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
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
Sadly, this topic still comes up occasionally during training workshops. Many people have suffered at the hands of a line manager who wants to know in detail what is happening and to control everything. It can be frustrating and disempowering. But there are potentially several reasons for this behaviour – Read More
Long before I learned of the value of Socratic questioning in coaching and counselling, I remember an editor asking me to use Socratic questioning in some writing. Socratic questioning is a way to drive logical argument. It’s helpful in conversations, critical thinking and negotiation. So what is Socratic questioning? (Questioning Read More
Most people appreciate the importance of questioning skills in selling, training, coaching, counselling (especially Cognitive Based Therapy – CBT) and commercial conversations. In this post I explore different types of questions and how they can be used in various business scenarios. Why are questions so important? (Questioning skills). The importance Read More
