Commercial Path · Level 2
Certified AIDC Sales Specialist
Identify, qualify and develop AIDC opportunities by translating operational problems into credible business and technology value propositions.
Discover · Qualify · Position · Value · Propose · Advance
Planned
What this credential is not. Trained to recognise, discover, qualify and commercially develop a solution — not to configure it.
Who it is for
Sales executives, business development managers and account managers selling enterprise AIDC.
Prerequisite: Certified AIDC Professional. Already hold it? You do not take it again.
Curriculum
14 modules · 70–90 hours.
- SS01 The AIDC Commercial Professional Sell AIDC as business value rather than as technology.
- SS02 Customer & Operational Discovery Read an operation and find where identification belongs.
- SS03 AIDC Solution & Use-Case Positioning Match the right technology to the problem, and say why.
- SS04 Industry & Vertical Opportunity Development Develop opportunities in any industry using one repeatable method.
- SS05 Consultative & Value-Based Selling Move a conversation from product, to problem, to measurable value.
- SS06 Opportunity Qualification & Sales Strategy Qualify what is real, and disqualify what is not.
- SS07 AIDC Value Engineering, ROI & TCO Quantify a business case you can defend to finance.
- SS08 Solution Scoping & Commercial Architecture Turn a qualified opportunity into a defensible scope.
- SS09 Proposals, Presentations & Demonstrations Present a solution and its business case to a decision-maker.
- SS10 Procurement, Tenders & Competitive Selling Compete and comply in formal procurement without losing the deal.
- SS11 Partner, Channel & Ecosystem Selling Work an opportunity through the parties who deliver it.
- SS12 Sales Governance, Ethics & Commercial Discipline Recommend what the customer needs, and forecast honestly.
- SS14 Selling AI, Automation and the Connected Frontline Position AI and automation where they pay back, and decline where they do not.
- SS13 Applied Sales Practicum & Certification Assessment Work a full opportunity end to end, and be assessed on it.
TRACE
Auto DigitID’s own commercial methodology. Built rather than licensed: a vendor-neutral credential cannot be constructed on somebody else’s branded methodology.
Auto DigitID framework
TRACE
“Trace the opportunity before you architect the solution.”
A vendor-neutral methodology for discovering and developing AIDC opportunities.
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Trigger
What created the need?
Something changed. A regulation, an audit, a growth plan, a failure, a new site, a customer demand. An opportunity with no trigger is usually a conversation, not a deal.
Regulation · Audit finding · Growth or expansion · Operational failure · Customer or partner demand · Technology end-of-life
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Reality
What does the operation look like today?
The actual workflow, systems and technology estate — not the one on the process map.
Organisation · Operation · Workflow · Systems · Technology estate · Current process
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Actors
Who owns, influences and decides?
Who matters, and are they aligned? An opportunity with no economic buyer is a project nobody has funded.
Operational owner · Technical owner · Economic buyer · Procurement · Compliance · Executive sponsor · Users · Blockers · Budget · Strategic alignment
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Consequence
What does the problem cost?
What it costs today and what changes if nothing is done. This is what separates a complaint from a business problem.
Error · Labour · Delay · Downtime · Risk · Lost revenue · Compliance exposure · Lost visibility
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Economic Path
What justifies change, and how does it advance?
The measurable gain, the capability required to achieve it, and the route from interest to outcome.
Current to desired state · Measurable gain · Capability required · Business case · Decision process · Technical validation · Procurement · Pilot · Approval · Deployment · Next action
State the capability, not the product
Not “The customer needs RFID.”
But “The customer needs automatic identification of pallet movements without individual manual scans.”
The first sentence is a product conclusion reached before the question was asked. The second is a capability — and only then is it worth asking whether RFID is the right answer, or whether barcode, vision or RTLS fits better.
Use TRACE to qualify a single opportunity, and to disqualify one that does not deserve the resource.
Built rather than licensed. A vendor-neutral credential cannot be constructed on a third-party branded methodology, and a framework you own is one you can teach, publish and assess against without permission.
SS04 — Industry & Vertical Opportunity Development
The largest module, about a fifth of the credential. Every industry answers the same fifteen questions, so the method transfers.
SS04.1
Logistics, Warehousing & 3PL
Inbound, receiving, put-away, replenishment, picking, packing, staging, loading, delivery and returns. WMS, ERP, TMS, YMS.
SS04.2
Retail & Distribution
Replenishment, shrinkage, POS scanning, apparel RFID, omnichannel fulfilment and stock accuracy.
SS04.3
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Patient, medication, specimen, blood, laboratory, pharmacy, medical device, asset, staff, consumable and cold chain.
SS04.4
Manufacturing & Industrial Automation
WIP tracking, traceability, genealogy, quality, tooling, maintenance and finished-goods identification.
SS04.5
Courier, Express & Postal
Collection, sortation, hub scanning, line haul, last mile and proof of delivery.
SS04.6
Government & Public Sector
Asset registers, national programmes, identity, revenue protection and public procurement.
SS04.7
Banking & Financial Services
Branch and cash-in-transit assets, document tracking, IT asset management and secure custody.
SS04.8
Energy, Utilities, Oil & Gas
Field assets, inspection rounds, metering, safety compliance and remote site visibility.
SS04.9
Transport, Ports & Aviation
Container and unit-load identification, gate operations, baggage, ground handling and yard visibility.
SS04.10
Hospitality & Events
Access, accreditation, asset and linen tracking, and stock control across venues.
SS04.11
Agriculture, Food & FMCG
Farm-to-fork traceability, batch and lot control, cold chain and GS1 identification.
SS04.12
Cross-Vertical Opportunity Lab
Applying the canvas to an unfamiliar industry, which is what the job actually requires.
The Vertical Opportunity Canvas
Asked of every industry, in this order.
- How does this industry operate?
- Where does visibility break?
- Who buys, and who influences?
- What should I sell or position?
- What should I NOT sell?
Five of the fifteen questions every vertical answers. The full canvas is taught in SS04 and applied to all twelve industries.
Assessment
Five assessed components, weighted. A knowledge exam alone would not evidence commercial competence.
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Knowledge exam | 30% |
| Discovery and qualification case | 20% |
| Value and ROI exercise | 20% |
| Solution positioning case | 15% |
| Commercial proposal | 15% |
Planned
Certified AIDC Sales Specialist is not open yet
It is being built and assessed to the same standard as the released credentials, Professional and Technical Specialist. It is not on sale: there is no price, no pre-order and no deposit until it opens.