this many customers will not have the chance to hear about your unsatisfied customer simply because you don’t have one now.


More soon…..