The ongoing development of the IT market and the associated digitalization in companies are revolutionizing the tasks of IT service employees, especially in contact with customers. Beyond pure technical support, these experts have the opportunity to offer their customers real added value through product recommendations, additional service offerings and advice on digitalization processes.

This proactive approach can not only increase customer satisfaction, but also promote the generation of additional revenue and support the sales process. In this way, IT service employees make a significant contribution to building long-term positive relationships with customers and intensifying sales.

As the role of IT service employees changes, social and communicative consulting skills are becoming increasingly important alongside specialist technical skills. The soft skills required include a convincing appearance, confidence in decision-making situations, presentation skills and the ability to communicate appreciatively, advise and motivate customers. All of this is based on an entrepreneurial and sales-oriented understanding of the customer’s situation.

In summary, it can be said that it is becoming increasingly critical for IT companies to expand the mindset of their service employees.

The changing role of IT service employees: A hybrid training program for consulting skills at OTP

In order to support this change, the consulting firm OTP has developed a training program on the topic of “consulting skills” in collaboration with an IT company, based on many years of training experience in soft skills.

The six-month training program aims to transform the technical mentality and mindset of IT service employees into a consulting mindset. The program is characterized by a hybrid approach. It combines individual preparatory work, one-day classroom training and in-depth online coaching.

Advantages of the hybrid approach

The hybrid structure of the program means that information transfer and creative brainstorming on the module topics are outsourced to an individual preparation phase. This enables efficient face-to-face training that provides space for joint learning processes and complex exercises. The virtual elements in the form of individual coaching sessions are used for personal reflection and optimization of the implementation of the module content in consulting practice.

Learning objectives and modules of the program

The learning objectives include

  • – Authentic and confident presentation in difficult conversations
  • – Simple and understandable communication of complex knowledge
  • – Convincing entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the long term 
  • – Identifying customer bottlenecks and guiding them towards solutions (consultative selling)
  • – Appreciative interaction with customers and employees
  • – Implementing change projects that inspire customers
  • – Positive shaping of the role change in the professional activity

The learning objectives are developed in six consecutive training modules (monthly cycle). The module topics are:

 

  1. presentation 
  2. rhetoric
  3. consultative selling
  4. conflict management
  5. workshop moderation
  6. digitalization of business processes 

 

Feedback and results: IT service employees with a new mindset after successful training program

Following the completion of the six-month “Consulting skills” training program for IT service employees by OTP, the feedback has been extremely positive.  

The feedback collected by the client documents a high level of satisfaction among participants with the program structure, content and training design. 

Tangible changes in customer interaction

The desired mindset changes can be seen directly in the daily work of IT service employees. In customer contact, they now take on presentation tasks and lead discussions with an enthusiasm and confidence that was previously lacking. This positive change is also reflected in the professional and sales-oriented design of customer events and meetings.

In-depth understanding of consulting and sales processes

An outstanding result of the program is the IT service employees’ deeper understanding of consulting and sales processes. They are now able to recognize upselling and cross-selling opportunities and communicate these to the company’s sales department in a targeted manner. This aspect not only demonstrates the effectiveness of the program, but also the direct applicability of the acquired knowledge in everyday working life.

Outlook and prospects

In view of the consistently positive feedback, our customer is planning to implement the training program for other IT service employees at the company. The successful transformation of the IT service employees into strategic consultants has not only increased customer satisfaction (and that of the employees), but has also had a positive impact on revenue generation and sales success. The program can therefore be seen as a pioneering example for the further development of IT service employees.

 

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