Try our sample project implementation methodology to take your professional services delivery to the next level.

Lead your customers, Drive projects.

A project implementation methodology (PIM) is an importatant tool when managing projects. A PIM sets the guidelines for a standard process to deliver a project. This sample PIM can be adapted to meet your organizations specific needs and can be tailored based on the type of services or offerings being delivered. Our narratives can help bring clarity to each task, ensuring all project stakeholders understand their purpose and importance in the project life cycle.

To ensure project success , it is critical to maintain control over the budget and actively gather and address customer and internal project team feedback during each phase of the project.

By proactively managing the project budget and feedback throughout the methodology, professional services organizations can ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned to customer expectations.

PSP Project Implementation Methodology

  • SELL Phase

    Focus on understanding customer needs and offering tailored solutions that align with their goals. Build trust through clear communication, transparency in pricing, and a value-driven approach, ensuring customers see your services as critical to their success.

  • ONBOARD Phase

    Create a seamless onboarding process that sets clear expectations, gathers key customer information, and establishes open lines of communication. This ensures alignment from the start and prepares both parties for a successful partnership. Be sure to set expectations and accountability measures to ensure that both your PS org and the customer are accountable for the outcomes of the engagement.

  • IMPLEMENT Phase

    Execute with precision by following a structured plan that addresses customer needs. Ensure timely delivery of services, keep customers informed of progress, and maintain flexibility to adjust as needed for the best results.

  • ADOPT Phase

    Help customers fully embrace and integrate the services or solutions provided. Offer training, resources, and support to ensure long-term value and smooth adoption of the new processes or tools within their organization.

  • TRANSITION Phase

    Facilitate a smooth handoff by ensuring all deliverables are complete and properly documented. Provide ongoing support or maintenance plans to ensure customers can sustain success after the project’s conclusion, ensuring a positive, lasting relationship.

  • OPTIMIZATION Phase

    Ensure that the solution or services delivered are fully optimized for long-term use and scalability. This is typically where you have the opportunity to sell recurring support and consultation services.

Contact us to tailor this methodology to your needs

SELL Phase

Building The Foundation

  • Conduct customer discovery sessions
    In initial discussions, your team meets with the customer to understand their business objectives, challenges, and desired outcomes. This sets the stage for aligning your solutions to their needs.

  • Define high-level scope, objectives, and success criteria
    Collaborating with the customer, you outline the project’s key objectives, what success will look like, and a general scope of work, ensuring alignment before diving into details.

  • Create and present proposals
    A formal proposal is developed, detailing the scope, pricing, timelines, and anticipated outcomes. This document is presented to key stakeholders for review and discussion.

  • Prepare and negotiate contracts
    Legal and financial teams finalize a statement of work (SOW) and associated agreements, negotiating terms as needed to satisfy all parties.

  • Address customer questions and concerns
    The team addresses technical, financial, or procedural questions to build trust and confidence in the proposed solution.

  • Identify change management areas

The team begins to document the areas of change to the customer’s business processes, tools and people that will come as a result of the project. Utilize the From-To-Why-What PSP Change Management Framework. 

  • Obtain customer approval and signature
    Once all parties agree, contracts are signed, marking the official start of the project.

  • Conduct internal handoff from sales to delivery teams
    Sales ensures a seamless transition by briefing the delivery team on customer objectives, expectations, and the agreed-upon scope

Managing Budget & Customer and Internal Project Team Feedback in the SELL Phase: Building the Foundation

Budget Management:

  • Define high-level cost estimates based on project scope and timeline.

  • Include clear assumptions, exclusions, and contingencies in proposals to manage financial expectations.

  • Communicate any potential variable costs (e.g., scope creep or additional services).

Customer Feedback:

  • Gather customer input on the proposed scope, pricing, and timeline during negotiations.

  • Use structured questions to identify priorities and concerns (e.g., “Is this budget aligned with your expectations?”, “Are there any areas of scope you wish to include in this engagement that we haven’t discussed?”).

  • Document feedback and incorporate agreed-upon adjustments into the contract or SOW.

Internal Project Team Feedback:

  • Gather feedback regarding risks identified during the SELL phase. Ensure this information is communicated to the project team during the project.

ONBOARD Phase

Setting up for success.

  • Assign project roles and introduce project team members
    Key personnel are identified, and their roles clarified. An introduction session ensures the customer knows who is responsible for which aspects of the project.

  • Perform Sales to Services Handover  meeting
     A formal meeting where the Sales team provides the Services team with key information regarding the engagement and customer including risks, objectives and critical success factors, as well as scope or functionality promised during the sales cycle that would be useful to the Services team. 

  • Schedule and lead the project kickoff meeting
     A formal meeting aligns all stakeholders on the project’s objectives, timelines, and communication methods, setting a collaborative tone.

  • Confirm project objectives, deliverables, change management needs and success metrics
    The team refines and documents the goals, deliverables, and how success will be measured, ensuring there are no ambiguities. They also refine the areas of change management needed to bolster adoption.

  • Develop and finalize the project plan
    A detailed project plan, with tasks, milestones, and timelines, is developed and shared with stakeholders for feedback and agreement. Change management activities should be incorporated into the project plan to ensure that adoption of the solution is accounted for. 

  • Establish communication protocols
    Clear guidelines for status reports, progress meetings, and escalation paths are agreed upon, ensuring smooth communication throughout the project.

  • Identify risks, issues, and mitigation plans
    The team proactively identifies potential risks, creating contingency plans to avoid disruptions.

  • Conduct initial system assessments
    Any existing systems, data, or infrastructure are reviewed to identify readiness for the implementation phase.

  • Ensure necessary tools and environments are ready
    All required technical environments, such as development or testing platforms, are set up and validated for the project work.

Managing Budget & Customer and Internal Project Team Feedback in the ONBOARD Phase: Setting Up for Success

Budget Management:

  • Develop a detailed project budget by breaking it down into phases, tasks, and milestones.

  • Establish a process for tracking budgeted versus actual costs for each task.

  • Set up a contingency reserve (e.g., 10–15%) for unexpected expenses.

  • Review and confirm budget allocations with internal teams and the customer.

Customer Feedback:

  • Conduct a kickoff meeting to align on the project plan, including budget visibility.

  • Solicit feedback on timelines, deliverables, and communication preferences.

  • Set up regular touchpoints to collect feedback throughout the project (e.g., weekly status calls).

Internal Project Team Feedback:

  • Discuss any risks associated with the timeline, resource availability, skill gaps and expectations from the Onboard phase. 





IMPLEMENT Phase

Delivering the Solution

  • Conduct detailed requirements gathering
    The team collaborates with the customer to validate detailed requirements and create a roadmap for development or configuration.

  • Design the solution
    Using the gathered requirements, architects create a solution design that meets the customer’s needs while ensuring scalability and reliability.

  • Build and configure the solution
    The team executes the design, configuring or developing the system to align with the agreed specifications.

  • Finalize change management activities using the From-To-Why-What PSP Change Management Framework
    For each persona at the customer who is impacted in any way as a result of the solution or service being implemented, document the following:

    • FROM: Current state processes, technology and pain points.

    • TO: Future state design including processes, technology and outcomes.

    • Why: The specific things that are driving the change and what specifically is changing for that persona.

    • WHAT: The benefits and efficiencies to be gained as a result of the solution or services you are implementing. Think of this as answering the question “What’s in it for me?” for each persona.

    • At least one practical way to manage the change for each persona.

  • Migrate data from legacy systems
    Legacy data is cleaned, mapped, and securely transferred to the new solution, ensuring accuracy and continuity.

  • Develop and execute test plans
    Comprehensive testing is carried out to validate the functionality, integration, and performance of the solution, involving both internal teams and customer stakeholders.

  • Address defects and re-test until criteria are met
    Any defects discovered during testing are resolved, followed by rigorous re-testing to ensure the solution meets quality standards.

  • Develop user guides and training materials
    Easy-to-follow guides and training content are created to empower end-users with the knowledge to use the system effectively.

  • Deliver training sessions
    Live or virtual training sessions ensure that all relevant stakeholders are comfortable using the new system. In many cases you will want to take a train-the-trainer approach in which you deliver training to the Super Users or Trainers who will then deliver training to the end-user trainees.

Managing Budget & Customer and Internal Project Team Feedback in the IMPLEMENT Phase: Delivering the Solution

Budget Management:

  • Track time and expenses against the budget at task and resource levels (e.g., via time tracking software).

  • Monitor milestone completion to ensure budget adherence; address delays or overages promptly.

  • Communicate budget status in weekly or biweekly reports to internal teams and customers.

  • Implement change management processes to handle scope changes that may impact budget.

Customer Feedback:

  • Collect feedback during design and testing to ensure the solution meets customer expectations.

  • Use user acceptance testing (UAT) sessions to gather structured feedback on functionality.

  • Track and resolve customer-raised issues or concerns promptly to maintain trust.

Internal Project Team Feedback:

  • Discuss readiness for go-live and gather feedback regarding customer and company readiness, system readiness, go-live plan and coverage, risks discovered during testing as well as change management preparation. 

ADOPT Phase

Enabling Customer Success

  • Ensure change management activities have occurred
    Ensure that the activities defined in the Implement Phase have occurred. If they have not occurred a risk should be raised and a mitigation plan put in place.

  • Support go-live activities
    The system is launched into production, with the team providing hands-on support to ensure a smooth transition.

  • Monitor initial usage
    Usage patterns and system performance are monitored to quickly identify and resolve any early issues.

  • Track and resolve post-go-live issues
    A dedicated team addresses any issues or incidents reported during the hypercare period.

  • Ensure all users have access and are proficient
    The team confirms that all users can access the system and have the necessary skills to perform their tasks effectively.

  • Facilitate adoption
    Resistance to change is addressed through ongoing communication, training, and troubleshooting.

  • Measure adoption metrics
    Metrics such as feature usage, login activity, and user satisfaction are tracked to gauge the success of the rollout.

  • Validate that success criteria are met
    Customer goals defined during the SELL phase are reviewed to confirm that the solution delivers the expected value.

Managing Budget & Customer and Internal Project Team Feedback in the ADOPT Phase: Enabling Customer Success

Budget Management:

  • Allocate budget for hypercare activities (e.g., go-live support and issue resolution).

  • Track costs for post-go-live issues to evaluate against remaining project budget.

  • Ensure all final deliverables are completed within the agreed budget and highlight any budget deviations.

Customer Feedback:

  • During go-live, capture customer sentiment on the system’s usability and effectiveness.

  • Use structured feedback methods (e.g., surveys or direct interviews) to assess satisfaction.

  • Resolve any concerns raised during adoption promptly to maintain a positive customer experience.

Internal Project Team Feedback:

  • Gather feedback on system performance, customer administrator performance, change management and adoption as well as any issues prior to transitioning to Customer Success and Customer Support. 

TRANSITION Phase

Enabling Long-Term Ownership

  • Conduct knowledge transfer sessions
    Hands-on sessions ensure that the customer’s team can independently manage the solution moving forward.

  • Deliver final documentation
    Comprehensive documents are handed over, including configurations, workflows, and FAQs.

  • Formal handoffs
    A structured handoff to internal customer success and technical support teams ensures that customer supporting teams are prepared to maintain and manage the customer relationship and the delivered solution.

  • Provide a final project closure report
    A report summarizes the project objectives, successes, and any outstanding action items.

  • Hold a project closure meeting
    A formal meeting confirms customer satisfaction and collects feedback for continuous improvement.

  • Plan future collaboration opportunities
    The team identifies and discusses potential areas for further engagement or support.

Managing Budget & Customer  and Internal Project Team Feedback in the TRANSITION Phase: Enabling Long-Term Ownership

Budget Management:

  • Ensure all remaining budget items (e.g., knowledge transfer, documentation) are completed as planned.

  • Provide a final budget reconciliation report comparing estimated vs. actual costs.

  • Communicate the financial closeout process to the customer.

Customer Feedback:

  • Hold a project closure meeting to formally collect feedback on the project experience.

  • Use structured surveys or open-ended questions to evaluate customer satisfaction with the project outcomes.

  • Document feedback for internal lessons learned and future improvements.

Internal Project Team Feedback:

  • Gather feedback for an after-action assessment to gather feedback on what went well, what did not go well, what opportunities for optimization and expansion exist and any customer relationship management activities should take place.

OPTIMIZE Phase

Driving Continuous Improvement

  • Conduct after-action assessment
    A retrospective review gathers insights on what worked well and areas for improvement, as well as opportunities for optimization and expansion.

  • Analyze usage patterns
    Data is reviewed to identify underutilized features or areas for enhancement.

  • Validate change management needs are met
    Review the FROM-TO-WHY-WHAT change management plans for each persona to determine if the change management was successful or if there are additional areas of opportunity to ensure the changes were adopted. 

  • Develop recommendations for optimization
    Concrete suggestions for system improvements or expanded usage are proposed.

  • Offer additional training or consulting
    Tailored sessions are provided to help the customer deepen their understanding or unlock new capabilities.

  • Provide regular health checks
    Periodic evaluations ensure the system is operating optimally and meeting evolving business needs.

  • Propose enhancements or upgrades
    Opportunities for new features, integrations, or upgrades are presented to drive further value. A best practice is to provide a formal write up proposing the adoption areas. 

  • Share industry best practices
    The team offers insights and benchmarks to help the customer stay competitive and innovative using the solution(s) launched.

Managing Budget & Customer and Internal Project Team Feedback in the OPTIMIZE Phase: Driving Continuous Improvement

Budget Management:

  • Offer budgeted options for additional optimization work (e.g., upgrades, enhancements).

  • Track the costs of periodic health checks or consulting engagements separately from the initial project budget.

  • Ensure clear communication of new costs and ROI for optimization activities.

Customer Feedback:

  • Regularly check in with customers to gather insights on long-term system performance and satisfaction.

  • Use structured mechanisms like Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys or quarterly business reviews (QBRs).

  • Leverage feedback to propose targeted optimization or consulting opportunities.

Internal Project Team Feedback:

  • Gather feedback regarding whether or not the solution(s) delivered should be considered for potential packaging or standardization.