This workshop will help you improve the impact, clarity, accuracy and effectiveness of your sales proposals. It takes bid and proposal teams right through the process, from start to finish - from forming the team and gathering the information, through to writing and reviewing the proposal document, and on to presenting it to the client. The learning points shared in the programme come from the trainer's extensive real-world experience with a wide variety of businesses. As a result of attending this programme, participants will be able to: Write more clearly, more grammatically and more persuasively Structure their written communications more effectively Avoid the 'howlers' that can cost you business Impress your clients Win more business 1 Bid strategy How to combine your knowledge of the market or customer, your products and services, and your competitors, to create a quality bid New insights into your comparative advantages and competitive position in the marketplace Understanding more about how your client views you and other suppliers A plan of attack to build on your strengths and attack the weaknesses of your competition Dealing with RFP/ITT situations 2 Teamwork How a bid or proposal team needs to prioritise and manage preparation time Co-ordinating input from team members Agreeing responsibilities 3 The importance and role of a well-written sales proposal Why bother? - the value of the sales proposal to you and to the customer What the customer wants and needs to make a decision in your favour Understanding and delivering on customer expectations Review and discussion of different proposals - with real-life examples 4 The best way to structure your sales proposals A section-by-section, page-by-page review of best practice in structuring great sales proposals How to improve the way you match your proposal to the customer's objectives and requirements Plan your sales documents systematically - to make them easy to read and more persuasive How to make your proposal look like the 'least risky' option 5 Making your proposal a compelling and persuasive proposition Choosing the right words that sell effectively Selecting the right content and information for your document or proposal Using an option matrix to summarise complex choices and increase final order value How to write an executive summary 6 Well-written and error-free Developing your writing style for maximum impact Expressing the content (ie, selling points) clearly, concisely and correctly Proof-reading and editing work effectively, using formal marks and techniques Improving visual layout, format and appearance Keeping it customer-focused 7 Presenting to the client - overview Presentation options Understanding the client's objectives - as well as your own The proposal review meeting - logistics Managing to the next step Designing and delivering a compelling presentation Isolating objections and concerns Follow-up and follow-through 8 Positioning your final proposal Finalising your bid - presenting the right 'best few' USPs, features and benefits and making them relevant and real to the customer Smart ways to position price and be a strong player - without being the cheapest How to differentiate yourselves by how you present, as well as what you present How to design and deliver a successful bid presentation 9 Bid presentation practice session with structured feedback Participants work in small groups or pairs to prepare and later present a sample section from a real life bid or proposal presentation The trainer will provide assistance and input During group review and discussions, input from others will be encouraged and many best practice ideas summarised 10 Managing the end game How best to draw-out, understand, isolate and answer customer objections, negotiate points and concerns How to read the situation to plan the next step Identifying negotiation tactics - and how to deal with them Planning for a negotiation and how to get the customer feel they have the 'best deal' 11 Workshop summary and close
Wouldn't sales be a 'walk in the park' without challenging customers? Why is it that some customers are so difficult to please, so quick to call 'foul' at the slightest blip and so mean with their gratitude after we've bent over backwards to accommodate them? Whether we are looking at prospective or existing customers, there is a toolkit for dealing with the most challenging of them. This course will help participants: Use broad open questions to give the customer a platform for their opinions or issues Improve listening skills to really understand what's behind the customer's challenging style Probe specific phrases to show listening and earn deeper disclosure Use silence to let challenging customers 'blow off steam' Understand the negative impact of certain phrases on a challenging customer Summarise effectively and reassure the customer of our understanding of their needs Recognise the 'behaviour cycle' and avoid emotional escalation Understand 'transactional analysis' and how to bring people from 'child' to 'adult' state Create loyalty in customers who are slow to give trust 1 What makes a customer 'challenging'? Why customers challenge us - understanding their drivers 'Wearing their shoes' - seeing things from their perspective Understanding our own personality style How to flex with a style that is different from our own Ways to quickly recognise a customer's style The benefits of flexing with a challenging customer's style 2 Practical exercise - forum theatre Participants take it in turns to deal with the trainer (who plays the role of the challenging customer) Observers stop the action when they hear or see something they deem wrong The participant in the seat gets a chance to use a suggested alternative line The participant who makes the suggestion has the chance to occupy the seat and deliver it themselves Frequent feedback from the trainer as to how the participant's words are making him feel Opportunities to rewind the action if an ill-advised line is suggested and delivered Flipchart for capturing what worked, what didn't work and why Mehrabian principle - the importance of body language and tone over words used 3 Questioning and listening skills How to use open questions to get the customer talking What questions to avoid and why The use of pauses and silence to reduce tension and build trust What listening is and what it isn't Question funnelling - how to earn deeper disclosure through probing The power of summary 4 Transactional analysis explained What is transactional analysis (TA)? Exploring the TA states and why people behave in that way under pressure How to bring challenging customers to 'adult' state to reduce tension How 'parent' or 'child' behaviours can be inadvertently triggered Understanding the 'behavioural cycle' and how to break it Mini-role play 'vignettes' to demonstrate real time impact of ill-chosen words 5 How to build trust with challenging customers Techniques for placating current challenging customers Methods that the participants have already used effectively - understanding why those methods worked and how other participants can model them Participants' experiences of trust having been lost - understanding why those experiences had that negative outcome How to 'go the extra mile' with challenging customers 6 Bringing a 'real' challenging customer to life Participants give the trainer a brief profile of a specific challenging customer of theirs 5-10 minute roleplay in which the trainer brings that individual to life Observing participants - without interrupting - make notes on what is and isn't working Trainer stops the action half-way through to give feedback on how he is feeling Participant goes back into the roleplay having recalibrated their approach based on feedback Observers give feedback on what did and didn't work Trainer comes out of character to explain the impact of the participant's words and behaviours 7 Wrap-up Key learnings from each participant Individual action planning - steps that can and will be implemented in the workplace
Businesses that don't control their costs don't stay in business. How well are you doing? Is everyone in your organisation sufficiently aware of costs, managing them effectively and maximising opportunities to reduce them? If there is scope for improvement, this course will help get you back on track. It will demonstrate that cost reduction is so much more than cost control and cost cutting. True cost management is about being aware of costs, seeking to reduce them through good design and efficient operating practices whilst taking continuing action on overspending. This course will develop the participants' skills in: Being aware of costs at all times Seeking cost reduction from the start (including life-cycle costing) Appraising projects / production to identify and take out risk Understanding real budgeting Using techniques such as ZBB and ABC where appropriate Ensuring cost reports lead to action Managing a cost reduction process that delivers Benefits to the organisation will include: Identification of cost reduction and business improvement opportunities Better reporting and ownership of costs Greater awareness and control of everyday costs 1 Introduction - the cost management process The risks of poor cost control Capital and revenue costs The importance of cost awareness The importance of cost reduction Cost management - the key aspects How to build a cost management and control process checklist for your areas of responsibility 2 Cost removal - taking out costs Cost awareness Costs of poor design / poor processes Value engineering Removing redundant costs 3 The need for commercial, technical and financial appraisals Understand the problems before cash is committed and costs incurred Making the effort to identify commercial and technical risk The time value of money - DCF techniques for long term projects Cost models for production processes and projects Costing models - project appraisals The use of spreadsheets to identify sensitivity and risk How to focus on risk management 4 Budgeting - proper budgeting challenges costs The philosophy of the business - are costs an issue? The importance of having the right culture The need for detailed business objectives Budgetary control measures Designing budget reports - for action 5 Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) - the principles Much more than starting with a clean sheet of paper What ZBB can achieve The concept of decision packages - to challenge business methods and costs Only necessary costs should be incurred A review of an operating budget - demonstrating what ZBB challenges and the costs it may lead to being taken out 6 Awareness of overheads and other costs Definitions of cost - direct and indirect Dealing with overheads - what is meant by allocation, absorption or apportionment? The apparent and real problems with overheads Different ways of dealing with overheads Review of overhead allocation methods and accounting and reporting issues 7 Overheads and product costing Activity-based costing (ABC) - the principles Where and how the ABC approach may be helpful Know the 'true' cost of a product or a project Should you be in business? Will you stay in business? Identifying weaknesses in a traditional overhead allocation How ABC will help improve product or service costing Identifying which products and activities should be developed and which abandoned 8 Cost reduction culture The need for cost reports What measures can be used to identify over-spends as early as possible Cost control performance measures and ratios 9 Design of cost control reports Reports should lead to action and deliver Selecting cost control measures which can be acted upon Practice in designing action reports 10 Course summary - developing your own cost action plan Group and individual action plans will be prepared with a view to participants identifying their cost risks areas and the techniques which can be immediately applied to improve costing and reduce costs
We use it everyday but there are so many additional tools to save you time and make your work in Outlook more efficient and less stressful. Course overview Duration: 4 hours People tend to think they know how to use Outlook however there are so many lesser known features that can make working in Outlook so much more efficient. Simply understanding the layouts, how to turn things on and off and customising the environment to your preferences can save time and frustration. You then have search features, things such as conversation clean up and quick steps that can help to tidy up and organise what you do. Objectives By the end of the course you will be able to: Customise Outlook to your preferences Manage email conversations Setup and use Quick Steps Create folders and organise information Setup rules Search for information Work effectively with calendars Content Customising the user interface Using the Navigation Pane and “To-do Bar” Setting folder pane options Adding favourites Peak preview Customising the quick access bar Setting reading pane and message preview Customizing email mail views Using the field chooser Email options Email conversations Conversation clean up Using Quick Steps Creating folders and organising information Setting email options Setting up rules Searching for information Using the Search bar Setting what to search for Setting where to search Searching for categories Adding more search options Working with calendars Setting what to view Using Schedule View Setting calendar options Weather bar Adding different time zones Adding meetings and appointments Setting up and using categories Opening other people’s calendars Setting calendar permissions Calendar groups Working with Tasks Lists Setting task options Adding and amending tasks Setting dates, deadlines and reminders Adding attachments to tasks Assigning tasks to others Flagging tasks Using and setting Quick Click Recurring tasks Flagging emails to appear on your task list Converting emails to tasks Converting tasks to calendar appointments
Ideal for those already using Excel but who really want to get to grips with formulas and functions. Course overview Duration: 1 day (6.5 hours) Our Excel Mastering Formulas and Functions course looks at how to confidently use formulas and functions within Excel. It looks at how to correctly construct formulas and explains how to build common formulas such as working with percentages. It investigates a range of built in Excel functions and shows you how to use the formula auditing tools to help when things go wrong. This course is aimed at existing users of Excel who want to further their skills. Participants should be able to confidently create and amend worksheets. Objectives By the end of the course you will be able to: Construct Formulas Use a range of common Functions Work with absolute and relative references in formulas Create percentage calculations Use named ranges in formulas Use the XLOOKUP command Create formulas with date and use date functions Use formulas in conditional formatting Use a range of Count functions Use the formula auditing tools Content Formulas vs Functions Constructing formulas Using functions Common Excel functions Using the function wizard vs the formula bar Formulas in tables Absolute vs relative references in formulas Using absolute references in formulas Using partial absolute referencing Range Naming Naming ranges Using range names in formulas Single and multi-cell ranges Working with percentages Creating formulas with percentages Percentage breakdowns Percentage increases Formatting as a percentage Using Lookups Using XLOOKUP to insert information from other spreadsheets Calculating with dates Calculating with dates Using date functions Using formulas in conditional formatting Using conditional formulas Using functions in conditional formatting Count functions COUNT COUNTA COUNTBLANK Formula auditing Using the auditing facility Tracing how formulas are made up Tracing precedents and dependants Evaluating formulas Error checking Showing formulas on a sheet
Learn how create and structure enterprise projects and programmes. Course overview Duration: 2 days (13 hours) Our P6 Project Planning and Controls Fundamentals course is an intensive two day course aimed at experienced planners and project controllers who need to use Primavera to create and manage detailed plans. It includes creating EPS levels, projects, WBS levels and detailed activity and resource planning. Experience of project planning and scheduling techniques is essential. Objectives By the end of the course you will be able to: Create a programme structure Create projects and set project properties Create programme milestones Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Create detailed plans including activities, links and resources Progress the schedule Manage actuals Customise layouts Use the reporting tools in Primavera Content Programme Management Creating EPS elements Defining the programme structure Navigating the EPS structure Finding programmes Project Management and WBS Creating projects Setting project properties Validating projects Assigning project codes Building a work breakdown structure Creating a WBS structure Creating WBS elements Work package management Top Down budgets Allocating top down budgets Budget change Programming milestones and activity planning Creating programme milestones Setting constraints Linking milestones Scheduling Using the schedule function Detailed activity planning Creating activities Relationship types Creating relationships Adding milestones Assigning activity codes Resourcing, workloads and baselining Resource types Creating resources Resource attributes Assigning resources Switching resources Split load resource assignment Reduced hours resource assignment Checking workload Reviewing workload Dealing with resource conflicts Assignments view Baselining Creating baselines Assigning baselines Working with layouts Creating layouts Customising columns Setting filters Sorting and grouping Changing the timescale Customising the Gantt Creating activity code breakdown structures Progressing the schedules Updating task status and remaining duration Setting the data date Monitoring and reporting Exporting and importing information Primavera standard reports Creating custom reports Creating portfolios Printing Printing your schedule Printing to other packages
Discover the more complex features of Word for long document creation. Course overview Duration: 1 day (6.5 hours) Our Word Document Production (Part 2) course shows you some of the more advanced features of Word that are key for long document creation. This course will enable you to create longer, more complex documents with ease, including adding cross references, headers and footers and a table of contents. This course is aimed at existing Word users who have attended our Word Document Production (Part 1) course or have equivalent knowledge and who want to extract the most out of the package. Objectives By the end of the course you will be able to: Create, amend and use templates Use styles for easy formatting Work with section breaks Manage linked headers and footers Insert pictures and objects Add cross references Create a table of contents Use tracked changes Content Creating templates Creating templates Using templates Amending templates Using styles in templates Adding styles to a template Using Heading Styles Managing Styles Applying template style changes directly from a document Copying styles between templates Working with different types of section break Next page section breaks Odd and even section breaks Inserting page numbers, headers and footers Creating custom headers and footers Inserting fields Using Section breaks Dynamic linking between Sections Page numbering in Sections Graphics Inserting pictures Inserting objects from other packages Object text wrapping options Picture options Adding cross references Creating cross references Creating a table of contents Generating a table of contents Setting table of contents styles Updating a table of contents Track changes Setting track changes Accepting and rejecting changes Viewing comments The reviewing pan
Discover the amazing features this tool has to offer in combining, collating and editing documents and the forms, markups and redaction techniques available. Duration 1 day (6.5 hours) Overview This Adobe Acrobat course looks at the powerful features of the tool quite often overlooked. The course requires the use of either the Standard or Professional versions of Acrobat as the free Acrobat Reader only has limited functionality. Learn how to combine documents into a single file, edit and mark up PDFs, compare documents, redact data from documents and create fillable forms. Objectives By the end of the course you will be able to: Create PDFs from other tools Set security Collate and combine files into a single PDF Edit PDF files Complete and sign documents Create fillable forms Mark up PDF documents Compare files Redact data Content Creating PDFs Building PDF documents from Word, Excel and PowerPoint Setting PDF options for print, image quality and security Working in Acrobat Home, Tools and Document Views Using the Navigation Panel and Pane Floating toolbar and Contextual menus Collating and Combining Files Combining multiple files into a single PDF Adding extra files Deleting pages and reorganising pages Editing Files Editing text and graphics Adding text and images Adding headers and footers, watermarks and backgrounds Adding Links Adding manual links Automatic links Completing and signing documents Using fill and sign to complete forms Adding signatures Creating Fillable and Signable Forms Prepare a form Autodetect fillable fields Add manual fillable fields Adding drop downs, check boxes, etc. Naming fields Setting field properties Previewing the form Marking Up Documents Marking up changes Using sticky notes Using the highlighter pen Adding stamps Attaching documents and audio Replying to comments Comparing Files Selecting settings Comparison report Reviewing differences Using the changes pane Redacting Data (Acrobat Professional only) Setting redaction options Redacting chosen text Searching and redacting words, phrases or patterns Redacting whole pages Applying redaction
About this Training Course Asset maintenance and equipment reliability teams play a significant role to ensure that there is no room for downtime and losses in production. They are often recognised for their contribution and ability to keep assets running productively in today's organisations. This 4 full-day Certificate in Asset Management course will provide those involved in Asset Management with a full explanation of the key processes to manage assets across their lifecycle. This course has been designed to equip participants with practical skills to take back to work. This course enables participants to ensure their organisation's assets are realising their full value in support of the organisation's objectives. Accredited by the Institute of Asset Management (IAM), this course will prepare participants to sit for the IAM Asset Management Certificate qualification. The IAM exam is offered as an option for participants of this course. Training Objectives Upon completion of this course, the participants will be able to: Understand the key principles, tools and terminology of Asset Management, and demonstrate how it will benefit their organisation Gain familiarity in the application of ISO 55000 in practice Access a range of models that will support the implementation of asset management in their organisation Have their understanding of Asset Management tools and concepts assessed Learn new Asset Management skills and models that will enhance their current performance Be better prepared for the Institute of Asset Management (IAM) Certificate Examination Target Audience This course will benefit maintenance managers, operations managers, asset managers and reliability professionals, planners and functional specialists. It will also be useful for facilities engineers, supervisors/managers and structural engineers/supervisors/ and managers. Course Level Basic or Foundation Training Methods Other than world-class visuals and slides, this course will include a high level of interaction between the facilitator and participants and group discussion among the participants themselves. There will be a number of exercises & quizzes to demonstrate key points and to give participants the chance to apply learning and appreciate key aspects of best practice. Participants will also have the chance to share examples from their own experience, discuss real problems they are facing and develop actions for improvement when they return to work. Trainer Your expert course leader is a is a highly experienced in maintenance and turnaround specialist. He is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, having spent 19 years working for BP in engineering, maintenance and turnaround management roles. During this time, he worked on plants at all ages in the lifecycle, from construction, commissioning and operating new assets to maintaining aging assets and decommissioning. He has taken roles in Projects, Human Resources and Integrity Management which give real breadth to his approach. He also specialized in Continuous Improvement, gaining the award of International Petrochemical Coach of the year. He stays up to date with the latest industrial developments through his consulting support for major clients. He is also the Asset Management lead and a VILT specialist, having delivered over 70 days of VILT training in the last year. He has an engaging style and will bring his current industrial experience, proficiency of VILT techniques and diverse content, gathered from a comprehensive training portfolio, to deliver a distinctive training experience. 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
Explore the key concepts of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) with our expert-led course designed for professionals. Learn how to seamlessly incorporate sustainable practices into your business strategy and enhance your corporate responsibility. Gain the tools and insights necessary to effectively implement ESG initiatives within your organisation. Join now and lead the change towards a more sustainable future!