This article discusses the benefits of having a Quality Assurance (QA) team in the context of Account Executive assistance. It highlights how a QA team can increase customer satisfaction, prevent escalations, and improve communication during projects. The article also presents three project options for the level of support provided by the QA team. Additionally, it introduces the role of QA Analysts in the sales process.

Here are some thoughts about how QA Team can help the Account Executive:Having

Benefits a QA

...

A QA team can increase customer satisfaction by providing support during the UAT phase, ensuring there are no major requirements discrepancies or bugs, and serving as the single point of contact for testing-related issues. Here are some specific benefits:

• increase the probability the customer will be satisfied and will continue with us on the next projects (modules):

  • customer will have support, especially for UAT phase - if they don’t have any previous knowledge of how to perform end to end testing, QA Analyst will help them

  • customer will not find major requirements discrepancies or bugs during testing in UAT Phase

  • communication during the project will be easier for the customer as QA Analyst will be the SPOC for testing related issues

  • testers on the customer’s site - usually business users - will know how to prepare for UAT tests

  • demos from the QA Analyst can be more understandable for the customer than more technical demo from CE (developer)

• decrease the probability there will be escalations from the customer at the end of the project:

  • the customer will be ready for UAT phase

    • QA Analyst can detect the potential risk the customer is not ready for UAT phase sooner than any other project role as he is communicating with the customer about testing regularly

  • the customer will not find major requirements discrepancies or bugs during his testing

    • QA analyst will make sure the customer is properly testing and accepting all delivered features throughout the Feature Sprints so no surprises during the UAT

  • we will be more sure the customer knows how to use our software

    • QA analyst can also act as a trainer during the delivery cycle

...

Project Recommendations

The recommended and best practice is to have a 2:1 ratio of CE to QA allocation effort on the project for full support. The QA Analyst serves as the single point of contact for all testing-related issues, offers best practices to the customer, helps business users understand the testing process,

Here are some specific recommendations and best practices:

• Full support - our recommendation and best practice

  • ratio 2CE = 1QA allocation effort on the project (from Setup to UAT)

  • QA Analyst is SPOC for the customer for all testing related issues

  • QA Analyst will offer our best practices to the customer

  • QA Analyst will help the business users (testers on the customer’s site) to understand the basic testing process and prepare test scenarios for UAT

  • QA Analyst will support demos for the customer during the Feature Sprints

  • QA Analyst will perform internal testing for Pfx Pricefx project team

• Medium support

  • ratio QA Analyst has 40% of CE allocation

  • QA Analyst will offer our best practices to the customer

  • QA Analyst will offer basic help to the business users (testers on the customer’s site), especially with recommendations on how to prepare test scenarios for UAT

  • QA Analyst will perform internal testing for Pfx Pricefx project team

• Low support

  • ratio QA Analyst has 25% of CE allocation

  • no support for the customer about QA related topics

  • QA Analyst will do internal testing for Pfx Pricefx project team

QA Analyst role introduction for sales

In this section we are looking at brief introduction of the role of QA Analysts in the context of sales. As sales usually goes hand in hand with customers (what are sales without buyers, right?), the role of the QA is similar in these situations.