338 Professional Development courses in Manchester

This course is designed specifically to help improve your collection rates. The UK's leading trainer in the subject uses practical examples and case studies to show how to use debt collection techniques that really work. This programme will help participants to: * Understand debtors and communicate with them effectively * Improve their telephone and writing skills * Appreciate the key legal issues * Track down 'gone-aways' * Improve their collection rates 1 GIVING CREDIT AND COLLECTING DEBTS * The benefits when you get it right * The cost of getting it wrong 2 ANALYSING YOURSELF * The importance of making the right 'first impression' * Assessing your own personal communication style and how this affects your results * How do you (or might you) look in the debtor's eyes? What would you like to change? 3 ANALYSING YOUR DEBTORS * Types of debtor * The delaying debtor * The genuine debtor * The cashflow or hardship problem debtor * The ones who never intended to pay * Spot the most common reasons and excuses for non-payment - and learn how to deal with them 4 UNDERSTANDING DEBT RECOVERY AND THE LAW * Data protection issues * County Court suing enforcement methods * Human rights and debt recovery * Retention of title matters 5 TELEPHONE SKILLS FOR DEBT RECOVERY * A 7-point plan which works every time * Learning by example: listening to and analysing some pre-recorded (or live) collection calls * What was done well? * What should have been done differently? * Did the collector recognise opportunities? * Did the collector create opportunities where seemingly none existed? * Did the collector negotiate well or not at all? 6 WRITING SKILLS FOR DEBT RECOVERY * Key phrases to avoid * What to include * A sample letter which gets results in over 90% of cases 7 TRACKING DOWN THE 'GONE AWAYS' * A unique debtor-tracing plan * Why spend money on external tracers when you can find those 'gone away' debtors for yourself? 8 COURSE REVIEW * The traps to avoid * Key personal learning points

This is not a single course but a set of menu options from which you can 'pick and mix' to create a draft programme yourself, as a discussion document which we can then fine-tune with you. For a day's training course, simply consider your objectives, select six hours' worth of modules and let us do the fine-tuning so that you get the best possible training result. Consider your objectives carefully for maximum benefit from the course. Is the training for new or experienced credit control staff? Are there specific issues to be addressed within your particular sector (eg, housing, education, utilities, etc)? Do your staff need to know more about the legal issues? Or would a practical demonstration of effective telephone tactics be more useful to them? MENU Rather than a generic course outline, the expert trainer has prepared a training 'menu' from which you can select those topics of most relevance to your organisation. We can then work with you to tailor a programme that will meet your specific objectives. * Advanced credit control skills for supervisors - 1⁄2 day * Basic legal overview: do's and don'ts of debt recovery - 2 hours * Body language in the credit and debt sphere - 1⁄2 day * County Court suing and enforcement - 1⁄2 day * Credit checking and assessment - 1 hour * Customer visits and 'face to face' debt recovery skills - 1⁄2 day * Data Protection Act explained - 1⁄2 day * Dealing with 'Caring Agencies' and third parties - 1 hour * Debt counselling skills - 2 hours * Elementary credit control skills for new staff - 1⁄2 day * Granting credit and collecting debt in Europe - 1⁄2 day * Identifying debtors by 'type' to handle them accurately - 1 hour * Insolvency: Understanding bankruptcy / receivership / administration / winding-up / liquidation / CVAs and IVAs - 2 hours * Late Payment of Commercial Debts Interest Act explained - 2 hours * Liaison with sales and other departments for maximum credit effectiveness - 1 hour * Suing in Scottish Courts (Small Claims and Summary Cause) - 1⁄2 day * Telephone techniques for successful debt collection - 11⁄2 hours * Terms and conditions of business with regard to credit and debt - 2 hours * Tracing 'gone away' debtors (both corporate and individual) - 11⁄2 hours * What to do if you/your organisation are sued - 1⁄2 day Other topics you might wish to consider could include: * Assessment of new customers as debtor risks * Attachment of Earnings Orders * Bailiffs and how to make them work for you * Benefit overpayments and how to recover them * Cash flow problems (business) * Charging Orders over property/assets * Credit policy: how to write one * Council and Local Authority debt recovery * Consumer Credit Act debt issues * Using debt collection agencies * Director's or personal guarantees * Domestic debt collection by telephone * Exports (world-wide) and payment for * Emergency debt recovery measures * Education Sector debt recovery * Forms used in credit control * Factoring of sales invoices * Finance Sector debt recovery needs * Third Party Debt Orders (Enforcement) * Government departments (collection from) * Harassment (what it is - and what it is not) * Health sector debt recovery skills * Hardship (members of the public) * Insolvency and the Insolvency Act * In-house collection agency (how to set up) * Instalments: getting offers which are kept * Judgment (explanation of types) * Keeping customers while collecting the debt * Late payment penalties and sanctions * Letter writing for debt recovery * Major companies as debtors * Members of the public as debtors * Monitoring of major debtors and risks * Negotiation skills for debt recovery * Old debts and how to collect them * Out of hours telephone calls and visits * Office of Fair Trading and collections * Oral Examination (Enforcement) * Pro-active telephone collection * Parents of young debtors * Partnerships as debtors * Positive language in debt recovery * Pre-litigation checking skills * Power listening skills * Questions to solicit information * Retention of title and 'Romalpa' clauses * Sale of Goods Act explained * Salesmen and debt recovery * Sheriffs to enforce your judgment * Students as debtors * Statutory demands for payment * Small companies (collection from) * Sundry debts (collection of) * Terms and Conditions of Contract * Tracing 'gone away' debtors * The telephone bureau and credit control * Taking away reasons not to pay * Train the trainer skills * Utility collection needs * Visits for collection and recovery * Warrant of execution (enforcement)

The fundamental tool to identify waste, create effective process flow, reduce process cycle times, and implement process improvement.

OVERVIEW -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internal auditing is an independent and objective activity to evaluate an organisation's internal operations. You'll learn how to initiate an audit, prepare and conduct audit activities, compile and distribute audit reports and complete follow-up activities. It is very important for the organisation to have a smooth flow of accounting as it plays a very important role in the development of the organisation. Financial Managers or any person who deals with Accounts need to see that the company accounts are very updated and are free from any risks that can become a problem during the time of Auditing.  Objectives   By the end of the course, participants will be able to: * Efficiently dealing with senior leaders with confidence  * Effective Contribution and Strategically Analysing and Auditing towards business success * Analysing and Evaluating as an effective internal audit leader * How to manage key relationships with the audit committee * Practical methods for managing the audit committee and senior management * Describing the significance to help maximize the contribution to their organization

This programme has a simple objective: to help a sales team create and implementa comprehensive account development plan. If you want to earn strategic partner or preferred supplier status with your clients and customers then you need to add value to their business, consistently, and you can only do this if you have a plan - a key account management plan. This programme will help participants: * Discover opportunities - through a deeper understanding of the customer's business * Develop partnership - through a better 'value proposition' for the customer * Increase repeat business - based on higher customer satisfaction * Improve synergy - by getting everyone to 'sing from the same hymn sheet' * Develop a collaborative account plan - validated by the customer and their own management * Secure resources - management will align resources to execute soundly based account plans * Win an increased share of 'customer wallet' - through systematic account development 1 THE SIX PRINCIPLES OF STRATEGIC ACCOUNT DEVELOPMENT * Introduction to the PROFIT account development model: * - Performance * - Relationships * - Objectives and goals * - Feedback * - Integration * - Teamwork * Practical account development strategies: overview and case studies 2 PERFORMANCE * Use practical tools to help you manage and measure account performance and success * Design and build a monthly account dashboard for all sizes of account * Prioritise and manage accounts and customers pro-actively and successfully, using proven planning tools * Develop a cross-selling strategy to integrate products or solutions into the customer's business as closely as possible 3 RELATIONSHIPS * How to build and manage key relationships within an account * Qualifying and managing key influencers accurately * Producing a 'relationship matrix' for each account quickly and easily * Approaching and developing new contacts strategically * Tools and techniques for successful tracking of contacts and call-backs * Developing a coach or advocate in every customer organisation pro-actively 4 OBJECTIVES AND GOALS * Where are you now? - how to establish your competitive position within an account * Know how to set, monitor and track key objectives for accounts over the short, medium and long term * Selling against the competition - developing both long- and short-term sales strategies 5 FEEDBACK - BUILDING LOYAL AND SATISFIED CUSTOMERS * The correct way to manage customer expectations and create listening loops within an account * How to monitor and track your customer's perception and satisfaction with your organisation * Building a personalised satisfaction matrix for each account * Customer review meetings - best practice in building loyalty by regular joint planning events * Understanding the concept of long-term customer value and the importance of adapting a customer-focused attitude 6 INTEGRATION * How to integrate your products or solutions with the customer's business needs and processes * Spot and react to early warning signals that may cause an account's loyalty to fade, reduce revenue or switch to a competitor * Developing a loyalty strategy for key accounts or groups of smaller accounts * Getting your message and strategy across to C-level contacts 7 TEAMWORK * Working with others to achieve your account goals * Gaining internal commitment from your organisation * Managing and working with a virtual team * Creating cross-departmental communication loops 8 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER * Personal account reviews * Personal learning summary and action plans

The work of a technical team is invariably challenging and often unpredictable. Definition of the work can be problematic, timescales can be hard to estimate and the right technical approach difficult to select. Staff involved in this type of work usually have very high levels of specialist knowledge in their field and have high expectations of those who lead them. In addition to the challenges of the work, the team leader often has to balance the need for professional excellence with financial and commercial considerations and to ensure that team goals are realistic by being an effective negotiator with other project and senior managers. These characteristics make technical team leadership a demanding and complex activity. This programme aims to help participants develop the skills needed to become an effective technical team leader. The objectives of this programme are to help participants: * understand the significance of leadership skills and their impact on team performance * review the key skills needed to be an effective, 'multi-dimensional' team leader and learn how to develop, adapt and apply them in practice * learn how to identify the preferred leadership style for the context and organisational culture and how to develop personal style versatility * understand the role of the project leader in building an effective team and the skills required to promote and sustain team performance * gain a better understanding of the interpersonal skills needed to motivate individual team members and harness the full potential of the team DAY ONE 1 TECHNICAL TEAMS AND LEADERSHIP * What is a leader? * How much can leadership be learned? * The team environment and the impact of leadership skills * The characteristics of high performance teams and their leaders * Some useful models and theories of leadership explored * Types of leadership; choosing how to use leadership power * Evaluating personal leadership style; how to develop style flexibility 2 ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR TEAM LEADERS * 3 key dimensions of effective leadership: inwards, outwards and upwards * Developing and promoting a 'team vision': strategic thinking skills * The vital role of communication skills and how to develop them * Understanding others; emotional intelligence skills * Being a visible leader; behavioural and influencing skills * Building effective relationships; the importance of trust and respect DAY TWO 3 LEADING INWARDS TO BUILD THE TEAM * The role of leadership in developing team performance * Understanding individuals in the team; recognising team role preferences * Managing conflict and promoting positive team dynamics * Setting standards, maintaining discipline and rewarding performance * Harnessing team potential: building motivation within the team * Promoting team learning; the team leader as coach / mentor 4 LEADING OUTWARDS AND UPWARDS TO SUPPORT THE TEAM * Negotiating realistic team goals; effective influencing skills * Gaining empowerment and support from the key stakeholders * Leading upwards: knowing when and how to take the initiative * Building team credibility within the organisation; helping the team deliver * Becoming an effective team player in leadership teams * Building and maintaining rapport with influential stakeholders

The need for key staff to have commercial skills is paramount, as the public sector is increasingly opened up as a commercial market, in which organisations compete against each other and the private sector for contracts. Generating additional income and being commercially aware is vital for this to be a success, and is what many public sector organisations are looking to do. This programme will help you: * See commercial awareness as not just another skill-set, but as a different mind-set * Use a variety of tried-and-tested commercial, analytical decision-making techniques and tools * Define your commercial objectives * Develop a strategic focus * Start looking at service clients as market segments * Analyse, in a competitive context, your service offering * Plan a commercial strategy, prepare for its implementation and see it through to execution 1 WHAT IS COMMERCIAL THINKING? * Understand what it means to be a commercial thinker * Identifying commercial opportunities often involves not only a different skill set but also a different mindset; looking at the services that you provide 2 DEFINING STRATEGIC COMMERCIAL OBJECTIVES * Defining your key commercial objectives * Prioritising your strategic objectives * Two key strategic planning tools: * Resource and Competency Matrix * PESTLE * How to apply these tools to your particular situation 3 DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC FOCUS * Decision-making on how to compete in the markets identified by your strategic objectives requires a strategic focus * Developing strategic focus * A tool for helping you to make those decisions: using the Ansoff Matrix 4 DEFINING CUSTOMER TARGETS * How to think more commercially by understanding who all your customers are and how they differ from each other * how to apply the principles to your areas to identify the type of customers you have and their key characteristics - Customer segmentation * Who are your customers? How do their needs vary? - Scenarios 5 THE COMPETITIVE MARKET PLACE * Understanding the competitive forces at play * Different types of competition * Analysing your competitive environment using Porter's 5 Forces model 6 MEETING STAKEHOLDER EXPECTATIONS * Two simple models to help you identify the key stakeholders who could influence your commercial environment * How to use your stakeholders to help you achieve your commercial objectives 7 IMPLEMENTATION - SYSTEMS, STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES * Effective commercial activity involves working with others to implement ideas and strategies * What do you need to have in place before you implement your commercial strategy? * How to health-check your organisation prior to implementation using the McKinsey 7S framework 8 IMPLEMENTATION - PEOPLE AND CULTURE * A good commercial strategy only works if the people involved buy in to the ideas and if the culture of the organisation is conducive to the effective implementation * How the latest thinking in behavioural economics can help you develop your culture and people to work commercially 9 TOOLS AND CHECKLISTS * Be more commercial within your sphere of influence using a commercial checklist to help you * Using the checklist as a benchmark against the most commercially aware organisations * Using the checklist as a health check - both corporately and individually

Project management can seem scary and rather intimidating. The whole aim of this programme is to give people a simple and straightforward way of dealing with projects without having to use complex and confusing systems. This two-day course is designed to introduce the apparently complex world of project management in a simple and practical manner. The programme is for anybody who has to run a project of any nature. It has been attended by people from as diverse fields as events management, fashion, charities, oil companies and so on. The programme is run without using any IT project management systems although an introduction can be given if required. At the end of the programme participants will leave understanding: * What a project is and why projects are so important today * The roles of a project manager * Some key language and concepts * A simple 5-step model for organising projects * How to make sure you understand what your 'client' really wants * A set of three simple tools to plan the project * How to make decisions * What to monitor when the project is running * How to close the project 1 INTRODUCTION * What is the aim of this programme? 2 BACKGROUND THINKING * What is a project? * The project manager's eternal triangle (cost-quality-time) * What are the characteristics of successful projects? * Who are the key characters in a project? * What are the roles of a project manager? 3 THE PROJECT PROCESS * Why have one? 4 PROJECT INITIATION * What is the aim? * Identifying key information * Key skill: mission analysis * Initial risk analysis * Document and sign-off 5 DECISION-MAKING - 'STOP, THINK, ACT!' * The 'Stop, Think, Act!' technique * Recognise the opportunity to make a decision * The 3 Cs - making sure we understand the decisions we have to make * Identifying options * Making your decision * Taking it to action 6 CREATIVITY 7 THE PLANNING STAGE * Identify all discrete tasks * Sequence and dependencies * Time line - critical path * Resources * Project base-line 8 EXECUTION STAGE - DELIVERING THE RESULT * Monitor * Evaluate * Adapt * Control * Review 9 THE PROJECT CLOSE * Review * Documentation * Have we delivered? * What have we learned?

You can handle the tough stuff with the help of this comprehensive, interactive and thought-provoking course. Our trainers are experienced managers who will guide and support you through the intricacies of people and personal management. The key responsibilities of the manager A manager’s impact on the business and its staff Being a role model Communicating with confidence Questioning skills Managing hybrid teams Assertiveness techniques Managing team performance with ease Giving great feedback Prioritising like a winner Time management techniques Delegating effectively

Being a Mentor in the Early Years