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TRAINING
We use behavioural change theory and practice to go deeper than most training providers. We want to make a difference, not just provide a course to tick a box.
Our personal and professional development training programmes deliver maximum return on your investment.
Why? We combine best-in-class skills training with coaching and behavioural change psychology. Where we differ from other training providers is in our belief that to get the most from training, individuals should also be supported by coaching. Training helps to give people the skills, but coaching gives them the confidence to apply and use those skills. By combining the two you get maximum return on your investment in training.
Our courses have one other thing in common - they are all aimed at strengthen the key relationships professionals have – whether those be internal (within the firm) or external (with key clients and stakeholders). Whether we are facilitating business development skills workshops, providing professionals with the tools they need to grow their client relationships, or leading workshops on emotional intelligence and soft-skills, we make sure that they have an impact.
Our learning journeys strengthen both client and internal relationships. We help individuals and teams fulfil their potential, delivering high performance and growth to their firm.
Find out more below on how we do things a little differently from your usual training provider:
At Client Talk we create learning journeys. These provide a continuous training programme, with measurement, to help develop your professionals. We focus on the areas that your professionals need most and use coaching to reinforce what has been learnt in training.
All our training programmes and workshops have coaching at the heart of them. This is unique and what sets us apart from our competitors. It is fundamental to creating impact and change.
We use coaching tools and techniques to help leaders get the most from the conversations they are having with their teams, clients, and targets. We help build trusted advisors. We also build the soft - human - skills that are so often overlooked by professional services firms.
We use coaching at 3 key stages of each skills programme:
AT THE START
1:1 coaching at the start of our training programmes helps to overcome any mindset issues identified during our diagnostic stage alongside any other concerns or fears that need to be addressed.
We also employ motivational interviewing techniques during our training sessions if there are professionals who are disengaged or feel ‘made to attend training’ and lack the desire to be there.
MID WAY
We use a group coaching session at the mid-way point of all Client Talk training programmes.
During this session, professionals learn from each other. They discuss progress made and help each other with any particular stumbling blocks. This helps cement the learning from training and encourage the sharing of best practice.
AT THE END
We make sure that individuals are committed to continuing practicing and using the skills we have taught them during the training session.
Where personal plans have been made, we talk through these with professionals to make sure that they are motivated to use the skills they have learned during training. This builds commitment and it is where you will get the most return on your investment in training.
OUR BESPOKE TRAINING PROGRAMMES
Whilst our training programmes are tailored to professionals and professional services firms (particularly law firms, accountancy practices, and property consultancies) the following courses give a flavour of the business development training we can offer. We always make sure we speak your language so that our courses are aligned with the bigger picture and to gain maximum buy-in.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS TRAINING
TRAINING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL JUST STARTING OUT
We offer training programmes targeted at those starting their career as a professional. Our skills training courses cover the basic skills that young professionals need to develop and master, these include:
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Content and thought leadership
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Networking
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Presentation skills
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Writing for the web
MAKING RAINMAKERS
TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS
We have training courses for your aspiring leaders who are managing the difficult transition from manager to leader. These workshops build on the skills that leaders will have picked up through their career and focus on the additional skills that will be needed to bring in clients and develop your professionals and organisation. These include:
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Active listening
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Building your pipeline
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Influence training
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Business development & sales training
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Personal branding and impact
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Presentation skills
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Understanding leadership
IT'S TOUGH AT THE TOP
EXECUTIVE LEVEL TRAINING
Being a partner or director at a professional services firm can be as challenging as it is rewarding. Our interactive tough at the top training workshops are intended to maximise performance and get the most from your firm's strategy. These executive-level workshops work best alongside executive coaching to truly help you play at your best. Workshops include:
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Client management
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Consultative selling
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How to conduct relationship reviews
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Growth mindsets
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Managing diverse teams
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Personal branding and impact
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Thought leaderships - how to excel
Relationships are fundamental to professional services firms. They matter internally; where strong relationships can power high-performing teams as well as create inclusive cultures. They also matter externally. People buy from people in professional services firms – and relationship building is the foundation of all good business development.
There are some technical skills that professionals need to be good at business development – these are things such as pitching, presentation skills, negotiation skills, relationship mapping, and planning.
There are also some key soft skills that professionals need. Skills such as active listening, empathy, trust, and influence. These skills are also fundamental to good leadership – which in turn creates strong teams. Strong teams deliver results for clients, so these skills, which are often overlooked, really should be seen as an engine for growth.
Our business development learning journeys have been developed to be wide ranging. Even our ready-made courses are created such that they resonate with your professionals - we speak to you to make sure that we are speaking in vocabularly that sits with your wider programme.
We deliver both the technical and the soft skills that your professionals need to excel at business development. Our research has found that firms where professionals are all engaged with business development outperform the market. Business development is good for your bottom line.
We understand that much of what sits behind a lack of engagement has nothing to do with understanding what it needed. More often than not limiting beliefs are what get in the way. Things like “ I am no good at presenting” or “I can’t sell”. As coaches, the way we facilitate means that we don’t shy away from these things – we challenge and provide a way forward.
Our 90-minute masterclasses are an ideal way to start to experience the combined power of training and coaching. Whilst these courses are ready to go, we always make sure that the language we use fits with your firm and we make sure we are clear on your specific objectives beforehand - tweaking the courses as appropriate so they feel made-to-measure, but are delivered at an off-the-rack price.
BESPOKE TRAINING
When professional services firms look for training, there is often a dilemma that arises. Do you go with an off-the-shelf solution, which is tried and tested and likely cheaper, or, do you go with bespoke.
Bespoke training might be more expensive, but it will be guaranteed to meet your objectives.
All our training has been designed with professional services firms in mind. Given our focus on behavioural change, all of our courses or coaching also are tailored to reflect our client’s objectives. We make sure to use language that make sense within the context of your business.
Why? Simply it is the best way to connect with participants and drive change. What that means is that even our off-the-shelf training feels bespoke.
Bespoke training is a personalised approach to development that tailors the learning experience and journey to meet the specific needs of the firm and its professionals. These journeys take into account things that are “above and below the surface” so we work with you to understand the culture of your firm and how that relates to what you are trying to achieve. We also have psychological safety front-of-mind.
We work with firms to create unique learning journeys which get maximum support and deliver results. These can take many forms including face-to-face and virtual sessions, peer coaching sessions and exercises. We make sure that we create a cohort that learns together so that there is a continuation of the journey after we depart.
Bespoke training can deliver results. It can also deliver secondary results – increasing employee engagement and satisfaction. With our focus on relationships (both inside the firm and with external stakeholders) an investment in training and development can help drive not just insight, but also growth.
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY ®
Our LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® sessions always prove to be a popular choice! The mix of fun and insight means that these sessions are ideal for team-building days and activities.
We take a facilitation approach that doesn’t skimp on the fun but can be used to generate some serious insights for you and your team. Learning doesn't have to be boring to be effective - we use hard play, backed by science, to create learning journeys with a difference.
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® team building
Whether you are looking for team-building activities that allow you to be creative with your strategy, solve a problem, or talk about an issue in a slightly different way, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® might be just what you are looking for!
We work with facilitators trained in this method, which means we can offer the best of what this approach can bring.
To find out how a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® could help you and your team please get in touch to discuss your requirements and book a free initial consultation...
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION TRAINING
If there is one type of training that cannot be "one and done" this is it. It just so happens that creating lasting change is at the heart of what we do.
We believe that creating a culture of belonging is good for professionals, good for firms and good for client relationships. It is more than just an issue for HR. We focus on how to leverage diverse thinking and ensuring that diverse teams thrive. We use proven team coaching methods to achieve real inclusion.
Delivering diversity & inclusion training
It is important that there is a common language that firms can use to discuss diversity & inclusion. Fear of using the wrong language has been found to be a major block in the delivery of DEI initiatives. We don't want fear to get in the way!
Our diversity and inclusivity workshops take you on a journey of discovery, helping you to understand the what, why and how of diversity.
We think about the different definitions of diversity, explore the concept of cognitive diversity and consider why this is so important. We think about the business case for diversity and uncover the various ways that clients are setting the agenda. Finally, we can work with you to give practical steps on how you can embrace diversity in your teams.
We work with diversity consultants and team coaches to help our clients create environments where more people can say that they belong, to help you to truly thrive and succeed, as individuals, and as a whole.
OUR UNIQUE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
Before undertaking a training programme with any firm or organisation we conduct analysis using our unique diagnostic tool. The Business Development Diagnostic Tool draws on behavioural change theory to help you take the pulse of your professionals. It has been designed to be easy to use but to empower our clients with powerful insight into their skills training needs.
Our diagnostic tool provides a snapshot of where your professionals are against four key metrics:
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SKILLS
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MOTIVATION
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MINDSET
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UNDERSTANDING OF STRATEGY
Through this process, we can work with our clients to understand where you are in your training journey and to understand what training programme will enhance your organisation's performance. All our courses are tailored specifically to meet your firm’s needs. This isn’t a one size fits all solution!
We also use our Business Development Diagnostic to understand where the skills gaps are to help focus our training programmes on your needs. We take the time to fully understand your needs, as professionals and as an organisation, defining the critical success factors from the beginning and making sure we deliver.
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