SALES and Project Management

Daniel H Pink , in his book " To Sell is Human" says that we are all in the Sales business, no matter what our job title is , We are marketing/selling our services, value proposition , skills on a daily basis to another person. So albeit it was not about Sales in project management , it was sales in life....and Life is a series of projects.

Luis -

There are two types of selling we experience as PMs.

1. Selling the value of project management (and our individual brand) to the organization.

2. Selling recommendations to decision makers.

All the soft skill competencies required to be an effective sales person will apply to being an effective PM.

Kiron

Luis,

When it comes to a project manager being involved in “selling,” I like to provide the following statement:

- If the word "sell" strikes you as an inappropriate word, then phonetically pronounce the word backward, and you will find what you will end up with if you don’t execute this portion of your job: "less."

When you are employed as an “accountable PM” for an enterprise (i.e., not a consultant), you may be called on in the very beginning when the project is just an idea in the mind of a potential sponsor. Under this scenario, the following may happen:

- 1. Potential sponsor goes to PMO with an idea for a project
- 2. PMO assigns an architecturally aware PM to execute due-diligence with the potential sponsor and gather facts.
- 3. PM executes workshops to validate assumptions gathered from the initial due-diligence.
- 4. If currently understood value proposition if substantive, then potential sponsor solicits or executes a mandate for the project.
- 5. After receiving mandate, project goes into the queue of the PMO for prioritization.
- 6. NOTE: In this process, the PM is advocating (i.e., selling) the project.

Another scenario for selling (i.e., making the case for) is the “buying of time.” Read the strategy, “ Time is a commodity, so make your purchase when the price is right
.”