"Service is, without a doubt, the one key element that is completely within our control."

This one-day recession busting programme is designed to develop the skills and behaviours needed to ensure your team and your business is fit for the future.

Customer expectations are continually evolving and growing. In these challenging times customers are naturally being more careful where they spend their money and who they choose to do business with. No organisation can rest on its laurels and presume that customers will come back.

It is vitally important that your staff offer exceptional care and commitment as customers become more discerning. How prepared are you!

Objective: To ensure that your current front-line personnel are equipped to cope with 2010’s more demanding and discerning customer.

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"ENTHUSIASM, pure and simple, should be one of the most highly prized commodities in your team."

Have you ever returned from a training workshop fired up with enthusiasm, ready and willing to implement the behaviour changes needed, only to be stopped in your tracks by a negative-thinking manager saying “well it won’t work like that in the real world” or “that was the training, now this is how we do it here”?

Motivated, service orientated managers are the key to the successful implementation of any customer care programme. Managers who are prepared to listen to new ideas, empower their team to implement changes and support their team when the going gets tough are the managers who will survive this recession.

This half-day workshop is designed to help managers ‘keep the fire alive’ by cultivating an enthusiastic, service orientated team eager to put what they have learnt into practice and provide exceptional service to your customers.

Objective: To ensure that tools and techniques learned during the workshop translate into reality on the front line and that barriers to excellence are minimised or removed.

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"You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate." Don King

People are only interested if you say something interesting. In these challenging times customers are naturally being more careful where they spend their money and who they choose to do business with.

Customers buy emotionally as well as practically, so whether you are cold-calling over the telephone or visiting a warm lead, potential customers want to interact with someone who they find easy to talk to, trustworthy and who knows and can enthuse about their products.

This workshop helps your sales team to develop a ‘supercharged strategy’ to help them focus on improving their sales, learning about ‘panning for gold’ and connecting with customers. What is ‘buyer’s pain’ and how will they alleviate it? Where does hypnosis come into it? If we have whetted your appetite, come and discover more on this fun and innovative workshop; do something different in 2010.

Objective: To ensure delegates recognise that selling is an essential part of business success and the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and approach in challenging times.

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Assertiveness

A one or two-day workshop designed for anyone who has ever been referred to as “good old …” Useful for those who are in the front line, regularly dealing with difficult customers and people who need to say NO! occasionally! Also effective for those who find it stressful to stand their ground in general discussions with colleagues, when participating in meetings or on a one to one basis.

Objective: To create more harmonious and co-operative working relationships by using assertiveness to enable win/win situations.

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The recession has caused life to be pretty miserable in 2010 for many people and this had unfortunately led to a noticeable increase in aggressive and occasionally, violent attacks by customers towards service providers.

We have some practical tools which will help your team cope with anything from a slightly irate phone call to a physical threat/attack of violence – including what to do if the police have to be involved, such as making useful witness statements and remaining in control.

There are lots of hints and tips around defusing situations in the first instance, as well as remaining calm and in control during incidents which have become inflamed. This is tried and trusted training delivered by a trainer who has years of experience teaching similar techniques to airline crew – they of course have no-one except themselves to turn to at 35,000 feet, so this training has to work!

This workshop not only protects your staff and increases their confidence in dealing with aggressive behaviour – it may also reduce your employer liability in injury compensation claims.

Objective: To give your vulnerable personnel the confidence and ability able to choose from a range of tools and techniques in order to manage and/or minimise challenging or aggressive behaviour from others.

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“There are no difficult people only difficult situations.” Sometimes the difficult situation is caused by a customer, sometimes by a colleague. The only sure thing (apart from death and taxes) is that difficult situations will arise from time to time, even in the most professional of environments. This two-day workshop is designed for anyone who needs to respond to difficult situations in a positive manner. Delegates will learn to choose the most productive problem solving style for the circumstances; use praise and criticism wisely, deal with aggression from others and give bad news supportively and sensitively.

Objective: to learn to recognise repetitive problems and frustrations and gain the skills and confidence to use effective, supportive, assertive communication.

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Customer Care

It is six times more expensive to find a new customer than keep an old one, so are you paying dearly in terms of finance, reputation and stress. Are you losing customers through poor service? If you want your staff to treat the customer as king – and achieve constant loyalty from your hard-won royalty, this programme is for you. Designed for customer contact staff, including front line, call centres, complaints and service departments, this two-day course can be individually tailored to organisational needs. Make it real by including the role-play video “Tarquin Gets It Right!”

Objective: To enhance the company image by using the right touch for every customer, every time, using effective, empathetic communication skills.

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Designed to explore what diversity and equal opportunities mean in practice within the workplace. Using interactive exercises, staff will develop awareness of key diversity and equality principles, as well as of their responsibilities under UK legislation. This one-day workshop encourages appropriate behaviours and respect for the value that diversity brings to your organisation. "Diversity at Work" is ideal for staff without line management responsibilities but who need a greater awareness of this important area.

Objective: To raise awareness of individual and organisational responsibilities to create and maintain an environment that values diversity.

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"It’s not what you say it's the way that you say it", is just as true for the written as the spoken word. This course is for those who write as part of their job but who are bored with the same old clichéd words and phrases. It applies good interpersonal skills to the task of writing. Light and lively in style, it looks at various forms of written communication, including e-mail. The central theme is not only to ensure that the language used matches the purpose intended but also that it is clear, concise and relevant to the twenty first century.

Objective: To raise the standard, sense, quality and success of business writing.

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Influence and Negotiation

You don't have to be Nelson Mandela or the UN Special Envoy to need good negotiating skills. We all need them, whether in business, public service or at home. This workshop is not just designed for sales personnel. You may be buying rather then selling, dealing with an internal supplier or internal customer, dealing with another team or department or an executive board on a major proposal. The skills are the same. Negotiation is the process that two people go through to get the best results and the right results. We look at features and benefits, negotiating preparation, the three stages of negotiation and the "What if ......." question.

Objective: To identify the procedures and processes for successful, skilful negotiation

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Minutes, Meetings & Agendas

Fighting your way through the formalities of meetings? Given the task of note-taker with no know-how? This one-day practical workshop demystifies the minute taking and agenda process to help your meetings move smartly. Plenty of hands-on exercises and straightforward information makes this workshop come alive. Spending one day with us could save you hours in future meetings as you learn how to make and act upon decisions and give everyone a fair hearing. This workshop can also be tailored to those responsible for chairing meetings – to help you as Chair to get the best from your attendees and meeting secretaries.

Objective: To improve communication, confidence and dynamism in meetings and to increase effectiveness in minute taking and compiling agendas

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Designed for anyone who is interested in marketing more than just the product. This two day course uses the SDI (Strengths Deployment Inventory) Questionnaire to explore different personality styles and from this starting block participants develop their professional sales approach. Influence, persuasion, skilful negotiation, closing the sale and networking make this the programme that works. It is packed full of tools and techniques to give participants the selling skills essential in the 21st Century!

Objective: to improve sales performance and confidence by developing relationship building skills and a professional sales approach.

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Stress in the Workplace

"Stop the world – I want to get OFF!" This programme is designed for those who feel that stress is a mental and physical reality in an increasingly demanding work life. Programmes of 1-2 days can be tailored around either identifying and managing other people’s stress or simply recognising individual signs and symptoms and using effective techniques to reduce personal pressure. All of these programmes are facilitated within a caring and open environment. Delegates will be shown practical methods of coping from learning to say no through to relaxation techniques.

Objective: To identify and effectively manage individual and/or team stress factors through knowledge of basic physiology, observation and practical tools

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Team Building

Designed for anyone who wants their particular whole to be “greater than the sum of the parts.” This course can be run over one or two days tailored to individual organisational needs. It uses the SDI (Strength Deployment Inventory) Questionnaire to explore different personality styles. It works particularly well with whole teams, or groups of inter-communicative team leaders, so it can be applied with maximum effectiveness back within the working environment.

Objective: To develop the dynamics and synergy of working groups and increase the effectiveness of relationship awareness and communication within the workplace

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The telephone! Such a vital business tool and yet so often taken for granted. This one-day workshop is designed for anyone who wants to improve the impact of their own personal message over the phone. It doesn’t try to "teach Grandma to suck eggs" - it is an opportunity to address old habits and put standards in place to convey the same professional image EVERY TIME they use the phone. This course is highly participative and with the use of the Telephone Phone Coach everyone has the opportunity to practice the skills they have learned and hear for themselves how they come across on the telephone.

Objective: To improve telephone communication and enhance the company image by adopting a professional approach to telephone calls.

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Designed for anyone who occasionally has those days where they would rather pick up an unexploded bomb than make telesales calls and feels that even selling food to starving people might prove an insurmountable task! This two-day course confronts the fear, giving participants practical tools and techniques to conduct the telesales call whether their objective is to sell a product or make an appointment. It is highly participative and delegates will have the opportunity to practice their skills using the Telephone Phone Coach.

Objective: To boost confidence and productivity by equipping delegates with the skills necessary to sell successfully over the telephone.

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Time & Priority Management

Designed for anyone whose in-tray is in danger of suffering spontaneous combustion and who wants to achieve more during the working day! This one-day workshop looks at the areas where time seems to have slipped away. Covering the 3 Ps of prioritising, planning and people management, there is also an up to the minute look at making IT work for you – rather than you working for IT – using systems, tools and techniques for making the most of that precious commodity – YOUR time.

Objective: To establish where time could be spent more productively and to effectively manage each day and every resource with greater efficiency.

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Designed for anyone who would like to develop their awareness of other religious traditions and cultures in UK society, this workshop explores what is meant by ‘religion’, ‘culture’ and ‘community’ and examines the key practices of a number of religions and cultural/community groups. Participants play the Diversity Game to learn how to demonstrate appropriate and respectful behaviour when encountering the range of religious and other cultures that they are likely to come across in their work.

Objective: to improve relations between your people and your customers and help reduce instances of inappropriate behaviour.

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"What you see is what you get". Too often this is true of the reports we receive. The way a report looks, feels and is written often affects how much someone else will read it. These days a report needs to be clear, concise and look as if it accessible if it is to be successful. This course takes the rigidity out of the process of report writing. Very much geared to the approach that says less is more and that clarity is everything. This one-day workshoop focuses on the “What and How” of preparation, structure, writing and reviewing a report.

Objective: To improve clarity, structure and ultimate effectiveness in report writing.

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This Advanced workshop focuses on the art of presentation, rather than the mechanics. It is fast-paced and energetic to help you enhance and develop your personal style - and begin to make presentations which are persuasive, flexible and confident. It is aimed at those who want to progress from good to excellent, by minimising the opportunity for error and developing presentation confidence and flair. Overcoming the fear factor is a key part of this workshop, so participants can relax and let their own personality style show through. It offers a safe environment where everyone can learn from their mistakes - rather than suffer from them!

(This is a two-day session, either modular or consecutive, some pre-work and mid- course work is expected)

Objective: To give confidence and skill to present sessions that leave a lasting impression, that separate this presenter from the crowd and that influence the audience to take positive action.

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You have an important presentation coming up; everything depends on you getting it right - but at the moment you just don’t know where to start! Your coach will help you plan, prepare and present your chosen topic with confidence, flair, originality and none of the dreaded ‘death by power-point’. Your slides (if you need them) will be succinct, refreshing, fully visual and help your audience gain greater understanding and interest in your topic. You will learn how to ‘tell the story,’ to use words, voice tone and body language to greater effect and develop your own personal presenting style

(This coaching session lasts one day - plus another half-day just before the real event!)

Objective: To give you confidence and skill to present sessions that leave a lasting impression, to separate you from the crowd and to influence the audience to take positive action.

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Designed for everyone who has an opportunity to bring in new business - and who needs to spend a couple of minutes introducing their own. In today’s competitive market place, organisations need to raise their profile and demonstrate to potential clients just what they can do for them. Unfortunately most people have an in-built fear of ‘parading themselves in public’ and if your people go to networking events at all, they will often hover on the sidelines. In this single-day session, participants will learn what to do to maximize their opportunities before the event - at the event - and after the event, exploring attitudes towards networking, introductions, moving on and keeping in touch.

Objective: to give confidence and strategies for success to those personnel tasked with bringing in new business through networking.

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Presentation Skills

Designed for anyone who endorses the statistic “more people are afraid of speaking in public than death or mutilation”. In this communication age, most middle and senior personnel have a need to present, often to a wide range of audiences. Many front-line staff also have to present to sell, for their organisation, their department or themselves! Useful for both personnel new to presenting and those who have some experience but feel they lack the confidence and skill to present effectively. This two-day course is fully participative, fun and fast-paced - and delegates will have the opportunity to create a presentation, receive constructive feedback and have a video record to watch the action.

Objective: To research, plan, prepare and deliver confident, professional presentations.

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Train the Trainer

Designed for anyone who has ever had a manual thrust in their hands with the throwaway line “Just run through this for the new ones will you?” This course runs between two and four days, individually tailored to your own organisational needs. It covers basics to suit the absolute beginner through to methods for the established trainer wanting to add impact and interest to their sessions. This course is fully participative and delegates have the opportunity to create and deliver a mini training session, receive constructive feedback and have a video record to watch the action.

Objective: To create an effective, motivating and stimulating environment for learning; presenting clear, logical information, using an approachable manner and interactive methods.

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Chairing Meetings

Someone needs to ensure that your meetings are organised, effective and timely! If this is down to you – and you almost wish it wasn’t, then this workshop is tailored for you – to help you as Chair to get the best from your attendees and meeting secretaries. Hands-on exercises and straightforward information makes this workshop come alive. Spending one day with us could save you hours in future meetings as you learn how to make and act upon decisions and give everyone a fair hearing. Lots of tools and techniques to ensure that meetings start and finish when they should, move smoothly forward and prove productive. Advice on data protection given too!

Objective: To improve communication, confidence and dynamism in meetings and to increase effectiveness in chairing meetings and task accomplishment.

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Communication Skills for Managers

Do you need to provide your new and experienced managers with a comprehensive but compact tool kit to perform productively and profitably? Then this is the course for you. We cram the three essential management skills of personal management style, presentation techniques and influence and negotiation into one flexible, timesaving workshop. The beauty of this course is that it can be modular or consecutive. Day 1 and Day 2 can be taken individually with Day 3 consolidating and adding to the previous learning. Ideal for organisations who want to provide tools for their managers but find it difficult to spare time to allow them to attend a lengthy course.

Objective: To provide new and experienced managers with the three essential communication tools to manage team, colleagues and customers.

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The one thing we can guarantee about change is that its speed will increase. Our economy is littered with organisations which have ceased to exist because they ignored the need to adapt to a changing world. This one-day workshop looks at the human response to change and encourages managers to become leaders in the change process and to involve their people making it happen from the outset. Participants will learn to define change in organisational terms, recognise the need for change, understand why people resist change and develop strategies to enable their people to cope with change and ensure successful outcomes.

Objective: To encourage managers to become champions for change and to recognise that fear of change is natural but that continued resistance is ultimately harmful.

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‘You can’t demand excellence; you can only provide an environment it which it can flourish’. If you believe this, then this is the workshop for you. It’s aimed at new and more experienced managers who are responsible for getting the best out of those who work for them. It covers styles of leadership, the various needs of individuals and how you can motivate and develop your staff. The two-day session helps participants choose the right approach and focuses on connecting with staff as individuals as well as helping them to develop their potential.

Objective: To provide the tools and techniques to help Managers motivate and inspire and improve their team’s performance.

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Managing Customer Care

If the customer is King – then the staff providing the service need to be treated as Princes! Many a customer service front-line programme has faltered at the first fence when the customer service staff attempt to implement new ideas but in doing so fall foul of the service management. This programme builds upon our customer service workshop and adds a sense of teamwork and cohesion to the customer-facing programme. Managers learn to build consistency of standards and nurture their team through coaching, feedback and motivation. This workshop is essential to add value, energy, and dynamism to your customer service initiative.

Objective: To provide value, consistency, encouragement and team focus to your customer service initiative.

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Managing Diversity at Work

Designed to take the "cross" out of cross-cultural communications, this one-day workshop explores what managers can do to ensure equality in the workplace and benefit from the value that diversity brings to an organisation. Using interactive exercises, first line and middle managers explore the principles underpinning diversity and equal opportunities at work, developing their understanding of UK legislation and how unfairness can arise. They go on to explore the business case for diversity and equality, their role and responsibility as managers, and the skills they need to manage diversity and equality effectively, such as challenging inappropriate behaviour.

Objective: To enable first line and middle managers to effectively manage equal opportunities in the workplace and to gain greater value for the diversity within their organisations.

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Managing Virtual Teams:
Remote Management and Managing Homeworkers

The workplace has changed greatly from the old days of "nuclear teams" where everyone was co-located. It’s no longer a case of shouting across the office to contact a colleague. Today, managers are often presented with the challenge of managing widely-spread teams, home-workers and even teams that span continents! Using interactive exercises, discussion and action-planning, this course explores how managers can get the best out of people at a distance - building trust and team spirit, getting the most out of modern communications methods and managing performance without having to be there in person.

Objective: To enable line managers to manage people, teams and performance at a distance.

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Supervisory Skills

Combining leadership skills with team building, this course is ideal for team leaders, first line and middle managers who want to get the best from their team. Using the excellent SDI programme, managers learn to maximise the positive potential of leader/team member interactions. This workshop is all about recognising and respecting the unique value of every team member. It helps co-ordinate the team’s collective strengths and encourages everyone to “sing from the same song sheet” whilst encouraging delegation and autonomy within the team.

Objective: To provide first line and middle managers with the necessary tools to achieve results, harmony and respect.

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Supervising the Team

Ever felt like a juggler, trying to get everything done and look after the team? This is the challenge faced by many who supervise or team lead. This two-day workshop helps participants to achieve the right balance and thus build a climate that positively affects those in the team. The course covers the role of the supervisor, how to get everything done, how you might build the team and finally how to motivate individual team members. It is practical in nature and conducted in a relaxed and informal manner.

Objective: To provide new and experienced managers with the necessary tools to achieve results, harmony and respect.

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Appraisals Made Effective

Many managers and their people dread conducting appraisals and being appraised. It is either a paper exercise or an emotive encounter, with little relevance to the business. This two-day workshop provides the link between the organization’s objectives and individual performance, thus ensuring that the entire company is working towards the same goal – meeting customer needs. It will be of particular benefit to line managers and their staff who find the appraisal ritual has now become a paper exercise but want it to become a two–way conversation with relevance to their roles and what the organization is trying to achieve.

Objective: To engage staff in a meaningful, two-way discussion about their performance, which has as much benefit to the individual as the organisation.

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Discipline and Grievance at Work

Maintaining discipline and dealing with grievance issues is the responsibility of every manager and employment legislation requires that we act in a way that is "fair and reasonable" to all. This workshop not only looks at the legal and procedural aspects of discipline and grievance but encourages a more pro-active approach to solving disputes.
A key feature of this two-day session is the use of "skills practice sessions" designed to give delegates experience of managing difficult employee problems but in a safe environment and with skilled feedback from the course trainer.

Objective: To give managers an understanding of the legal aspects of dismissals but to use discipline in a pro-active manner which encourages positive behaviour, rather than punishes mistakes.

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Employment Law Simplified

Designed for managers who don’t want to be employment lawyers, this course is a ‘heads up’ on current employment law and its implications. The law concerning employing people at work can be a minefield with severe financial penalties when mistakes are made. However it need not be. This one-day course gives line managers an overview of the main legislation concerning employment - from initial recruitment of staff through to their rights when they are employed. It is an interactive session highlighting the issues in a very practical and relevant way with real case law and interpretation. We cover the main aspects of sex, race and disability discrimination and bring delegates up to date with the most recent changes in the law.

Objective: to provide a heads up on employment law which is relevant, meaningful and easy to use for managers looking to stay out of trouble and engage with their staff.

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Harassment & Bullying at Work

Many organisations are reporting a rise in the allegations being made by employees concerning harassment and bullying by fellow employees or their managers. This can take many forms - from unwanted sexual advances to verbal and physical threats to individuals. This can prove costly in both compensation and reputation for the organisation concerned. This one-day workshop identifies the type of behaviour that can constitute harassment of bullying and shows how organisations can deal with allegations which are seen to be fair and effective for all concerned.

Objective: To give managers the skills to deal sympathetically but effectively with allegations of bullying and harassment at work.

Improving Attendance

A recent CIPD survey found that the average employee was absent for nine days in 2008, at a cost of £666 per employee. Should your company penalise the sick, reward the healthy - or do nothing and blame it all on the medical profession? This one-day workshop demonstrates how managing absence problems and promoting policies which encourage a healthy work/life balance will benefit employees and managers alike and lead to significant improvements in attendance levels. It will be relevant to line managers and to Human Resource professionals alike, where a joint approach to resolving this problem would be more effective.

Objective: To demonstrate that encouraging high attendance is more productive for the organisation than dealing with "absence".

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Is Managing Performance more of a performance than management at the moment? A fair and transparent appraisal process is the key to a happy and productive workforce. Getting it wrong can be demoralising and de-motivating for your team and costly in terms of revenue and staff turnover for your organisation. Participants will learn to set meaningful objectives, apply ratings consistently, agree key responsibilities, standards of performance and tackle performance issues firmly and effectively in this interactive, discussion and best practice session.

Objective: To provide first line, middle and senior managers with the necessary tools to achieve results through using a fair, transparent, consistent and effective appraisal process.

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This workshop is designed as an exercise in discriminating…..lawfully!! It is aimed at anyone who has the responsibility for interviewing potential recruits and would like to improve their ability to hire winners to their team. Some interviews are little more than friendly chats, while others resemble interrogation sessions, designed to show where the power lies. Both approaches fail to bring out the best from the candidates. It needn’t be like that. We look at advertising the vacancy, selection techniques and the skills needed for the process. We consider the legal pitfalls of discrimination law and look at ways to avoid them.

Objective: to develop the skills and professional approach to get the best person for the job whilst remaining within the law.

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