Smart customers ask for references, and we have so few customers willing to stand up and praise our work. In some industries we have zero references, not because we have limited work in these industries, but because most of the projects in those industries are in such bad shape. Whenever I get the dreaded request for references, I know it's over and we're not going to win the business. There is such a misguided focus on the book-to-bill ratio, but with high turnover, understaffed teams and so many under skilled resources our margins are c-ap. Most projects need rescuing and we end with very low margins, unhappy customers and unhappy employees. Without investment in quality delivery we're on a death spiral....but hey, look at our fantastic book-to-bill ratio!
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KPIs set you up to fail. I rarely had any that had a relation to my work or success factors to achieve. You're either being setup for failure or being pushed to close your active deals.
KPIs set you up to fail. I rarely had any that had a relation to my work or success factors to achieve. You're either being setup for failure or being pushed to close your active deals.
This is what happens when you are a sales led organisation. Get the sale no matter what. Delivery is just an expense. These clowns don't realise that it's delivery that's the product. Get back to being good at it and you won't need sales. Delivery people still being silently WFR'd in my region. No capability. In many instances when we do win a bid, we end up using a partner or contractors to fulfill. We put a margin on their margin. Our sales team love under-delivery as in good old EDS fashion we lump it on the customer and charge them for "change". If we weren't so top heavy and inefficient we wouldn't need outrageous gross margins that our under-endowed managers obtain by putting the fewest, cheapest (underqualified) resources on the job. Death spiral.
Working in sales at DXC is like pulling the hangman’s lever. Any twit can do it, and the end result it fatal.