Much is said and written about soft skills training. In common with many subjects, it can become unnecessarily overcomplicated. Let us look at some of the basics of communications skills. Remember, it is always worthwhile reviewing your behaviour as bad habits can creep in very quickly and become the norm.

Communication consists of written, verbal and, most crucially, non-verbal. In fact most trainers will tell you that the non-verbal communication is the most important and potentially powerful part. Let us look at some of those things that make up non-verbal communication.

Good eye contact is essential. It establishes credibility, sincerity and a connection.

Active listening is also important. This is done by acknowledging what someone is saying to you. An example of this is a simple nod of the head. You should also repeat back the key points that have been made to you to show you are listening and understanding.

The key is body language. Many people in public life have realised the importance of this and go on training courses to ensure they give out the non-verbal cues they wish to.

The tone of someone’s voice arguably communicates more than the actual words they use. Use a warm, enthusiastic tone and make sure that you vary the tone of your voice to highlight salient points.

You should also work on your gestures and facial expressions.

‘Churn’ is the expression used to describe how many customers are leaving a business. Companies should do everything they can to keep this to a minimum but a constantly changing customer base seems to have become the norm in many industries. Telephone companies, broadband suppliers, gas and electric are just some of the industries where effectively swapping customers at regular intervals is accepted as par for the course. Your initial reaction may be that there’s no harm in it as long as overall customer numbers do not drop. However, it is far more expensive to obtain new customers than it is to retain old ones. Many companies have recognised this and try far harder to retain existing customer but for other companies it may be time to change their sales training.

Most people seem to have a mobile phone these days. Initially everybody took out a 12 month contract. In the early days of the industry there were stories of appalling customer service and consequently people would often change suppliers at the end of the 12 months. It has to be said they did not necessarily find the customer service at the rival business any better and would keep changing. Companies got their act together, ensured call centres were properly manned and are even confident enough now to insist on 18 or 24 month contracts.

Outsourcing has not only become fashionable, it has also become an economic necessity for many companies.

One of the most obvious benefits is specialisation. This can be where your business is about to undertake something it hasn’t previously done. Obviously you could research the area and recruit new staff or train existing employees. However, it is often easier to hand things over to the experts and concentrate on what you’re really good at. This also has the advantage that the experienced individuals that you’re tapping into should get more immediate results.

Another benefit is that of saving money. It will usually be cheaper to employ the outsourcing company’s workers so there will be a direct saving. There is also the possibility of indirect savings as fixed overheads can be reduced. This also means greater flexibility. Budgets can be adjusted far more easily and necessary reductions in expenditure effected at shorter notice.

This flexibility also means that it is easier to switch from one job to another. For example, if your accounting function is outsourced, you might wish to tighten up credit control with the necessary chase calls and letters being issued far sooner.

The key to outsourcing is not to alienate your own staff or let them feel their personal development is not a priority.

How many articles have you read recently which stress the importance of particular things in times of recession? Well this is another one of those! Hopefully you will read on though as it sets out some very useful ideas to set you thinking about the various areas of your business. In turn, this will ensure you get the most from your resources. Whilst the ideal situation is to get specialists in to look at your business from top to bottom, this is not always viable for both practical and financial reasons.

The first thing to consider is your communications strategy. This applies to both internal and external communication. Make sure you’re getting the most out of electronic means of communication. Email marketing campaigns are far more immediate, direct and less expensive than traditional methods. Similarly, a lot of travel can be saved by video conferencing.

It is vital to ensure that staff do not become demoralised by being asked to work harder whilst accepting that there will be no pay rises. Consider areas where you can offer them something which will not actually cost the company any financial outlay. The most obvious areas are additional holidays and considering more flexible working patterns. The first will not affect the company’s wages bill and the second has consistently turned out to be a way of increasing productivity. Talk to your staff and ensure that they know you value their personal development.

You can never examine your business too much. Here are some areas that are worth thinking about, which could make a huge difference to your company’s profitability.

Look at your purchasing department. Obviously, you can improve cash flow by ensuring you do not carry unnecessarily large supplies of anything, but there can be far greater savings to be made. Look around to see if there are companies who need some of the same supplies as you. Provided they are not direct competitors, look at the possibility of combining your purchasing power to attract economies of scale and drive down costs.

In fact co-operation with other businesses can be beneficial in other ways. For example, you may supply different things to the same businesses. You could introduce each other’s business to your customers.
Look at diversifying. You already have many resources in place such as premises, staff and equipment. A brainstorming session can come up with some surprising ideas. Keep an open mind and seriously consider all options.

Focus for a time on your biggest overheads. Do you really need all that office space? What else is out there? Review utility bills and make sure you’re getting the best deal. Similarly, although usually harder to change on a regular basis, is your bank really looking after you?

Managers need to be aware of the personal development of their employees. They also need to consider their own. Ideally they should invest some time in the necessary management courses such as team building, motivational techniques and time management. It is ironic that the response, when it is suggested that someone go on a time management course is “I don’t have the time”!

However, there are a number of points that are worth considering even if full training is not an option.

There are of course many ideas and rules that are furnished to trainees. Many of them seem to be a statement of the obvious or an attempt by a trainer to make a name for them self by naming some theory in their own honour. One useful rule however is known as the Pareto Principle. To be fair, it is also known as the 80/20 rule. It has a number of applications. One of these is that the best 80% of your output comes from just 20% of your effort. The task then is to work out which 20% of your effort is yielding the best results and see if you can focus your work accordingly. This principle also applies to sales incidentally. In other words 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. Focus on the most profitable parts of your business.

Every business is anxious to maximise its sales, particularly in times of economic difficulty. This is especially the case when a business is starting up or launching a new product range, but it doesn’t matter how long you have been in business. Even if you are an established market leader, you should reconsider the assumptions you work on regularly. As methods of collecting and interpreting data become more sophisticated, you may find previously reached conclusions no longer apply. Times and people change. It is therefore well worth investing in market research and soft skills training to update your knowledge base.

Many companies specialise in very specific methods of measuring and it is well worth shopping around before parting with your hard earned cash.

The areas to look at include customer demographics such as age, marital status, gender, occupation and education. It is also worthwhile understanding your customers’’ psychological profiles. What that means is examining their attitudes, values, opinions, principles and buying habits.

You should also consider the location of your customers. After all, people in different locations have different needs and buying patterns. You need to ensure your marketing and distribution departments are serving your customers’ needs.

Find out which benefits of your product or service customers most value so that you can direct advertising accordingly.

There is an adage that you should work to live, not live to work. To put it another way, there is more to life than work. Obviously, many people do see their work as a priority and feel they need to work excessively long hours whilst being reluctant to take their full entitlement to annual leave. However, they are not just short changing them self by taking this attitude. They can end up being a drain on their employers.

A good work/life balance pays dividends. Here are some of the benefits that arise when someone takes the time to manage their personal development outside their employment.

Studies have found that these employees have more loyalty and commitment to their employer if they feel they are being valued and treated well. This means that staff retention if higher, thus keeping the costs of recruitment down.

If an employee’s psychological and physical health is good they are far more likely to have good relationships with their co-workers. Similarly they will produce better work both in terms of quantity and quality.

Employees need to think about their values and consider what is really important to them. They should also spend time thinking about their health.

One of modern life’s nuisances is the telesales call. You get home from a hard day at work, start thinking about a relaxing evening and the telephone calls start. Many of them are apparently surveys, but if you resist the urge to hang-up, you find you are being asked whether you would care to meet a salesman, or, in the case of companies with whom you already have a relationship, to buy something else from them. Perhaps, the most annoying calls are those which involve answering to find nobody there. This is one of the problems caused by automated dialling, where you are called, but there is no-one to speak to you when you answer.

However, whilst there is undoubtedly a downside to outgoing telesales calls in terms of public perception, the fact is that it works and is a cost effective way of increasing business.

The desire to carefully target sales drives and the requirement for the latest in monitoring systems has led to many companies outsourcing their telesales operation. This also enables a company to use professional telesales people, who have received thorough sales training, as and when they need them rather than having them as a permanent overhead. Before outsourcing, one should carefully weigh up the full cost and consider whether the job could be done better in-house with a little capital investment.