Part 2 – “Start Analysing the Client’s request”

In this article, we will use an example from Software Company that started a relationship with a new client. If you work in the software industry, or if you are the owner of a software company, a product owner, an analyst, or a developer, you will probably find something useful in this material. If you don’t have your own methodology for collaboration with clients, this article could be of worth to you. I enclosed a lot of materials as processes that you could deploy to your daily basis tasks.

This is Part 2 of the Series of articles about collaboration with clients in the Software product LifeCycle. It’s a continuation, so if you haven’t already, start with Part 1 of the article

Process – Step 5

Next, we take care of the analysis, we recall information from the email from the client and highlight important information

First – note everything from the client’s email and build structure models

Next, we need to analyze everything and add some conclusions 

We will skip describing this step of the process where you should send an email to the Client to start work – check Template 6 from among all the templates. You get it if you sign up for our Newsletter. We will send you some Analyst tips and tricks to professionally service the client in the whole process of the product lifecycle.

Model 1 – stakeholders model 

Based on the email from the Client, we create stakeholders. This will help us understand what type of persons have an impact on the product.

If you create a model in Product Core Lab, it is worth to add a description to the model – “This model presents what type of persons have an impact on the product”

Entities with  “Customer” aggregate Actors – This could be represented by nesting in this Structure 

If you need to add more descriptions to a single Entity, just click on the book on the right side of the Entity

That’s this step in process

Model 2 – Requirements Model

Add a new model “Requirements” and we will go step-by-step through the email from the Client. We will focus on the role of “Entrepreneur”

This was an important piece of information from the email: I log my time in Excel now. For me, I think it’s not an effective tool 

So, we could understand this as a need – “an effective tool to log time”. We add this to the model

I need to log and report how to bill the client for my work (Add to the model)

I want to analyze how much time I spend on core and noncore activities (Add to the model)

We could build a dictionary here and add the terms “core activities”  and “supporting activities” but I will describe it further as the next model 

In Product Core Lab, you can change the type of entity to better create and better understand the model later

Let’s go further

I never remember to log the time regularly. 

We could understand it as a need:  I won’t remember logging the time regularly.  -> explanation :  (Add to the model)

 and two days later I do not remember what I was doing …

This will be a need: I won’t remember what I was doing

Set “I need an effective tool to log time” – the main, top needs  (Add to the model)

We have some materials from the email, so initially we could add functionalities to our model

As IT Grow Partner (ITGP) , first we will focus on the needs, next we will devise solutions and compare them with the client’s solutions 

Client solution and functionalities: Enter hours, Enter Activities, Enter the name of the project or client name. Report with core and supporting activities

After all that, we have this structure

Comment: 

We have to choose the path of what kind of Software Company we are. Do we want to negotiate and recommend solutions to the Client or do we want to just be a technical partner and only fulfill the Client’s requirements without a business analysis

Let’s go back again to the email:

When I think about your request, I think about the problem that you really want to solve. 

On the market, we have a lot of similar applications, why can’t you use them? Of course, we could help build your idea for a solution but I have to ask why you don’t use other applications. An answer to this question would help me understand your real problem, so that we can better analyze it to solve it.

And the client clearly said:

I never remember logging the time regularly. 

The need to enter hours hurts, because I “keep busy” and I have to log into the system, click through something, and enter the activities. What I said concerns the situation when I do not enter activities immediately (because I am still busy, or there is so much work that I don’t have time for anything else), and two days later I do not remember what I was doing …

So I think it’s a real problem for our client. We need a solution, and after all that, we need to be able to build an application.  When the client deploys the application to his daily basis tasks,  only then will his problem be solved.

Conversely, if we don’t do that, the client will pay for another app, and he will never come back to us again. He was unable to solve his problem. It would be another useless application. So, we need to invest in some creative sessions. 

We couldn’t estimate the solution because the client sent us only his needs without a solution even for the general purpose.  

If you need more information about modeling, go to article >>

Model 3 – “Glossary”

We add a new model “Glossary”

Let’s focus on a paragraph that was sent by the Client 

I want to analyze how much time I spend on core and noncore activities (These exact terms will be added to the model by us)

I think those two terms are worthy of adding to the dictionary model, 

next set type, and set status “to verify” 

Next during a workshop ask for details, what the client defines as CBA and NCBA – we could also add a new shortcut, then we can use it in the further part of the documentation

For some corporate clients, you could frequently find some abbreviations or synonyms. You could document it like in Product core Lab

Process – Step 6

Comment

Now, we have the structures and models for software solution, so we are prepared to send back our proposition for further cooperation. Let’s go back again to our process and categories of clients

1. the Client completely doesn’t understand our questions or doesn’t have time to analyze them
2. the Client sent answers without any details of the information that could help us even roughly estimate the project or the Client sent only his needs without any purpose of the solution. 
3. We have a lot of information and the purpose of the solution so we can roughly estimate project
4. We have enough information so that we can accurately estimate the project and what’s more, send a final declaration that we would be able to build the application. In this case, probably some other analyst prepared the software specifications.

We match our issue and client to the second type of client, so as we mention in the first episode, the Client understands his problem. We noted the needs in the requirement model.  We have to help him find proper solutions. Remember to enclose Documentation. This will be professional.

According to the Process, we will send an email to the Client –  << Template 7 >>

Go to the next part of the article “How to collaborate with Client” – Part 3 >>

About author

I’m Karol Kordziński from Poland . I’m an analyst with a couple of years of experience. I’m the owner of ITGrowPartner where we help small- and medium-sized companies analyze projects.  But mainly I’m the owner of Product Core Lab. Saas tool to manage a product in the whole Product Lifecycle. With this tool, you can explain your product and processes in a structural method. We introduce you to how to model software products step by step