Overview

Half day business workshop with personalised telephone coaching follow-up, with workbook, audio podcast and eBook.

Course Objectives:

This course will provide participants with the insight and skills to be more effective in both business and social situations that require advanced inter-personal and networking skills.

Who will benefit

It is ideal if you attend, or would like to attend, conferences, seminars, social events and other networking gatherings where it is essential you interact, create a positive and memorable impression and either reinforce or make new connections.

Background

It has long been held that “It is not what you know but who know.”. However, this unique workshop expands this principle into the “who knows you” ethos as key ingredient of success.

In addition it develops practical applications of the themes of ‘connections’, developed by Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point) and other leading business specialists: Are you a connector, mavern or ‘salesperson’; can you identify these types amongst those in your contacts or indeed in a room full of unknown people?

Peter Drucker once said: “More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject.” Whilst this might not be as true as it once was, without doubt more quality business connections are made informally.

Therefore, the skills, concepts and ideas in this highly focused workshop and follow-up coaching session will help you achieve these quality business connections and are more important than they have ever been.

The approach is be to build on the strengths and personality you already have, as ‘being you’ is perhaps the most effective basis for business networking and building better connections.

Business Networking Skills: Benefits

Key learning points

• The importance of networking, and different forms of networking situation, event.
• Maximising the power of quality connections: Connectors, maverns and ‘salespeople’; the 150 theory.
• To provide greater understanding of the dynamics of communication specific to networking.
• Preparation – a simple checklist to increase your effectiveness from any networking or similar event.
• To help you become more confident and assured when ‘working’ a room.
• Practical tips and techniques to improve your influencing skills especially with people who are experts and in positions of authority.
• The Four C model of effective informal communication:
  • The first thirty seconds: Connecting – non-verbal communication skills verbal introductions and more.
  • Conversing – developing engaging, relevant and interesting conversations on purpose using high-impact and leverage questions.
  • Communicating; using the 30 second rule to encapsulate your point and making more impact through the use of stories, word images and metaphor.
  • Confirming; gaining agreement, summarising and concluding a conversation.
• Use effective follow-up to maintain active contacts and connections.
  • How to position yourself as a centre of influence – the one who knows the movers and shakers.
  • Follow-up – a simple checklist maximise the value of connections.

Learning reinforcement and follow-up

The course will be delivered with an interactive workbook for use on the day.

In addition all participants will receive a 30 minute audio podcast and online eBook summarising ‘Networking’ best practice.

Coaching

Following the workshop, all attendees will be offered a 30 minute telephone coaching session at a time to suit them.

Business Networking Skills Outline

Business Networking Skills: Trainer

Graham Roberts-Phelps

Training style

The training is very practical and objective. Very clear and specific skills, models and techniques are covered and related directly to attendees personal learning objectives.

The goal is on improving things that are already working, not going over old ground. Participants will discuss and plan new approaches using real-life examples taken from their own situations.

Each module will feature high quality training presentations, group exercises and team activities and a high degree of participation and interaction.

About Graham Roberts-Phelps

Graham is a specialist training professional with a great deal of experience and expertise in all aspects networking and interpersonal skills. He is a qualified Master trainer of NLP, a practised and highly experienced networked and is involved with a number businesses with networking as a core marketing strategy.

He has been training, coaching and consulting since 1993, and has personally trained over 20,000 people, in 25 different countries, from hundreds of organisations. These span all industries and types of business.

In this time he has developed a unique series of modules and approaches based on what really works, as well as also writing more than ten books on sales, marketing, training and business.

Graham has conducted sales and customer service training and consulting for many different organisations, including Alico, Cisco, Safricom, Vodafone, O2, 3M, Sun Microsystems, EU patent office, Amadeus, Pegasus, Xchanging, My Family Care, Ambius, Travelsphere, Nortel, BT, AIG, Nationwide, Abbey, Apple, Thomson Reuters, Cosmos Travel, Intel, Gateway computers and many others including several web-based businesses, franchises and multi-national business.

How to find new business stategically: sales prospecting step by step

Whatever your business, the first part of the sales process is probably the hardest – finding and developing new customers and business revenue opportunities. It is the activity that most people dislike,  keep putting off or lack the relevant and latest skills, time or motivation to carry out to a sufficient level of activity. Organised Persistence Masterclass solves this.

Seven great benefits

1. Increase new business sales faster, easier and with less stress
2. Consistently and pro-actively find, qualify and convert new sales opportunities
3. Improved conversion of sales leads into qualified prospects and orders
4. Maximise up-selling and cross-selling opportunities with existing clients
5. Master proven and low-cost prospecting methods that get great results, including appointments with senior contacts.
6. More accurate sales forecasts, qualification and reporting
7. Tools to develop more business from existing customers through up-selling and cross-selling

Key principles

Good sales training such as this will certainly install new skills and lift motivation. However, we know from experience that effective prospecting is best with a structured, highly targeted and sustained approach.  Our model achieves just this using a proven model and tools that can be applied over a period of time, supported by the Organised Persistence coach as required.

It is suitable for almost any size or type of business in any market. Built-in to the training programme is a ‘before and after’ analysis to measure the effectiveness of the training in terms of new business generated. This means that the only risk is not using Organised Persistence.

What is Organised Persistence?

Developed by Graham Roberts-Phelps, it is based on years of experience, hours of research with hundreds of different businesses and thousands of sales people. It is both a skill-set and structured process. Simply, Organised Persistence is a proven methodology for achieving and sustaining new business sales in a B2B environment.

Ten elements of the Organised Persistence methodology 

1. Mindset
2. Set clear, written, sales-gain objectives
3. Create a WIT activity plan and daily prospecting routine
4. Prospecting and sourcing methods
5. High impact messages and advanced prospecting skills
6. Reporting and sales tracking
7. Linkedin – the secret weapon in your armoury
8. First meeting / sales pitch planning
9. Sharpen your pricing, proposals and pitch
10. Call-back closing techniques

“It’s not what you do, but how you do it that makes the difference.”

About Graham Roberts-Phelps

I specialise in helping companies, sell smarter, serve customers better,communicate clearer and focus sharper. I do this through business training, presenting and consulting.

Since 1993, I have personally trained and worked with over 20,000 people, in 25 different countries, from hundreds of organisations.  I have also written over ten books on training and business. NLP Master trainer.

I also have a detailed knowledge and understanding of recruitment, training many hundreds of recruitment consultants and specialists in a range of organisations, as well has being a client. A telephone or email reference is available from a recruitment client.