168 Courses in Birmingham

It's a fact of life that costs generally increase and as a result prices must go up too. Implementing an increase without losing customers is challenging. Talking about a price increase with customers never makes for an easy conversation. Your customers will generally decide whether to accept the increase based upon value, as well as the hassle cost of switching and going elsewhere. Even the most experienced salesperson who has implemented price increases before will be fighting back the nerves when faced with the task of 'selling' the increase. In this flexible programme, we will support your internal preparations at whichever stage you and your colleagues are at. From making the decision to increase prices, right through to those on the frontline already dealing with any push-back. This programme will help participants: Understand the business case for increasing prices Take steps to research the market Consider their customers' motivations Use the six principles of influence Identify and adapt for different personality styles Assess their level of trust with customers Build rapport rapidly with their customers and prospects 1 Raising prices - keys to success Understanding the business case Researching the market Assessing the value of your offering 2 Understanding your customer base Assessing your key accounts What is your 'target' customer range? Creating consistency in pricing approach 3 Planning the increase Timing your implementation Communication strategy Elements of a good price increase letter 4 Developing influencing skills The Trust Equation The six principles of influence Discovering your customer's buying decisions 5 Emotional intelligence and price increases The part emotion plays Developing strategies for keeping calm Handling your customer's responses 6 Understanding different customer styles Discover your own style Recognising behaviour traits in others Adapting your approach to their style 7 Preparing for customer contact Preparing for specific customers Anticipating their response Dealing with challenging customers 8 Following through Maintaining a consistent approach Resisting requests for discounts Confirming the increase in writing

Many managers question the value of appraisal programmes and many line managers believe appraisals are unduly time-consuming and bureaucratic. Yet the appraisal is a vital starting point when it comes to managing performance effectively and it is vital that managers appreciate this. Handled well, the benefits of formal appraisals are enormous. This thoroughly practical workshop has been designed to give line managers the knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver a well-structured appraisal - even in the most challenging circumstances. This course will help participants: Appreciate the benefits of the appraisal process Assess standards of performance objectively Plan and prepare for appraisals effectively Conduct a well-structured appraisal meeting Acquire the essential skills required for effective appraisals Improve their ability to discuss difficult issues more confidently Identify training and development requirements Agree clear and measurable development objectives Complete essential paperwork Understand the need to facilitate continual informal dialogue between appraisals 1 Introduction and course objectives 2 The appraisal process The aim of the appraisal process Understanding the bigger picture - the appraisal process as part of the employee development process The benefits of the appraisal process Common pitfalls Five steps to an effective performance appraisal 3 Step 1 - Assessment Using job standards as the basis for objective assessment Assessment of previous objectives 4 Step 2 - Preparation Documentation required Data on each appraisee Planning the meeting 5 Step 3 - The meeting The skills of appraisal interviewing The structure of the appraisal interview Dealing with poor performance and difficult situations Taking notes and completing documentation 6 Step 4 - Planning ahead and objective setting Identifying action to improve performance and enhance skills Establishing relevant training needs Agreeing SMART performance objectives Formulating a personal development plan 7 Step 5 - Action after the interview Essential paperwork Follow-up and action required between appraisal interviews Continuing informal dialogue 8 Video case study Bullets 9 Conclusion Course review / discussion Preparation of action plans for building on the skills learnt Close

Mental Health First Aid (MHFAider) is an internationally recognised training course that teaches people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis. We don't teach people to be therapists, but we do teach people how to respond in a crisis, and how to reach out before a crisis happens. The training gives people tools to support themselves and each other, so everyone can talk about mental health and seek help when needed. As an MHFAider you will be able to: Recognise those that may be experiencing poor mental health and provide them with first-level support and early intervention Encourage a person to identify and access sources of professional help and other support Practise active listening and empathy Have a conversation with improved mental health literacy around language and stigma Discuss the role in depth, including boundaries and confidentiality Practise self-care This course is ideal for those who would like to become an MHFAider to: Gain the knowledge and skills to spot signs of people experiencing poor mental health Be confident starting a conversation and signpost a person to appropriate support Alongside the best evidence-based Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, MHFAiders are also provided with three-year access to ongoing learning and support through the MHFAider Support App 1 Introduction to MHFAider (3 hours 30 mins) MHFA and the MHFAider role Introduction to the MHFAider Action Plan 'ALGEE' What is Mental Health? Helpful and unhelpful language Undersign our Frame of Reference, understanding how we make sense of the world Understanding stress & the Stress Container 2 Understanding Mental Health (4 hours) What influences mental health? The Mental Health Continuum What is anxiety? What is a traumatic event? Active listening and empathy What are eating disorders? What is self-harm? What is substance misuse? MHFA conversation practice 3 MHFAider in practice (4 hours) Applying ALGEE What is depression? What is suicide? What is psychosis? MHFA conversation practice 4 Next steps (3 hours) Recovery and lived experience Applying ALGEE Boundaries in the MHFAider role MHFA conversation practice Moving forward in the MHFAider role and your MHFA action plan Self-care

In the fast-changing world of business, and especially IT, everyone in the organisation should be involved in sales. One of the best ways is to give the customer an outstanding experience. The customer experience is the competitive battlefield of today. Sales may be won or lost here. You can either close a sale for a quick buck, or open a long-term relationship to create a high lifetime value customer. By developing excellent communication skills, rapport and, most of all, a desire to serve and listen to the needs of the customer to the best of their ability, both sales teams and other IT professionals will create trust, nurture relationships and develop awareness of other opportunities with the customer. By the end of this course, participants will be able to: Understand the power of a positive customer experience in developing sales opportunities Recognise and develop a sales opportunity when it arises Engage with customers and develop rapport and trust Use verbal and non-verbal communication skills and pick up on signals Ask powerful questions - and listen to the answers Create 'magic moments' for the customer Turn a complaint into an opportunity Know when to ask for referrals and testimonials Pass on leads to the relevant people 1 Introduction Aims and objectives Beliefs about sales 2 Building rapport First impressions Short cuts to rapport Finding common interests 3 Selling or serving? Managing emotions and behaviour - Transactional Analysis Moments of truth - creating 'magic moments' Speed sells - the follow-up 4 Meetings Planning a successful meeting Pre-meeting connection and assistance Sales meeting failure reasons Right v wrong mindset 5 Communication - verbal and non-verbal The 3 Vs - Visual, Verbal, Vocal Picking up on signals 7 power questions Questioning techniques LISTEN - 3 types of listening skills 6 Influencing 6 levels of influence Framing to change perspectives Turning complaints into opportunities 7 Referrals The power of referrals How and when to ask for a referral 5 steps from rapport to referral 8 Presentation and pitching (optional session) Basic presentation structure and delivery Creating powerful impressions Creating a 60-second pitch The elevator 10-second pitch - answering 'What do you do?' Sales presentations Emotion v Intellect - how to engage Using visuals

Successfully closing a sale and negotiating the best outcome for the business is a key skill for all salespeople, and often an area that is overlooked. Investing in this skill will have a positive impact on interactions with customers, both new and existing, and lead to improved sales performance. Whilst understanding how to reach a conclusion with a customer faster means increased efficiency and more time to invest in sourcing new business. We have developed this programme to be practical, fun and interactive. Participants will learn proven techniques for influencing, persuading and negotiating with clients, gain increased confidence and clarity when reviewing contract terms and prices, and understand how to structure and manage sales negotiation and contract review meetings. This course will help participants: Learn a structured and proven approach to the negotiation of contract terms Apply the key principles of negotiation, playing the person and the problem Create a contract negotiation strategy - from opening to close Recognize and put to use proven negotiation tactics and techniques Learn how to embrace conflict positively - to 'say no, then negotiate' Plan and prepare for any commercial negotiation conversations Understand the stages of negotiation and how to move through them 1 Closing and negotiating from a position of personal power The eight steps of a sales or commercial negotiation Ten ways to resist price pressure How to draw on sources of power when you have less authority The six principles of influence and persuasion and how to use them 2 Effective negotiation - planning and theory How to plan and structure your negotiation for a successful and quick conclusion Influence: knowing how to 'push or pull' to win an argument Achieving a BATNA - a range of practical skills and techniques Case study: planning for a client negotiation around contract or price issues 3 Effective closing and negotiation - practice and reality Higher-level questioning techniques to investigate and solve problems Listening to lead - active listening and structuring your conversation The most common 'unforced' negotiation mistakes and errors Case study: setting objectives, sources of value, trading concessions 4 Sales negotiation tactics and playing the game How high - how hard - how soon; why now How to identify hidden or perceived currencies and values How to use these to establish a higher base price Negotiation best-practice checklist and summary

This one-day workshop is intended for participants who have a basic understanding of Outlook but who want to know how to use its advanced features to manage their email communications, calendar events, contact information and other communication tasks. This course will help participants: Gain confidence using Outlook and its advanced features Organise and prioritise email messages Archive messages for safe-keeping Use rules to process received or sent messages automatically Manage scheduled meetings with others Give others permission to view and manage their folders and items Use contacts and commands to find out more about a person or company Prioritise work-flow using tasks and assigning tasks to others 1 Email messages Combining multiple clicks with quick steps Following up flag options Saving multiple attachments Attaching a folder of files Recalling and replacing a message Categorising messages with conditional formatting 2 Message options Adding options to messages Marking a message as private Receiving quick responses with voting buttons Directing replies to specific users Delaying sent messages Inserting links in messages 3 Stay organised with rules Using rules to automate message flow Moving messages with rules Using the rules wizard Setting up rules with conditions Using rules that work whilst you are away 4 Message clean-up Using conversation clean-up Using mailbox clean-up Moving messages to the archive folder Archiving folder properties Auto-archiving properties 5 Managing calendars Creating calendar groups Sharing calendars with permissions Setting up working days and times Managing time zones Categorise appointments with conditional formatting Publishing a calendar 6 Schedule meetings Scheduling a meeting Managing meeting responses Proposing new meeting times Adding attendees to a meeting Viewing multiple appointments 7 Using contacts Merging contacts to letters Merging contacts to labels Mail merging contacts in Word Exporting contacts to Excel 8 Managing tasks Organising your workload with tasks Categorising tasks Assigning tasks to others Sending a task status report Allocating time for tasks Regenerating a new task Viewing your tasks in the calendar 9 Adding message items Adding calendars to messages Adding business cards to messages 10 Email accounts Adding multiple user accounts Adding account permissions

Many people have a misconception about networking events, and lose out on new business opportunities as a result. They either don't appreciate the real benefits and techniques of networking and don't attend events, or they attempt to 'sell on the first date', causing resentment. You can either attempt to make a sale for a quick buck (which is particularly likely to backfire at a networking event), or you can try to open a long-term relationship, creating new opportunities and a high lifetime value customer (which is how it's meant to be done). Networking, when done properly, is an excellent tool for referrals. But you have to appreciate that it's done on the basis of giving rather than receiving and this doesn't always come naturally to sales professionals. The old saying that it's about getting to 'know, like and trust' is still true. This workshop is about having your prospects and customers getting to know, like and trust you, and building that lifetime value as a result. By the end of this programme, participants will be able to: Understand what networking is - networking etiquette Know how and where to network Clarify their objectives - why network Use the 4 basic questions to start a conversation Build rapport quickly and easily Answer the question 'What do you do?' effectively in a few seconds Deliver a 60-second pitch Break into a group Prepare for a network meeting Identify opportunities Use tools to assist in networking 1 Introduction Aims and objectives 2 What is networking? Why network - objectives and goal setting Networking etiquette Preparation - online and offline tools to use Identify networking opportunities - where to network Know what you have to offer 'Know, like and trust' - the process 3 What do you do? Answer in 5-10 seconds Create and deliver a 60-second pitch Who is your target market? 4 Starting a conversation Breaking into a group Building rapport The 4 questions to start a conversation Moving on 5 Communicate and engage LISTEN - 4 types of listening skill Ask powerful questions Influence - don't sell What can you do to help others - give to get 6 Power of referrals Who can give you referrals? When to give or ask for referrals Have a referral system Showing appreciation 7 Social media and other online tools Using LinkedIn and other social media Online directories 8 Next steps Following up Arranging one-to-one meetings Developing relationships

Are you an EDI Officer, HR Specialist, Leader or Manager? Or the nominated EDI champion for your team? Maybe you've been given the EDI portfolio on behalf of your Board or department? Or if you're aiming to make a difference via your diverse staff network or union, all change-makers are welcome!

This programme concentrates on the core planning skills needed to develop sound practical project plans in a team environment. This enables the plan to be modified should requirements change or difficulties arise. The programme also gives participants the confidence to practise those skills and apply them in the work environment and deliver their projects more successfully in the future. Participants learn fundamental project management concepts and terminology, demystifying the project management process, and, in particular, how to: Break a project down into manageable sections and ensure nothing is left out Understand and apply estimating techniques to develop realistic estimates Sequence work effectively and carry out critical path analysis to determine project duration and which tasks to pay closest attention to Manage project risk effectively to protect project value Monitor, control and re-plan the project to best keep it on track Close out the project and ensure the project comes to an orderly end 1 Introduction Self-introductions and personal objectives Course objectives Sharing of project issues 2 Project management concepts Characteristics of a project and what should be kept as operational responsibilities Understanding the triple and quadruple constraints - and their limitations Prioritising requirements through the MOSCOW technique Product v project life cycle Key project roles and responsibilities - the importance of sponsorship and clarity of roles 3 Starting a project, and the importance of the terms of reference / project brief Avoiding the pressure to 'just do it'! The importance and benefits of planning The best time to learn! Initial project documentation - the BOSCARDI approach 4 Breaking the work down Understanding alternative breakdown structures such as the product breakdown structure and work breakdown structure Guidelines for creating a work breakdown structure to ensure the full work scope is identified 5 Estimating Alternative estimating techniques and associated confidence levels Further considerations - loss and resource factors 6 Organising the work Use of network diagrams to develop a clear sequence of work Critical path analysis and calculating the project duration and task float - and usage 7 The management of project risk Understanding the nature of project risk The risk analysis and risk management processes How to best manage threats and opportunities Running a risk workshop Using the risk register 8 Scheduling the work The importance of the Gantt chart and understanding its limitations The Gantt chart layout and using alternative views such as the tracking Gantt Using alternative dependencies 9 Resource issues Assigning resources and resolving resource overloads Crashing and fast-tracking your project and potential issues to look out for 10 Controlling the project The control cycle and alternative feedback mechanisms Alternative progress reporting Assessing the impact The importance of re-planning The benefits of control Change control - the importance of impact analysis The steps of change control and the use of the issue register 11 Closing the project The project closure checklist Reviewing the project - things to avoid Developing meaningful lessons and ensuring they are applied effectively The post-project review - its importance to the organisation

The market for professional services is becoming increasingly competitive, with some firms and individuals becoming very effective at winning new work, leaving others lagging way behind. Given the choice between spending time on client work and business development work, we all tend to choose that which we feel to be easier, more attractive and more aligned with our image of ourselves. We stay within our comfort zones, we focus on client work, and we only resort to business development work when we have to, which can also lead to 'feast or famine' syndrome. The programme will help participants: Understand the professional business development approach and the style that is appropriate for their business and their clients Follow a process to guide their conversations and business development meetings Prepare thoroughly for a business development meeting/contact with a client to ensure they use their time efficiently and maximise results Create a great first impression and professional opening to a conversation Ask open questions and listen effectively in order to spot opportunities, understand needs and progress the opportunity Identify and understand buying and decision-making processes and criteria Skilfully and confidently handle questions and objections Sell the benefits of their services and approach over those of their competitors Progress the sale by agreeing next steps and gaining commitment appropriately 1 Introduction Aims and objectives of the programme Personal introductions and objectives Workshop overview 2 An introduction to business development and selling for professionals What is selling? Who are you selling to? The buying experience What clients want The four-step business development process The business development cycle and pipeline management Upselling and cross-selling as well as winning new clients 3 Networking and generating leads What is networking? Networking objectives It's not what you know but who you know Asking for referrals and introductions Making appointments from networking activity 4 Opening the sales relationship/sales meeting What potential customers are thinking Judging first impressions Creating positive first impressions Building rapport and creating interest and impact Earning the right 5 Core communication skills for professional selling Overcoming barriers to listening The art of listening Questioning refresher Types of questions Questioning funnel 6 Understanding and identifying needs and opportunities Identifying the questions to ask to identify needs and opportunities Questions to move us through the buying and selling process Understanding their buying processes Asking questions that position you as a 'trusted adviser' The questions that give you a competitive advantage Knowing when you have asked enough questions 7 Introducing solutions Tailoring your 'pitch' to the client Speaking the client's language Using features and benefits Applying the benefit cycle 8 Handling objections and concerns Identifying the typical objections and concerns Understanding why clients raise objections and concerns Following a structure for handling objections Handling the price objection 9 Gaining commitment Knowing when to close The art of checking Recognising buying signals Small c and big C 10 Putting it all together Personal learning summary and action plans