The mantra of ‘under promise, over deliver’ often falls by the wayside in professional services organizations (PSOs), where salespeople may promise the world to prospective clients to win a deal. This doesn’t have to be the case. By aligning a clear sales process with project management and refining business development strategies, PSOs can leverage project management best practices to ensure they meet promises made to the buyer-seller community. PSOs with a systematic approach to scoping, delivering, and managing projects can consistently turn sales promises into successful projects, giving sales reps the confidence they need when selling project deliverables. Introducing defined program management philosophies also unifies all components of business plan execution and fosters the right strategy to launch project initiatives effectively.
To strengthen this approach, a data-driven sales pitch that appeals to a target audience can be highly effective. For example, capturing an email address early in the sales process allows teams to nurture the relationship while setting correct expectations for both internal teams and the client. Ultimately, harnessing the right mix of strategic planning, marketing strategy, and content strategy supports successful sales outcomes and establishes a smooth transition into project execution.
In this post, we examine the top four challenges to turning a sale into a project, as well as the simplest way to overcome those challenges
4 Challenges to Turning a Sale into a Project
While there are many challenges to successful project delivery, four stand out at the stage of turning the sale into a successful project: undefined goals, unclear delivery schedules, resource conflicts, and poor communication. Let’s take a closer look at each.
Undefined Goals
The project manager must understand the purpose of a project and be able to answer, “What was sold and for what business purpose?” Often, the project manager lacks insight into the discussions and information shared between the salesperson and the prospective client. This gap prevents consensus, both internally and with the client, regarding the project’s goals. Establishing a clear project charter early on can help tie the sales pitch to tangible objectives. For example, referencing a consultant like Sarah Sime can illustrate how breaking down project milestones in a step-by-step sales process ensures alignment with the company vision and the product or service committed.
Unclear Delivery Schedules
Successful projects require clear delivery timetables. When goals and milestones are undefined, it’s nearly impossible to schedule delivery milestones properly. A standardized timetable leads to fewer delays, helping the sales team demonstrate their ability to close deals swiftly and ensuring project managers can coordinate resources to start project tasks on time. Leveraging marketing tactics such as social media outreach or targeted sales campaigns keeps all stakeholders informed and ensures the project aligns with the customer’s overarching strategy.
Resource Conflicts
As PSOs strive for high resource utilization, they inevitably encounter resource conflicts when planning new projects. This is especially true when scheduling personnel with the most sought-after skill sets. High demand for these professionals can cause bottlenecks that stall new projects and affect ongoing delivery schedules. Successful project handoffs rely on robust program management methods to ensure teams have the availability to deliver. By bringing everyone into a unified plan, you can minimize conflicts and coordinate sales teams, project managers, and other relevant personnel before starting project execution.
Poor Communication
Communication is at the core of any professional services organization, as resources are constantly moving and working across different project teams. Most PSOs encounter project scoping and scheduling problems when they lack a process and system for communicating project details to the right team members in real time. This reduces accountability for those responsible for delivering results. By integrating a content strategy with an effective sales approach, each stakeholder is better informed about project status. Leveraging sales strategies that align with project management protocols ensures no detail is overlooked and helps maintain transparency among project participants, senior management, and the client.
How to Create Successful Projects that Align with Promises
To consistently launch successful projects, PSOs must manage project creation in a consistent, repeatable manner. This requires unifying the people, processes, and information related to a sold deal and its resulting project. This means bringing together, in a single collaboration environment, information from several business systems:
- CRM system data regarding conversations between the salesperson and the client, including shared information about the client’s needs, business goals, and promises made
- ERP or accounting system data that provides insights into the costs the PSO will need to incur to deliver the project as promised
- PSM system information on resource availability, cost estimations, and forecasts that will affect the project’s timetable and success
Until recently, information in these three systems (CRM, ERP, and PSM) remained disconnected. Today, however, a unified PSM system brings information from all three together in real time. This modernized version of PSM also includes the necessary process and workflow tools for creating projects in a way that prevents conflicts, enforces communication rules, and clearly defines responsibilities and timelines. As a result, everyone in the PSO knows exactly what to do and when to do it. This approach to project management strengthens the buyer-seller connection by highlighting how sales teams and project managers collaborate to foster successful sales conditions. By employing proven methodologies and aligning with company strategies, you set the stage for a well-organized project that addresses buyers’ needs and maximizes program management efficiency.
This seamless integration helps close deals more effectively because there is clarity about the sales process from pitch to project start. A data-driven approach ensures consistent updates across all departments, boosting the sales strategy and reducing surprises later in the project lifecycle. This synergy also refines future marketing activities by demonstrating a proven track record, building trust with new target audiences, and strengthening brand reputation.
Conclusion
By establishing a unified system that captures deal and project information and brings together the resources and workflows to deliver the project, creating projects that align with promises becomes easier and more consistent. Such a system not only strengthens your marketing strategy but also provides a structured framework for selling project solutions effectively. Robust project management practices integrated with a cohesive sales strategy empower teams to deliver project management solutions that meet or exceed the client’s vision.
To learn more about consistently creating successful projects, contact us today. Providing your email address will grant you access to expert advice and guidance on building a comprehensive project management organization that ensures timelines, resources, and results align with the promises made during the sales pitch.
