The Background
Having previously organised their training on an ad hoc basis, in 2007 The Big Issue were looking for a training partner capable of delivering on a national level. The preferred provider needed to have a background and experience in media sales as the majority of training was initially focused on their advertising sales teams. Having previously worked with the Big Issue, Phoenix was well placed to deliver against all their requirements.
Our Approach
As a relatively small organisation it was important that Big Issue were able to train individual employees in a cost effective manner. Phoenix's Introduction to Sales and Essential Management Skills open courses (run in London and Manchester) suited this requirement perfectly, enabling the Big Issue to give any new sales people or managers an excellent grounding in the fundamentals of their roles. The open courses proved so successful that the Big Issue asked Phoenix to develop some tailored courses designed to build on the foundations laid by the open courses. To date these have included a specific Magazine Advertising Sales course, a Presentation Skills day in Glasgow, a Personal Action Planning workshop, and a Practical Negotiation Skills course.
The Results
Our ability to offer both tailored and open courses, combined with our knowledge of the Big Issue and the Media Industry as a whole, has allowed us to develop practical and relevant solutions that have addressed their ever-evolving training requirements. Our partnership continues to flourish and expand and beyond our original sales remit we are now working on a range of other tailored workshops.