Another great Speak Easy session last night, with 3 great presentations and some excellent feedback!

I’m looking forward to attending Speak Easy tonight, we have 4 presenters to see!

Finance for Non-Financial People is a really popular course at the moment – our next one runs on 28 May 2010 http://ping.fm/sIT0e

I’m looking forward to being able to offer Chinese and Japenese lessons in our Training centre soon!

The “Unleash your writing power course” will now take place on 3-4 July 2010!

Are we Creatures of Habit?

As a Trainer it is key that my training “hits home” and that delegates go away from their course, whatever it may be, with a positive impression. Not only is this achieved by training techniques, good quality hand outs and presentation skills, but also by their mentality and receptiveness to learn new things. It is also essential that training delegates understand the reasons why they are learning.

We all hate change…. don’t we? If you have been doing a task in a certain way for 20 years (or even less) your mind tells you that it works. So why change? Well, imagine if you were told a better way to perform that task that can save you hours of your life… what would you do? I’m sure that most of you would like to say that you would do it the new way and save time, but would you really? Would your inner sense of habit kick in and prevent you from making that life changing change to the task.

What I have experienced with some trainees in the past 10 years, is that they are so enthusiastic about learning new things and can’t wait to put them into practice. Day one, week one, month one… these new practices continue and they are making excellent progress, but then they undertake, what I call “training flip back”, whereby they revert to their old way of performing the task. Why is this? The “buy in” to the training was clearly there, the results were proven and they demonstrated clear enthusiasm for learning.

It was a mystery to me, until I recently posed this scenario to our Business Psychology Trainer, Sharon De Mascia. Sharon identified that there are 3 clear strategies that need to be in place to prevent this “training flip back” from happening, and explained that we are habitual creatures who program our brains to repeat tasks rather than re-think them and process them differently.

1. Ensure that the internal change is made with the delegate (i.e. they understand WHY they doing something differently)

2. Ensure that their physical environment supports the change

3. Continually monitor the results and outcomes

Having now got a clear perspective and pointer to this, it made me realise even more, just how important my follow up calls are to training delegates and their Managers, after I have delivered a training session!

So, is there light at the end of the tunnel? Can we, as human beings, overcome our reticence to change and take on new training? Or are we creatures of habit?

Please call me back!

Time is of the essence when you run a business, isn’t it? I always feel a great sense of satisfaction when I work through my “to-do list” and make those all important calls to various suppliers and customers alike. In my mind it’s a job done, if I am able to leave a message on a mobile answer phone or with a colleague, as that person will then call me back when they get the message, won’t they? Or will they?…

Many times these days, I recognise that my”to-do list” is full of follow up calls to various people with whom I left a message several days or maybe even weeks ago – who haven’t yet returned my call. I ask myself, on occasion, why this is. Is it because people are rude? Is it because they don’t get the messages? Is it because they are disorganised? Or is it because people simply do not have enough hours in the day anymore?…. Whatever the reason it multiplies my “to-do list” five-fold and creates far more work for me to keep on top of things within the business.

In truth, I have also started to use the “call-back factor” as a key indicator of supplier performance. For example, if I am looking to place an order with a brand new supplier and they don’t return my calls, I use this an indicator for the future, when perhaps they may / may not deliver the product?

Turning this thought on it’s head, as companies offering either a product or service, we should think about what effect this “call-back factor” (or lack of it) has on our business. For this reason – I always return people’s calls, you never know who they are, what they might need, until you speak to them. Even perceived nuisance calls can be turned into a plus if handled correctly, in some instances.

So, next time you get a pile of messages, sit down and take some time to call people back – it may be in your best interests!

Carol Saunders, Director
Rubicon Developments Ltd

The Art of Presentations

How many presentations have you been to – where you find that you’ve studied the back of your hand more than ever before…?

In reality, it doesn’t take a lot to keep your audience interested and attentive, with a few basic techniques, such as changing the tone and pitch of your voice, for example. Whilst presenting – wake up your audience now and again with a raised tone to your voice, when you want to emphasise a point and whisper when you want to have their undivided attention – you watch them strain in to hear. Ensure that you have a very clear message during your presentation, with a mapped out path to get you to your finale. Don’t let your audience sit and wonder what the point of the whole presentation is – make it clear from the onset.

Why not use some interesting props during your presentation (preferably heavy ones, that don’t highlight your nervous shaky hands!), to add another dimension to your presentation? Try posing questions to catch their attention or make them ponder a point that you are trying to convey. How about a bit of audience participation now and again to make people become more involved in your message and actively participate – why should you do all the hard work?

This, amongst many of the other tips were shared by our guest Neil Firth of Vocal Coach and Andrew Thorp, at last night’s well attended “Speakeasy” training session.

Great Speakeasy session last night, where all attendees gained invaluable tips on their presentation skills. Why not join us on 19.4.10?

Blog title…

Difficult customers just need more advice

Internet retailers – the scurge of the kitchen industry.

That’s what we are led to believe, if we listen to the major wholesalers, in particular, complaining about how even they are affected by the prolific number of cheap appliances available to retailers on the internet.

For retailers, fair enough. Margins are pressed and customers are savvy enough to do their homework and establish what a fair price is for their chosen appliance.

I became somewhat perplexed, recently, when through our kitchen and bedroom retail division, Katherine Cavendish Fitted Interiors Limited, we tried to deal with a well known trade supplier of appliances.

Fair enough, they wouldn’t open an account and we didn’t expect them to. However, a particular customer wanted a particular appliance, so we needed to source it from said wholesaler.

Would they take a cheque? No

Would they take a credit card? No

So, what did they want – cash? No, they don’t accept it !

They wanted a company debit card – we don’t have one.

We offered to electronically transfer £1000 as a bond, so that we could order up to that limit and replenish monthly – they couldn’t accept that either.

The “Sales Prevention Department”, sorry “Credit Control Department”, seemed to put every possible obstacle in the way of bringing money in, alienating us every step of the way.

This is, I stress, a MAJOR supplier, currently expressing regular concerns about their financial woes, both in the UK and the USA, continually “bleating on” about how their retailer business is affected by manufacturers flooding the internet.

I now have, I’m afraid, no sympathy whatsoever. Nor, I believe, should anybody else.

What did I do?
I bought off the internet, of course.

Peter Saunders
Director
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Rubicon Developments Limited
(www.rubicon-developments.co.uk) are a training and installation company, with a retail division, in kitchens and bedrooms (Katherine Cavendish Fitted Interiors Limited – www.katherinecavendish.co.uk)