Game of Sales Or how to deal with estimates and not get pissed off in the process Slava Merezhko CTO, Propeople Ukraine

Introduction Name: Slava Company: Propeople Background: Developer and PM in the past; CTO and smartass right now; Sales and double smartass in future What Im doing: Technical presale, Business processes, Development workflow, Make people want more & better

Plan 1.Why you cant get rid of estimates. 2.Typical problems in communication between Sales and Production 3.How Production can do its job better. 4.How to make precise estimate without actually having one. 5.How Sales can do its job better, for Gods sake. 6.What does this have to do with Game of Thrones? 7.Conclusions we can make. 8.Your questions, my answers. 9.Bonus part. Some of the links I recommend to read.

Why you cant get rid of estimates Each project have life cycle It starts with sale Estimate is part of the sale Proper estimate helps you to make yourself comfortable during the process So whats the problem?

Whats the problem with estimates? Sales cant say no Developers cant say no Everyone cant say no to stupid requests Not enough time for proper estimation Not enough information for the same thing Not enough communication between Developers and Sales

Im developer, omg, what to do? Learn to say No to bullshit You have technical knowledge, use it You do estimate for yourself, not for sales Give alternative options Share the info!

How to make precise estimate without actually having one Give range estimate (Min – Max) Make assumptions Write down uncertainty factors Make estimate process iterative

Why should I do that?

Because

With estimate Without estimate

How to make precise estimate without actually having one Give range estimate (Min – Max) Make assumptions Write down uncertainty factors Make estimate process iterative

Holy cow! Im Sales, what to do? Learn to say No to bullshit Every time you ask Devs make estimate lower, God kills a kitten Fact of the sale isnt enough anymore Talk to developers, give them more quality information. Use their knowledge for benefits

What does this have to do with Game of Thrones? Brace yourself, estimate is coming When you play a game of sales you estimate or you die Little birdies told me Hodor Hodor Hodor HODOR!

Conclusion Good estimate is a benefit for everyone Information is a money Good communication – whats need for both good estimations and information flow Sales and Devs are in the same boat If they think otherwise – theyd better stop

Questions? Skype slavka.merezhko Slava Merezhko CTO, Propeople Ukraine

Bonus articles The Art of Estimation - Lullabots Hierarchy of Qualification - hierarchy-qualificationhttp:// hierarchy-qualification Why developers should start choosing conscience over profit RFP Advice From The Front Lines from-the-front-lineshttp://cognition.happycog.com/article/rfp-advice- from-the-front-lines Stop Writing Project Proposals writing-project-proposals/ writing-project-proposals/ Искусство переговоров это просто бизнес, ничего личного Про Элопа, Нокию и горящую платформу 4 ошибки, которые я допустил как технический директор