Training tips that triumph
Memory science, microlearning and what actually makes workplace training stick.
Creating mortgage sales success
Staying ahead in the mortgage market is something no lender or broker can afford to ignore. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show 40,600 loans were granted in February 2015, worth a value of £6.8 billion to the industry. This is a big market, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get a slice of. The key point to consider is that borrowers have a choice of who they turn to for their mortgage. Simply offering competitive products isn’t enough, which is why you will need to be creative when it comes to your sales strategies. It’s essential to stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons, but how can you ensure that this is the case? First impressions count As the saying goes, you only have seven seconds to make a good first impression, and this is certainly true for the nation’s mortgage lenders. Meeting clients face to face is the ideal opportunity to show that you’re the lender for them. It might sound obvious, but simple steps such as shaking their hand and giving eye contact can all work in your favour. It also pays to be polite and make customers feel welcome. Although you might
Improve medical customer service for success
With healthcare never too far away from the headlines, it’s hardly surprising that national attention has shifted towards customer service standards within the sector. You don’t have to look far to find scandal on excessive waiting times or procedures being cancelled, but should customer service really be a priority for the profession? It could be argued that the nation’s doctors and nurses are providing a service, which therefore requires them to offer a certain level of courtesy and compassion. But would this be a distraction to providing care with the speed and accuracy the public has come to expect? Customer service is not something any organisation can fail to overlook, regardless of whether it’s in the public or private sector. Providing a better service should be high on the agenda for the medical profession, and these strategies could help you move towards this goal. Encourage courtesy at all levels It’s not enough for primary caregivers to be the ones providing top quality customer service, it needs to run right through every aspect of your healthcare facility. From the receptionist working on the front desk to the pharmacist responsible for putting together prescriptions, making sure you adopt a holistic approach to
Leadership training can help to boost sales
Effective leadership can be make or break for an organisation. Having someone who is great at their job heading up a business is just what it needs to move in the right direction, but as with every role, it’s essential not to stop learning. The fact is that the corporate world is changing all the time, bringing new challenges that even the most experienced of leaders can find it difficult to overcome. This is where training really comes into its own. Staying ahead of the curve and being able to deal even with the most contemporary of challenges is just what a business needs to remain relevant and competitive. Of course, a competitive business will also see its sales increase, not least because customers recognise the added value that is on offer. Getting to this stage, however, requires ongoing training for even the most effective of managers. Here are some areas in which you might want to focus your attention for improved sales success. Get recruitment right The first step to boosting sales is to make sure you have the right staff on side. This may involve taking a closer look at your recruitment strategies, and if there is room
Banking sales: Why training matters
Seeing as the financial industry has received a fair bit of criticism and negative press in recent years, banks are finding it more and more difficult to attract customers and achieve sales. Certain sections of the general pubic are becoming increasingly disillusioned with how the city works and don’t have much faith in the majority of today’s biggest banking institutions. On top of that, most customers prefer to bank online, as this is much easier and convenient. Few have the time or inclination to go into their local branch in order to see account statements, apply for a loan, transfer money or speak to an adviser. Therefore, new and novel approaches are often required to gain trust and secure business. But how can this be achieved? Well, it starts with training and coaching your sales team. These employees remain pivotal to a bank’s success, even if numerous branches are deciding to adjust their operating models so that sales staff double up as cashiers or customer service representatives. Changes like this might improve efficiency, but they will do little to increase turnover and boost bottom-line performance. This is only possible by having a confident and competent sales team, capable of taking
Does the human mind have a finite capacity?
Despite the fact that several of us have trouble remembering certain facts or recalling moments in time, some people believe that the human brain is capable of retaining an infinite amount of information. Neuroscientists have long sought to quantify the brain’s storage capacity. Despite their efforts, outliers emerge, showcasing extraordinary cognitive abilities with their unique minds, defying conventional assessments. The capacity to remember Nowadays, most of us own a mobile phone or have the resources to look up contact details of friends and family members, which means we don’t need to remember telephone numbers anymore. However, if you asked Chao Lu of China to memorise and recall your address book, he would probably stand a fairly good chance. In 2005, the 24-year-old graduate student managed to remember 67,980 digits of pi in a 24-hour stretch and didn’t even take a bathroom break. In addition to just numbers, certain intellectuals can also call to mind complex visual scenes or in-depth details about previous events. But this isn’t always down to training the mind through hours of study. Acquired savant syndrome is when healthy people suffer an injury and suddenly gain incredible recollection powers. Take Orlando Serrell for example, who was hit
How to make B2B sales training more engaging
Despite the fact that B2B sales training has good intentions, members of staff can struggle to see this. For them, it means being away from their desks and missing out on commissions to watch powerpoint presentations and listen to a lecturer. This doesn’t benefit anyone. The business will waste valuable capital on pointless teaching while employees will grow disillusioned with their job roles. Therefore, more and more organisations are starting to adjust their outlook on B2B sales training and adopt new approaches. But how can you get your workforce excited about training and more engaged when learning new skills or expertise? Well, here are some suggestions. Inject excitement by introducing games While making lucrative sales and closing in on deals, your staff are bound to be quite animated and lively. They need to be enthusiastic about the company’s product or services and high-spirited in order to coax prospects into making a decision. But as soon as they enter a training environment, buoyant and bubbly personalities soon disappear, as the passive nature of most teaching methods is enough to make employees fall asleep. To address this problem, think about injecting excitement into training by introducing some games. Get your workforce out
Advancing your customer service training
Regardless of an organisation’s size or sector, its success will rely on happy and satisfied customers. If treated with respect and given the attention they deserve, purchasers and patrons will keep on coming back for more. With any luck, they’ll also tell one or two people about their favourable experience and recommend your business to even more potential clientele. But even if contented customers speak highly of your business, this positivity could be outweighed by negative comments. People are much more likely to leave bad reviews or condemn a company if they didn’t receive a suitable level of service. What’s more, it is much more difficult to rectify a substandard reputation than maintain a favourable one. Therefore, customer service should be considered a priority for every business. However saying this is one thing and getting your staff to actually translate the company’s culture into action is another. Thankfully, this can be achieved through appropriate training. Having said that, this creates another problem. Certain members of staff won’t be very receptive to traditional training techniques and can lose interest very quickly. This is particularly true if they consider it to be a temporary position or don’t have much passion for the
Can sales training make an impact?
From ordering more stock and improving product quality to upgrading essential equipment and opening new premises, there are several areas of a business where money can be spent. All of these will attempt to make an impact, whether it’s to enhance the customer experience or boost employee productivity. But at the end of the day, profit and prosperity will come down to one thing – sales. Failing to generate enough money through the sale of products and services will cause any business to collapse. To ensure a steady stream of sales are being achieved, there are a number of different options. However, investing in sales training can be the most effective and influential. The problem with this is that various organisations and their employees have a rather unfavourable view of training. Some view it as a pointless waste of time, while others feel disengaged and uninterested with the whole process, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. If carried out in the right way, using the right teaching techniques and learning methods, sales training can have an extremely beneficial impact on any organisation’s activity. Best practices for increasing sales training impact Lead by example If your sales team can
Creating an online presence
Back in the good old days of retail, shop owners and chain stores only had to worry about getting customers to walk through the door. This could be achieved by reaching out to local consumers through traditional forms of marketing such as print advertising or radio commercials. Then, more and more outlets and emporiums started to offer mail-order services for their products, which could be viewed in a catalogue or seen on television. Once more, this was another way for retailers to increase exposure and improve turnover. But today, things are incredibly different and it is all because of the Internet. No matter where you are in the world, it is almost always possible to order something online, regardless of the retailer’s location, and have it delivered straight to your door. While this brings about a wide range of benefits for stockists and suppliers, it also poses a number of problems, one of the biggest being presence. Never before has there been such an extensive and overwhelming sales platform that anybody can trade on. So, in this sizeable and substantial environment, how on earth can you create an online presence? Create top-notch high-quality content Ask any marketer what is
The benefits of customer service training
Even though customer service has the potential to boost buyer satisfaction and change someone’s perception of an organisation, it is often overlooked. For several businesses, making a profit is the only thing that matters, which means training usually revolves around sales staff and how they can close more deals. However, customer service goes above and beyond the point of purchase. It concerns the activities before, during and after an individual decides to buy a product or service. For this reason, customer service training can be a hugely beneficial thing to invest in, as by its very nature, looks to enhance the way a business serves what brings in money. Although the importance of customer service will differ depending on the product, service, industry, company and customer, there is almost always room for improvement. In most cases, customer service representatives must be able to give assistance to various personalities and characters. At the same time, they must reflect the core values of the organisation and adhere to the company culture. Striking the right balance between these two traits isn’t easy, especially when members of staff also need to know about product information and details about delivery, warranties or other customer questions.
Chloe Britton joins Wranx as our Brand Manager!
As a new exciting company, Jon Davies was looking for somebody to be the online presence for everything Wranx and thought a graduate would be ideal so contacted John Hall CEO of Professional Liverpool for support. With a clear objective to promote professional excellence in Liverpool and the City Region they facilitate the development of business and personal relationships among its members enabling access to a variety of support services. John having worked closely with Anne Donnelly, Business Development Manager at the University of Liverpool Management School introduced him to Steve Wood from the Graduate to Merseyside team. Explaining what he was looking for Steve was quickly able to find the perfect candidate. Step Forward, Chloe Britton, an Edge Hill University Advertising graduate with a variety of marketing, retail and sales experience, she had the right balance of skills, experience and attitude to make the role her own. In just two weeks, Chloe has already made an impact by working on a pitch for a global brand and working on important case studies. Other duties she has tackled are maintaining the blog and social media channels, assisting the sales team, and organising PR campaigns to name a few. Very happy with the
Key tips to boost advertising sales
Despite the fact that the majority of sales staff always have a challenge on their hands when it comes to shifting a certain product or service, those in the business of advertising arguably have a much tougher task. In an ever-changing industry where other forms of promotion and publicity are becoming increasingly effective, these men and women are usually given the job of selling something the buyer probably doesn’t need. On top of that, prospects probably aren’t listening and will usually say no regardless of what is being offered. Constantly coming up against these obstacles can be incredibly frustrating, both for the individual and the business. In several cases, advertising sales staff will keep on preserving with the same technique, even if it isn’t getting them anywhere. For this reason, those in advertising are always looking for new ways to sell television commercials, roadside billboards or some other sort of promotion material. Thankfully, there are several approaches and ideas out there, which could boost your advertising sales. Change the attitude and improve the aptitude of staff Managing to secure an advertising sale is solely dependent on one factor – the salesperson. They are the one who should control the process
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