Specifiers and contractors often become wary when they hear either of these two statements from new or prospective customers:

        I don't know what I want, that's why I hired you!

        I know exactly what I want!

As expressions of customer requirements, these are the opposite ends of the spectrum. Neither one is a completely accurate statement.

Experienced professionals know that both of these statements apply somewhat to just about every customer: most customers are certain about some aspects of what they want and not sure about others.

The customer may not ask for exactly what he wants, but he will expect to get it anyway!

This is especially true of system integration projects because customer expectations are usually very high. This also means that the specifier must get what he wants (and the sales person must get what he sold) in order to satisfy the customer.

For specifiers and sales people, the primary tasks for any project are to make sure that you completely understand what the customer is certain about, and do the homework required to fill in the areas where the customer doesn't have the details.

These may seem like obvious tasks. Yet the number of projects which conclude with some degree of customer dissatisfaction tells us that we can often do a better job of handling these tasks.

Specifiers and customers both want to get the results they expect from the contractors involved in the project, and contractors want to do the job right.

Although this article is written from the viewpoint of specifiers, customers can also be active in getting these successful principles applied to their projects.

Plain English

One of the sources of difficulty for integration projects is the writing and interpretation of specifications. Specifications are mostly written in what could be called "technese". It's an application of the English language that is intended to be completely and technically accurate. Still, specifications don't always mean the same thing to all parties involved in the project. Avoid commonly used but vague terminology. (Click for more...).

Trouble can occur when the customer's interpretation of the specification is not the same as the specifier's or contractor's. One way to avoid this problem is to tackle it early on.

As part of the specifying process, have the customer make a list of the important aspects of the project. Especially important are the details concerning points of integration.

Find out who will be formally accepting the work and find out what they are expecting to see. Find out who else the project is important to and get a similar list of expectations. Then ask the customer to find these points in the specifications document, using a technical assistant if needed.

At each point in the specification, ask the customer to explain what the specification is saying.

This is a good way to discover mismatches between the specifications and customer expectations. Sometimes the specification needs to be revised. Sometimes the customers expectations need to be revised. Whichever one is needed, it is best done as early in the project as possible.

Don't be hesitant to include some plain English descriptions of the purpose or objectives of each section of the specification.

Reconciling Sales Efforts with Specifications

Sometimes it happens in the sales process that the customer builds expectations that are not communicated back to the engineering or specifying side of the house. This includes friends and associates of the customer who "sell" him or her on expectations based on some other project of their own.

It is common for integration projects to have more than one contractor or company involved in the project work. It can happen that something said during the sales process by one company results in customer expectations for another company's work. Such outside influences, often unseen, can have a very real impact on customer expectations for your part of the project.

These factors affect any type of systems project, whether security-based or not.

ABB of New Berlin, Wisconsin, is a manufacturer of high-quality variable speed drives (drives are electronic motor control devices) for building HVAC system fans and industrial automation. ABB recognized the need for improved customer communications due to the fact that their product is only one part of the system the customer is purchasing. Initially intent on improving quality, they found that clarifying customer expectations also improved profitability. (Click for more...)

The Big Picture

Unless the "big picture" is included in a specification, the detailed descriptions in the specification document can be unintentionally misapplied. When decisions have to be made during the course of the project, the specifications alone may not show the complete picture. It sometimes happens on projects that the details were complied with but the "big picture" got lost.

Documenting purposes and objectives can help clarify things when decisions have to be made in the course of implementing the system.

The Age of New Technology

The expectations of customers are influenced now more than ever by changes in technology. New technology has resulted in a continuing increase in the general standard of living, and in the standards of doing business.

Security is no longer a "stand-alone" issue for today's companies.

Security technology that was once used only for facility access control, is now used for control of other systems, for cost control and accountability, and even for the management and implementation of revenue producing operations. Movie and television portrayals of high-technology system integrations raise the expectations of customers completely apart from any security-related sales or advertising effort.

Security is now viewed as another source of technology to be maximally employed in achieving the objectives of the customer company. (Click for more...)

Over-Specifying

At the points where specific system performance or reliability is very critical, specifiers sometimes resort to "over-specifying" that part of the system. Sometimes the thinking is that the overkill approach will guarantee success. Other times it is more of a defensive move to preclude the assignment of blame if the customer is not satisfied. The overkill approach can raise the cost of a project unnecessarily.

If indeed an overkill approach is warranted, the specific reasoning behind it and the objective it is intended to accomplish should be included in the specification.

It often happens that an experienced contractor knows how to achieve that objective without having to resort to overkill. If this can be demonstrated or otherwise made evident, the customer will benefit from the cost savings. If the objective is not stated, the contractor and others may make wrong assumptions, re-engineer that part of the project for cost reasons and fail to meet the customer's objective.

Expectations Over the Life of the System

A specification usually does not include the trade-offs that were made for the sake of cost or time. It often does not include information about system operations or costs after the installation and warranty period are over. Sometimes what looks like over-specification can actually be a cost-saving measure over the life of the system.

I saw a project where a $25.00 wall fan was substituted for a $70.00 fan. The purpose of the fan was to ventilate an equipment room. It was installed 12 feet up in a difficult to reach location. The $70.00 fan had a 3-year warranty, the $25.00 fan had a 90-day warranty. The $25.00 fan failed several times in the first few years, requiring a $30.00 engineering ticket each time for the labor to replace it. The $70.00 fan would have been a bargain. This example may seem like a minor cost, but where many similar cost-cutting efforts have had the same effect on a project, the costs can compound into thousands of dollars of needless annual expenditures.

Where an expensive or high-quality item is specified for reasons of reliability or longevity, the specification should say so.

Value Engineering

Value Engineering is often thought of as a euphemism for "cost cutting". It is really a much broader activity than that.

Value Engineering is an organized effort to analyze the functions of systems, equipment, facilities, services, and supplies for achieving the essential functions at the lowest life cycle cost consistent with required performance, reliability, quality, safety and aesthetics.

Such analysis should include the corporate mission and divisional or departmental objectives, and planned business growth.

It can be found that small increases in cost for incremental expansions to systems, equipment or facilities can provide a larger payback by way of furthering the corporate mission and corporate objectives. By enhancing value characteristics, not simply cost cutting, Value Engineering increases customer satisfaction and adds value to the investment.

Using Value Engineering in this way is a successful long-term business strategy.

Timing

The point in the project where the customer gets a full understanding of the project will have a critical impact. There is a worst time (click to view...) and a best time (click to view...).

Getting What You Want

Today's security technologies offer high levels of functionality and reliability. Today's customers have a high awareness of security issues and a keen interest in understanding the benefits of security technology. When all project participants take an active role in ensuring the complete understanding of the projects' objectives and requirements, getting what you want becomes a realistic expectation.

From Security Technology & Design Magazine, February, 1997.