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!