Seminars
Our “How Your Clients May View You” seminar is proving very popular. The Pro-Manchester event in September had a turn-out of 64. Barnardo’s have also booked the seminar for two dates in December to be held at their business networking breakfast events:
Thurs 4 Dec, Manchester
Thurs 11 Dec, Liverpool
Full details will be posted on the Barnardo’s website soon.
If you’d like to run your own seminar in-house, either for your team or for a client event, call 0161 236 0724 or email Jim
Focus - Presentation Power
Really good presenters feel confident in their own performance. They build rapport with an audience and communicate influentially.
Traditional presentation courses tend to teach techniques specifically to improve presentation performance which work like a veneer, applied from the outside to create a good impression.
This course works from the inside out. We help you to develop your self-belief and identify your own Perfect Presenter Profile so that you present in your ‘style’ rather than conform to be a ‘text book’ presenter.
Don’t just take our word for it here’s a quote from a delegate:
“I’ve done many presentation courses in the past but Presentation Power with David Pinnock is the only one I would recommend to everyone. The key, and invaluable, difference with this course is that you discover your own Personal Presenter Profile rather than having to adapt to a generic set of ‘presentation rules’.”
UK Sales Director
Get in touch if you’ve got a question or feedback about anything you’ve read in Sphere, or more specifically, if you’d like to learn a technique on how to leave messages on voicemail which gets people calling you back!
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This month we’re delving into a really hot topic: Business Development. And giving some ideas on how to get good at it because very few people have a natural desire or ability to do it! Even if you think Business Development isn’t part of your role, read on as the second idea might just help to uncover an opportunity for your company.
Enjoyable reading.
Jim Wigg
Coach, Trainer, Director
Business Development Ability – something
you're born with?
...or can it be developed?
Before answering either question, let’s take a look at what business development is at a really basic level. I believe that it’s expanding the conversations we have with people we already know and growing the number of people we are talking to, so that we can uncover opportunities. More specific activities include:
- at a business meeting – asking what else is going on for that person in their department/business etc
- picking up the phone to a business contact you’ve not spoken to for a while
- asking ‘your fans’ for referrals
- building up a network of contacts
- going to events with an opportunity to network
- talking to people generally
- calling new people (we never call this ‘cold calling’ because there are so many ways to make it warmer!)
For those of you familiar with the seven characters of the Empathy Styles model it’s easy to see why people who are high in Mover and Hustler styles find business development activities easy. Movers are sociable – they like to call, meet and chat to people whilst Hustlers know how to charm and naturally look for opportunities.
But what about the rest of us…like those who fear rejection, don’t like being in the spotlight, think business development is beneath us, aren’t sure what to say or don’t understand the process? The good news is that all of us are capable of being good at business development. What we need is our own personal strategy that we feel comfortable with and here are two ideas that could make a real difference.
Idea 1 – Have a clear reason for a phone call.
To give you confidence when picking up the phone to an existing client or business contact you’ve not spoken to for a while, make sure you have a clear reason for your call. Then you’ll also be ready to answer the question “why are you calling?”, in the unlikely event you get asked.
This worked brilliantly for a team of software trainers that I recently worked with. The reason for their call was “to talk about training plans”. They also had a first question to get into a conversation with the client, simply: “do you have a training plan?”
The first afternoon the team made some calls they picked up a £35k opportunity!
Idea 2 – When asked “what do you do?”, give a response that answers the question!
Typically, we respond with what we are and not what we do, for example, I’m a Sales Trainer. This immediately puts you into a box and is unlikely to stimulate a conversation. Much better to say what you or your organisation does for its clients. This doesn’t have to be catch-all as you could have a few responses up your sleeve. “I help people who aren’t naturally good at business development develop their own strategy to be good at it.” This will generate interest as it focuses on what you do for people and is more likely to stimulate a conversation.
Going back to the original questions, it’s a double Yes. Yes, it’s something some people are born with and, Yes, (here’s the good news) it can be developed. I’ve given a couple of ideas for people who need to develop the ability but in our experience it’s essential people have a tailor-made strategy. Because we all have our own unique mix of reservations and barriers to overcome, this is where the Empathy Styles model can bring valuable insights.
If you would like to know your Empathy Styles profile click here and complete the free on-line questionnaire.
... and now for a completely different subject.If you like chips (who doesn’t?) take a look at our new website, Real Chips. Real Chips has been set up to track down and inform the nation where to find fantastic chips – a rare breed, in our opinion. If you’ve experienced the taste of real potatoes in mouth-watering chip form it’s your duty to share the information – log on and make a Review. Someone asked my wife recently: “So, is this Real Chips thing just for fun?”. “No”, she replied, “business is fun, chips are serious!”
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