We have asked this question to sales people, project managers and business leaders over the years.

Not surprisingly, the majority of people aren't even sure if they understand the question, let alone the answer. What do we mean by ‘profit'? Is that Net Income, ROI, Cash Flow?

All of the above is the simple answer. More importantly, understanding how a business makes money, according to whatever definition is used for ‘making money', is the foundation of Business Acumen.

Our Business Acumen program focuses on developing 4 key business acumen skills:

1. Understanding the Business and Financial Model for an organization
2. Analyzing and Interpreting Financial Results
3. Understanding how a company's products and services create value for customers and shareholders
4. Communicating Business Acumen

• Business Acumen for Sales and Marketing - Our Business Acumen for Sales and Marketing program focuses on enabling Sales and Marketing people to: Increase Revenue, Average Sales Price (ASP) and Gross Margins by understanding how the organization's products and services improve their customer's business. This understanding leads to sales negotiations based on value, not price.
  

• Business Acumen for Financial Managers - Increasingly, financial managers are involved in advising Sales and Marketing staff and other functional managers on the business impact of their decisions. Our Business Acumen for Financial Managers program focuses on enabling financial managers to move from their traditional roles to that of Business Advisor.
  

• Business Acumen for Hospitals - Our Business Acumen for Hospitals program provides the knowledge and insights essential for suppliers selling and delivering products, services and total solutions to hospitals and healthcare systems. In addition this program provides the fundamental understanding that will enable suppliers to establish Trusted Business Partner relationships  with their hospital customers.

Other Business and Financial Acumen programs teach financial and strategic analysis from a conceptual perspective or use games to illustrate techniques. Our programs teach the application of Business Acumen skills to sales and marketing professionals, project leaders and business managers in 'real-world' situations. As a result, participants in Global Partners' Business Acumen programs not only understand how they impact the business performance of their own organization and those of their customers, they also know what actions to take action to improve business performance.

For Sales and Marketing Professionals

Business Acumen means achieving a level of understanding and insight of the customer's business that enables Account Managers to advise the customer on relevent key business issues/ provide valuable information and insights and even to challenge the customer's thinking. For Product Marketing professionals, Business Acumen means the ability to undrstand how products and services address the customer's key challenges and opportunities in measureable ways.