COURSE OVERVIEW
Becoming a recognized strategic business partner requires deep involvement in both individual and organizational performance. To add meaningful value, your work must align with the organization’s strategy and structure. Effective business partners operate across multiple levels: individual, team, business unit, organizational, and cross-organizational.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this Strategic Internal Business Partner training, participants will be able to:

• Understand how department heads form their needs.
• Recognize how internal customers decide to “buy.”
• Align strategically with the internal customer’s decision-making and psychological buying phases.
• Handle risk-related objections effectively.
• Demonstrate understanding of the internal customer’s business.
• Guide internal customers to acknowledge and focus on solvable challenges.
• Diagnose business problems with a focus on your capabilities.
• Gain access to and establish credibility with line executives.

TARGET AUDIENCE
This program is ideal for business partners responsible for leading, negotiating, and building strong relationships with internal teams, driving change, and implementing strategic objectives. It is particularly beneficial for those who must achieve results through influence rather than formal authority.

TRAINING METHODOLOGY
This practical, results-driven program follows adult learning principles. The facilitator provides content, then guides participants to apply and internalize concepts through discussion, practice, and role play. The course includes demonstrations, hands-on exercises, and ample Q&A, allowing participants to develop actionable plans for application in the workplace. Pre- and post-course assessments will measure learning effectiveness.

COURSE CONTENT

Module 1 – Business Partnership Skills
Focus: Understanding the role and responsibilities of a business partner.
Key Topics:

• Challenges in consulting, selling, and persuasion
• Identifying internal customer problems
• Overview of business partner responsibilities
• Managing your behavior as a business partner
• Principles of effective consulting partnership
• How departments “buy” and their levels of need
• Organizational interdependence
• Collaborating with sponsors and decision-makers

Module 2 – Understanding Your Audience
Focus: Understanding internal customer expectations.
Key Topics:

• Shifting concerns across the buying cycle
• Phases of the internal buying process
• Handling objections at each phase
• Aligning consulting behavior with buyer expectations
• Maintaining alignment throughout the cycle
• Anticipating buyer behavior
• Vision creation without overt “closing”
• Developing solutions for complex problems
• Conducting thorough needs diagnostics
• Guiding the buyer to a shared vision

Module 3 – Leading, Motivating, and Achieving Strategic Alignment
Focus: Applying theory to practical exercises.
Key Topics:

• Strategic alignment
• Effective introductions in meetings
• Positioning statements and meeting objectives
• Transitioning to vision creation
• Helping buyers acknowledge their problems or needs
• Diagnosing problems
• Crafting vision and capability statements
• Closing meetings and planning next steps

Module 4 – Buyer Qualification
Focus: Identifying and qualifying internal customers.
Key Topics:

• Internal customer qualification
• Managing the internal “sell” cycle
• Defining proposals
• Accessing key decision-makers
• Controlling communications during the sell cycle
• Applying consulting steps at each phase
• Competitive strategies
• Developing tactical tools using the internal customer’s language

Module 5 – From Theory to Implementation
Focus: Practical application of course concepts.
Key Topics:

• Negotiation skills
• Overcoming emotional hurdles for buyers and business partners
• Planning the sell cycle strategically
• Five-component cost justification model
• Maximizing internal technical and resource utilization
• Collaborating with third-party consultants
• Course review and key takeaways