Thinking Commercially

How will I benefit?

  • You need to understand client strategy in order to develop opportunities
  • Your role involves increasing the organisation’s profile with clients
  • You negotiate with clients and partners to achieve desired outcomes profitably
  • You have to assess whether bids should go ahead
  • You want to develop strong relationships with clients that sustain profitable business

Who should attend?

  • Use strategic perspective to identify and take advantage of opportunities
  • Build strong client relationships that yield profitable business
  • Develop strong networks within clients
  • Negotiate for profitable outcomes
  • Determine which projects to pursue or avoid
  • Influence clients to make good decisions – for them and us.

Course Outline / Key Topics

  • The strategic perspective
  • Managing the client funnel – building future business and prioritizing current clients
  • How to gain sustainable competitive advantage:
    • differentiation and aiming for Blue Oceans
    • cost leadership
  • The importance of brand
  • Understanding the client experience
  • qualifying the client (and ensuring they ‘fit’)
  • developing winning relationships
    • developing trust
    • recognizing and managing emotions
    • the cognitive biases that affect decision-making
  • Why client delight is essential (and good enough isn’t good enough)
  • Frameworks that help to identify the critical drivers of success and convert these into action
  • Helping customers to make decisions
  • helping prospects to say ‘yes’
  • negotiation tactics (sometimes you have to a make a deal)