EG142: case study > how GoldenPath creates value with Continuous Testing

Vendors of high quality services struggle with a common challenge: they are more experienced and knowledgeable in their domain than their customers can ever be.

This makes it difficult to communicate what they do and the value they can provide in a way that is efficient and quick, but also fair to the quality they offer and the long experience that informs that quality.

These vendors are usually caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They have to answer potential customer requests based on what they are asked - typically, how much it costs and when will it be ready? But they also need to educate customers, to show them what they can do for them and how they can provide more value than the customer might expect.

Here is how I helped Goldenpath Solutions get out of this dilemma.

The context

Meet Andrei Asavoaie , the founder of GoldenPath. He is an experienced professional, having been responsible for Quality Assurance in some very complex software projects over the years. He is now running his own Quality Assurance company, working with companies in healthcare and energy.

When you are an experienced engineer like Andrei and you have to describe how you help your customers, you write this:

1. Processes?

To maintain a certain level of quality throughout the entire SDLC requires both discipline and thoroughness. For a smooth and fast delivery there should be a clear process that is followed by the whole team. And there has to be a number of key people that have the correct tools and the necessary rights at their disposal in order to make the hard decision in a fast and cohesive way.

2. Quality Assurance

“Quality is the whole team’s effort, not only testing”. Although an overused cliché, this is true for all projects and for all teams, but in a CT environment even more so. Continuous Testing means continuous feedback, over and over again. If the team is not prepared or the priorities are not set up in a certain way then you can get overwhelmed quickly. We focus on implementing Continuous Testing principles in a gradual manner, depending on each team’s maturity, velocity and resistance to change.

3. Domain expertise?

Highly regulated industries like healthcare and energy means one thing in particular - responsibility. To achieve a high quality standard in a project we first make sure we understand your business, the environment and the context as much as we can. We use documentation and other client resources in order to make sure we have a picture as big as possible.

4. Transparency

From the start we encourage our clients to create a secure repository where we can store all documentation, all data and all artifacts we use for any project. Data protection and safety is mandatory in this line of work and we want to make sure that there are no issues with communication or in any other aspect.

The challenge and the solution

The challenge for the sales process is that you cannot convey this message easily and quickly when you need to, at the first meeting.

Ideally, you want to guide the customer from the first conversations, so they quickly understand how you can help them and how you can provide value.

I worked with Andrei on their pricing strategy, sales process and customer targeting.

One outcome from this exercise was a graphical overview of their services, to help their potential customers understand quickly when and how GoldenPath can help them.

Andrei can now run all his discovery meetings and conversations using only this image.

It helps guide the discussion with potential customers, based on their challenges and needs. Depending on where they are in the project lifecycle and the risks they are facing, customers can decide in which areas they might need help from GoldenPath.

We also worked together on structuring their services offering. The result is a combination of productized services and long-term collaboration models:

Training and Workshops

> Custom built curriculum based on an in-depth analysis of the customer’s specific context

> Hands on, interactive learning format and medium

POCs

> Processes and workflows

> Test automation kick-off

Project delivery with CT principles

> Planning and strategy: define KPIs, scope and requirements

> Customized development lifecycle (release, patch, hotfix, etc.)

> Risk Management and Mitigation

> Stakeholder communication and collaboration

- Post-implementation support

Andrei is now better prepared to quickly find the collaboration model that is the right answer to a customer’s needs and context.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

Your sales team should also have one image to guide the initial conversations with your clients.

If you don’t have that or you are curious to learn how it would help your chances of getting more and better projects, I am happy to help.

We can work on improving your existing processes and tools.

Or you can use Soft Fight for your pricing and sales process.

PS.

Next webinar is actually a live presentation. And a live workshop.

In June I will be speaking at the Marketing Parrot conference in Tallinn, Estonia

IT Case Study: How to Raise Prices for Existing Clients?

on the first day of the event (June 4th)

Pricing in the ICT Sector: Price Is Relative and Value Is Subjective

workshop on the second day of the conference.

If you are in the neighbourhood, it would be great to meet and talk ???