Four Tips to Help You Sell PM Within Your Organization

by Elizabeth Larson, PMP, and Richard Larson, PMP- Watermark Learning
Excerpted from Project Times.

Many project management professionals' efforts
to promote project management within their organizations have fallen on deaf ears. It's time to stop promoting and start selling:

1. Need Analysis
Find qualified prospects
They have a need to be satisfied and the authority to buy. These are commonly sponsors of projects.

People make emotional decisions
They often buy things they want over something they need. Remember to ask questions that help you understand the emotional component of an issue, not just the logic behind it.

Give prospects a reason to want and an excuse to buy PM
Such as identifying people at other companies who benefit from PM (want) at the same time you demonstrate cost savings of employing PM (excuse).

Learn to be a sincere questioner
Develop your interviewing skills. Probe to understand business needs and “drivers,” and work to solve business problems, not just implement solutions.

2. Need Awareness
There are five sales “knowledge areas” that are crucial.

1. Product Knowledge – knowledge about project     management and its benefits can instill confidence     in your mind and in the “buyers" of projects.

2. Industry Knowledge – the more you know about     your industry, the more you know the needs of     your “buyers’ and why they have those needs.

3. Pricing Knowledge – the level of investment     needed for your product (i.e., project management     processes).

4. Application Knowledge – understanding how     projects can help the business will increase the     support for Project Management.

5. Competition Knowledge – there is always the     possibility that project sponsors will seek other     avenues for solving their problems. Or, if a     competitor is perceived as having an  advantage,     emphasizing this fact may help sell the concept of     project management in your organization.

Of these, Product and Industry Knowledge are the most important for Project Management professionals. Projects are needed when there is an “imbalance” in the business, and change is desired. Projects succeed when the project objectives directly address the causes of that imbalance, and sponsors commit to them.

3. Need Solution
In addition to focusing on project management deliverables, such as a Charter or Communication Plan (what the product IS), make sure to stress project benefits of those deliverables from the buyer’s perspective (what it will DO for the organization).

4. Need Satisfaction
Always ask for decision makers to act, whether it is to initiate a project, launch a PMO, or to adopt a best practice. Making a case for your initiative is not enough; remember to “Always ask for the Order.”

As a Project Management practitioner, you are often faced with making proposals that you would like decision-makers to adopt.

For a review of these steps and how they can be used by project management practitioners in selling the concept of project management to senior management, view the complete article.

Upcoming Industry Events and Speaking Engagements

Look for us at upcoming events: PMI-MN Chapter PDD 2006 October 3-7, 2006 Minneapolis, MN One-day seminar: Influencing Without Authority: Rev up your Internal Consulting Skills. Two symposium presentations: When Change Management and Sales Management Collide and Influencing Without Authority: Time to Rev up your Internal Consulting Skills PMI Global Congress North America 2006 October 21-24, 2006 Seattle, WA Influencing Without Authority: Time to Rev up your Internal Consulting Skills ProjectWorld November 6-9, 2006 Orlando, FL Elizabeth Larson, PMP, and Richard Larson, PMP, will present for IIBA separately on the BABOK. Stop by Watermark's booth #1027 Receive a 15% discount on registration fees. Enter code SPONM181920WL. Project Summit Business Analyst World November 14, 2006 Chicago, IL Gathering Requirements: Go Away Please! How Lack of Trust Contributes to Project Risk and Failure

Mentoring Tip Project success depends on many things including the skill of the PM and team, clear and correct requirements and client involvement. A universal ingredient for all successful projects is sponsor involvement. Research by organizations such as the Standish Group, consistently show that an involved and supportive sponsor is crucial for project success, no matter what the size.

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