Tim Poffenbarger's README
Tim Poffenbarger’s README
Senior Manager, Solutions Architects - Commercial
Related pages
- GitLab
- My Contributions: GitLab Product Issues | GitLab Product Merge Requests | GitLab Marketing Merge Requests
How you can help me
In the Solutions Architect role, the more our team can get an opportunity to focus on communicating value and stay away from very deep technical and troubleshooting conversations, the more the team can help you achieve target sales. The team is happy to review and contribute to business plans so we remain in sync.
The team is happy to recommend and propose services for prospects and customers. For any custom statement of work, the team can begin scoping out the initial scope of work (SOW) and get approvals from the Professional Services team.
My working style
Response time for emails and meeting follow-ups: I will always do my best to provide same-day responses to customer inquiries and follow-ups unless otherwise noted. I like to provide customers top-notch service, but interruptions can impact that target. I will use my out-of-office when traveling so customers can expect delayed responses during those times. Feel free to contact me if it’s approaching the end of the day and you didn’t see me address a customer request. Slack is the easiest way to find me most of the time.
Calendar: Schedule things as necessary right on my calendar during working hours — I’ll do my best to keep my calendar up to date. However, if you see only one empty slot for a day or if it looks like the meeting would be back to back with something else, please check with me before confirming dates and times with the customer. If you want me at my best for you, I will need time to prepare and follow-up. If we schedule back to back, I’ve found I’m often late to arrive due to the last meeting, flustered as I context shift, lacking answers for known questions, unprepared with demo environments that were altered in the last call, etc.
Synchronous Communication for Ongoing Efforts: If I have an ongoing effort with individuals, they should feel encouraged to setup weekly strategy 25-minute calls with me and others involved. If more frequent synchronous communication is desirable or required, we should work together as a team to identify a viable cadence, required attendees, convenient time and agenda for those calls.
Where Information is Stored: You can assume that all information is kept in the Customers & Prospects folder in Google Drive under the appropriately designated letter. This folder will be linked in Salesforce. Email communication with customers will also be bcc’d to Salesforce. If you prefer to record notes and actions differently, please let me know what that collaborative method is.
Continuous Learning: Things at GitLab move really fast, and I need time to keep up. I’ll block a few hours on my calendar coincident with releases to absorb the latest GitLab feature set, but new technologies and competitive products also appear regularly. Please expect that I will need to allocate additional time to learning about those on a regular basis to sufficiently support our customers.
What I assume about others
I assume that if there is anything you are expecting from me to do, it is clearly stated and written down somewhere that we both can access. Unless it is at the genesis of a particular ask, it is best to ensure that you and I agree that this is my task before others are engaged in our conversation.
What I want to earn
- Your trust - specifically so that positive intent is assumed by default
Communicating with me
I will always do my best to provide same-day responses to customer inquiries and follow-ups unless otherwise noted. Here are the mediums I am most responsive (in order of responsiveness):
- Slack
- GitLab Issues (ones in which I am mentioned via
@poffey21) - Mentions in Google Docs/Sheets/etc.
Again, expect a same-day response and don’t hesitate to try a different medium if my response time is poor.
Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths: I am technically proficient and can come up to speed on a technical topic quickly. I feel that I provide most value to customers that are engineering software. Although, I can speak to the needs of folks that are across all stages of the Software Development Life Cycle.
Weaknesses: I can get consumed with building out a technical solution and let other priorities slip. If you feel that I’m letting priorities slip that are important to you and the organization, do not hesitate to call me out.
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