Classic “Sales-PM-Account” triangle in an online agency
Hi, Habr. In this material I would like to discuss options for organizing an effective scheme for the interaction of managers in a company developing Internet projects. The problem is as old as the world and in a crisis has become even more urgent. The topic under discussion is very extensive, therefore in the model under consideration a number of simplifications (assumptions) are made.
These reflections are mainly based on many years of experience of the company ADV / web-engineering . Over the years of work and at different stages of the company's development, we have tried almost all the schemes of the organization of the “triangle”.
It is worth noting that we are talking here about roles. The specific organization of the “triangle” may involve combining several roles in a single manager.
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Sales . Sales Manager. Responsible for the sale of projects on incoming requests - the first contact, preparation and presentation of proposals and estimates, the conclusion of the contract. Sometimes, he also develops “cold” contacts — that is, he searches for clients on his own (or through channels such as large RAs, system integrators, etc.).
PM Project manager. Responsible for the production of the project, controls the time-price-quality. Manages the project team in the framework of the production of the project, solves production issues with representatives of the customer
Account . Account Manager. Carries out customer service, develops strategic relations with the client, responds to complaints, tries to make it comfortable and easy for the client during the entire life cycle of the client. As a rule, motivated to sell projects and services to existing customers. In many ways, the role of the account is intermediate between PM and Sales.
To understand the problem, you need to understand the motivation that drives the representative of each of the roles in his work.
Sales is focused on the sale of a specific project. He is not so important what will happen at the production stage, it is important for him to sell. Therefore, Sales is often inclined to underestimate the estimated cost (it is easier to sell) and promise gold mountains to the client. What is often quite dissatisfied with PM.
PM is motivated for quality project production. Since he is responsible for the quality and labor costs of the project, he is always inclined to overstate the estimated cost (less risk) and promise the client a minimum (since he will be responsible for his promises). He is not very important what will happen after the delivery of the project, his task - to bring the project to its logical conclusion.
Account is motivated to organize for your client the most comfortable space within the company. In fact, the account must be a representative of the customer on the side of the studio and act in its interests. Loyalty and good relations with your customer account should turn into repeat orders for projects and services of the company - this is the ultimate goal. The account is motivated to reduce the estimated cost (easier to sell, and the customer is satisfied) and is not motivated to promise the mountains of gold (then it will be worse anyway, and work with the customer).
In addition to motivation, all roles have a significantly different format and rhythm of activity, which also needs to be taken into account.
Sales activity is as unstable as possible and its interaction with the customer is of the shortest duration. The sales cycle is the shortest stage. Sold - not sold. Also, Sales has the most risk in its activities - in the process of its work, it appears at the leading edge, and most of the product it produces is not in demand (simply because there are far fewer projects sold than not sold). Not all people are able to work in such a ragged mode, this should have a certain inclination.
PM activity is measured by the project cycle. The manager has one or several projects in production, and he is focused on the effective implementation of each individual project. PM considers time intervals in a section of the project, its stages. Thus, PM “runs” at an average distance - in its field of view the project (the duration is longer than the sales stage, but less than the entire life cycle of the client in the company).
Account works in the most long-term phase. He has a client with whom he will be together throughout the entire cycle of his presence in the company. His tasks are more strategic (development of relations, organization of a comfortable stay for a client). Account activity should be systemic and well organized. But it is focused, ultimately, on the re-sale of projects or services to its customers, do not forget that.
Since there are only three roles, it is possible to consider all options for combining them, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
1. Sales & PM & Account “All in One”
The classic option for the first stage of development of a small company. There are not enough resources to hire several specialists, so the company has one all-time manager. As a rule, he is also the CEO and the center of competence within the company.
Benefits:
If the manager managed to sell the project, the client liked it. He continues to lead him and interacts with the client, which eliminates the problem of changing the contact person after the sale.
Disadvantages:
Strong internal conflict “Sales-PM” due to different motivation and different goals. The manager is a single entry point for the client, so the inevitable small shoals at the production stage are also projected by the client onto strategic relationships. With the growth of incoming requests and projects in the production of the manager is simply not enough for everything.
2. Sales + PM & Account
As a rule, this model is next in the development of the company. The most conflicting roles of PM and Sales are divided, thus resolving the internal conflict. Sales is engaged in net sales, its task is to attract new customers to the company.
The main task of PM & Account is still the production of projects. The function of developing a relationship with a client is rather a burden.
Benefits:
If you have competent PM & Account specialists who are responsible for their work, this scheme allows you to work effectively for a long time and has a large margin of safety.
PM & Account is a carrier of knowledge both on the client and on projects - he is always aware of what is happening.
Disadvantages:
Due to the fact that Sales is a separate manager, the problem of project transfer arises, therefore PM & Account has to be involved in the early stages of presale. From the point of view of Sales, the disadvantage is the lack of responsibility for their actions, there is a temptation to “promise the client with three boxes”, because then you will still bother with this production.
With an increase in the number of regular customers (for example, they are assigned to a man 15, and he has a project in production 3, and he focuses specifically on projects), they begin to fall out of sight and stagnate without further development of relations, which negatively affects the company's business.
As in the previous scheme, small shoals arise during the production of a project, and customer dissatisfaction is projected onto strategic relationships (since they are handled by the same manager).
* I can say that the company ADV / web-engineering existed in such a paradigm of the organization of the “triangle” for more than 8 years. But this was only possible due to the very high competence and responsibility of the staff in the PM & Account position.
3. Account + Sales & PM “Clinical”
This is a very strange option, which we consider only for completeness. The motivations of PM and Sales are diametrically opposed, so it’s simply pointless to combine them in one person if you have a separate account. In practice, I, fortunately, have never come across such an option.
4. Sales & Account + PM
Within this scheme, Account is merged with Sales, and PM becomes a dedicated role. This allows you to localize the interaction with the customer on sales in one person, and directly production - in another. This scheme is typical for fairly large companies that have a sufficient number of regular customers and a large amount of projects in production.
Benefits:
There is no problem transferring the project (client) and knowledge of it. The manager who sold the first project to the client continues to work with him on. Sales & Account is the entry point for the client for all services of the company.
The ultimate goal of both Sales and Account is sales, which allows to localize this task within one person. The same scheme allows us to stabilize the “discrete nature” of Sales due to the constant and well-predictable volume of orders from regular customers.
Disadvantages:
Sales and Account have a different rhythm of activity, there is an internal conflict. Sales has a lot of incoming, quickly ending with a “hang-up”, a small interaction cycle, and Account has regular customers with whom it is necessary to carefully build relationships.
* At the time of writing this material, the ADV uses exactly such a scheme.
5. Account + Sales + PM “Swan, cancer and pike”
It would seem that the scheme with the maximum “division of labor” should be as efficient as possible and ideally suited for a large company. However, things are not so simple.
The advantage of this scheme is that managers perform “pure” roles, which negates all internal conflicts of a person.
More disadvantages:
One of the important problems is the transfer of the project - the client often has a shock, when he likes Sales is replaced at the beginning of work on two contact persons, disappears from view. This makes it necessary to connect PM and Sales in the early stages of presale.
The presence of three people on each project brings a certain amount of confusion to the interaction and often turns into a “dance with tambourines” around the client, when no one understands what is happening, the centers of competence are lost. It is obvious that management within such a scheme is more difficult to organize.
In addition, practice has shown that there are quite a few “narrow specialists” on the market who can get along within the same role (this is less true for PM, more so for Sales and Account), so there are difficulties in finding them.
* We existed within the framework of such a scheme for less than a year and changed it to the “Account & Sales + PM” scheme, which showed (for us, all individually) more effective.
The topic is very extensive, and, as I noted at the very beginning, a number of simplifications were made in this model. For example, in most large companies there is an additional role “support manager”, which also has its own subtleties, and this role can be combined with others (or you can not combine them), turning the “triangle” into a “square”. In addition, if the company has formed a line of diversified products, we can talk about including the role of “Product Manager” in the scheme.
It is also worth noting that each scheme requires its own approach to the recruitment of specialists, since a person who performs well in one role arrangement will almost certainly be less effective when combining others.
Thank you for your attention, I hope this material has contributed to useful reflections ;)
Terekhov Andrey
These reflections are mainly based on many years of experience of the company ADV / web-engineering . Over the years of work and at different stages of the company's development, we have tried almost all the schemes of the organization of the “triangle”.
Description of the roles of the "triangle", areas of responsibility
It is worth noting that we are talking here about roles. The specific organization of the “triangle” may involve combining several roles in a single manager.
')
Sales . Sales Manager. Responsible for the sale of projects on incoming requests - the first contact, preparation and presentation of proposals and estimates, the conclusion of the contract. Sometimes, he also develops “cold” contacts — that is, he searches for clients on his own (or through channels such as large RAs, system integrators, etc.).
PM Project manager. Responsible for the production of the project, controls the time-price-quality. Manages the project team in the framework of the production of the project, solves production issues with representatives of the customer
Account . Account Manager. Carries out customer service, develops strategic relations with the client, responds to complaints, tries to make it comfortable and easy for the client during the entire life cycle of the client. As a rule, motivated to sell projects and services to existing customers. In many ways, the role of the account is intermediate between PM and Sales.
Motivation
To understand the problem, you need to understand the motivation that drives the representative of each of the roles in his work.
Sales is focused on the sale of a specific project. He is not so important what will happen at the production stage, it is important for him to sell. Therefore, Sales is often inclined to underestimate the estimated cost (it is easier to sell) and promise gold mountains to the client. What is often quite dissatisfied with PM.
PM is motivated for quality project production. Since he is responsible for the quality and labor costs of the project, he is always inclined to overstate the estimated cost (less risk) and promise the client a minimum (since he will be responsible for his promises). He is not very important what will happen after the delivery of the project, his task - to bring the project to its logical conclusion.
Account is motivated to organize for your client the most comfortable space within the company. In fact, the account must be a representative of the customer on the side of the studio and act in its interests. Loyalty and good relations with your customer account should turn into repeat orders for projects and services of the company - this is the ultimate goal. The account is motivated to reduce the estimated cost (easier to sell, and the customer is satisfied) and is not motivated to promise the mountains of gold (then it will be worse anyway, and work with the customer).
Activity
In addition to motivation, all roles have a significantly different format and rhythm of activity, which also needs to be taken into account.
Sales activity is as unstable as possible and its interaction with the customer is of the shortest duration. The sales cycle is the shortest stage. Sold - not sold. Also, Sales has the most risk in its activities - in the process of its work, it appears at the leading edge, and most of the product it produces is not in demand (simply because there are far fewer projects sold than not sold). Not all people are able to work in such a ragged mode, this should have a certain inclination.
PM activity is measured by the project cycle. The manager has one or several projects in production, and he is focused on the effective implementation of each individual project. PM considers time intervals in a section of the project, its stages. Thus, PM “runs” at an average distance - in its field of view the project (the duration is longer than the sales stage, but less than the entire life cycle of the client in the company).
Account works in the most long-term phase. He has a client with whom he will be together throughout the entire cycle of his presence in the company. His tasks are more strategic (development of relations, organization of a comfortable stay for a client). Account activity should be systemic and well organized. But it is focused, ultimately, on the re-sale of projects or services to its customers, do not forget that.
Variants of the organization of the "triangle"
Since there are only three roles, it is possible to consider all options for combining them, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
1. Sales & PM & Account “All in One”
The classic option for the first stage of development of a small company. There are not enough resources to hire several specialists, so the company has one all-time manager. As a rule, he is also the CEO and the center of competence within the company.
Benefits:
If the manager managed to sell the project, the client liked it. He continues to lead him and interacts with the client, which eliminates the problem of changing the contact person after the sale.
Disadvantages:
Strong internal conflict “Sales-PM” due to different motivation and different goals. The manager is a single entry point for the client, so the inevitable small shoals at the production stage are also projected by the client onto strategic relationships. With the growth of incoming requests and projects in the production of the manager is simply not enough for everything.
2. Sales + PM & Account
As a rule, this model is next in the development of the company. The most conflicting roles of PM and Sales are divided, thus resolving the internal conflict. Sales is engaged in net sales, its task is to attract new customers to the company.
The main task of PM & Account is still the production of projects. The function of developing a relationship with a client is rather a burden.
Benefits:
If you have competent PM & Account specialists who are responsible for their work, this scheme allows you to work effectively for a long time and has a large margin of safety.
PM & Account is a carrier of knowledge both on the client and on projects - he is always aware of what is happening.
Disadvantages:
Due to the fact that Sales is a separate manager, the problem of project transfer arises, therefore PM & Account has to be involved in the early stages of presale. From the point of view of Sales, the disadvantage is the lack of responsibility for their actions, there is a temptation to “promise the client with three boxes”, because then you will still bother with this production.
With an increase in the number of regular customers (for example, they are assigned to a man 15, and he has a project in production 3, and he focuses specifically on projects), they begin to fall out of sight and stagnate without further development of relations, which negatively affects the company's business.
As in the previous scheme, small shoals arise during the production of a project, and customer dissatisfaction is projected onto strategic relationships (since they are handled by the same manager).
* I can say that the company ADV / web-engineering existed in such a paradigm of the organization of the “triangle” for more than 8 years. But this was only possible due to the very high competence and responsibility of the staff in the PM & Account position.
3. Account + Sales & PM “Clinical”
This is a very strange option, which we consider only for completeness. The motivations of PM and Sales are diametrically opposed, so it’s simply pointless to combine them in one person if you have a separate account. In practice, I, fortunately, have never come across such an option.
4. Sales & Account + PM
Within this scheme, Account is merged with Sales, and PM becomes a dedicated role. This allows you to localize the interaction with the customer on sales in one person, and directly production - in another. This scheme is typical for fairly large companies that have a sufficient number of regular customers and a large amount of projects in production.
Benefits:
There is no problem transferring the project (client) and knowledge of it. The manager who sold the first project to the client continues to work with him on. Sales & Account is the entry point for the client for all services of the company.
The ultimate goal of both Sales and Account is sales, which allows to localize this task within one person. The same scheme allows us to stabilize the “discrete nature” of Sales due to the constant and well-predictable volume of orders from regular customers.
Disadvantages:
Sales and Account have a different rhythm of activity, there is an internal conflict. Sales has a lot of incoming, quickly ending with a “hang-up”, a small interaction cycle, and Account has regular customers with whom it is necessary to carefully build relationships.
* At the time of writing this material, the ADV uses exactly such a scheme.
5. Account + Sales + PM “Swan, cancer and pike”
It would seem that the scheme with the maximum “division of labor” should be as efficient as possible and ideally suited for a large company. However, things are not so simple.
The advantage of this scheme is that managers perform “pure” roles, which negates all internal conflicts of a person.
More disadvantages:
One of the important problems is the transfer of the project - the client often has a shock, when he likes Sales is replaced at the beginning of work on two contact persons, disappears from view. This makes it necessary to connect PM and Sales in the early stages of presale.
The presence of three people on each project brings a certain amount of confusion to the interaction and often turns into a “dance with tambourines” around the client, when no one understands what is happening, the centers of competence are lost. It is obvious that management within such a scheme is more difficult to organize.
In addition, practice has shown that there are quite a few “narrow specialists” on the market who can get along within the same role (this is less true for PM, more so for Sales and Account), so there are difficulties in finding them.
* We existed within the framework of such a scheme for less than a year and changed it to the “Account & Sales + PM” scheme, which showed (for us, all individually) more effective.
Conclusion
The topic is very extensive, and, as I noted at the very beginning, a number of simplifications were made in this model. For example, in most large companies there is an additional role “support manager”, which also has its own subtleties, and this role can be combined with others (or you can not combine them), turning the “triangle” into a “square”. In addition, if the company has formed a line of diversified products, we can talk about including the role of “Product Manager” in the scheme.
It is also worth noting that each scheme requires its own approach to the recruitment of specialists, since a person who performs well in one role arrangement will almost certainly be less effective when combining others.
Thank you for your attention, I hope this material has contributed to useful reflections ;)
Terekhov Andrey
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/66033/
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