Tips from the Trenches: The Collective Wisdom of Over 100 Professional Services Leaders

Abstract

PSVillage is proud to offer our community-developed book written by over 100 PSVillage members in iBook format (it can also be viewed on other devices). This delightful book is chock full of tips - 165 of them to be exact - from developing a PS Strategy and Charter, to Services Marketing and Selling, to managing your offshore resources.  You can also purchase a hard copy of the book on Amazon.

Chapters

1. Stragegy and Charter
2. Organizational Design / Human Resources
3. Business Operations
4. Services Methodology
5. Services Marketing
6. Services Selling
7. Services Delivery
8. Offshoring
9. Cross-functional Alignment

Table of Contents:

1. Strategy and Charter

Three Eyes for Success
Demonstrating the Value of the PS Organization
Starting a PSO
Listen – and Create your Charter
Including Services in a Product Company’s Strategy
Top Ten Do’s for Running a Great Services Organization
Focus on Fundamentals
The Importance of Establishing Your PS Charter
Why We Exist
When to Make Money
Services Mission and Strategy
The PSO’s Reason for Being
Managing the PSO in a Product-Centric Company
Create Strategic Intent
Professional Services Top 10
Strategic Action

2. Organizational Design / Human Resources

Winning the War on Talent
Quantifying Recruiting Skills Specifications
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Have a Meeting
Listen and Engage
Maintaining High Standards in Recruiting and Hiring
Meet Me at the Summit
Help Your Consultants Stay Balanced
Key Organizational Attributes
Creating an Environment for Retention
Hiring Right
The “Armadillo Method” of Team Building Among Remote Consultants
The Importance of a Well-Written Resume
Working Effectively with Global Services Teams
Hiring into Professional Services
Reducing Turnover by Rewarding High Performers
Minimizing the Challenges Inherent in a Geographically-Dispersed Group
Create a “No Surprises Culture”
Never Underestimate the Power of Incentives
Developing an Effective Interview Process
“Blending” Technical Field People Across Multiple Roles
Right People, Right Seats, Right Bus
Removing the “Dis” from a Consulting “Disincentive” Plan
Learn to Love Odd People
Know Where the Money Comes From
Quickest Path to Growing a Services Revenue Stream
Six Tenets of PSO Leadership
Separate Performance and Career Development Reviews
A Unique Training Approach

3. Business Operations

Use a Site Survey to Resolve Scheduling Constraints
Better Project Estimating
Setting Realistic Utilization Targets
Fixed-Fee Arrangements
Evaluating Project P&L
Look for a Simple Solution First
Utilization 101
Practice Firmness with Flexibility
Advantages of a Fixed-Price Contract
Managing P&L Statements
In the Land of the Blind
Application Software Selection
Learning Good Habits at an Early Age
Contingency Planning
Defining Business Value
Copyright © 2011 PSVillage, Inc.
PSA Systems and Shining a Lantern
Centralized Resource Management
Timecards for Everyone
Cleaning Up Expense Management
Revenue Recognition and Invoicing
Managing Small T&M Projects
Support for New Systems
PS Professionals and Utilization
Dynamic Knowledge Management
Project Staffing is a Collaborative Process
The Benefits of Reviewing Your Call Center Database

4. Methodology

Communication is Key in Project Management
Process Assessment
SOW Automation
Keys for Managing Project Estimates
Up-Front Specification of UAT and Test Data Sets
Gathering Business Requirements Effectively
Use of Good Templates
Setting Expectations Early On
Clearly Define Acceptance Criteria Up-front
Communication Plan for Project Governance
Success Criteria
Project Management Assets, Guidelines and Tools
Business Integration
Requirements Gathering
Maximizing the Effectiveness of Project & Program Reviews
How to Describe the Change Order Process
File Naming Convention
Tools and Knowledge Sharing in a PSO

5. Services Marketing

What Marketing Materials Do I Need?
You – The Candidate
A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Know Your Audience
Craftsmanship or Production?
Enterprise Applications Packages Offerings
How to Make Services Offers Stick
Demand Generation
Lead Generation That Works
Customer Satisfaction Tools
Marketing Improves Project Success
Customer Satisfaction Survey

6. Services Selling

When Y'all Say 'Constituents' ....Do Y'all Mean 'Folks’?
Consultantitis
Actively Listen to Your Customer Before You Respond
Never Assume
Building a Repeatable Process to Support Sales
Helping Project Sponsors Get Buy-in
How to Improve Your Sales Win Rate
Selling Professional Services for a Partner-Centric Software Company
SaaS - Sell and Deliver What You Have
SaaS – Don’t Sell Your Projects Short
How to Control the Velocity of Payment
Incentive Plans for a Product Sales Team
How Do You Get Sales to Sell Services?
Negotiating Discounted Daily Rates
Project Pricing
Bundles of Hours
Technique for Maintaining Billing Rates
A Good Book to Read

7. Services Delivery

Keep Your Enemies Closer
Never Mess with a Production Instance
It’s Not Our Fault, But It is Our Problem
Look Beyond Implementation Services
Implications of Using the SaaS Model
Understand the Effect of Changes
Hot Tips for Being Stuck in a Blizzard
Work Your Way Out of a Job
High-Performing Project Teams
A Key to Project Success
Project Reviews to Better Manage Resources and Demand
Avoid the Ivory Tower
Standardize on Reality
Managing Remotely within Professional Services
Using New Terminology to Facilitate Change
How to Get Customers to Pay for Project Management

8. Offshoring

Communication Between Onshore and Offshore Teams
Offshore Staff Retention: Invest in the Individuals
Offshore Retention and Motivation
Offshore Models
Going Offshore
Challenges in Offshore Implementation
Managing an Offshore Development Center
Offshore Outsourcing – Understanding the Challenges
Look Past Cost When Outsourcing

9. Cross-Functional Alignment

Good Reasons to Befriend Customer Support
Alignment with Sales
The Sales Rep Said What?
Working with Fast-Paced Sales Groups
Working with Sales
SaaS - Internal Coordination is Key
Project Governance
Sales and Services – Aligning for Success
Understanding Partner Conflict
Building a System Integrator Channel
Stakeholders in a Partner Strategy
One Way to Reduce Channel Conflict with Partners
Forming Alliances
You Can Have Too Many Relationships
Managing Partners Using the “80/20 Rule”
Partner Programs That Work
Sharing Resources Across Lines of Business
Aligning Business with IT
Develop Key Engineering Contacts
Friends or Foes: Partnering with Product Management and Engineering
It Pays to Get in Front of Your Customer
Developing Relationships with Alliance Partners