Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Role-play
Introduction
Public-sector clients buy through formal procurement rules, annual budget cycles and committees, yet many suppliers manage them like commercial accounts and lose renewals to competitors who understood the buyer's mandate better. Relationships built on access rather than value also create integrity risk for both sides. This course equips account and sales professionals to manage government and public-sector accounts strategically and ethically, from mapping buying influences to aligning with public value and budget timing. Participants rehearse key client conversations in role-play and leave with a Public-Sector Strategic Account Plan for one of their own accounts.
Course Objectives
- Map the decision-making unit, buying influences and procurement roles within a public-sector client using Miller Heiman Strategic Selling
- Align account strategy with the client's mandate, budget cycle and procurement plan using the public value framework
- Conduct discovery and value conversations with officials using SPIN questioning and insight-led selling
- Apply ISO 37001 and OECD integrity principles to gifts, hospitality, lobbying and every other client interaction
- Plan account growth through framework agreements, renewals and contract performance reviews
- Produce a Public-Sector Strategic Account Plan ready for sales leadership review
Target Audience
- Account managers responsible for ministries, agencies, municipalities and state-owned enterprises
- Business development staff opening new public-sector accounts
- Sales professionals moving from commercial to government markets
- Pre-sales and solution consultants who advise public-sector clients
- Client service and contract delivery leads who maintain government relationships after award
- Partnership and alliance staff who work with public bodies on joint programmes
Course Outline
Day 1: The Public-Sector Buyer and the B2G Account Landscape
- B2G Versus B2B Buying: Mandate, Accountability and Procurement Rules
- Public Budget Cycle and Annual Procurement Plan Mapping
- Procurement Methods Under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement
- OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement: Transparency and Integrity Principles
- Account Portfolio Assessment Using an Account Attractiveness Matrix
Day 2: Account Management Frameworks and Models
- Miller Heiman Strategic Selling: Economic, User and Technical Buyers and Coaches
- Moore's Public Value Strategic Triangle for Client Value Mapping
- Stakeholder Relationship Map with the Power-Interest Grid
- MEDDICC Qualification for Complex Government Opportunities
- ISO 44001 Collaborative Business Relationship Management Life Cycle
Day 3: Relationship Selling Skills
- SPIN Questioning for Discovery Meetings with Officials
- Insight-Led Conversations Using the Challenger Commercial Teaching Approach
- Value Proposition Canvas for Public Policy Outcomes
- Pre-Tender Market Engagement and Request for Information Responses
- Executive Briefing and Quarterly Business Review Structure
Day 4: Integrity, Risk and Difficult Account Situations
- Gifts, Hospitality and Conflict-of-Interest Controls Under ISO 37001
- OECD Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying Applied to Client Engagement
- Contract Performance Disputes and Service Recovery Plan
- Sponsor Loss and Leadership Turnover Recovery Strategy
- Account Risk Register and Early-Warning Indicators
Day 5: Role-Play and the Strategic Account Plan
- Role-Play: Discovery Meeting with a Programme Director
- Role-Play: Renewal Negotiation with a Procurement Committee
- Role-Play: Handling a Service Complaint from a Senior Official
- Public-Sector Strategic Account Plan Drafting
- Peer Review Panel and Account Plan Presentation
Skills You Will Gain
- Public-Sector Buyer Analysis
- Stakeholder Relationship Mapping
- Consultative Discovery Questioning
- Public Value Proposition Design
- Complex Opportunity Qualification
- Ethical Client Engagement
- Account Risk Management
- Renewal and Expansion Planning
Why Attend This Course
- Leave with a Public-Sector Strategic Account Plan for a named client, reviewed by peers
- Rehearse difficult conversations with officials and procurement committees before holding them for real
- Know where relationship building stops and integrity risk begins
- Learn from account managers selling to ministries, municipalities, health and education bodies and state-owned enterprises
Conclusion
Government accounts reward suppliers who understand the client's mandate, respect procurement rules and deliver on the contract as well as the pitch. This Core Concept course moves from the public-sector buying environment, through account and relationship frameworks, to discovery, value and integrity in practice, and the account situations that put renewals at risk. The final day rehearses key client conversations and produces a Public-Sector Strategic Account Plan that participants can use to grow and protect their most important government relationships.