Training audio CDs for United States despatch.

Unsurprisingly most of our enquiries, orders and websites come from the English speaking world. The United States is our second biggest market. As a result and in order to make it easier for our American customers to work out the prices in dollars you will see we’ve added a click through currency converter against each of the products here.

Training CDs - ready to ship to United States

So if you’re in California,Wisconsin, New York state, Florida, Ohio, Washington, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, or Canada or any of the 50 U.S. states and you’re after some best practice advice from the U.K. on customer service, telesales or general telephone communication skills, try us out. A few clicks and the products are on their way to you.

The case for training. Admittedly we sell training products so we might be seen to have an opinion on this. As customers become ever more sophisticated and demanding about what they want, so customer service becomes more important.

We came across a quote recently from the highly influential management book from the 1980s “the One Minute Manager” by Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson.

“You really have three choices as a manager. First you can hire winners. They are hard to find and they cost money. Or second, if you can’t find a winner, you can hire someone with the potential to be a winner. Then you systematically train that person to become a winner. If you are not willing to do either of the first two (and I am continually amazed at the number of managers who won’t spend the money to hire a winner or take the time to train someone to become a winner), then there is only the third choice left – prayer.” This books comes highly recommended. It is easy to read, it is written almost as a children’s book and so you will get through it in no time at all. Amazon is a good source for this book.

Follow this link to find out more http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=one+minute+manager&sprefix=one+minute+man

The One Minute Manager - recommended by Associated Learning Systems

Developing in-house training material for customer service and telesales is important for you and your company if you still have restricted training budgets at the moment. The temptation is to cut costs and look for increasing ways of being self-sufficient.

You recognise that training is important – perhaps MORE important than it’s ever been, but you’ve not got money to throw at it. Perhaps you’re reading this looking for some new ideas and new material.

It is said that the best way of learning is to teach.

Have you ever found that you understand something, only to try and then explain it yourself, only to discover you’re not clear on it at all ?

Alternatively sometimes you can explain something to someone who then asks you some straightforward questions – which then makes you realise you are not clear on all the details.

This is all part of the learning process. If you really want to understand something, get yourself into a situation where you can explain it to someone else. You will often find that in doing this, you will have learnt more about it along the way. It really does work. To understand you have to teach !

Time management tips, remember there is never enough time, and never will be. There are many top tips about time management which you can pick up from many different people and places, and time management is key to achieving the things we want in life.

Don’t you just hate it when people say “sorry I didn’t do that for you, I didn’t get time.” Sometimes followed by “I’ve just been so busy” or “I don’t know where the time goes – I really don’t ” ?

And it’s rubbish anyway. It simply means that it wasn’t important enough to them. You see time management is partly about motivation. If it’s important you will find time to do it. If someone says they didn’t get time your retort could be “well, if there was a million pounds for you if you’d done it – would you have had the time then ?!” To which the answer is “Ooh yes.” So it’s simply that we choose to do other stuff.

Be realistic, set realistic time frames, and acknowledge the fact that this task may or may not be that important to you, just don’t say to another human being “I didn’t get time !” There will never be enough time – get over it !

Time management is one of the important topics covered in the audio CDs on the Associated Learning Systems website, follow this link http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=24 Buying is easy through PayPal and it will only set you back a few pounds – so click a few buttons and it could be with you by tomorrow.

One of the best tips I ever heard about problem solving goes as follows – it really is problem solving made easy.

Consider the main thing holding you back at the moment. It could be that your job is unfulfiling, or you need more money or you want some help and advice, or guidance on overcoming an obstacle.

The only materials you need are peace and quiet, a piece of paper and a pencil.

Then all you do is turn the problem for solving into a question. That makes it action orientated. So for instance I need £3,000 saved up for my summer holiday and it’s now February becomes “how do I save £3,000 before my summer holiday in August ?”

Then of course as soon as you start to answer the question you start to have your answers. It is a great and simple device to stimulate your brain to think. As a solo brainstorming technique it is fantastic. You’ll also find that within 10 minutes or so you’ll have 90% of the answers. So stop there – don’t force yourself to sit there for an hour – it probably won’t contribute much more anyway.

Now is the time to ramp up learning. First customers have the opportunity to shop around, and spend longer over their decisions. So they will deal with people they like, people who are knowledgeable and people who are motivated.  Secondly there are more hours available for many people at the moment - so now is the time to open yourself up to new ideas.

Some great things we’ve come across. Try searching the internet for subjects you want to become  more knowledgeable about. Go to the library or your local bookstore, there is a wealth of both fascinating and mind stretching material that can both stimulate and motivate you. It also helps get you into a more positive frame of mind. This will also help you carry out your job more positively. You win, your organisation wins and your customers win !

Finally the other thing with reading about wisdom is that it is so inexpensive. So invest in yourself, you will almost certainly find that it’s the best thing you could spend your money on !

Clearly self-belief and a whole lot of commitment to their ideas is what entrepreneurs have.

At the weekend I was reading about Michelle Mone the former model turned business woman who runs the Ultimo brand. She is 37, and since 1996 has built up a company now worth £45 million according to the Sunday Times.

And yet, it wasn’t always so. In the Sunday Times piece she said “setting up the business was hard and I had to find a lot of money to get it going. Iwas in debt by about £420,000 when the company finally launched. I had to remortgage the house and also take out a number of business loans. I also had debts with every credit card company known to man.”

So what kept her going ? She had overwhelming faith and conviction in her ideas. Now surely for every Michelle Mone there are 100 people that gamble and lose, but what an inspiring story.

While we don’t have audio CDs available yet on how to build a £45 million company, remember that Mao Tse Tung said “the longest journey begins with a single step” and we can help with that. Click through to see the audio CDs on self development and goal setting at  http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=SELF%20DEVELOPMENT

But what we can learn is that self-belief and commitment is what she, like other entrepreneurs have.

There are many eminent experts who offer a range of advice on time management. And it is something we could all do with help on. There just never seem to be enough hours in the day to do all the things you want to do are there ?

Perhaps what you want as well as the second best tip is the best tip. Both of them are covered on the time management CD which you can find by following this link http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=24. And who knows I may write a blog with the best tip !

Anyway the second best tip is credited to a time and motion consultant who advised Andrew Carnegie a Scot who made his fortune in steel in the U.S. He became the Bill Gates of his time. The tip is this.

Before the start of each work day, write down your 6 main work priorities. Then number them in order that you intend to do them. That becomes your key list for the day. ONLY 6 mind – you can have other jobs written down, but only number the 6 most important. That way it keeps your focus on what is important (because you’ve decided it.) OK so other things will get in the way and emergencies may demand your immediate attention, but then once that’s dealt with – get straight back to the list.

You may feel that you won’t necessarily get through all 6, but if you don’t get through them using this method you wouldn’t have got through them using any other method either ! The best of luck  

I’m sure you’ve seen many great quotes relating to self-development. I came across this one the other day from Maria Robinson (an American writer).

“Nobody can go back to start a new beginning, but anyone can start today to make a new ending.”

How true. While you can’t change what has happened to you, you can decide how you will deal with it. There are many challenges faced by many people at the moment. The future is about the decisions YOU take about YOUR future.

Associated Learning Systems has available a couple of audio CDs relating to personal goal setting and overcoming personal barriers. Follow this link if you want to find out more http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=SELF%20DEVELOPMENT

But take some time out over the forthcoming festive break and write yourself a list of things you’d like to do in the future. They can be things to do next month, or over the next few months and over the next year or so. Once you’ve done this – you’ve taken an important first step to achieving your goals and deciding what future you want for you. The best of luck !�