The Papworth Trust Case Study

Developing Confidence and Skills with Papworth's Employment Advisers

The Organisation

The Papworth Trust is a registered charity that helps and supports over 4,500 people annually including disabled people to be more independent at home or at work so they can live life to the full. Papworth Trust services cover five main areas; employment, progression, housing, care, and advice.

The Need

Within the Employment division, Advisers have 2 tasks; to work with clients and employers and to seek new clients. Gaining clients is mainly through referrals from other organisations such as JobCentres, GP's and other care providers. Employment Advisers encourage these organisations to refer clients to Papworth. Papworth is operating within a competitive environment (in some instances other organisations deliver the same programmes) so the Employment Advisers need to actively 'sell' Papworth to their referrals base. However, Employment Advisers did not see themselves as sales people and some had a negative view of sales in general. Papworth wanted a programme to help and motivate Employment Advisers to develop the skills and confidence needed to increase the number of referral sources through an initial training event with potential for ongoing coaching.

What We Did

J Hill Associates became aware of Papworth's needs through the Charity Days UK network (www.ukcharitydays.co.uk) and invited an associate organisation (www.sijac.co.uk) that specialises in delivering sales training and coaching for non-sales people to get involved. We worked closely with Jonathan Wainwright, Papworth's marketing consultant, to develop a one-day training event with potential for follow-up coaching sessions by tailoring the public course "Selling is Just A Conversation" to better fit Papworth's needs and culture. This customisation was based on conversations with Jonathan and responses to a pre-course questionnaire. Over 20 people attended the course from a range of Papworth programmes and now participants are putting their new found skills and confidence into practice, coaching each other and using team meetings to explore how they can develop their skills further. Papworth has also further tailored the course into a half-day version to roll-out to other parts of the organisation.

Benefits

People are more comfortable with the 'sales' activity
Prospecting is seen more positively
Employment advisers' confidence has increased in discussing their role with potential referrers
The techniques learnt are also effective when meeting with clients to gain a real understanding of what they want to get out of life
Participants objectives in attending the course were either met or exceeded
Participants could see how to use the training in their work and were keen to try out new skills
Proven course tailored to Papworth's specific needs
A unique style of sales training that built on participants strengths (having conversations) without requiring an overtly 'sales' approach
Developing an initiative that can be incorporated into training overall and the one 2 one development of each staff member.

Comments from participants

Jonathan Wainwright, Marketing Consultant at the Papworth Trust commented, "When we were planning how to address this issue we felt that the traditional 'Sales Training' approach would serve to put people off. Terms such as prospecting, overcoming objections, pre-emptive selling, closing the deal and the usual sales training jargon would just alienate people from a caring environment. J Hill Associates' approach was refreshingly different yet made absolute sense and this really encouraged all the staff that attended to participate. The emphasis is on practical work, so people get the chance to practice in a safe environment and the results afterwards have been so encouraging that we have run follow-up courses and built the techniques into staff one 2 ones, which forms part of their individual development programmes. The feedback we have received has been wholly positive and I would wholeheartedly recommend J Hill Associates".

Six months after the training, participants were still enthusiastic about what they had learned. Here is a selection of their comments:

I am more aware of what I say to people and how
I am developing the conversational element of my selling technique
I recognised the 'Monkey' (voice telling me I can't do it) and am now more aware
I have noticed my confidence growing
I now approach selling meetings in a more conscious way
I have become clearer, more assertive
My negotiation skills are better
I listen better to people
I now plan and think about what I am going to say
I have been able to take what the trainer said and apply it to my own style and situation
The training has made it easier to get to know the client better.

Please note that The Papworth Trust is an independent disability charity and is unconnected with the Papworth Hospital NHS Trust

Papworth Trust can be found at: www.papworth.org.uk

Return to main Clients and Case Studies page »