Phoenix Training

Archive for November, 2009

It’s all in the questioning!

Posted by BillOsmond
Friday, November 27th, 2009
Questions

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One of the most important phases or sections of any sales structure is that of “questioning”.  Some structures refer to it as “probing”.  Whether it is probing or questioning, much time is spent on it and many sales people are aware of its importance but it still remains, without doubt, the area that I find most sales people get wrong.

When I mention questioning on a sales course with reasonably experienced sales people attending, they all nod and say how important it is and how they should listen and normally quote a cliché about having two ears and one mouth etc etc.  However, as soon as the role plays or practical exercises start, they seem unable to use questions to help them in any way, shape or form.  My view is that sales people misunderstand what they are trying to achieve when questioning a client.  Actually I think the word “questioning” encourages behaviour that does not help.  If you question a client it starts to move towards interrogation and this is not what the client wants.  Or the sales person asks the client questions that they already know the answer to and this does not move the client any nearer to seeking a solution.

The sales person must think what their objective is when they are in this phase of the sales process.  Once you have introduced yourself, the sales person needs to enter a conversation with the client so that by the end of it, they know exactly what their needs are and more importantly the client recognises that they have a need or a problem that needs solving.  Without questioning, not only does the sales person have no idea what the client really wants but also the client does not recognise the level of need that they have.  The main role of the sales person is to establish and grow needs within the client.  Good questioning helps the client to start thinking about what they might be able to achieve if they altered their buying process.

My advice is to listen to the client’s situation, analyse their problems and focus on what happens if those problems continue and then you will find yourself in a position where you can solve those problems.  It is much better to be seen as a problem solver than a sales person.  It is therefore vital that a sales person understands precisely the needs and problems of the client they are selling to as this enables them to match their product exactly to those needs.  If the client does not recognise that they have a need they will not buy anything.  Instead of going into a client meeting thinking about questioning them, think about having a conversation with them. By the end of it you will have a good understanding of their position, needs, problems and objectives and through a summary of those needs they will have agreed with you that that is the case, which gives the sales person something to sell against.

The key skill with questioning is patience.  Sales people are often over keen to sell which means they don’t listen and therefore do not correctly diagnose the needs of the client.  They move too quickly to an area where they can present their solutions.  When asking a question, listen to the answer and try to ask at least three questions based on the answer.  This will help you to understand the real needs or problems that the client has and not simply the “general” need.  It is all about detail!  Once you think you know what the needs of the client are, check you’ve got them right by asking the client.  “So you are looking for something that will…….?”  It is useful to use the word “something” to keep your options open.  The most important thing at this stage is to gain agreement that the client needs something to help them.  Your presentation will convince them that it is your product/service that will solve their problems.  You don’t have to mention your products when questioning the client, the focus is on them.

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Attitude & Approach – Bill Osmond

Posted by admin
Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Selling during a recession presents, without doubt, a serious challenge to most sales people.  The market is suppressed, money is tight, the media are talking everything down, customers and clients are cautious, all reflecting the reality of the situation.  Sales people cannot fail but to pick up on this negativity.  The problem for them is that still have to sell their products and services and as the pressure to sell grows, the pressure on the sales person’s technique starts to tell!

Sales managers spend a lot of time reminding their sales teams how far off the target they are, they tell them that they need to sell more!  Do they imagine that the salesperson is not one hundred per cent aware of the situation. Almost every sales person knows how far they are from their target. They are desperate to hit their targets, not only for the financial gain in terms of bonus and compensation but also for the recognition they receive both from colleagues and friends and even family.  Hitting targets is what it is all about, a sales person status depends on it.  A sales person’s motivation is more often than not success, it is not as simple as money, money is a bi-product, success leads inevitably to success because the sales person’s mind expects success.  During a recession a sales person’s mind tends to expect failure.

Approach and attitude are vital for a sales person’s success at the moment.  Sales people are often expected to be “self motivated” and when things are going well this is less of a problem.  Many of the conditions needed to maintain motivation are in place; success for one, recognition, praise, progress, engagement with clients are all of the aspects of the job that make it fun, interesting and challenging.  Challenging but not impossible.  During a recession sales are fewer and farther apart, targets are going up, the distance between success and where I am at the moment is growing.  The sales person thinks “I will never make this month’s target”.  So many of those positive conditions are replaced with negatives.

This is where the managers have to help the sales teams.  Helping them to focus on obtainable targets.  Targets such as “contact ten customers you haven’t spoken to ever/in the last two months etc”.  I have been telling sales managers to change the focus; “tell your team not to sell anything this morning”, this seemingly strange piece of advice has a purpose.  By getting your team not to sell but to find out something new about their clients, it will focus them on questioning and investigative techniques that will inevitably lead to a sale.  The point is that the focus is on strong technique and it changes the attitude and approach of the sales person.  If the sales manager puts pressure on the sales person to sell, it will change the focus to the closing aspect of the process.  In the modern environment, clients are too sophisticated to be swayed by hard selling.

Strong consultative selling will develop relationships and result in positive results.  Sales people will be encouraged by the results they see, the progress they make and this will maintain a positive, proactive approach which is precisely what is needed at the moment for many sales people.  Tightening up on structure and maintaining a positive approach will ultimately hit targets, panic and pressure will not.  This is difficult for sales managers – I know they themselves are under huge pressure to achieve results – but I think it is essential that they maintain focus on how they will achieve those results.  The argument between quality and quantity rages during times like this but putting pressure on making more calls will lead to a drop in quality.  Sales managers must maintain the balance between the two.  They must work hard to maintain the attitude and approach of the sales team, this is the vital factor whilst selling in a recession.

[Image from Wikipedia on licences: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 and GNU Free Documentation License ]

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Higher & Haya – A Customer Service Legacy

Posted by OliverO
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

oman-pic-1Over the past 18 months, Phoenix have had the pleasure of delivering training in one of the least well known Gulf States, the Sultanate of Oman.   However, whilst it may not have the global status awarded its more famous neighbours – Dubai and Saudi Arabia – it more than holds its own in terms of culture, history and hospitality.

Our experience in Oman focuses on the training we have delivered for Haya Water – a government owned organisation – responsible for building and operating a world class wastewater system in the Governate of Muscat (the capital of Oman).  Having initially delivered some highly successful Presentation & Time Management Skills events, we were then asked to design and deliver a Customer Service programme for team members throughout their Commercial Department.  Crucially, the programme had to go way beyond the simple straightforward transfer of skills – it needed a permanent legacy!

To begin with, we designed a 3 tier accredited programme, with an exam at the end of each level.  The participants duly responded to this challenge and so far we have awarded 8 Distinctions and 16 Merits which really is a fantastic effort.

With the customer service skills of the team developing nicely, the next step was to provide Haya Water with something more sustainable and to achieve this we created a ‘Developing your People’ programme.  Also known as Level 4, the most outstanding participants from the Customer Service programme were joined by two colleagues from the Training Department and we set to work ensuring that they would soon be able to train, coach and develop their colleagues with little or no external assistance.

olly-oman1Delivered over six days, in two separate sessions, each participant has also been required to build their own portfolio, recording every time they have had the opportunity of putting their newly learnt skills into practice.  In addition, they all delivered a range of developmental team events and presentations which were observed by myself and one of our Senior consultant’s, Richard John.  I am delighted to say that the standard was extremely high indeed and the take up of skills was even better than we could have expected.

Haya Water are now well on their way to having a fantastic internal resource that will enable them to develop the customer service skills of individuals throughout the organisation without relying on external providers like us!  All in all it’s clear evidence of how by working in partnership with our clients, we can create sustainable solutions with long term benefits.

Client Testimonial

Customer service training is notoriously difficult to deliver effectively.  Working closely with Haya Water – a newly formed wastewater company, with a Customer Service department fully manned by Omanis with no previous experience of utility customers – Phoenix rose to the occasion brilliantly, not only understanding the local culture and developing a fan club from the Haya Water staff but also delivering a superb programme with very fast and effective results.  Success can be demonstrated by the fact that the recently qualified and highly enthusiastic staff set to and organised a series of workshops to deliver their newly acquired knowledge. They were able to hold their own against project engineers, consultants and contractors and persuade them how important that the right approach be used to ’surprise’ our customers with superb service.  Hats off to Phoenix.” – Omar Al Wahaibi, CEO

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The Problem with Training

Posted by BillOsmond
Monday, November 23rd, 2009

As a training company, we are often asked to provide a training course to solve a problem.  A sales team is new, a sales team is not hitting its target, a manager can’t communicate, a coach can’t coach.  All manner of issues are thrown at us and the course of action seems obvious – go on a course. The magic cure to all problems.  It is more and more apparent to me that the cure for all these issues does not come in the shape of a one day or even a two day training course. This is a difficult admission for a training company to make but a one day course alone will not solve all of the problems & it will not change behaviours for ever.  It should however be the start of the process.

If carefully designed and delivered well, keeping in mind the objectives of the client and the participant, there is no doubt that a training course can make a big difference to an individual or a team’s performance.  However, it is what is done either side of the course that will make even more difference.  Careful pre course work will create a solid foundation for the course to grow from.  Too often participants arrive on the course without knowing why they are there or even what the course is covering that day!  Buyers of training and organisers of training have a responsibility to set the day up as best as possible.  They should talk to the participants, show them the agenda & discuss objectives.  As I write this I’m thinking surely this would be done, but my experience tells me that often it is not.  We offer pre course consultancy or a meeting with participants before the course but it is seldom used.

getting a push from his cycling coach - _MG_0092

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The course itself should challenge and enthuse the participants.  It should leave the group feeling that they can try to use what they have learnt and will have practiced doing so.  Confidence will be high, so what environment will they find on their return from the course?  Too often they find an environment that does not support the training and managers do not have the skills to support the participant after the course.  Managers often hear that the course “was great” and it was “really helpful” and this lulls them into a false sense of security.  This does not mean that the job is done.  The participant will be keen to use what they have learnt and will say all the right things.  However, they will often be as confused by the training as they are excited.  Often training produces as many questions as it does answers.  Most people attend a course having been going along quite nicely, using techniques and skills built up over a period of years possibly.  They then attend a course that introduces a few new ideas or techniques to try and  they get a chance to practice these skills in the safe environment of the training room and then they return to the live environment.  They try to use the ideas and techniques and run into problems and understandably some of their enthusiasm is dented.  After a while they start to feel uncomfortable using the new skills and drift back towards their old, tried and tested methods.

Bicycles leaning in a turn

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The environment that the participant returns to dictates the success or failure of the training.  Someone said to me recently that if you put a lovely new gold fish into a tank of dirty water, it won’t do very well.  Obvious I guess!  To help the participant do well, whilst they are out on the course, what goes on back in the workplace?  Does the tank and the water get cleaned? If managers and their support systems are not geared up to help and support the individual, results will not improve over the long term.   If you take training seriously don’t just buy a course.  Analyse the requirement, involve the participants, support the returning participant, follow up the training, read the reports, get the trainer back, train the managers to help their team members do anything you can to help and in short, accept that the course is the start of what could be a long process.  Overnight cures happen rarely.  Improvement can be achieved quickly but it is difficult to sustain.  Test the training company that you want to use and find out what they do to turn a training course into a successful learning experience?

I am not a great fan of trainer jargon and “a successful learning experience” sounds a bit like I am going down that route.  What I mean is that anyone can deliver a two day sales course but not many can deliver a series of events and interventions that ensure at the end of a year or any given period, techniques and behaviours are firmly embedded and results are greatly improved.

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Meet the Trainer – Daryon Eldridge

Posted by admin
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

daryon-eldridge-casualDaryon Eldridge – HR & Performance Management Training

1. How long have you been a trainer?

15 years now

2. What did you do before?

I could never decide between HR & Training so I alternated between the two & now I train on HR topics which solves my dilemma.

3. How did you get into training?

I was always bored on training courses & wanted to explore how people could learn in more interesting & effective ways. So I turned the tables round. I still continue to be a difficult delegate!

4. What do you specialise in?

Anything to do with people – how to solve people problems & management techniques through to specific HR topics.

5. Can you tell me 5 top tips?

  1. Give to get – help people & they or someone else will reciprocate
  2. Be positive but realistic – see the glass half full but realise it will evaporate if you don’t drink it quickly!
  3. Learning is something that happens every day in ways we don’t realise
  4. Find a role model & learn from their positive behaviours
  5. Find something you love doing & make it a career or hobby

6. What did you want to be when you grew up?

Taller!

7. Describe your most embarassing moment

I was running a training course in the summer wearing a wraparound skirt. The tie round the waist must have got untied…..Need I say more!

8. What really annoys you?

Negative people who moan about things all the time but don’t take action to change their situation.

9. In your opinion, what makes a good trainer?

Someone who knows their stuff but is truly interested in the development of others & not their own ego. It is not about entertaining people but motivating people & channelling their energies & focus. A good trainer will encourage action back at the work place not just discussion in the training room.

10. What is exciting you in the realm of learning & development currently?

I like the idea of these team building drumming workshops – music does bring people together & helps creativity.

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Top Tips for High Flyers

Posted by RuthTiffin
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
These hot air balloons are part of the annual ...
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Most people in business want to be a success, but how do you become one of the favoured high fliers who seem to have the world at their feet?

Here are five tips to help you join the select band who reach the very pinnacle of organisations.

Tip #1 – Become a Protégé

Pick someone at the top of the organisation who people respect, and approach them for advice. The vast majority will be flattered to be asked and this gives you some valuable one-on-one time and also a chance to present your ideas. When a position becomes available, guess who they will have in mind?

Tip #2 – Influence effectively

The best people know how to get people to work for them. The trick is to use the right medium. If you want to maximise the probability of succeeding in persuading someone to do something for you then speak to them face to face. If you can’t do this then ring them and speak to them. If you want to minimise your chances then send them an email.

Tip #3 – List your goals and do not share them with anyone

These goals are the ones that you desire to attain the most, so regularly review them until they become embedded in your brain. Do not share them – others will decry your efforts or work actively to discourage you. You don’t need this kind of help.

Tip #4- Have a sense of humour

Bad days are inevitable so develop the habit of not taking yourself too seriously. As long as this is not overdone it shows that you are actually human.

Tip #5 – Do your own filing

Being prepared and organised. This means creating your own filing system that works for your brain. It needs to work in such a way that you can lay your hands on information and documents easily and quickly. This means faster than anyone else. Time spent hunting for such information and documents is time wasted.

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Features & Benefits – Bill Osmond

Posted by admin
Thursday, November 5th, 2009

When you start to talk about the use of features and benefits during a sales training course, the more experienced sales people tend to think they know all about them.  “What is a feature?”, “how do you define a feature?” are the sort of questions I ask.  I generally receive a barrage of answers, ranging from the nearly right to the totally wrong.  Very rarely do I hear a simple definition of a feature.  “Something that helps you sell”, “something that is good”, “something that adds value”, “something that is unique.”  All answers that hover around the definition but all miss the main point.

Here’s my definition:

“A feature is a fact or figure related to your product or service.”

Features are neither good or bad.  A sales person has to live with and use the features that their product or service has, and features provide the starting point for  sales presentations.

Features are neutral.  Sales people are often taught the unique selling points of their products.  Once they have learnt the Unique Selling Points of their products they tend to repeat them relentlessly during every sales meeting, call or presentation that they are involved in.  “USP’s” are often referred to in reverential terms, as if they are some sort of magic key that once learnt will help achieve sales without any effort at all!  They are not; USP’s are merely features, the fact that they are unique to the product is rarely a decisive factor.  If a USP is totally irrelevant and unconnected to the client’s needs, then they hold little value and can even be viewed in a negative light.  However, it is true to say that in a competitive pitch, when many aspects of the competing products are equal, something unique could tip the balance.

I believe that sales people need to use the basics better.  Turning features into benefits is a vital skill for sales people.  I find that experienced sales people tell me all about their products and services.  They tell me all how fast their product is, how established their company is, how many people read it, how much it weighs, how unique its design is etc etc.  All are true and are features, but won’t sell much on their own.   What we need to know, as buyers, is what will all the features actually do to help us?  What is the value of the feature to me? The sales person should not leave features up in the air for the client to decide whether they are good or bad.  It can be unique, incredible and amazing but if it doesn’t help me, I probably won’t want it.

When selling in challenging environments it is vital to think about how to turn your features into something of benefit to the buyer.  Too many sales people churn out a limited list of features that they believe to be “good” and indeed are sometimes unique.  The problem is that it is not about whether the sales person thinks their product is good, or even unique; they have to link to the clients needs.  I encourage sales people to think of as many features of their products/services as they can.  I am amazed that often their list stops at about number six.  If they are using approximately six features when trying to sell to a potential client they are unlikely to be matching all their needs.  They are gambling that their choice of features are relevant to the clients needs.

Explain what the feature does and how it will be of specific benefit to the client.  Try using the phrase “which means that.”  By adding this phrase to any given feature you are linking it to the client’s needs.  If you can’t think of what the feature means to the client, you probably shouldn’t be using it.  It is all about creating an imaginative but relevant sales presentation, one that is carefully put together to help the client recognise why money spent on your particular product or service will help them achieve their aims, overcome problems or beat their competition, all of which are worth spending money on.

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Time Management – The Real Secret to Success

Posted by RuthTiffin
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Original depiction of fictional anthropomorphi...
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Ever wondered why some people succeed and others don’t, despite them apparently having similar abilities and experience? The difference is likely to be that one understands the secret of time management and the other does not. It’s an obvious fact that everyone has the same amount of time available but here are six tips to manage that time to maximise success.

Tip #1 – Work to your internal clock

Some people work best in the morning whilst others don’t get going until the afternoon. Understand which type you are and do the hardest tasks at your best time.

Tip #2 – Prioritise effectively

Separate the important and the urgent, and do those tasks which are both urgent and important first. Leave any other tasks, since they will get done if time permits.

Tip #3 – Take time to be visible

Make sure you are seen regularly by senior decision makers, even if only to say hello. You need to be a familiar face before anything else and if you get the chance to discuss an issue then don’t be shy – go for it!

Tip #4 – Schedule tasks and not just meetings

Most people just schedule meetings, but if you schedule time to do specific tasks, particularly those which are urgent and important, then you will find you achieve and deliver far more than you currently do.

Tip #5 – Present your ideas to senior management

Take time to develop your ideas to improve the business. If you can demonstrate a proven ability to improve the bottom line then you will progress quickly.

Tip #6 – Stop working all the time and start thinking

Everyone thinks that working hard is the secret of success but there is a better way. Take time out to think deeply about the issues that your business faces and develop ideas to deal with these issues. There are plenty of worker bees, the really successful are those that think outside the box and solve problems by leveraging the effects of others.

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