- Tim's story…
and how the Comfort Zone SoftSkills course came about - Chris' story…
How you can combine 'soft' and sales & marketing communication skills to best advantage - Charles' story…
Customer and Commercial Awareness for all!… - Extra sound bites…
Some comments about us
Tim’s story…
and how the Comfort Zone SoftSkills course came about
The following is taken from a letter from Tim 3 months after he had started his Selling For Business course (the forerunner of what is now the Comfort Zone Gold course).
"Dear Linda,
In keeping with the course format of regular feedback reports, I thought it appropriate to pass comment on how useful I have found my investment in SFB to be so far.
I am the managing director and co-owner of a small engineering company that has been trading for about seven years. To date, we have sold our services mainly on the basis of reputation and referral to contacts that were generally known to us before the Company was formed.
A year or so ago we decided to look for opportunities in other industries and I assumed responsibility for the sales effort. I do not consider myself to be a natural salesman but we could not afford the luxury of a dedicated salesperson and I wanted to remain actively involved in the direction that the company was taking.
I was right about one thing – I am not a natural salesman. Identifying new prospects, contacting the right people and presenting the services we offer all became big challenges, particularly outside of the comfort zone of our ‘own’ industry.
I was quite sceptical about the idea of training but realised that I was not going to succeed without a better understanding of the sales and marketing process, however the SFB proposal of developing skills with the assistance of a mentor, whilst continuing with my day to day business, did appeal to me.
The results have been very both pleasing and surprising. The course has not turned me into a salesman (no real surprise there) but I feel that it has helped me, and the business, in three key areas.
Firstly, I now understand the mechanisms associated with sourcing and approaching new business prospects. This has not only made the task easier but far more enjoyable and ultimately successful.
Secondly, I have noticed a marked change in my approach to selling to existing customers. I am now far more disciplined in this area and, again, it has not only made the task more enjoyable but has resulted in an immediate increase in sales.
Thirdly, the regular phone contact has proved to be a real bonus. I expected to be able to discuss my progress on the various course modules. What I hadn’t banked on was a mentor willing to provide an ear and a professional, objective view on day-to-day issues and how the business might develop further in the future.
Thank you."
Our CoZo Linda’s comment:
It was obvious from the outset that Tim would never be a salesman. And it was wonderful the way the realisation gradually dawned on him that he didn’t need to be in order to win and grow profitable business from existing and new customers.
What was brilliant was how Tim started applying his newfound people skills to great benefit in all kinds of situations, not just sales.
He identified customer service issues that had been giving him grief as a business owner for some time and corrected them by implementing simple processes that his staff could easily buy into. And he spread the prospecting load by appointing a separate champion to investigate each of three potential new business areas and report their findings back to him.
Tim surpassed both of our expectations and business started rolling in:
- A £50,000 contract was won
- Another contract was in the offing for just under £90,000
- And yet another for around $40-50,000 was a distinct possibility
This was all within three months. Tim said he would never have either initially gone after or stayed with and followed up on any of these opportunities prior to doing his course.
It was at this point I had a “Eureka!” moment:
We’d been concentrating Tim’s efforts on course modules containing those skills that I believed he'd feel most comfortable learning at first yet would start to get the results he needed. I intended to lead him gently into the more traditional selling skills as we progressed.
So his success to date was before he'd even started to address selling skills!
That got me thinking: If Tim can get results like this just by applying the observation and communication skills he’s learnt so far, so can others.
Thus Tim became the inspiration for the Comfort Zone SoftSkills course: If you hate selling yet need to bring in and grow business, this is the course for you!
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Chris' story…
How you can combine 'soft' and sales & marketing communication skills to best advantage.
When Chris started his course one of his objectives was to evaluate an alternative way of doing business in a market in which his company had been active, reasonably successfully, for four years.
His business is based on providing independent market analysis on a specific industry sector to "the money men" in the City of London. It was all project-by-project rather than on the annual fee basis that he was striving for but wasn't making headway in achieving. The latter was needed in order to:
- More accurately forecast future business
- Plan staffing levels
- Grow the company
This annual fee idea wasn't new. But he found that when he followed the disciplines outlined in the course and enlisted the aid of one of his team, they made the time to discover if this was a pipe dream or potential reality.
Chris' initial comments:
"A well designed, effective sales course for any small business entrepreneur. Not only helpful for the head of a small enterprise, but for professional sales people too. This course stitches together your current knowledge and fills in the gaps. A great help."
About a year to eighteen months on from when he started his course and Chris told us:
- "We've won 20 new clients during that time"
- "I have a better understanding of our sales and marketing needs"
- "I've taken on a salesman"
- "I've implemented a more structured approach to the company's sales and marketing activities"
Yet during this time he discovered that it would be an uphill struggle to get the volume of business required and retain the quality of the service the company provided to its now extended client base with its existing resources.
That resulted in him changing his business model and the company is now also actively targeting corporate financiers directly - it has two such regular clients already, one of whom regularly provides recommendations.
The company is not yet where Chris wants it to be, but it's well on the way and going from strength to strength. He attributes progress during this time to two reasons:
- "The research and prospecting approaches we have adopted and skills the individuals have learnt as a result of following the Selling For Business (now Comfort Zone Gold) course."
- "The feedback and interaction as I went through the course, bouncing off ideas with Linda and tailoring the activities specifically to the needs of my business."
If you're serious about learning how to combine sales and marketing communication skills that will grow your business our Comfort Zone Gold course is for you!
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Charles’ story…
How the company can benefit just by everybody being more commercially- and customer aware!
Charles is the Managing Director of a small IT services company and needs to increase profitable custom. He had been looking for a sales person for some time, thought on a couple of occasions that he'd found the right person but it hadn't worked out. That actually isn't unusual as apparently two out of three sales appointees turn out to be a bad fit within the first year in the job.
So a twice-bitten, three times shy Charles decided to proceed with extreme caution and take his time making sure the next one was the right one. Meanwhile, everybody tends to get a bit unsettled when somebody leaves because they're not up to the job and Charles' staff were no different.
So we put together a positive, fun CoZo Commercial And Sales Awareness day that involved the participation of the whole company, covering:
Who does what?
Managing the customer experience
The importance of keeping good customers happy
The company’s views on its customers
Customer Potential
Competitors
Some of the findings that came out of that day
- Every single individual in the company was responsible for managing the customer experience
- 68% of customers who defect do so because they are unhappy with the way they are treated
- 14% defect because they are unhappy with the core service provided
- It cost this company fifty to a hundred times more to sell to a new customer than to an existing one
The employees themselves established that they were contributing to customer defection through a lack of response of right skill set in every area. The answer to which was a need to improve and manage dealings with customers.
Action points that came from the team to support the answer:
- Understand how the functions fit together and support each other
- Gain the skill set and knowledge within the function to perform the function
- Know the strategic direction and how we are going to get there
Top line feedback from the staff:
Value of the Forum to the company as a whole: 8s and 9s out of a potential 10.
Value of the Forum to you as an individual: 8s and 9s out of a potential 10.
Would you welcome another forum on work-related issues? 100% Yes
What has changed in your awareness of the big picture asa the result of today?
- "Realising areas for need of change"
- "Customer focus is a priority"
- "Taking responsibility and being accountable is also something we should all do"
- "Communication is of prime importance for our customers"
- "Investing in employees"
- "Methods to overcome problems/ prioritise tasks"
- "Awareness of vision/ mission/ culture"
We rounded the day off with one-on-ones where each employee was encouraged to give his or her individual Customer Awareness and (where appropriate) Sales Training needs.
Some of the training needs are simple and straightforward and were implemented swiftly and easily. Others took a bit more effort and time but we've achieved our goal and have been able to explore and develop skills within each individual's comfort zone.
That was summer 2007 and all staff are still there! (They've also now been joined by a sales person who's just completed The Sales Professional course and is doing very nicely...
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Extra sound bites…
Some comments about us
- "Linda is an amazing trainer. She combines a wealth of knowledge with a supportive yet no nonsense coaching style. If you are hoping to grow your business and attract new clients you really should talk to her.
She has a great knack of being able to see the "wood for the trees", an ability to unearth and present the issues that you are facing in your business clearly and concisely, plus a whole range of techniques and advice that will have you back on track in next to no time!"
Siobhan Walsh, Optimise training & development the Comfort Zone SoftSkills course
- "I was struggling to move ahead and had lost my direction and really was in the mood for packing it all in.
Having spoken to Linda several times that has changed, there is now light at the end of the tunnel, I am feeling better, more confident and the sun has finally risen.
I learned so much in a short amount of time from the course Linda has designed. Ask Linda about helping you, its the best thing i have done to move my business forward.
Worth her weight in gold, friendly and patient, she reminds me or Margo off the Good life when I speak to her on the phone! Very highly recommended. Thanks for everything Linda."
Andy "Film Production" Lunn, media73 on the Comfort Zone Gold course
- "I contacted Linda to get some help with selling skills: "selling" holistic therapies is sometimes odd.
I was having a bit of trouble booking enough people for onsite massage in an office. I thought that if I just turned up and sent a weekly email saying that I was there, that would be enough to get a lot of clients rolling in.
Linda talked me through a few techniques that I could use to generate repeat bookings and hey presto, they worked straight away! In fact a few days after our meeting I put the good advice into practice and I more than doubled the number of bookings for massage.
I would recommend talking to Linda if you want to improve on your selling techniques or if you are planning to expand your business."
Paola *Energya* Bassanese - stress management solutions - on our bespoke training
- "Linda is an articulate professional who has developed an excellent sales training product to meet the needs of a variety of professionals who despise the idea of selling, but know they need to do it.
Try it for yourself, It's fun intuitive and easy to understand! "
Claude Bonte on the Comfort Zone SoftSkills course
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