Technical Sales and Customer Service

Technical sales teams usually know their products well. Deals are lost for other reasons: questions that confirm what the salesperson already believes, proposals written as specification sheets, price discussions that start before value is agreed, and hand-overs to service teams that leave the customer repeating their story. After the sale, complaints are often treated as a nuisance rather than as information, and the account quietly moves to a competitor at renewal.

This programme treats sales and service as one customer journey. It moves through five stages: understanding how technical and institutional customers buy, uncovering and qualifying the real requirement, building and presenting a value case, negotiating and closing with clear commitments, and protecting the account through service recovery, complaint handling and account development.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references widely used consultative and solution selling methods, including question-based discovery models such as SPIN, value-based selling and key account management principles. For service, it references ISO 10002 on complaints handling, ISO 10004 on monitoring and measuring customer satisfaction, and common customer experience measures such as Net Promoter Score and Customer Effort Score.

Decisions this programme improves. Which opportunities are worth pursuing and which should be qualified out; how to position a technically stronger but more expensive solution; when to concede on price and what to ask for in return; how to respond to a complaint so that the account is retained; and where to invest time within an existing account.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: an industrial equipment supplier bidding for a public sector contract, then managing a service failure with the same customer a year later. Participants practise discovery conversations, draft a value proposition, role-play a negotiation and handle an escalated complaint.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own products, sales process, CRM stages and service level agreements, and delivered to sales, pre-sales and service teams together so that the customer experiences one consistent approach.

Who Should Attend

Sales professionals: sales engineers, technical sales representatives and account managers

Pre-sales and applications staff: solution engineers, product specialists and bid support staff

Customer service teams: customer service engineers, after-sales and support staff

Engineers and specialists moving into customer-facing or commercial roles

Team leaders supervising sales or service teams for technical products

Objectives

Map the buying process and decision-making unit in a technical or institutional customer

Plan and conduct a discovery conversation that uncovers the business need behind a technical request

Qualify opportunities against clear criteria and decide when to withdraw

Translate product features into customer outcomes and a simple value case

Structure a technical proposal and presentation for both technical and executive readers

Handle common objections on price, risk and incumbent suppliers

Negotiate trade-offs and close with agreed next steps and commitments

Handle complaints and service failures using a structured recovery process

Use customer satisfaction and effort measures to identify accounts at risk

Prepare an account development plan for a key customer

Course Outline

How Technical Customers Buy: Buying Centres, Tenders and Decision Criteria

The difference between selling a product and solving a customer problem
Decision-making units: users, technical evaluators, procurement and budget holders
Public and private sector buying processes, tenders and approved vendor lists
Technical versus commercial evaluation criteria and how they are weighted
Understanding the customer's risks, constraints and internal politics
Using CRM data and account history before the first meeting

Finding the Real Requirement: Discovery, Questioning and Qualification

Question sequences that move from situation to problem, impact and value
Active listening and confirming understanding
Separating stated specifications from underlying needs
Qualification criteria: budget, authority, need, timing and fit
Recording discovery findings so that pre-sales and delivery teams can use them
Deciding when to walk away from an opportunity

Presenting Value: Proposals, Demonstrations and Objections

From features to benefits to measurable outcomes
Building a simple value case: cost of ownership, risk reduction and productivity
Structuring a technical proposal for mixed technical and executive readers
Running demonstrations and site visits that address the customer's criteria
Common objections on price, risk, compatibility and incumbent suppliers
Using references and evidence responsibly, without overstating claims

Negotiating and Closing with Commitment

Preparing for negotiation: objectives, walk-away positions and tradeables
Price discussions: when to hold, when to concede and what to ask in return
Closing techniques that secure commitment rather than pressure the customer
Agreeing scope, delivery, warranty and service terms clearly
Hand-over from sales to delivery and service teams
Ethics, conflicts of interest and anti-bribery expectations in sales

Keeping the Customer: Service Recovery, Complaints and Account Growth

Customer service standards and service level agreements for technical products
Complaint handling principles from ISO 10002: receipt, assessment, response and closure
Service recovery conversations with frustrated or senior customers
Measuring satisfaction and effort: surveys, Net Promoter Score and Customer Effort Score
Using CRM and service data, including AI-assisted insights, to spot accounts at risk
Account development planning: relationships, whitespace and renewal
Action plan: improving sales and service practice in your team

Competencies

Technical customer discovery and needs analysis

Opportunity qualification

Value proposition and business case development

Technical proposal writing and presentation

Objection handling

Negotiation and closing

Complaint handling and service recovery

Customer satisfaction measurement

Key account development planning

Dubai

Elite Academy can deliver its complete portfolio of professional training programs in Dubai. With a global business, aviation and services hub with excellent international accessibility, the destination suits both scheduled learning and tailored arrangements for organizations or individual professionals. As an Elite Academy training destination, Dubai provides access to our full portfolio rather than a city-specific set of specializations. The city is a global business, aviation and services hub with excellent international accessibility, creating a suitable environment for organizations developing their teams and for professionals attending independently. Upcoming scheduled courses are listed on this page, while any other Elite Academy program can also be requested for delivery in Dubai, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements. Explore the schedule or browse our training areas to find the right option.