Planning a training programme

It is interesting when you speak with a client how optimistic they are in their thoughts about how a training programme will be rolled out into an organisation.  One year a client, in June, asked me to run 6 workshops in July because everyone had to have the training by August 1st....I was still delivering the sessions in October.

This was not due to my bad diary management but people who are planning a training programme do not realise how important the logistics of an event are.  You have to consider:

• Availability of the venue and not just any old room, but one with natural daylight and plenty of space for the delegates
• Time of year for holidays and for operational peaks 
• People need notice for courses, especially if it is more than one day out of work, so that they can schedule their work and organise their team.
• Optional dates are much better to 'sell' than the phrase 'you must go on this course'.  Imagine what it is like for us trainers if the delegates don't want to be there!!
• Managing cancellations and re-arrangements especially if it is a mandatory programme has to be done effectively; again this is a big logistical issue that organisations have to consider
• Minimum & maximum delegates on a course are critical to the success of the learning event and us trainers will develop the programme around those key numbers.  It is very hard to run a course for only three people if it was designed for twelve

So if you are arranging a training programme or about to meet a client to arrange to deliver one please consider the above (not exhaustive but a start) so that you can ensure that the investment is not wasted.

Being a delegate

As part of my professional development I have been this week on a two day course.  It made a change to be on the other side of the room!! It made me reflect on what you have to consider about your delegates and your delivery, be it a presentation or a training course.

What surprised me was how important the small details were to me and how important it is to manage expectations throughout 8 hours.  For example how easy it was to see and read the powerpoint slides and how frustrating it is if the presenter moves the slides to a different order to the handout that you have or show you slides that you don't even have copies of!!  Also given that I was one of 15 delegates, all of whom had a learning background there was very little consideration given to the different learning styles of the group, the energy levels in the room or a variation in delivery pace.

So the learning for me has been great, not only on the subject but also about how I look after, respond to and vary my training style in the future....so a worthwhile investment!!

Writing proposals

Every client wants to see, in writing, what you are going to deliver to their people…a proposal of your services, the costs and most importantly the benefits of giving you the business.

This proposal is often based on the information gained from the initial meeting that you have had with the client; the facts you have gathered from your conversations that led to the meeting and the research that you have done on the company.  If you fail to pick up on key messages at any of these stages you may have missed vital clues your competitors have picked up on, thus giving them the advantage not you.

So your proposal should be:

1. Informative & reflective of the details that you have ascertained…repeat back the key facts that you have identified which will confirm you are both on the same wavelength 
2. Facts…be careful that you present facts as facts and your opinion as your opinion.  To ensure that you remember these key points make sure you always take notes at every meeting be it face-to-face or on the phone
3. Fully costed…there is nothing worse than receiving a proposal with items that will cost not either covered or mentioned.  A classic here is not disclosing costs of specific materials or what you mean by expenses…your client is not daft so be clear!

However what you do not want disclose in your proposal are:

1. The full course content because if you do not get the work, you are handing your course on a plate for someone else to deliver!! 
2. The detailed break down of costs.  So, if you are going to charge for development time put it as a reasonable project price, do not itemise it out as this is an area that you could negotiate on, should you need to. 
3. Whatever concerns that you have about delivering this solution…your choice of language in the proposal must be positive, so use statements such as ‘the delegates will learn…’ etc.

The key thing to remember about your proposal is that it is the next step in building your relationship with the client and therefore it must be polished, professional and personal.

“We don’t know what good service is… until we don’t get it!”

“We don’t know what good service is… until we don’t get it!”

Then we tell everyone about it…how bad it was, how disappointed we are, the fact that we are never going to shop/eat/visit/use that service again.

So as we are all in the customer service business we need to make sure we don’t take our eye of the most important person to us…the customer.  You might think that as a trainer you are in the business of developing potential however we also have to consider that every person who attends our training programme is a customer.  Therefore we have to consider the following:

• ·      Was their experience on the courses that we delivered a positive one?
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• ·      Where we value for money?
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• ·      Will they recommend us to their colleagues?
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• ·      How would they rate us as service providers?
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• ·      Were you on time and fully prepared to run the course when the first delegate arrived?
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• ·      Did you portray professionalism in your manner, dress and use of language?
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This is nothing to do with your skills and knowledge as a trainer in your specialist field.  This is to do with you...some examples:

• ·      Not exploiting your clients by selling them more days than they need, you are not a rip off merchant!!
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• ·      How easy are you to contact both for the client and for the delegates, their staff should they have a post-course query
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• ·      How helpful are you with questions on the course, that are often ‘off-piste’, but are important to that delegate?

What you must remember is that your training course is part of your sales process.  Unlike selling some products, our key product is ourselves and therefore there is always an opportunity to develop business whilst you are delivering a programme.