ABSTRACT
Without a doubt, the most troubling aspect of any complex project is having success with your customers and beneficiaries. Numerous references to this project management challenge have been made throughout the book. Now, it is time to give this subject our full attention, starting out with a little self-disclosure. Prior to becoming a project manager, my information technology (IT) background was spent selling, delivering, and managing the sales and delivery of highly technical IT services. Among other things, this was excellent preparation for project management. Despite what a lot of people think, the sales profession is tough. It takes hard work to be effective, and it is more about hard work than golf. I know very few people who spend a lifetime in sales. Everyone I know who spent significant time in that profession neither regretted the lessons learned nor leaving that line of work for a more emotionally stable career opportunity. What I am going to do in this chapter is apply some of the tricks of the sales trade to the quixotic world of customer and beneficiary management for project managers.
