- From 6–15 October 2026 (2 Weeks, 6 Classes, 12 Hours)
- Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12–2 p.m. Eastern Time (all sessions will be recorded and available for replay; course notes will be available for download)
- All students will receive an AIAA Certificate of Completion at the end of the course
- Taught by a former Senior Vice President at Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems and Program Executive at Airbus US, with vast experience and expertise in the field, and author of Blind Spots: Why Product Development Projects Miss Their Targets. This is the ONLY course of its kind that teaches business development in the aerospace industry.
- For each key discipline, essential concepts and actionable techniques are discussed in detail. The focus is on real-world applications that you can leverage immediately and consistently. Lessons learned are derived from patterns seen in aerospace and other high-tech industries.
- Part of a two-course series, this essential course on Business Development for Aerospace is designed for individuals trying to identify customer needs and the best sales opportunities.
- Note: while both courses are recommended as a pair, you can register for the second course only (Project Execution for Aerospace Professionals) if your primary problems are with overruns or project execution.
OVERVIEW
This course teaches technical and scientific aerospace professionals how to identify innovation opportunities that align winning value propositions with customer needs, motivating customers to buy and generating sales. The course also addresses difficult problems such as how best to manage sales forecasts and track sales opportunities as they progress through the buying process. The instructor’s experience and expertise are unmatched.
Each class will include a presentation and provide examples and templates. Emphasis is on actionable concepts and techniques in a logical sequence. Students may apply any part of the methodology to their current business situation, whether that’s a blank-slate startup or an existing business.
This is not a course on product development, program management, operations management, or other technical disciplines. This is all about motivating the customer to buy, by systematically identifying and then satisfying the customer’s needs.
You should register for this course if your primary problems are with overruns or project execution.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: KEY COURSE TOPICS
- Describing customer need as desired results.
- Determining which desired results are the most important to customers.
- Measuring customers’ satisfaction with the results they are currently achieving.
- Combining importance and satisfaction to identify the best sales opportunities.
- Defining a value proposition that satisfies customers’ most important desired results.
- Identifying services and support that customers’ need to use your solution.
- Surfacing customers’ experiences before and after your solution is available.
- Writing a positioning statement that summarizes your differentiation.
- Using sales funnel dropout rates to forecast sales and plan sales campaigns.
- Detailed course outline below
AIAA Member Price: $795 USD
AIAA Student Member Price: $495 USD
Non-Member Price: $995 USD
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OUTLINEStep 1 – Customer Needs and Opportunities Analysis- Defining customer needs as desired outcomes
- How to identify the customer’s desired outcomes
- Measuring importance of each desired outcome
- Measuring the customer’s satisfaction with current solutions for each desired outcome
- Combining importance and satisfaction to determine the best sales opportunities
- Example discussion and optional homework for Step 2
- Figuring out how to satisfy customer needs with a value proposition
- The value proposition model – what it is and how it works
- How to use opportunities analysis from Step 1 to develop your value proposition
- Example discussion and optional homework for Step 3
- Identifying services and support the customer will need to use your product
- The whole product model – what it is and how it works
- Example discussion and optional homework for Step 4
- Identifying the customer’s experiences before and after your value proposition is available, as a reality check that your value proposition delivers what customers need
- Target customer scenario content and format
- Example discussion and optional homework for Step 5
- Describe your value proposition’s competitive position in a concise and memorable positioning statement to focus marketing and sales activities
- Positioning statement content and format
- Example discussion and optional homework for Step 6
- How to plan effective sales campaigns and commit accurate sales forecasts
- The sales funnel model – what it is and how it works
- Special cases and how to manage them
- Tracking sales opportunities as they progress through the sales funnel
- Example discussion
- Course wrap-up
INSTRUCTOR
Paul M. Streit is an expert in business execution for new and growing aerospace companies or other firms that manufacture high-tech, engineering-driven, mission-critical, high-reliability products, especially in a complex, regulated environment.
Experience:
- General Management: P&L management experience with strong focus on revenue, profitable growth, performance metrics, executive management, customer development and satisfaction, product and market development, negotiation and conflict resolution
- Project Management: Program management, product development, product lifecycle management, earned value, contract management, scope management, government contracting, metrics, PMI PMP Certification
- Marketing & Sales: Direct (territory) sales, understanding customer demand, market segmentation, sales lead generation, sales team leadership, sales operations, key account management, customer relationship management, customer development and satisfaction, customer-focus
- Operations/Manufacturing: Process design, JIT metrics, supply chain design and development, inventory strategies, outsourcing, world class manufacturing
As Program Executive at Airbus US:
- Led planning and execution of a satellite factory expansion for production on major contracts
- Led an Airbus US business specializing in flying payloads on the ISS
- Consulted to executive management on program management performance measurement
As SVP at Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems:
- Led the integration of MSI, Inc. and SpaceDev, Inc. to form SNC Space Systems
- Subsequently led the integration of Orbitec, Inc. into SNC Space Systems
- Grew equity value 35x without debt to an independent valuation of $1.2B
- Grew revenue 15x from $34M to over $500M with over $3B backlog
- Grew employment 17x from 60 employees to over 840 plus another 200 contractors
- Grew facilities and infrastructure from one location to 12 locations across five states
- Products included actuators, pin pullers, pin pushers, gimbals, satellites, thermal louvers, solar arrays, spacecraft, spacecraft constellations, subsystems, and larger systems
- Turned around the business from losing $150K/month on $36M of revenue to breaking even within 18 months of arrival
"Paul was undoubtedly the most valuable asset of the course. Being instructed by an experienced individual like Paul provided the necessary credentials for such a course"
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Classroom hours / CEUs: 12 classroom hours / 1.2 CEU/PDH
Course Delivery and Materials
- The course lectures will be delivered via Zoom.
- Access to the Zoom classroom will be provided to registrants near to the course start date.
- All sessions will be available on-demand within 1-2 days of the lecture. Once available, you can stream the replay video anytime, 24/7.
- All slides will be available for download after each lecture. No part of these materials may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted, unless for course participants. All rights reserved.
- Recommended Text by the Instructor: Blind Spots: Why Product Development Projects Miss Their Targets
Cancellation Policy: A refund less a $50.00 cancellation fee will be assessed for all cancellations made in writing prior to 5 days before the start of the event. After that time, no refunds will be provided.
Contact: Please contact Lisa Le or Customer Service if you have questions about the course or group discounts (for 5+ participants).