Contributions

Our preliminary research findings suggest that the difficulty in selling project management at the executive level often results from cognitive gaps in the marketing relationships. For example, project managers sell features and attributes when executives want to hear about results and benefits. At times project managers and consultants are guilty of selling before the need has been identified let alone agreed to by executives (Houle 1998). These disconnects could be viewed as misalignments between values and expectations. Those involved in selling project management to executives can benefit from understanding and applying some basic tenets from marketing and communication (e.g., improving their listening skills in terms to learn how to frame the problem executives want answered). This will enable them to make the right connections about what executives are receptive to hearing in business terms. We suggest using a three-point approach of triggers, responses, and proof to explain project management benefits.

Trigger: Understand what the triggers to buy are for executives. Currently, the strongest triggers for the need for project management at the executive level appear to be an external crisis or negative project activity. Buying occurs at a reflexive or involuntary level associated with current problems and no real learning takes place. This relegates project management to a reactive fast fix. This cycle perpetuates itself on the underlying belief that project management will help control and diffuse external trigger events. From a sales perspective this means that sales will always be reactive. However, until we determine how best to sell project management at the strategic level, project management proponents need to be ready to respond to external triggers.

To increase the potential for proactive sales, project managers can initiate the trigger by focusing on questions like: What are the top five things the executive is trying to do for the company? What are their priorities? What keeps them up at night? Listen for cues and insights into these areas. Once these are understood, project management can be fit into the appropriate context and sold more proactively.

Response: Sellers need to move away from selling project management by focusing on specific features and learn to reframe the information in terms of benefits and their connection to values relative to the executive's priorities. One way of doing this is by drawing analogies about the impact project failures have on the business strategy and discussing lessons learned. The goal is to stimulate deep learning on both sides, as opposed to making uniformed associations about the negative value of project management based on a fear of repeating past mistakes.

Proof: It helps to provide anecdotal information or proof of the value proposition in the context that executives will relate to. For example, restate the value of project management in terms that support the business objective and corporate strategies. This requires a tight, yet responsive to change, alignment between business goals and project management.

Worldwide, PMI has listened to the needs of its constituency to research this body of knowledge. In this chapter, we have presented preliminary findings on how project management is sold to executives and the barriers to doing so. Project management is a tough sell in a competitive environment characterized by a lack of boundaries and innovative partnering strategies. Credibility and trust are important advantages to have and contribute to successful services selling. The insights provided in this chapter enable sellers to create value-based propositions better aligned with executives' requirements. Helping practitioners and executives to better understand the value of project management improves project management's alignment with corporate strategies, which in turn facilitates the company's advancement from operations based on foundation values to those based in innovation values.