Communication skills

Coaching skills – How to work with people with fixed views and closed to new ideas (dealing with stubbornness)

At the recent PM Forum - PM Forum training workshop on “Coaching and Consulting skills for marketing and business development professionals” the issue of how to work with people with fixed views and closed to new ideas or refuse to consider change arose several times.  We avoided using labels such Read More

Book review: You’re not listening – What you’re missing and why it matters by Kate Murphy

Active listening is a core communication skill that is fundamental for creating and developing relationships. Yet listening doesn’t receive nearly as much attention as other communication skills such as speaking, writing, presenting and negotiating. Effective listening is critical for so many activities such as learning, leading, client service, consulting, coaching, Read More

2024-06-07T08:15:32+01:00June 7, 2024|Kim's Blog, Management Skills, Relationship Management, Selling|

Negotiating skills – Balancing task and relationship

I thought I’d share a few key ideas from some recent workshops on negotiation skills. Sometimes I am training business support professionals, but on occasions I am asked to work with legal professionals who typically are known for their excellent negotiation skills. I use the model of balancing task and Read More

2024-12-31T16:06:54+00:00April 16, 2024|Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Management Skills, Relationship Management|

Pick up the phone – Who answers calls, how do you train people on call handling and how do you improve conversion rates?

There were delegates from legal and accounting firms at the training session on “Pick up the Phone – client service and sales opportunities for professionals in the digital age” MBL this week. Delegates were in management, marketing and fee-earning roles. This post summarises the main points raised and is a Read More

2025-02-17T19:09:09+00:00April 12, 2024|Accountants, Lawyers, Marketing, Relationship Management, Selling|

Private client commercial conversations

At a recent business conversation skills session, private client and family lawyers asked about the nature of commercial conversations with individual clients (as opposed to business clients). These private clients are often high net worth (or ultra high net worth). So here are some thoughts on private client commercial conversations. Read More

2025-01-08T16:11:57+00:00March 27, 2024|Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Relationship Management, Statistics and trends|
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