8 Courses in Edinburgh

'Selling' doesn't work. You've got to help customers buy. And that means engaging with the customer in a positive way, showing that you understand their requirement and giving them confidence that your product or service is the best possible way of meeting that requirement. This may sound painless but there's more to it than meets the eye and it's all too easy to get it wrong. You need to follow a process. This programme will help participants: Understand 'how buyers buy' and align their selling activities accordingly Recognise the difference between 'latent pain' and 'active vision' opportunities Conduct effective pre-call planning and research Stimulate interest and establish credibility with your prospects Get prospects to share / admit high priority pain Engage in consultative dialogue that promotes the differentiating strengths of your offerings Gain access to 'power' people within an opportunity Effectively qualify and disqualify opportunities based on objective decision criteria Better control and manage sell cycles Improve their chances of winning competitive opportunities Shorten sales cycles and avoid 'no decision' Negotiate the steps leading to a successful sale 1 An introduction to selling Understanding the key points that encourage a customer to purchase from us The difference between consultative selling and a transactional sale Understanding the roles that trust and empathy play in a sale Understanding how tricks and manipulation can sink a sale Vital pre-meeting research that must take place before a conversation Understanding how the customer sees us and why positioning is important 2 Structuring the sales conversation process Defining a set process for structuring a sales call with a chance to demonstrate understanding How the first minute of a conversation can destroy a sale Understanding BPO objectives for a sale How a step-by-step sales conversation process helps win more sales Understanding the mis-match between the customers buying process How our sales processes can lead to mistakes 3 How and why people buy An insight into the emotional factors behind how people arrive at purchasing decisions Using research from neuroscience that shows how sales people can really make mistakes Understanding how people make decisions about larger purchases Understanding the stakeholders in companies and their buying motives How to analyse the stakeholders and determine a win-plan 4 Understanding the funnel Studying the sales and buying process to understand the ratios of sales to prospects and better forecasting Understanding the role of forecasting in sales analysis Why many forecasts are nearly always wrong Understanding the stages of a sales process How 'verifiable outcomes' can really change forecasting 5 Questioning techniques Understanding the different questioning techniques and when they should be used Using the 'knowledge tree' as a framework for questioning Understanding the use of real empathy to help customers uncover their needs How effective research can really empower your questions How to ask 'high gain' questions How to ask difficult questions without feeling intrusive 6 Features and benefits How to practically apply them in a sales scenario How to align the benefits to customers' business goals Really understanding the difference and how to demonstrate true economic benefits to a customer How to discover business goals, and align value propositions to these How to craft an effective value proposition for a customer Using the SAR storytelling method to really engage customers to align their thinking patterns Using the latest neuroscience research that explains what customers are really thinking 7 Overcoming objections How 'confirmation bias' can hinder any sales conversation How the CLARA method of responding to customer concerns can dramatically improve the chances of customers responding to us in a positive way Practising the method to become comfortable and congruent with it 8 Closing the sale A deep dive into what closing is How different sales have different closes How too many closing methods can destroy a sale How to lead up to a close with a logical sequence of questions Using the ACSAT trust method of closing A clear methodology with a chance to practise the skills in a fun way

About this Course This 5 full-day course presents the most modern statistical and mathematical forecasting frameworks used by practitioners to tackle the load forecasting problem across short time and long time scales. The course presents practical applications to solving forecasting challenges, supported by real life examples from large control areas. It presents the weather impacts on the load forecasts and the methodologies employed to quantify the weather effect and building a repository of weather normal data. A good load forecast methodology must improve its forecasting accuracy and support a consistent load forecasting process. The load forecasting widely used in the power industry has evolved significantly with the advancement and adoption of Artificial Intelligence techniques such as Machine Learning. With the increased penetration of inverter-based resources, the operation of electric grids grew in complexity, leading to load forecasts that are updated more frequently than once a day. Furthermore, several jurisdictions adopted a smaller granularity than the hourly load forecasts in the effort to reduce the forecasting uncertainties. On the generation side, fuel forecasting professionals must meet energy requirements while making allowance for the uncertainty on both the demand and the supply side. This training course will also feature a guest speaker, who is a Ph.D candidate to provide insights into the most modern aspects of Artificial Intelligence in the context of load forecasting. Training Objectives This course offers a comprehensive approach to all aspects of load forecasting: Gain a perspective of load forecasting from both operators in the generating plant and system operators. Understand and review the advanced load forecasting concepts and forecasting methodologies Learn the application of Artificial Neural Networks and Probabilistic Forecasting methods to manage forecasting uncertainties in short time frames Appreciate market segmentation and econometric framework for long term forecasts Find out the most recent practical application of load forecasting as examples from large power companies Get access to recent industry reports and developments Target Audience Energy load forecasting professionals from power plant and system operators Energy planners and energy outlook forecasters and plant operators Fuel procurement professionals Planners and schedulers of thermal generating units Course Level Intermediate Trainer Your expert course instructor is a Utility Executive with extensive global experience in power system operation and planning, energy markets, enterprise risk and regulatory oversight. She consults on energy markets integrating renewable resources from planning to operation. She led complex projects in operations and conducted long term planning studies to support planning and operational reliability standards. Specializing in Smart Grids, Operational flexibilities, Renewable generation, Reliability, Financial Engineering, Energy Markets and Power System Integration, she was recently engaged by the Inter-American Development Bank/MHI in Guyana. She was the Operations Expert in the regulatory assessment in Oman. She is a registered member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, Canada. She is also a contributing member to the IEEE Standards Association, WG Blockchain P2418.5. With over 25 years with Ontario Power Generation (Revenue $1.2 Billion CAD, I/S 16 GW), she served as Canadian representative in CIGRE, committee member in NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada), and Senior Member IEEE and Elsevier since the 90ties. Our key expert chaired international conferences, lectured on several continents, published a book on Reliability and Security of Nuclear Power Plants, contributed to IEEE and PMAPS and published in the Ontario Journal for Public Policy, Canada. She delivered seminars organized by the Power Engineering Society, IEEE plus seminars to power companies worldwide, including Oman, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Portugal, South Africa, Japan, Romania, and Guyana. Our Key expert delivered over 60 specialized seminars to executives and engineers from Canada, Europe, South and North America, Middle East, South East Asia and Japan. Few examples are: Modern Power System in Digital Utilities - The Energy Commission, Malaysia and utilities in the Middle East, GCCIA, June 2020 Assessment of OETC Control Centre, Oman, December 2019 Demand Side management, Load Forecasting in a Smart Grid, Oman, 2019 Renewable Resources in a Smart Grid (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, GCCIA, Saudi Arabia) The Modern Power System: Impact of the Power Electronics on the Power System The Digital Utility, AI and Blockchain Smart Grid and Reliability of Distribution Systems, Cyme, Montreal, Canada Economic Dispatch in the context of an Energy Market (TNB, Sarawak Energy, Malaysia) Energy Markets, Risk Assessment and Financial Management, PES, IEEE: Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Portugal, South Africa, Japan. Provided training at CEO and CRO level. Enterprise Risk methodology, EDP, Portugal Energy Markets: Saudi Electricity Company, Tenaga National Berhad, Malaysia Reliability Centre Maintenance (South East Asia, Saudi Electricity Company, KSA) EUSN, ENERGY & UTILITIES SECTOR NETWORK, Government of Canada, 2016 Connected+, IOT, Toronto, Canada September 2016 and 2015 Smart Grid, Smart Home HomeConnect, Toronto, Canada November 2014 Wind Power: a Cautionary Tale, Ontario Centre for Public Policy, 2010 POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information post training support and fees applicable Accreditions And Affliations

About this Training Course  This 3 full-day training course will introduce participants to the Microsoft Power BI® software solution for extracting, manipulating, visualising and analysing data. This is a very practical, hands-on course that takes participants through a series of exercises which help users understand the Power BI® environment, how to use the key areas of functionality, and how to apply the tools it contains to design and produce analyses of their own data. The first two days focus on learning the key concepts and practising these using clean, simple datasets. The third day provides participants with the opportunity to apply what they've learned to their own data. This makes the course far more relevant and meaningful for them, it allows our facilitator to help them structure their data models, queries and DAX formulas correctly, and it allows our facilitator to help them solve any additional problems that may arise but which were not covered as part of the standard the course. In addition, at the end of the day, each participant walks away with something of real, practical use for their job role. Many previous participants have remarked that they obtained the most value from the course during the third day because otherwise, they wouldn't be able to do what they need to do. This is an introductory course and although it does not assume any prior experience with Power BI®, participants will gain much more from the course if they have at least used Power BI® a little prior to attending. Participants who have taught themselves Power BI® will also benefit from attending as the course will fill-in a number of gaps in their knowledge and will also extend what they know. A general understanding of databases, Excel formulas, and Excel Pivot Tables is useful though not essential. Comprehensive course notes, exercises and completed solutions are included. Microsoft® PowerBI® is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Training Objectives Upon completion of this training course, participants will be able to: Confidently use the Power BI® solution, including Power BI® Desktop, PowerBI®.com and the Power BI® Gateway Extract data from a variety of data sources and manipulate the data extracted so it is ready for analysis Combine data sources together and gain an introductory understanding of the M language Write formulas using the DAX language for generating custom columns, measures and tables Design reports and dashboards using a wide range of both built-in and custom visuals Publish reports and dashboards to PowerBI®.com Share reports and dashboards with others using PowerBI®.com Customize reports and dashboards so that different user groups automatically see their own personalized views Target Audience This training course is intended for: Financial Analysts Accountants Budgeting and planning specialists Treasury Risk Managers Strategic Planners This is an introductory course and although it does not assume any prior experience with Power BI®, participants will gain much more from the course if they have at least used Power BI® a little prior to attending. Participants who have taught themselves Power BI® will also benefit from attending as the course will fill-in a number of gaps in their knowledge and will also extend what they know. A general understanding of databases, Excel formulas, and Excel Pivot Tables is useful though not essential. Comprehensive course notes, exercises and completed solutions are included. Course Level Basic or Foundation Trainer Your expert course leader has a Masters (Applied Finance & Investment), B.Comm (Accounting & Information Systems), CISA, FAIM, F Fin and is a Microsoft Certified Excel Expert. He has over 20 years' experience in financial modelling, forecasting, valuation, model auditing, and management reporting for clients throughout the world. He is skilled in the development and maintenance of analytical tools and financial models for middle-market companies to large corporates, at all levels of complexity, in both domestic and international settings. He has trained delegates from a wide variety of Oil & Gas companies including Chevron, Woodside, BHP Billiton, Petronas, Carigali, Shell, Nippon, Eni, Pertamina, Inpex, and many more. He provides training in financial modelling for companies throughout the Asia, Oceania, Middle East and African regions. Before his current role, he spent 6 years working in the Corporate and IT Consulting divisions of a large, multinational Chartered Accounting firm. He is the author of a number of white papers on financial modelling on subjects such as Financial Modelling Best Practices and Financial Model Auditing. Highlights from his oil and gas experience include: Development of economic models to assist Decision Analysts modelling for a wide range of scenarios for multinational oil & gas assets. Auditing and further development of life of project models for Chevron's Strategic Planning Division analysing their North West Shelf assets. Development of business plan and budgeting models for multinational oil & gas assets. Development of cash flow and taxation models for a variety of oil gas companies. Consulting on Sarbanes Oxley spreadsheet remediation and risk assessment. POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information post training support and fees applicable Accreditions And Affliations

About this Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) This 3 half-day Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) course highlights the impact of the introduction of renewable energy, digital technologies and new operational flexibility solutions in the electricity trading market. These advancements facilitate unique opportunities and challenges for cross border trading of electricity. Most countries in Asia, have designed their own portfolio of climate actions with an accelerated penetration of renewable energy (or by importing renewable energy into their local grids). These changes are taking place at unprecedented speed and add further complexity to the operation of electricity trading markets, while presenting new opportunities. The Asian market, can tap into its vast potential of solar, wind and geothermal energy sources. A global, unified vision is emerging to support each of countries' energy needs and decarbonization goals. This VILT course will highlight priorities of each country to achieve its energy goals. The main operational flexibilities of each type of renewable resource are discussed in detail. The course also discusses the main components of Power Purchase Agreements and advancements in digitalization and how digital technologies can influence the energy market and cross border electricity trading. Key Takeaways: New Energy Market Design Cross Border Trading PPAs Mechanisms and Examples of PPAs The Increased Penetration of Renewable Resources in the Power Systems and How It Stimulates Cross Border Trading How Digital Innovation Drives Energy Markets and Cross Border Trading Training Objectives Upon completion of this VILT course, participants will be able to: Be familiar with the global vision of One Sun, One World, One Grid Understand the major trends reshaping the energy markets Learn how innovative digital technologies change the energy markets Understand why sustainable energy markets require a tighter coordination between transmission and distribution system operators Engage with each other to design the energy market of the future Target Audience This VILT course will benefit policy makers and regulators from energy agencies, transmission companies and utilities as well as power system engineers and power system operators from control centre and ISO. Training Methods The VILT will be delivered online in 3 half-day sessions comprising 4 hours per day, including time for lectures, discussion, quizzes and short classroom exercises. Course Duration: 3 half-day sessions, 4 hours per session (12 hours in total). Trainer Your expert course leader is a Utility Executive with extensive global experience in power system operation and planning, energy markets, enterprise risk and regulatory oversight. She consults on energy markets integrating renewable resources from planning to operation. She led complex projects in operations and conducted long term planning studies to support planning and operational reliability standards. Specializing in Smart Grids, Operational flexibilities, Renewable generation, Reliability, Financial Engineering, Energy Markets and Power System Integration, she was recently engaged by the Inter-American Development Bank/MHI in Guyana. She was the Operations Expert in the regulatory assessment in Oman. She is a registered member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, Canada. She is also a contributing member to the IEEE Standards Association, WG Blockchain P2418.5. With over 25 years with Ontario Power Generation (Revenue $1.2 Billion CAD, I/S 16 GW), she served as Canadian representative in CIGRE, committee member in NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada), and Senior Member IEEE and Elsevier since the 90ties. Our key expert chaired international conferences, lectured on several continents, published a book on Reliability and Security of Nuclear Power Plants, contributed to IEEE and PMAPS and published in the Ontario Journal for Public Policy, Canada. She delivered seminars organized by the Power Engineering Society, IEEE plus seminars to power companies worldwide, including Oman, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Portugal, South Africa, Japan, Romania, and Guyana. Our Key expert delivered over 60 specialized seminars to executives and engineers from Canada, Europe, South and North America, Middle East, South East Asia and Japan. Few examples are: Modern Power System in Digital Utilities - The Energy Commission, Malaysia and utilities in the Middle East, GCCIA, June 2020 Assessment of OETC Control Centre, Oman, December 2019 Demand Side management, Load Forecasting in a Smart Grid, Oman, 2019 Renewable Resources in a Smart Grid (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, GCCIA, Saudi Arabia) The Modern Power System: Impact of the Power Electronics on the Power System The Digital Utility, AI and Blockchain Smart Grid and Reliability of Distribution Systems, Cyme, Montreal, Canada Economic Dispatch in the context of an Energy Market (TNB, Sarawak Energy, Malaysia) Energy Markets, Risk Assessment and Financial Management, PES, IEEE: Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Portugal, South Africa, Japan. Provided training at CEO and CRO level. Enterprise Risk methodology, EDP, Portugal Energy Markets: Saudi Electricity Company, Tenaga National Berhad, Malaysia Reliability Centre Maintenance (South East Asia, Saudi Electricity Company, KSA) EUSN, ENERGY & UTILITIES SECTOR NETWORK, Government of Canada, 2016 Connected+, IOT, Toronto, Canada September 2016 and 2015 Smart Grid, Smart Home HomeConnect, Toronto, Canada November 2014 Wind Power: a Cautionary Tale, Ontario Centre for Public Policy, 2010 POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information about post training coaching support and fees applicable for this. Accreditions And Affliations

The 2-hour Baby & Child First Aid class covers CPR, Choking, Bumps, Burns, Breaks, Bleeding, Febrile Seizures and Meningitis & Sepsis Awareness and will give everyone who attends the peace of mind they deserve.

Our *NEW* Mini First Aid Baby Proofing class is our second class, designed for parents and carers of babies and children over 3 months. It can be taken after our 2 hour Baby and Child First Aid class, or in isolation for those parents who are starting their weaning journey, or have a baby on the move!

The 3-hour Baby & Child First Aid class covers CPR, Choking, Bumps, Burns, Breaks, Bleeding, Febrile Seizures and Meningitis & Sepsis Awareness and will give everyone who attends the peace of mind they deserve.

No-one in business will succeed if they are not financially literate - and no business will succeed without financially-literate people. This is the ideal programme for managers and others who don't have a financial qualification or background but who nonetheless need a greater understanding of the financial management disciplines essential to your organisation. This course will give the participants a sound understanding of financial reports, measures and techniques to make them even more effective in their roles. It will enable participants to: Overcome the barrier of the accountants' strange language Deal confidently with financial colleagues Improve their understanding of your organisation's finance function Radically improve their planning and budgeting skills Be much more aware of the impact of their decisions on the profitability of your organisation Enhance their role in the organisation Boost their confidence and career development 1 Review of the principal financial statements What each statement containsOutlineDetail Not just what the statements contain but what they mean Balance sheets and P&L accounts (income statements) Cash flow statements Detailed terminology and interpretation Types of fixed asset - tangible, etc. Working capital, equity, gearing 2 The 'rules' - Accounting Standards, concepts and conventions Fundamental or 'bedrock' accounting concepts Detailed accounting concepts and conventions What depreciation means The importance of stock, inventory and work in progress values Accounting policies that most affect reporting and results The importance of accounting standards and IFRS 3 Where the figures come from Accounting records Assets / liabilities, Income / expenditure General / nominal ledgers Need for internal controls 'Sarbox' and related issues 4 Managing the budget process Have clear objectives, remit, responsibilities and time schedule The business plan Links with corporate strategy The budget cycle Links with company culture Budgeting methods'New' budgetingZero-based budgets Reviewing budgets Responding to the figures The need for appropriate accounting and reporting systems 5 What are costs? How to account for them Cost definitions Full / absorption costing Overheads - overhead allocation or absorption Activity based costing Marginal costing / break-even - use in planning 6 Who does what? A review of what different types of accountant do Financial accounting Management accounting Treasury function Activities and terms 7 How the statements can be interpreted What published accounts contain Analytical review (ratio analysis) Return on capital employed, margins and profitability Making assets work - asset turnover Fixed assets, debtor, stock turnover Responding to figures EBIT, EBITEDIA, eps and other analysts' measure 8 Other key issues Creative accounting Accounting for groups Intangible assets - brand names Company valuations Fixed assets / leased assets / off-balance sheet finance