Category Archives: Meeting room

How to Help Develop Persuasive Skills in Your Sales Team

Persuasion is critical to sales and it has always been so, but the strategies for persuasion have changed with time. Today, for instance, direct persuasion (AKA had sold) doesn’t work. (When was the last time you’re convinced by a nagging salesperson?)

The truth is – persuasion is a skill and your salespeople need developing/updating it from time to time. If that requires booking training room rental or seminar room rental, so be it. Without effective persuasion, your sales endeavor would never come to fruition. Here are some tips on how to train your salespeople to be more persuasive.

1. Do the planning

In the planning stage, you need to know more about the individual or organization you want to persuade. Know their needs, wants and pain points. If possible, research their buying history, purchasing behavior and decision-making process. When you’ve enough information about a potential buyer, it would be easier to plan an effective persuasive strategy for each customer.

2. Win their trust

People do business with people they trust. But how would you go about winning the trust of your potential buyers? One way to do so is by showing them that you care more about helping them and less about selling a product. For instance, you may consider offering free trials or discounts for first-time buyers. Offering them value first is a proven way to win the trust of your customers.

3. Create scarcity

Demand soars when the supply plummets. Scarcity makes things desirable. You can use this as a strategy for persuasion. Most effective sales pitches create a sense of urgency. It is like telling the audience, “If you don’t act now, you’ll lose.” Nothing works better than the fear of losing. However, make sure that the product you’re selling does offer value to your customers. Otherwise, your persuasion skills would not help give you long-term results.

3 Benefits of Hiring an Organizer for Your MICE Event

Whether you manage a company, a school or an NGO, one way to boost the morale of your employees, students or colleagues is by taking them on a vacation. You can also organize a MICE event. MICE refers to Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions. However, organizing a MICE event is no easy job. You need to plan everything – starting from your training room rentals and seminar room rentals to your budget and location preferences. Here are some reasons why you should hire a professional organizer for your MICE event.

1. They make hotel bookings simple and easy

When you are organizing a MICE event, hotel bookings for the entire group needs to be finalized in advance. When you engage a professional service provider for the purpose, they understand the basic purpose of the meet. They are also aware of the headcount and the maximum budget you have in mind. Depending upon these conditions, they can book hotels and resorts that suit the purpose. No time would be wasted in formalities when the guests arrive since all arrangements would be completed in advance.

2. Food arrangements are likely to be perfect

Catering to the food arrangements for a large group of attendees with diverse preferences and choices may not be an easy task. This is where professional help matters. They will perform a meticulous job of seeking preferences from every member in a regulated manner and will be arrive at a menu with plenty of choices for all.

3. Flawless logistics management

Engaging a professional will also help in flawless logistics management. For instance, you may need transport to and from the airport and also the hotel in order to transport staff members to specific locations. A professional is ideal for providing safe and dependable logistics support.

Professionals can also help you choose a training venue. Make sure you choose one that is equipped with all the necessary tools and devices.

Top Tips for Hosting a BYOD event

BYOD or “Bring your own Device “events have become extremely popular these days. Here attendees are allowed to bring their own electronic devices to their sessions. BYOD events need to be planned extremely well. Apart from finalizing your training room rental, there are several other preparatory measures to undertake. We look at some guidelines for hosting such an event successfully.

Ensure that your attendees are prepared

Attendees should know what they should exactly bring with them. They should be informed about applications they need to install as well as the system requirements, well before the event date. If the participants belong to young age-group, they probably need to be informed about the security implications concerning a personal device. For instance, if they are sourcing software from the parent company, let them know about any possible restrictions or security requirements.

Provide on-site tech support

When you have electronic devices in the classroom, make sure you look for a seminar room rental provider who can also engage a tech support professional on-site. Technical issues are likely to be the order of the day with laptops, tablets and mobile phones at work. Without proper support, the instructor may end up spending his session time handling tech problems!

Announce a buffer time slot for setting up

Your learners or trainees may need additional time to set up their devices before the commencement of the lecture or training program. Make sure the same has been included in the schedule and mentioned specifically. This will help attendees prepare themselves well without any hassle, stress or confusion whatsoever.

How Event Planners Should Keep Calm

As an event manager, you should always prepare for the unexpected during an event. Despite your best preparations, however, keeping your calm when things are not happening as planned could be difficult. Whether you are dealing with unreasonable clients, undisciplined attendees, or devious vendors, it is important to handle the situation judiciously. For instance, if your rent training room, but on the day of the event do not get the facilities as promised, you may lose you cool and make the situation even worse. Now think about it. Instead of blaming someone or wasting your time thinking how it happened, you should think about how you can resolve the issue now. If you still have enough time, you can contact another seminar room rental company and shift the venue there. Here are some more tips on how event planners should keep calm.

Believe yourself

When you face a sudden challenge, you should believe in your abilities. Say yourself, “I can handle this.” If you indulge in negative thinking, the situation can quickly go out of your control. Instead, you should think about past instances where you successfully dealt with any adverse situations. That way, you can convince your mind that you are strong enough to handle difficult situations.

Learn to handle criticism

During the course of an event, you may have to face criticism from your clients or attendees. Some complaints may be true, while some allegations could be absolutely baseless. If someone blames you for a mistake you’ve committed, accept it and move on. However, if the criticism is baseless, simply ignore it. Don’t try to respond to your critics immediately, no matter how unfair the allegations are. That way, you can focus more on solving the real problem Vs getting distracted.

Don’t cross the bridge until you come to it

Sometimes we complicate things unnecessarily by thinking ahead. If you often panic thinking about “what if” scenarios, it is time to learn how to live in the present. Don’t cross the bridge before you actually come to it. Sometimes you may be surrounded by people who will constantly warn you about a hypothetical situation. In that case, you should distance yourself from those people, because negative thoughts are infectious. Instead of thinking too much, focus on the present facts. It is all about having the right mindset. Think how you can deal with the present situation, rather than indulging in hypothetical thoughts.

Plan ahead

One way to reduce the chances of getting into unwanted situations is to plan ahead. Lack of planning is often the root of many problems. Have a backup plan for disaster management. You should be able to identify the risks and take precautions accordingly. Understand that things can go wrong anytime. So always try to have a plan B or an alternative way out.

Avoid perfection

Trying to be perfect is not always a good idea. You need to cut the coat according to the cloth. Keeping unrealistic expectations from your event may actually do more harm than good. You should plan as per your budget and timeframe. At times, it is okay to be good enough.

5 Meetings to do for Event Success

Although some people believe meetings are a waste of time, it is not true always. In some situations, meetings are necessary. When it comes to event planning, a number of meetings need to be arranged before the event. As an event organizer, you should communicate with different groups of people at different times. Calling every stakeholder to one meeting may not work. For instance, the scope of your discussion varies considerably when your meet with suppliers Vs when your meet your clients. Here are 5 meetings you must do to make your next event successful.

1. Meeting for marketing strategy

You should arrange this meeting as early as possible, ideally as soon as you decide to host an event. In this meeting, you should invite your marketing staff along with anyone who you think should know about your marketing strategy. Discuss what marketing channels you want to use and how. Delegate the right tasks to the right people and set a clear marketing goal for your team.

2. Meeting for venue selection

It’s obvious. You need to rent seminar room for your event. Selecting the right venue, however, may involve more headache than you think. You need to look for a venue that provides all the necessary facilities, such as, water supply, projection room, and WiFi. Choosing the right location is also important. Make sure the venue is strategically located, so that your guests can reach easily. Once you find a suitable venue, you need to sit with the venue manager. Ask questions until you’re completely convinced. For instance, if you are booking a training venue, check the background and reputation of the training room rental company.

3. Meeting with suppliers

Depending on the nature of your event, you may need to arrange food supplies, flowers, and other stationery items from outside vendors. Select your suppliers and call them all to a meeting. Make sure all important members of your internal team are also present in the meeting. The idea is to have everyone on the same page. Assign tasks and set a deadline for every task. This meeting will also help initiate communication between your internal team members and outside vendors, fostering teamwork and coordination.

4. Meeting with sponsors

If you are looking for sponsors, you may need to meet many potential parties face to face. Build a team exclusively for this purpose. The team should have representatives from your marketing, sales, and design teams. Also, make a plan on how to convince someone to sponsor your event. You may need to arrange multiple meetings with different parties.

5. Meeting for speaker selection

To decide on which speakers to invite to your event, you need to arrange a meeting with your internal team members. Once you finalize the list of speakers to invite, you still have some meetings to do. You need to contact each selected speaker and brief them your topic of discussion, target audience, purpose, and expectations.

You will also need to arrange a quick meeting with all members of your team on the day before the actual event. Post event team meetings may also be a necessity.

Tips to Improve Your Company Culture

Setting a high standard for your company’s culture is imperative to employee retention and productive recruitment. Surveys reveal that companies that successfully achieve this can reduce staff turnover by more than 50%. The first step is to define your initial vision and mission and to communicate them to the employees. Right from using technology for boosting communication, to investing in the right training room rental, everything must be done to improve company culture. Here are 7 ways to do it.

Make transparency a policy

Transparency is positive not only for employees, but for the company. The reason why it makes a positive impact is that it allows employees honest insights into the operations of the company. Many also contend that it wins over employees’ trust. One way to embrace transparency is to implement modern collaboration and communication tools. Start a culture where successes and challenges are openly shared with employees.

Valuable contributions must be rewarded

Companies with a recognition-rich culture often have extremely low staff turnover rates. The first step is to identify certain behaviors and outcomes aligned with company success. These behaviors and outcomes must be regularly rewarded. However, do not make employee recognition too hard to achieve. Encourage peer recognition to reduce managerial overhead and build stronger relationships between coworkers.

Encourage strong relations between coworkers

It is true that stronger relationship at work is crucial for employee engagement, but it takes effort. Establish collision spaces for employee bonding. These can lead to chance encounters and unplanned interactions between coworkers, which actually improves performance. Work on engineering such spaces and situations.

Practice employee learning and training

A positive company culture also fosters the further training of employees. It not only boosts employee morale and increased productivity, but requires less supervision. Successful organizations provide 40 hours of training on a yearly basis. Companies commonly rent classrooms for employee training as well. Make sure your training room rental company provides facilities like 24X7 internet, electricity outlets, water cooler facilities and the like.

Allow employees to manage themselves

Employees never like to be micromanaged or excessively controlled at the workplace. It only does harm to company culture. Provide the right kind of training to help employees manage their responsibilities themselves. Flexible working hours, autonomous project teams, and opportunities for decision-making are a few ways to encourage employee autonomy. This can also help with establishing a healthy work-life balance.

Give and ask for regular feedback

Feedback shouldn’t be limited to the time when you rent classroom and provide training. Often, employees complain about getting vague and inauthentic feedback. Some employees fail to meet the organization’s expectations, and constructive feedback can help rectify any mistakes. Even more important is to provide it regularly, and not just at the end of the year.

Remember your core values

It is important to identify your core values first. They are much more than just your bulleted list of points on your ‘about us’ page. Take your time to arrive at a genuine set of core values to abide by in the years to come. Do not include something in this set just because it sounds trendy. A company’s core values will be those that align better to its goals.

Tips for Managing Older Employees

Age, albeit a number, can prove to be an important one in workplaces especially for young managers having senior people working under them. And this could be very much a possibility owing to the fact that senior citizens over 65 years of age are choosing to remain in the workforce for a few more years. According to a Singapore Times feature published in May 2016, the Singapore Government has also promised subsidies to companies hiring professionals above the age of 65.

It is important to understand that senior employees add value to the organization in various ways. They are loyal, committed, and meticulous about their work and duties In turn, they require suitable working environment that boosts their productivity. They need to be motivated and trained periodically for morale boosting and skill enhancement.

Therefore, as a manager, it could be quite thoughtful to determine their improvement areas and chart out an annual training schedule in advance. The provision to rent training room whenever needed also makes it convenient and budget friendly.

In addition, there are a few more constructive efforts to undertake in order to be a successful manager to senior workforce members. We discuss some here.

Make a Serious Attempt to Know Them on a Personal Level

Plan a meeting with each member of your workforce. Don’t make the interaction farcical. Keep your tone respectful. Frame meaningful questions to put forth. Know how they came about joining the organization, what has made them stick through, what motivates them most and their strengths and weaknesses. Enquiring a bit about their families is also a great way to connect instantly.

Refrain from Assumptions

Assumptions or preconceived notions are to be strictly avoided when dealing with senior members of the workforce. For instance, just because your team member is in his fifties does not mean he or she is not updated with new technology! In fact, some may even be better than you! Judge them fairly. In case updating is required, you can always rent classroom and plan sessions for their benefit.

Be Transparent in Your Dealings

In some organizations, older employees tend to have a bigger say. However, if you, as a manager, can be absolutely open and transparent about your decisions, expectations and goals; age becomes a non entity. When you make the right decisions and evaluate your team members in absolute fairness, even those who are older than you can find justification in your decisions. They also learn to value you as a leader.

Boost their Self Esteem

Just as motivating your ageing workforce is important, it is equally essential to involve and engage them in activities like training and mentoring younger employees. They can be asked to educate newly joined members about company policies and directives, codes of conduct, standard operating procedures and so on. This will help in enhancing their self esteem. You can advice them to rent training rooms for these sessions and even help them plan the program sequentially.

And most importantly, communicate. Give clear instructions with respect to what you want them to do. Be specific and precise. And always value their life experiences. Your older subordinate has been around for much longer. He or she may be better informed about certain aspects. Seeking advice where you feel the need to; will only make them appreciate you more as a leader and mentor.

To read our previous article, please click here.

4 Types of Training to Invest In

If you want to get the best out of your business, you have to think about how you can create skilled and energetic workforce. The only logical way to do that is to invest in a fool-proof training program. It’s not a new thing though, but businesses seldom consider the importance of training.

In Singapore, where things change rapidly, training has become an integral part in updating practices and educating employees about new opportunities. While the country has been job-flexible in many ways, it’s not easy to become the part of workforce if you ignore training.

This is the only reason why training has its own place in the development of skilled human capital. Among many other factors determining the value of training, some key areas where it becomes vital for all organization has been:

Health and safety benefits for employees
Awareness about workplace environment
Reducing employee retention – a major threat for services industry

This post talks through the important training sessions you should conduct, in order to mishaps.

1. Orientation

Needless to say, every employee needs understanding about the place where he works and the responsibilities of his job. Orientation is the basic part and here is a valid reason why it’s even more important for manufacturing businesses than services businesses;

1.3 million US-based employees encounter injuries every year, because of the lack of orientation training.
5,500 employees die of injuries every year, only in the U.S, and that’s because of the poor orientation.

What could you possibly do? The answer’s quite simple. Invest in training. If there is lack of space with your organisation. You could always explore holding training outside and rent seminar rooms with established training vendors. They offer you great spacious rooms to conduct such industry-specific seminars and help save the workforce from potential damages.

2. Corporate Wellness

You can also help your employees reduce healthcare expenses by conducting wellness programs and training sessions. In this way, according to studies, you can help them save $1.65 per dollar spent on training.

Following ideas are worth implementing:

Diseases screening
Health risk assessment
Fitness facilities
Nutrition workshop
Substance abuse
Smoking cessation
Weight management
Healthy sleep habits

3. Customer Service

To give your employees a chance to learn quickly, you can invest in fully furnished training rooms, and you’ll find a lot of training room facilities in Singapore. Some popular ideas include:

Customer service skills
Identifying customer needs
Phone etiquette
Tackling irate customers
Listening skills

In this way, you can teach your employees:

How to turn contented customers into recurring customers
How to handle customer complaints

4. Workplace Ethics

In 2008, the United States public department received more than 95000 complaints and majority of them dealt with sexual harassment. In fact, there were 32,000 reported cases of sexual harassment in 2008. Employers had to pay close to $275 million to remunerate the complainants.

Do you want to save yourself from lawsuits or other related troubles? There’s no point saying, “No” to it. How are you going to ensure that? You can do so by investing in classroom training programs.

You can invest in the following programs which should be held periodically:

Interpersonal skills
Sexual harassment
Workplace diversity
Code of conduct

If your organisation needs a comfortable, affordable and convenient training room rental in Singapore, click here