In this program you will learn how to:

• Be successful at demonstrating your expertise with excellent communication skills
• Present a high quality image to your internal customers
• Act as Internal Consultant
• Marketing your services in the right place, at the right time and at the right price
• Manage relationships with other departments

• This program will have broad appeal and should therefore give participants the chance to share and discuss their challenges
• It is designed for anyone in an advisory, internal consultancy or service role, where success depends on interacting well with other departments
• The program will be of great benefit to people new to the role, as well as more experienced officers seeking to refine their client management skills

Competencies emphasized

• Planning
• Problem solving
• Internal consultancy
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Decision making
• Influencing
• Assertiveness
• Negotiation skills
• Internal Marketing

By the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Get closer to your internal customers and their needs
• Build stronger relationships built on competence and trust
• Market your department’s services more effectively
• Manage client expectations and deliver results that add value
• Play a larger, more strategic role in the organization
• Be able to measure their own function’s degree of customer focus and be able to apply a variety of tactics to get closer to the customer
• Recognize the power of approaching internal customers in the same way as external customers
• Be able to apply strategic Decision making tools to their own environment
• Understand the steps in the internal consultancy cycle
• Recognize the skills required to build effective relationships
• Be able to plan and run an effective client meeting
• Understand a variety of methods to solve client problems
• Be able to develop an internal Service Level Agreement
• Understand, then have applied the Principles of Marketing to their own challenges
• Recognize how to align their Department’s plans with the organization’s strategy and tactics
• Understand a range of marketing tactics and how these can be applied to improve performance in any work environment

This program will be highly participative and your programme leader will present, guide and facilitate the learning, using a range of methods including discussions, training videos, case studies and exercises. Where appropriate, these will include real issues brought to the program by delegates.

DAY 1 - The Changing Nature of Internal Service Departments

• A vision for the organisation of the future
• Expectations of service departments
• Changing the perception of the role of service departments
• The Real Requirements of Internal Customers
• How to understand the needs of the internal customer
• Understanding your strengths and weaknesses as perceived by internal customers
• Conducting a SWOT analysis
• Understanding Your Customers
• Getting close to the customer
• Understanding customer needs and expectations
• Identifying and segmenting internal customer needs
• How to conduct customer research
• Meeting Customer Needs and Expectations
• Measuring customer satisfaction
• How well do you do?
• Talking to customers
• Identifying the important gaps in delivery and expectation
• Tools and Techniques for Gathering Customer Information
• Surveys
• Customer panels and focus groups
• Stimulating customer response
  
  

DAY 2 - The Consultancy Process

• The role of the internal consultant
• Building personal and professional credibility
• Steps in the consulting cycle
• Overcoming common problems in the process
• Critical success factors
• Agreeing goals and objectives
• Preparation and planning
• Establishing Winning Relationships
• ‘Gaining entry’ with key decision-makers
• Networking for mutual benefit
• Building rapport and trust
• Understanding real needs
• Influencing and managing issues
• The Internal Client Meeting
• Planning and running an effective meeting
• Getting the right information
• Questioning and listening for best results
• Reaching consensus on issues
• Agreeing what can be done and when
• Gaining commitment to joint responsibilities
• Solving Internal Customer Problems
• Analyzing information collected
• Problem-solving techniques
• Brainstorming methods
• Effective decision-making
• Agreeing Effective Solutions
• Understanding the user’s point of view
• Defining the scope of each project
• Negotiating strategies and tactics
• Selling benefits
• Gaining commitment

DAY 3 - Managing Client Relationships

• Establishing Service Level Agreements
• Ensuring delivery matches expectations
• Gaining feedback on implementation
• Evaluating effectiveness, ensuring satisfaction
• Marketing the Service Function
• Why should you market internally?
• Raising the profile
• Getting the message across
• Aligning the objectives and activities
• Maximizing the value of your Department’s contribution

DAY 4 - Ensuring Your Department Strategy Matches The Organisation’s

• Building a strategic and tactical plan
• Using a strategic model to ensure alignment
• Getting agreement from stakeholders
• Gaining your team’s commitment and energy
• Case Studies and Exercises
• Working on a number of case studies
• A chance to build skills as well as awareness
• Delegates will be able to raise their own issues and concerns
• Tools and Techniques for Effective Internal Marketing
• Developing a distinctive department brand
• Clarifying and communicating the vision and values for your team
• Managing perceptions and expectations
• Establishing the customer promise

DAY 5 - Developing a Marketing Plan

• Establishing the key messages
• Planning for communication that works
• What are the most effective channels for Communication
• Making sure you get feedback
• Getting Your Plan of Action Together
• Working in small groups with tutor guidance, participants will start to prepare the broad outlines of a plan for developing internal relationships and marketing their department within their own organisation

CDGA attendance certificate will be issued to all attendees completing minimum of 75% of the total course duration.