Professional Development

Price includes refreshments, lunch and course materials.

Level: Advanced

Key issues:

In order to achieve your business objectives, it is critical to provide a credible argument supporting your goals as well as putting that argument across in a way that the other person can relate to. Most of us are quite skilled at the first of these and much less skilled at the latter. This workshop provides the skills and approach to achieve this and fulfil the needs and expectations of the other party.

The purpose of this course:

Your job may require you to persuade and influence others. The best influencers require good interpersonal and communication skills along with an ability to persuade other people to give their support.

This workshop will show you how to persuade, influence and negotiate - not convincing or selling, rather learning about others and negotiating.

Who this course is for:

Anyone who needs to persuade and influence across functions (marketing, sales, finance, HR, production etc.) in order to achieve their goals. In addition, managers who are responsible for the management of others will benefit from this workshop.

Benefits for your organisation:

Your organisation will see an improvement in internal and external working relationships, as well as a greater acceptance of proposals for change in activities and corporate processes. Pull people together, move ideas forward, galvanise change and create constructive solutions.

Benefits for you as an individual:

You will gain greater cooperation, both internally and externally, in order to meet goals, establishing principles and initiating action. You will become increasingly effective when communicating with colleagues and customers.

You will learn how to:

• Build rapport and trust with people
• Recognise and understand the motivations of others
• Use the learning style and social style of others in order to influence
• Develop a structured approach to influencing and persuasion
• Use neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques to move the other person towards your point of view
• Handle conflict, disagreement or misunderstandings effectively
• Negotiate through finding shared solutions
• Obtain and retain commitment.

Course content:

• The thought processes and attitudes of people
• The influencing process/structure
• Setting realistic goals
• Establishing rapport
• Pacing, matching and leading
• Verbal and non verbal aspects of communication
• Establishing motives, needs, values and beliefs
• Confirming these key factors
• Putting your proposals across effectively
• Advocating your arguments – logical argument
• Getting agreement

Pre and post learning support:

It will be valuable to consider past, current and future situations in which influencing and persuasion are important facets. Assess the areas of resistance from what perspective and how your proposals deal with these. Be prepared to share these with the group.

To take away from the course:

Course handouts and personality assessment forms.

Professional Standards

All of our marketing courses are based on CIM's Professional Marketing Standards, ensuring that marketers at all levels of seniority gain the practical skills that employers require to improve business performance. Review our Professional Marketing Standards framework