Managing a professional services team within a SaaS company involves navigating a shifting priorities. A significant turning point occurs when management determines that the PS department has reached its optimal or required size, halting further expansion. This decision, while strategic for the company, can be unsettling for the PS team. The company focus pivots towards new objectives, such as expanding the partner network, upscaling software solutions, enhancing product intuitiveness, or investing in generative AI for more cost-effective advisory services. These strategic shifts inherently mean that the professional services team’s headcount will likely stabilise or even reduce, necessitating a carefully managed transition.

This critical transition demands clear and effective communication between executive management and the professional services division. Moving from a period of rapid team expansion to one of maintenance or reduction impacts the team profoundly, particularly with regards to career opportunities.

Internal promotions and new leadership roles, once readily available in the growing team, now become scarce. Consider the perspective of a team member. One day, they envision a clear path of internal advancement; the next, those options are suddenly limited.

If the PS department head sees these changes coming timely, he can update his career framework, redefine roles, reset career expectations, start working on career progress into other departments (instead of internal progress), or even find career opportunities into the companies partner network. This is a substantial shift in career trajectory, one that can only work if PS management can proactively prepare the team for such changes.

A scenario where executive management and the CFO fail to communicate these changes promptly can be detrimental. When the PS management is left in the dark, expectations are not set appropriately. Unmet expectations regarding career paths can turn the atmosphere in the team sour and lead to a wave of resignations.

Most, if not all Saas start-ups go through a phase where PS is crucial to a successful implementation, typically when the product is young and has rough edges. But as the product matures, relatively less PS is required, and that department will not grow as fast as the rest of the company. Managing this inevitable transition, is a key moment in the growth of your PS team. Your job as a leader isn’t just to manage the P&L; it’s to manage the emotional and career expectations of your team through this shift. You can either let the reality of a shrinking career path turn your team against you, or you can leverage it as a strategic opportunity to seed the rest of the company and your partner ecosystem with some of your best, battle-tested talent.