In this article, we will cover the typical engagement process between BlueJack and clients, using another recent project as an example.
A client reached out with excellent news – they were accepted into a partnership with a big box store, which would sell their products on their behalf, increasing their reach and lending a boost to their reputation.
After we congratulated them, they made clear there was a “… but.”
“They want us to accept their work-order requests electronically, directly from their system. We are not set up for that.”
The big box store had provided documentation about their API (Application Programming Interface, tech-speak for a mechanism to make software to talk to other software). Our client wanted to know what we could do for them.
We approached it as a small software development project. We will not bother our readers with a description of the Software Development Life Cycle, but it informs almost everything we do.
This project started with a discovery session with the participation of the big box store team. We discussed a few questions about their API after reading the documentation and asked for the creation of credentials to access the API.
We then created an approach document detailing for our client how we could make their CRM platform use the big box store’s API to receive work orders. With this document, the client could either have their internal team implement the approach, hire someone else to validate and implement the approach or hire us to get it done.
“This is great! But you already started a conversation with the big box store’s team and even – per your document – used the credentials for an API test. How long would it take you to get it done?”
Based on the approach document, we created a rough effort estimate, listing the main pieces we were going to develop and the steps necessary for testing. We created a Statement of Work and got a sign-off from the client.
This started our implementation phase, where we created all the components necessary for the connectivity between the client’s CRM platform and the big box store API. We typically document every step of the customizations, so the client’s team (or other providers) can support or modify it later. We are always happy to continue supporting our clients on our implementations, but we understand that having options is important as well. In this project, in particular, we set up a couple of review sessions to talk about what we are doing and do some knowledge transfer to the client’s team.
Once we had the customizations ready, we started our testing phase, which in this project required a good deal of back and forth with the big box store technical team. As much as possible we document these interactions as well – either in an issue tracking platform of the client’s or via email. The important thing is to ensure the clients have a clear understanding of how we tested the platform and the tweaks we had to do, if any, to the original approach. Typically we also update our documentation.
Once we could prove that our customizations were ready for production, we did a demo session with the client’s team and secured their permission to deploy the solution to their production environment.
We typically make ourselves available for one week after the deployment, to ensure that everything is working as expected and to answer any questions. In this particular project, we ended up working side by side with the client’s team on the first five orders they received from the big box store.
Conclusion
We worked closely with the client and their partner to ensure they could benefit from the new business relationship. The detailed documentation we provided has served the client’s internal team well – they had at least one instance of a business need changing that required them to change the customizations we created.
Whether you’re trying to secure a major opportunity like our client, seeking to streamline your CRM, integrate APIs, or navigate the complexities of software development, we’re here to work side by side with you to ensure your goals are achieved. Support and transparency are key at BlueJack – if this sounds like what you need, please reach out, we’d love to help!
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