"No one on this planet knows more about selling and marketing technology services than we do. ITSMA can turn this knowledge into practical skills and behaviors that result in significantly enhanced performance for our member organizations. We guarantee it."
—Steve Hurley, Senior Associate, ITSMA

Recognizing that every business faces its own unique set of challenges, ITSMA offers a custom programs service—learning programs that are tailored to the specific needs of your organization. Recent projects have ranged from a one-hour presentation on how to sell IT services (made at an annual national sales conference) to a year-long professional development program for services marketers.

Operational Services
Our programs that focus on operational services help your sales force to:

• Create unique messages and approaches for selling services instead of product
• Identify the right buying influences in the customer organization and develop relationships with the internal "champion
• Identify client needs and develop potential solutions,
• Overcome common objections to technology services issue
• Establish credibility with client
• Understand how selling services can create more product demand, benefiting them personally

Professional Services
While many of the same skills apply to selling both operational and professional services, additional competencies that are often used in consultative selling are important in the professional services sales process.

Our programs targeted for those who sell professional services include how to:

• Move client relationships from awareness to trust
• Use consultative skills to build client confidence and structure solutions
• Identify client issues and needs
• Use "tool sets" to educate the client and demonstrate industry knowledge

Whichever track you choose, you have the option to customize the course content to address your needs. We also have considerable experience in designing workshops that boost performance in value-added reseller sales forces as well as telesales groups. 

Custom Services Marketing Programs
The second area of our custom programs focuses on the marketing of services. Our research has shown that the practice of services marketing raises challenges and obstacles that are different than those faced in product marketing. Industry-specific services within technology sectors add even more layers of complexity. Our Client-Centric Services Marketing Program uniquely addresses themes such as these and guarantees relevance for our learning event participants.

As a further distinction, this program weaves an effective combination of intellectual rigor and real-world practicality. At the foundation of this course is a framework that we at ITSMA continually develop and refine through our ongoing research. This services marketing framework includes processes, tools and best practices that our clients have shown to produce results. At the same time, the framework is explicitly client-focused. Every class we teach brings home the point that marketers must spend every budget dollar with the client in mind.

As with the sales workshops, you can mix and match these modules and customize them to create a program that suits the needs of your organization.

Maximizing the impact to your organization
Our events can address all four of the major learning elements. Depending on your needs and interests, we can deliver the learning to participants through various delivery vehicles.

Building performance excellence
ITSMA's Learning & Performance Excellence activities are designed to provide tangible and measurable benefits. Our information, methods and tools not only boost the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts, they also enhance long-term client loyalty and account growth.

We stand by the result of our work. We commit to measuring our impact, and providing continuous support and coaching through our state-of-the-art web learning technologies. Our activities are guaranteed, and we are willing to co-invest in your performance improvement programs.

If you're interested in finding out how you can improve your sales engine and grow your services and solutions business, contact Robert Baginski at +1-910-933-9147 or rbaginski@itsma.com.

About ITSMA
ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. As a membership organization, we provide research, consulting, and training to the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation. ITSMA is based near Boston, and has offices in London and Tokyo. Learn more at www.itsma.com.