Tel: 0844 394 8877

Boulden Management Consultants

Sales Skills  >  Modular Courses

Selling Professional Services

Training in selling professional services

Fee Earner to a Fee Generator

12 month programme

Course Brochure Download
Selling Professional Services brochure
  • Learn how to set sales goals
  • Use your social networks to win work
  • Make compelling sales presentations

Overview

This year long programme (consisting of six, half-day training modules, plus five group coaching sessions and a Closure Workshop) provides practical help to enable participants to become adept at marketing professional services. In many professions it is normal to have to make a transition from ‘earning fees’ to ‘generating fees’ as you become increasingly senior in status. Making the leap from someone who ‘delivers’ assignments as opposed to someone who wins them can be an uncomfortable process, and this structured initiative helps to make the transformation from ‘worker’ to ‘rainmaker’ as smooth as possible.

Learning objectives

By attending this highly interactive and practical course you will:

  • Appreciate the ‘golden rules’ of effective selling
  • Discover techniques for planning sales meetings
  • Acquire skills for negotiating fees
  • Learn how to make your ideas ‘memorable’
  • Understand how to ask for referrals

Who should attend?

All professional people (Lawyers, Accountants, Tax Advisors, Architects, Engineers, Scientists, IT Specialists and Consultants etc.) who want to be relaxed and confident about winning work for their firm. Also experienced Partners and Senior Leaders who would like to undergo refresher training in the art of marketing their organisation’s services.

Modules

Programme structure

The Selling Professional Services Programme is a twelve month long development cycle that consists of a series of half-day, interlinked training modules, interspersed with group coaching sessions and ending with a Closure Workshop.


Workshops

Month

Coaching Sessions

Core Sales Skills
Half-Day Masterclass

   1    
    2  

Group Coaching
Mentoring & Support

Running Sales Meetings
Half-Day Masterclass

   3    
    4  

Group Coaching
Mentoring & Support

Networking Essentials
Half-Day Masterclass

   5    
    6  

Group Coaching
Mentoring & Support

Generating Referrals
Half-Day Masterclass

   7    
    8

Group Coaching
Mentoring & Support

Making Sales Pitches
Half-Day Masterclass

   9    
    10  

Group Coaching
Mentoring & Support

Handling Fee Negotiations
Half-Day Masterclass

   11    
    12  

Closure Workshop
Formal review of the programme

Module 1

Core Sales Skills

Understanding the key skills that expert sales people use to win business.

  • Defining the role of the sales professional
  • Uncovering the client’s needs, wants and desires (mastering sales questioning strategies)
  • Influencing Skills (5 key persuasive techniques)
  • Explaining the ‘value’ created by a product or service

Module 2

Running Sales Meetings

Becoming skilled at facilitating a face-to-face sales meeting based on
(a) identifying the factors that affect the customer’s buying decisions and
(b) influencing these factors favourably.

  • Setting sales meeting goals; understanding the ‘sales pipeline’
  • Meeting Preparation Methodology
  • Making a Positive First Impression
  • The APPR sales meeting process

Module 3

Networking Essentials

Grasping the value of building and maintaining a network of contacts that will boost your career prospects and drive business success.

  • Discover a simple, yet elegant process for developing a networking strategy
  • Acquire strategies for telling stories and anecdotes that make a great impression
  • Learn how to introduce yourself in a way that grabs attention
  • Grasp some methods available to start and leave a conversation
  • Deal with barriers to effective networking
  • Develop the ability to both add and receive value from your networking circle

Module 4

Generating Referrals

Learning how to get referrals from existing clients, in a structured way, so that requests are made professionally, systematically and appropriately.

  • Discover a simple process for generating referrals in a ‘business to business’ context
  • Acquire strategies making it easy for people to recommend you
  • Learn how to explain the type of contact you want to be introduced to
  • Understand some techniques for asking directly for a referral
  • Develop the ability to deal with objections or resistance when asking for a referral

Module 5

Making Sales Pitches

Understanding how to tailor a sales pitch to the customer’s (i) technical requirements and (ii) psychological profile, plus a review of the techniques for delivering the pitch dynamically.

  • 7 keys to effective pitch design
  • Self-confidence when presenting
  • Rhetorical Devices (making the message memorable)
  • Using visual aids
  • Introduction - how to ‘open’ the pitch
  • Conclusion - how to ‘close’ the pitch

Module 6

Handling Fee Negotiations

Sometimes buyers will claim that (although they really like our product or service) it costs too much, so defending against demands for discounts (or resistance to price increases) is a key sales competency.

  • Understanding the Value we offer the client
  • Targeting Key Decision Makers
  • Assessing Market Forces
  • Objection Handling Strategies
  • Presenting the Pricing Mode

Final Module

Closure Workshop

We conclude the programme with a Closure Workshop during which each participant gives a presentation on how they have applied the lessons from the training in ‘real life’ over the past year; in this way the impact of the training on the business can be evaluated.

  • Presenting on what has been learnt and identifying the benefits gained from the programme
  • Reviewing any unanswered questions about selling professional services
  • Writing a personal development plan

Left
Right

Support

Group Coaching (Action Learning)

Each half-day workshop is followed by an Action Learning phase, which involves the participants trying out the skills in ‘real life’ situations and then formally discussing how they are getting on in a group coaching session that is facilitated by the Boulden consultant. The key principle that underpins this work is simply the notion that ‘practice makes perfect’; so people need to be helped to implement what they have leant into their daily work routines. The group coaching allows the delegates to get access to guidance from a professional facilitator and receive support from their colleagues, as they try out their new skills in the work environment. The group coaching also provides an opportunity for the Boulden consultant to run ‘micro teaching sessions’ on topics of interest that arise out of the debates that take place between the participants as they discuss what happens when they attempt to use the tools ‘in action’. In addition, this ‘group mentoring’ helps to develop the participants’ analytical skills, builds team spirit and encourages what psychologists call ‘deliberate practice’, which is a key element of mastering a new skill.


Remote Training

All of our workshops can be delivered as Remote Training via e-learning modules plus Zoom based virtual workshops. Please see our Virtual Training page for more information.


Contact

To talk to us about our range of courses contact
Boulden Management Consultants:
via our Contact form
Tel: 0844 394 8877