After a sale is completed, all attention turns to implementation. Your client is looking to you to help turn its expenditure into an investment. The deployment and configuration of systems is crucial, of course, to the creation of value for your client. At the end of this process, there’s usually a knowledge-transfer exercise, in which you prepare your client to take full “ownership” of the new environment. This is also a sales opportunity: leave your client ready for anything, and the odds that you’ll be the first call for the next initiative skyrocket.

Training and knowledge transfer often become casualties of engagement fatigue. Both your implementation team and the client are eager to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, at which point the disruption associated with an implementation recedes, and everything returns to normal. Succumb to the temptation to rush training and knowledge transfer, and you assume two risks: client readiness and a tainted solution provider perception.

Client readiness is always a major concern. Insufficient training can lead to suboptimal system use, errors that impact business users and heavy post-implementation investments in fixes and workarounds. It won’t take long for the client to identify the solution provider’s insufficient knowledge transfer as the reason for the extra time and effort needed. Prepare your client thoroughly with a rigorous knowledge-transfer program, and this risk is mitigated. Your client will see you as not merely having solved a problem but equipping its IT team to address those that may arise in the future.

The issue of perception isn’t as firm as post-implementation solution management, but it’s at least as important. Training and knowledge transfer is usually among the last few chances you have to demonstrate value to your client. Use this opportunity to highlight your commitment to the client’s post-implementation success, and it will be remembered. The sentiment will be: “This solution provider made sure we were ready to go.” Knowing that you are dedicated to ensuring that your clients are informed enough to stand on their own, your number will be the first called for the next IT project. For you, this means a shorter sales cycle, lower sales costs and better margins.

Training and knowledge transfer tend to take a back seat to the deeper technical aspects of implementation. Bring a bit more balance back to your engagements, and the quality of service you provide will become your most effective marketing tool.

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