How it works: The result
Attrition rates have fallen, wrong hires have been quickly identified, performance has improved with staff reaching targets more quickly, managers have become more involved and high potential has been identified and fast-tracked more effectively.
The Academy’s main programmes are revised every six months and the Academy is now supported by a Learning Resource Centre.
Neuro Linguistic Programming . . . what a mouthful !
And as many people have said: “If NLP is really about clear communication how come it’s called NLP?”
The original developers defined NLP as the study of the structure of subjective experience, and over the past 25 years literally thousands of people have contributed to the field. This vast amount of research, analysis and sheer intellectual energy has seen NLP begin to influence thinking in almost every area of human activity including the Business world.
“But what is it ???”
At the heart of NLP lies a modelling process which allows us to specifically define what it is that highly effective people do to make them successful … Effective leaders for example, have a distinct set of values, beliefs and capabilities that are ultimately expressed through their behaviour. The NLP modelling process has allowed us to identify these specifics; which means modelling is an effective method of specifically bench marking the best practice of top performers, and then teaching those skill sets to others.
Whether we are discussing Leadership, Negotiation or Customer Service skills, modelling reveals the hidden differences that make the difference, and is the very core of NLP. Everthing else, which has come to be called NL is in fact the product or development of the central modelling process.
So, what would your organisation like to be able to do even better ???
This NLP modelling approach just might by the answer.
How it works: The problem
The idea of a Training Academy was born out of efforts to turn around the performance of one typical company-wide sales training programme, where:
- Induction training was patchy and boring
- Product training was a sea of facts and figures reinforced with an end-of-session test
- Paperwork was “covered” but with no rigor
Sales training was a five-day course ending with a test
- New recruits were sent to the regions to be further “developed” by managers
How it works: The solution
The solution uses PTS’s principles of hands-on, client-centred training with follow-up monitoring and measurement. The Sales Academy is a 26-week programme that includes training, follow-up, monitoring, reporting, development, fast tracking and (in a small number of cases) removal.
- We make product training more application-oriented, including demonstrations.
- A home study workbook is written to ensure complete understanding of the sales documentation. Delegates are asked to read business scenarios and produce quotations and proposals, supported by completed documentation.
- The initial five-day activity-based sales training programme gives delegates a structure to their selling, and practical and effective tools to increase the accuracy of forecasting and qualification.
- Live telephone calls to potential customers provide diarised appointments immediately after basic training. Delegates set their own test each day and the end-of-course test is replaced with an end-of course video.
- Tutorial staff provide individual reports to identify stars for fast tracking, those likely to graduate and those who might have a problem graduating.
- Delegates return every six weeks to report on how they have applied themselves, their activity levels and their results. Follow-up sessions build on previous training with more demanding sales situations.
- The process culminates in a graduation presentation or, for those not yet ready, an extended programme of support.
