Today’s competitive internal and external business environments require that technical professionals be able to “sell.” Within your organization you need to be able to sell ideas and capabilities. Externally, you need to be able to participate effectively in the selling of products and/or services to existing and potential customers.

But you don't have to be a fast-talking sales person who cares only about commission checks, expense accounts and the bottom line to do business inside and outside your company. That kind of pushy, win-at-all-costs selling approach can turn people off. In this course you discover how to use the natural analytical, logical and rational skills you've developed in your professional life to create a solution-oriented sales approach that gets you results with both your customers and colleagues!

This course shows you that personal communication and sales skills are as rational as technical skills, and that you can learn and apply them just as systematically as you mastered your technical skills. These skills will help you interact with confidence and give you credibility with your peers and customers. You will acquire a step-by-step approach to business development and sales that is easily within your comfort zone; learn to communicate effectively using better questioning and listening techniques; explore ways to build rapport quickly; negotiate win/win outcomes and get management buy-in; and you examine the human side of selling, from understanding personality styles to using reverse psychology and reading body language.

Format

The material is presented in a manner to facilitate the process of learning, from the initial phase of understanding (knowing) a concept, to the advanced phase of applying (owning) it. Much interaction is encouraged, with participants having an opportunity to discuss and practice specific techniques as well as strategize their own business situations. The training is customized for each client by incorporating specific industry examples to assist with the application process. Role playing of actual situations is included.

Course Length

This course is available as a 2 or 3 day course. The 2-day version is focused more on an understanding of the material. The 3-day version includes more role playing and strategizing exercises and is designed to facilitate application of the material.

Materials

All participants receive a 250+ page workbook which includes detailed course notes, summary of key material, handouts, surveys, exercises, forms and reference material.
Delivery

Training is delivered in a classroom setting. Typical class size is 25-35 with seating in U-shape.

This course is designed for technical professionals who want to increase their business sales and communication skills and achieve excellence in performance. Job titles include:

• Technical Professional
• Engineering Manager
• Business Development Manager
• Engineering Scientist (Application, Design, Software, etc)
• Sales Engineer
• Customer Service Representative
• Customer Service Engineer
• Project Manager
• Group Leader

“This training offers a fantastic toolbox of improved communication techniques for anyone at our company who deals with internal or external business situations. I can apply what I learned immediately to situations I’m facing.”—Engineering Manager

Tools, Techniques & Strategies…

• A nine-step sales process that works in a technical environment
• How to recognize and control 'selling' opportunities inside and outside your organization
• Communication strategies to determine the actual needs of your customer or colleague
• Three crucial elements to build rapport and get to the real issues quickly
• How to persuade and sell using logic, skill and truth, not manipulation and falsehood
• How to question and listen more effectively
• Four key actions to get colleagues and customers to make and keep commitments
• How to avoid doing free consulting in hopes of securing business
• How to avoid assumptions and confusion
• How to sell a solution, as opposed to touting your features and benefits
• Eleven key questions that get you to the heart of an issue in almost any situation
• How to separate a "real opportunity" from a "resource drain"
• How to get people to feel urgency and take action

  Critical Concepts…

• Differentiate yourself from your competition
• Get your entire organization speaking the same language
• Positively affect the decision-making process
• Separate a "real opportunity" from a "resource drain"
• Get people to feel urgency and take action
• Deal with the pitfalls of traditional selling
• Replace communication awkwardness and frustration with confidence and control
• Promote your ideas, concepts and projects to management
• Win resources for your technical group, project or process
• Sell complicated technical products and processes to skeptical prospects
• How to negotiate win/win outcomes