Translating Tech into Business Value: Lessons from HPE's Sales Workshop

Learning the Language of Sales with Our Partners at HPE

In the fast-paced world of IT sales, speaking a universal language is key to building trust and understanding with customers. Rarely do CXOs want to dive into the technicalities of networks, cloud and data. As sales professionals, we need to translate these complex topics into clear, practical insights that show real value. 

That's where strong partnerships come in. HPE recently hosted an invaluable workshop for our current Client Development Associates and Apprentices at the WWT London office. The session focused on how understanding, capability, and likeability influence buying decisions and how we can adapt our approach to meet customers where they are. By combining HPE's technical expertise with WWT'S solution oriented approach, we learnt how to communicate solutions in a way that aligns with business goals and builds confidence. 

The Workshop Experience

The workshop offered a unique opportunity to engage directly with HPE's experts and gain a deeper understanding of how to communicate technical value in a business context. Through interactive discussions and using the idea of a "three-legged stool": understanding, capability, and likeability, we explored how each element supports strong customer relationships. Through group discussions and exercises, we saw that understanding and capability can be demonstrated through experience and knowledge, while likeability depends on personal authenticity and how well we connect with each customer's unique needs. This approach reflects the strength of the HPE and WWT partnership, where technical expertise and practical selling strategies come together to help us build confidence in real-world conversations. 

Turning Knowledge Into Meaningful Dialogue

HPE skilfully broke down how to identify and align with the core business needs of every organisation: access, connectivity, applications, data and management. From understanding users and devices, to knowing which applications are critical to their business, we learned how to ask the right questions using the TED approach: Tell me, Explain to me, Describe to me. These techniques help uncover what truly matters to a customer and how our solutions can bring measurable value. We also explored how tools like CloudPhysics assessments and insights into a customer's IT environment add value to conversations, helping us position WWT as a trusted advisor. The workshop reminded us that every conversation should be focused on connecting technology to outcomes, turning complex concepts into meaningful business impact.

Bringing It All Together

The session concluded with a hands-on group activity where we presented to "customers" how WWT can leverage HPE'S hybrid cloud AI solutions to address business and technology challenges. It was a great opportunity to put everything we'd learned into practice. This experience not only deepened our understanding of HPE's offerings but also showed the value of working closely with partners to strengthen our ability to communicate with confidence and purpose in every client conversation. A huge thank you to our partners at HPE for sharing their expertise and to the WWT Associate Academy for continuing to invest in our growth as the next generation of sales professionals.

Meet the author

Hi everyone! My name is Angel Foster and I'm part of the most recent cohort of apprentices in the UK as a Sales Associate Apprentice. One of my biggest goals is to create meaningful impact. For me, impact means making a difference, pushing boundaries, and challenging the status quo, when necessary, to achieve the best results. I am grateful to be part of WWT's Associate Academy, where I have the opportunity to pursue this dream and help drive change. I'm excited to keep on learning, growing and contributing to the incredible work we do at WWT.