Managing the Engagement Cycle For Professional Services
Professional Services (PS) consultants, spending significant time with clients, have unique opportunities for increasing brand loyalty and forging long term relationships.
Managing the Engagement Cycle for Professional Services is a one day program developed to provide PS consultants with specific skills and methodologies to apply during engagement opportunities.
- Create “consultative” interactions
- Increase trust/build loyalty
- Be assertive when required
- Expand the companies footprint
- Manage particularly challenging customer situations
- Appeal to a broad range of job functions
The agenda for accomplishing this includes the following items:
- Applying the Top 12 Consulting Guidelines
- Establishing and maintaining rapport
- Setting expectations properly
- Identifying needs vs. wants
- Applying advanced questioning strategies
- Knowing how and when to be assertive
- Reading and adjusting to office politics
- Applying email and telephone techniques
- Appealing to higher levels
- Handling objections
- Diffusing emotional situations
- Uncovering new opportunities
- Communicating more effectively with the sales team
- Ending projects/engagements in a professional and structured way
Summary
In summary, Managing the Engagement Cycle for Professional Services provides PS consultants with new strategies for succeeding in short and long term client projects and engagements. They will learn and practice the skills and behaviors that lead to “trusted advisor” relationships and expanded business opportunities, applying each learning point to their specific roles and responsibilities.