3 Steps To Efficient Negotiation Skills

Negotiation skills training is beneficial only for sales professionals. Do you agree with that? I hope not!

Negotiation skills are essential for each and every one of us as we need to negotiate with various people in our professional and personal lives. In fact, you’ll realise we do it even more with our parents, spouse, children, vegetable vendor, etc. Right? Ever asked your parents for a Goa trip and received ‘no’ for an answer? Hahaha! Now you get what I mean!

On a serious note, we all need to be good at negotiation. And if these skills come to you naturally, great! But if they don’t? Then that’s what negotiation skills training programs are for.

In this article, we are going to discuss the 3 steps that are essential in any negotiation situation.

Step 1: Preparation

It’s important that for a negotiation to happen successfully, one needs to be fully prepared. You must have all the required information with regards to your own position, why it’s important to you and how far you are ready to budge on it.  The opposing party’s interests and limitations are also important for you to know. Also, think about what can be done if the negotiation is not successful for some reason. Prepare multiple alternatives solutions also for the same, so that you can increase the chances of a successful negotiation.

Step 2: Development

In this step, both the parties exchange information, ideas and their point of views. Make it a point to listen carefully to what the other person is saying. Ask clarifying questions to ensure that you’re both on the same page. This the phase where disagreements take place and conflicts may erupt. Stay assertive and avoid getting aggressive or falling into a passive stance. The objective here is to come up with a solution that is beneficial to both the parties. One also needs to be very patient during this phase as it can go on for quite some time and can lead to some pretty difficult discussions coming forth. Don’t try to rush this phase. Let things emerge.

Step 3: Close

This is the decision-making phase of the process. In this phase, there are two possibilities. Either there will be an agreement, or the negotiation will not come through. One needs to ensure that all the issues are dealt with clearly between both the parties and there are no discrepancies. In a professional set up, it is recommended to document the discussion. This process can be concluded by determining and finalizing the further plan of action.

I have explained these steps very briefly. For being able to actually negotiate effectively, one needs to learn the process in detail and practice it too. A negotiation skills training program is therefore highly recommended for all those that face such situations often. It gives some great insights into your negotiation style and how you can improve the same along with giving you practice. And that’s when you can truly become a master of negotiation, even if it’s not a skill that comes naturally to you!

The Team Building Skill Will Lead You To The Summit Of Success

A lot of importance is given to corporate team building training. Organisations might miss out on various other skills, but they never forget to conduct a team building training session at least once a year for their teams.

So, is the team building skill really that important? And how much does it really contribute to our overall growth and career?

In my experience, the team building skill can take you places. I am not kidding when I say you can easily find a leader but finding a good team player is difficult! Everyone wants to be a great leader but there are hardly any people who say they want to be great followers. And we know leaders are nothing if they don’t have loyal followers.

Being a great team player is nothing less than being a great leader. And frankly, there are very few people who can work effectively in teams and perform their best. By their best, I mean, giving their 100% and supporting other team members to give their 100% too. And that’s what makes up an ideal team.

Corporate team building trainings helps in various areas. Not just professionally but personally too. In fact, I would say a team building training is a complete ‘development package’ for every participant.  And not just helps you excel in your workplace but in your personal life and generally in society too.

The cherry on the cake is that corporate team building training are the most fun training of them all. And provides a great combination, one of learning and lots of fun. So, while they give you a chance to learn more about where you are as a team and where you can reach and how, they also provide a chance to bond with one another. A bong that gives the team a solid foundation and makes the team stick together through thick and thin!

So, what’s your take on this? What has your experience been of corporate team building training?

5 Components Of A Successful Sales Training Program

I was creating a virtual sales training program yesterday. We already have an amazing 4-day classroom sales workshop in place. Therefore, I was picking up bits and pieces from it, and seeing what I can use successfully in the online session.

While doing my pick and chose activity, I did come across one or two activities in the classroom sales training program which I realised could not be delivered in the online format. However, contrary to my earlier apprehension, most of it could!

And this brings me to my topic today. The components of a successful sales training program delivered in the classroom or online. So here goes…

1.       Practice – Practice is one of those things that a sales training program or any skill related or behavioural program for that matter, can’t do without! It has to be an essential part of the session and should come post teaching a new skill or behaviour. This, however, can tend to get a little difficult when it comes to a virtual session as the participants are not physically next to one another. Nonetheless, its worth putting in the effort to figure out how best you can do this based on the options available on your online platform.

2.       Awareness – Every sales professional has their own strengths and areas of development. And no matter what level they reach, its important that they know about them. It is therefore essential that every sales training program or sales management training gives the sales executive or manager insights into these.

3.       Market Standards – Now this is one area that I have always seen participants being inquisitive about. And they make it a point to ask the facilitator in every sales training program what their competitors are doing or in general what practices are being followed by others in sales. And if you ask me, its amazing what insights they pick up and start applying from the same. Which also brings me to my next point…

4.       Newness – For executives who are attending their first sales training program, they are definitely going to learn something new. But for a Sales Manager who has attended many programs before, its important that the Sales Management training teaches them something new. For example, you can teach them how to manage their sales team rather than just managing the sales pipeline.  This will surely be a value add for them.

5.       Holistic – A corporate sales training program must cover all the aspects of sales. Right from grooming to attitude to etiquette to managing numbers. After all, all of these together create a great sale and should therefore not be left to chance!

4 Things To Know Before Choosing The Best HR Consultancy In Mumbai

Choosing an HR consultancy for your organisation can be tricky, especially if you are a small organisation.  You want the best, yet its important that you keep within your budget. Which makes selection a crucial step and one that you must do with utmost care.

Like any other firm, HR consultancies come in all shapes and sizes. And could be ranging from a one- man army to a huge organisation.  It’s up to you to analyse your requirement well and chose an HR consultancy that fits the bill well.

Need some help? Well let me give you some pointers that can help you boil down your choices.

1. Experience – This is by far the most important step. Its essential that the HR Consultant or Consultancy has enough experience on board, especially if they are going to look after your entire HR function. A little grey can also add a lot when it comes to increasing the importance given to the HR in the boardroom as well as while making company announcements!

Also check the kind of clients that the HR Consulting firm has worked with in the past. If they have prior experience working with a client from your industry, it’s definitely a point to consider. It will be easier for them to understand your problems and may even be able to apply tools that they have used in the past.

2. Range of Offerings – The broader the experience of the HR consultancy, the better. This means that they can manage and advise you on a larger number of HR functions. Some of the areas where they should be able to offer you their services are Recruitment, Selection, Compensation and Benefits, Performance Management, Training, Employee Engagement, HR Policies, Industrial Relations (if that is something you need currently or many need in the future), etc.

 3. Firm Size – This is also important depending upon your need. If you have an HR department in place but just require the assistance and advice of an experienced HR professional, then you can manage with a single HR Consultant. However, if you want to outsource your entire HR department, then you need a firm with a larger number of consultants.

4. Comfort – An HR Consultant’s role is extremely important in an organisation. They need to be able to manage employees at various levels, right from the Senior Management to the workforce. Therefore, it’s important that you select a Consultant or Firm that can connect with employees at various levels, understand their challenges and provide appropriate solutions.

Hope these points helped. Would love to hear some of your experiences😊

Great Ideas For Starting A Conversation

Many of us face challenges when it comes to starting a conversation with someone, especially introverts. It becomes super difficult to start talking about anything when you are not much of a talker. And unfortunately, a lot of communication skills training programs miss out on this aspect.

When you attend a business meeting or meet someone for work, it is considered rude to jump directly to the point. Creating an environment where people feel comfortable through what we commonly call ‘small talk’ is extremely important. We are humans at the end of the day, not robots, right?

Also, the most important reason behind small talk is building rapport with the person. Rapport building is extremely essential in business and non-business encounters and is a great way to build and expand your network. And our communication skills play a very important role in building rapport with people around us.

There are some communication skills trainings that help you in learning how to start a conversation. In fact, you might be able to figure out what to say by simply typing ‘how to start a conversation’ in Google search and will get multiple options. But the real ‘how’ is different from the ‘what,’ which we often mistake as the ‘how’! As apart from just ‘what’ you say, which pertains to the words we use, there are other aspects too like ‘how’ you say it, which could be the tone, body language, etc., which are equally important. And that’s what a good communication skills training will actually teach you.

So, today we are going to talk more about the ‘how’. We are going to discuss certain do’s and dont’s of starting a conversation. This list will give you some good ideas on ‘how to start a conversation’.

·         Observe the person. Anything you observe that is unique, interesting or something related to the person can become your opening sentence. 

·         Look for something that could be of common interest between you and the other person.

·         Compliment the person. Compliments are a great way of starting conversations because everyone likes being complimented and can be a great conversation starter. It also creates a warm environment and makes the person more open towards you and what you have to say. Just don’t go over the top with anything. And be careful while complementing introverts, some may get a little uncomfortable with the attention they are receiving!

·         If you have a good sense of humour, then you can crack a good joke. But be careful. Your joke should not be offensive or controversial. It should be light and must consider the other person interest.

·         In fact, never start with anything negative or controversial. Topics like politics, religion, gender, etc. are a big no for conversation starters or even during the conversation. People are not open to such topics and may be opinionated. And you could land up in an argument rather than a conversation!

·         A personal request, please don’t start with the weather. It’s become such a cliché and everyone knows where your trying to head with it!

These are just a few points that can help you open a conversation. There are many more such pointers. And a proper communication skills training is the platform where you can get and practice them.

The Importance Of Training The Trainer

We have been under a lockdown for quite some time now and frankly have no idea of how much longer this is going to continue. One thing, however, we know for sure is, that it’s definitely going to take some more time before things get back to normal. And to ensure that learning continues in the meanwhile, we have started offering our clients virtual instructor-led trainings. One of them being virtual train the trainer workshops.

Some of you may be wondering how attending a train the trainer program can be useful at such a time. Especially when many trainers and training managers are on the verge of losing their jobs and assignments due to this pandemic. In fact, most companies have stopped conducting trainings altogether and are now cutting down on their training budgets to survive the recession. How then could train the trainer programs be important in such a time?

Firstly, not all companies have cut down on training and development. They understand the importance of training and developing their employees in times like these, to prepare them for what’s coming ahead. And are making use of various online learning options like e-learning and webinars to serve this purpose.

However, what we have realised is, that though e-learning and other online training options help in learning and upgrading, they are not as effective as classroom trainings. In a classroom you directly interact with the trainer, perform activities, share and discuss with other participants, etc. which helps improve assimilation, retention and overall learning. Hence, we thought of taking our classrooms online. So, you can still interact with the trainer and do almost all those things that you do in a classroom training, virtually. Now, isn’t that great?

And that’s also the reason why train the trainer workshops need to be held currently. To teach trainers how to successfully design and deliver virtual instructor led training. The way to approach such sessions is slightly different from classroom sessions. And can be challenging if you are unaware of the ways to effectively conduct instructor-led online trainings.

Times are changing, and we all need to keep upgrading ourselves to keep up. The same goes for the training community too. And that’s why attending a virtual train the trainer program is extremely important and one that we are all going to need to attend sooner or later!

3 Simple Time Management Tips for Sales Managers

Salespeople are always put through a lot of sales skills trainings and negotiation skills trainings. But to be the best at selling they also require other soft and behavioural skills trainings too. One such training is time management training.

Managing time is a problem for a lot of people. And if we talk about sales managers, most of them struggle with that skill. Sales executives and managers have a lot on their plate at all points of time. You may have even noticed that many of them stay in a firefighting mode most of the time. Hence, time management training is a very important program for salespeople.

There are few things that sales professionals need help with while managing time. And if I were to give them some time management tips, they will be as follows:

To Do List:

This is something that they miss out on big time. Creating a to do list is a very good habit, not just for sales professionals but each one of us. It helps in having all the tasks that we need to accomplish in the day in front of us rather than being left to memory. That way we don’t miss out on any and can plan our day accordingly. So, for all those salespeople who have tried to create to do lists and dropped it because you realised you never followed it, I urge you to try again. And be sure you make use of the next step to strengthen it and increase your chances of going by it!

Prioritisation:

Once the to do list is made, the next logical step is to prioritise these tasks based on their urgency and importance. There are many prioritisation tools that one can learn and use. I highly recommend the time management matrix. Prioritisation helps in figuring out which tasks need your attention first and which ones can be eliminated. This helps focus on what’s important and giving the time wasters a miss. Be sure to also keep some buffer time. You never know when a meeting can get extended or your travel time between meetings increases! Also remember to apply prioritisation to your e-mails. It will help you save a lot of time.

Focus:

A big issue many salespeople tend to face is lack of focus. Although I would say it’s pretty much become a worldwide phenomenon with the levels of connectivity that we have! This means many of us spend more time surfing on the internet or on social media just to get a break from our over connectedness at work! In general also, technology and our fast paced life has made us impatient. This makes it difficult for us to pay attention to anything for too long and we land up moving to the next customer without giving enough attention to the current one. And we know how dangerous and detrimental to our sales that can be. So, be sure to take time off your screen and disconnect from work. Practice techniques to keep you in the present moment and watch how they magically increase your focus and in turn customer delight!

Tips to identify best soft skills training companies in Bangalore

Training and developing employees is becoming difficult day by day, during these lockdown times. And soft skills training companies in Bangalore and the rest of the country are trying their best to come up with various solutions to best deal with the situation.

Times are tough the world over. However, the risk is even higher in a country like ours, considering its size and population. A major effect is on the metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, etc. as most of the corporates, MNCs, small and mid-sized businesses are located in these big cities. In most of these cities, forget about attending training programs, employees are not even in a position to go to office for daily work!

But do you think this situation can really put a pause to people’s need for constant development and upgradation as it currently has? Don’t you think when all of this is over, we are going to need our entire workforce to be extra productive and ready to cover up for all the losses we have incurred during these times? And do you think they will be able to do that?

I personally feel this is a good time to invest in learning and development. And organisations should arrange for online or virtual instructor led trainings for their employees to ensure that they are making the best use of their time. But are organisations really doing that?

While some organisations are busy contacting corporate training companies in Bangalore and other cities for arranging classroom sessions post the lockdown, others have started giving virtual instructor led trainings a thought. They realise that their employees have time on their hands currently and can devote undivided attention to upgrading themselves. Therefore, opting for virtual sessions till the situation improves is a good option.

And you know the best part about these online instructors led trainings? Firstly, you have an expert who is teaching you in person and therefore the session is more engaging than an e-learning module. It also provides you the opportunity to clear your queries there and then by having the facilitator answer you during the training. Secondly, you don’t require the services of a local soft skills training company. You can access the expertise of a trainer from any part of the country. Which gives you the best from the comfort of your home!

Corporate training companies in Bangalore and Mumbai are setting themselves up fast to embrace this challenge. Now, how do you identify whether these corporate training companies in Bangalore and Mumbai are the best for your organisation?

Start off by looking at the kind of work the corporate training company has done in Bangalore. Which companies have they worked with in the past and which sectors have they catered to. Apart from that, which solutions is the company offering. And most importantly, if the corporate training company is interested in understanding your real need and challenges and customizing the entire program for your people.

How can I find the best corporate training company in Kolkata?

Like all other metropolitan cities in India, there are a large number of corporate training companies in Kolkata. And if you ask me, I will say many of them are really good at corporate training. They have been a part of the training industry for a long time now and have served a large number of corporate clients. They also offer a large number of training solutions and offer exceptional training quality.

So, how do you separate the good from the best? And what are some of the traits of the best corporate training companies in Kolkata? Well, let me tell you...

Traits of the best corporate training companies in Kolkata

·         Passion – Yes, this is a major driving force behind every successful organisation. In fact, it’s not just an organisation, it’s also the secret ingredient of every successful individual recipe. If you feel strongly and are passionate about what you do, you are sure to face every challenge that you meet on your way to success head on. And that not only takes you far in life and makes you the best in your area of expertise, but also becomes a great inspiration for your participants.

·         Love for Learning – This is number two on my list and also gets fuelled by a burning passion. If you have a desire to keep learning, you’re sure to constantly upgrade your skills and knowledge. This means more self-experimentation and a keen interest in offering new tools and techniques to participants that actually work. This again takes the corporate training company forward and also gives the participants the sweet fruit of their love of learning.

·         Connect – Being able to connect with our participants is extremely important. If you have the best knowledge but are unable to share it appropriately, you really won’t get very far. Connect is in fact a quality that you would also want to feel in your interactions with the training company prior to the workshop. It builds comfort and creates the openness that is required for understanding the participant’s needs and challenges. This can then be used for building an appropriate session for them around the same.

What other traits do you think are important when selecting a great corporate training company in Kolkata or any other city for that matter? We would love to hear your experiences uand what you feel...

Benefits of corporate training for organisation and employees

Corporate training companies nowadays are working hard towards employee and organisation development. They are constantly coming up with new ways to improve training effectiveness by making training easier to understand and assimilate.

So, why are they putting in so much effort? Does corporate soft skills training really benefit employees that much? And does it really contribute that much to organisation development?

The answer to all of those questions is yes. Corporate training and organisation development interventions have the potential to take an organisation and its employees to the next level. How? Let’s see…

• Individual Growth – Every employee wants to be really good at what he does, for their company and themselves. They want their organisation to be able to give their customers the best products and best experience. And this can only happen when every employee has the required knowledge, skills and attitude for the same.
  Corporate training and other interventions like coaching therefore focus on enhancing each of these areas. They help employees sharpen their current skills and learn new ones. This not only helps them be the best at what they do in their current roles, but also opens up new avenues and career paths for them. Thus, corporate training companies play a major role in the development of employees and in turn their organisation. 

• Team Growth – With organisations expanding every day, being a team player is no longer an option. It has now become a necessity. And unless a team can perform well together, it will become very difficult for them to contribute to the organisation’s development.
  Team building and other interventions help teams understand one another and make use of their diversity to form a single cohesive force. And when teams work like clockwork together, we all know what kinds of results they can produce and how they benefit everyone!

• Organisation Growth – With individuals and teams working together optimally, organisations grow and develop well. They are able to continually improve customer service and generate more business. Profits increase and in turn the organisation and its employees gain in expertise and salaries!
  And when an organisation wants to take a larger step, there are organisation development services they can opt for. These can create organisation-wide breakthroughs that have amazing results.

Thus corporate training and organisation development services create a win-win for employees, their customers, vendors, the entire organisation and society as a whole. So now you know why corporate training companies do what they do!