Teaching Project Management for Sales Professionals

Great project management results in client satisfaction while keeping you in budget and on time. And it should all start before the project even begins -- with the scoping, contract writing, and handoff of the deal. 

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to loop project team members into the sales ecosystem. Often, sales professionals then end up the de facto project managers at the outset. 

That’s why it makes sense to give your sales team some light training in project management!

For small to medium sized businesses using HubSpot especially, this can make a big difference in your productivity and the harmony of your company as a whole. 

At PSOhub, we provide the capabilities and tools to make the sales-to-project handover smoother. That said, if your sales professionals have training in project management, they can set up your entire organization for success.

If you’re a sales professional wanting to learn more about project management, we’ll give you the answers to a few high-level questions, so you recognize that understanding basic aspects of project management can help you:

• Scope better
• Have a smoother handoff
• Increase LTV with happier clients
• Land more deals

What is project management, really?

AKA why our CEO recently commissioned a blog post interviewing him about this very topic. Popular names in this space (especially in the US), like Asana and ClickUp say they provide project management…

And they do. Just not the full scope.

They do it with task management, an important part of the overall project management equation, but certainly not the whole picture. Or even half of it. However, since these brands and similar others are so dominant in the public discourse, a lot of people are confused about what project management really is.

"PSOhub defines 360 Degree project management as a solution that manages the following:

Money
Organization
Time
Information
Quality"

That's it. That's what it is.

Obviously, platforms like Asana contribute to management of information and organization, but other pieces of the puzzle are missing. When you understand that project management includes in fact ALL the above elements, you’re on your way to figuring it out.

What are the benefits of project management for sales professionals?

When you train your sales team in project management or if you pick up this knowledge as a sales professional, you can expect benefits like:

• More accurate scoping, time tables, and price estimates.
• Smoother post-sale handoffs.
• Greater overall organizational cohesion and mutual understanding.
• Sales people learn to ask better, more thoughtful questions and draw out more details and information from leads…
• … aka more deals!

Who should be responsible for training sales professionals in project management?

The easiest answer is your project managers, but they aren’t always skilled in project management training for salespeople or available to facilitate the training. 

A good solution is to do a one-time shot where the project manager and perhaps others create proper project management documentation. This can serve as a catch-all to help train sales professionals and future project managers.

What aspects of project management should sales professionals be trained in?

Your sales team does not need to be included in or adept at all the principles of project management! Rather, they’ll be involved in specific ways to reach those principles, by doing things like:

• Cost estimating.
• Interviewing leads to get a very clear understanding of their specific needs.
• Creating functional timelines.
• Leveraging smart project management software and key integrations like PSOhub to minimize post-sale friction and create efficiencies in your operations. 

It pays to give sales light training in project management!

Organizations that cross-train their sales professionals in project management experience more efficiency throughout their operations. These people have a more cohesive company culture, and often realize better financial performance due to more accurate project scoping and selling.