The Communication Gym®

Your team does not function as effectively as it could. Why? The human limitations we all have. We must work to expand our abilities. Most people follow the path of least resistance. They pay lip service to the idea of personal and team development, they may exert themselves a little, but they will not give it their all.

But there are those, managers and team members alike, that are not okay with the status quo. They are ready, willing and able to invest the energy to bring out their greater potential. If that describes you, The Communication Gym® is the right partner.

For those that are serious about their professional and personal development, The Communication Gym® delivers dramatic results. Our approach is simple and time-tested. Break communication skills down to measurable components. Provide guided practice for people to build confidence using those components, then drill to develop unconscious competence. Then reinforce their application to improve effectiveness in important conversations.

Your people can work through one of our Communication Competency Modules, or you can hire The Communication Gym® to give you customized “workouts.” You may also participate in the ongoing TCG community programs - Open Gym and Gymposium™. In any case, you will receive the benefit of an ideal development environment - fun, interactive sessions focused on the most powerful tools and techniques. The results? Confidence through Competence.

Each Communication Competency Module (CCM) is 8 hours of coached sessions scheduled to meet the needs of your company. We’ve found the optimum format to be four two-hour sessions spaced one or two weeks apart. Sessions can be held on- or off-site. Five basic CCM's are available:

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Establishing Rapport
The Establishing Rapport CCM builds the ability to quickly and meaningfully connect with others. Participants learn to adjust their personal style of communication in order to improve areas of team function such as: Attitude, Understanding, Loyalty, Bottom Line Metrics, and Relations with prospects, clients, vendors, and others in the organization. We use powerful tools and techniques that increase fluency in both subtext and context of interpersonal communication.

Details:
A person may have a wide or narrow, pronounced or subdued personal communication style. When it is naturally in synch with others, there is no issue. The discussion flows and both conversationalists naturally trust and respond to each other. No matter what your natural style, you encounter those that you do not so easily connect with. These are the instances that provide opportunities in which the skills gained in this CCM pay huge dividends.

We stretch our natural communication styles to increase comfort levels with a wider spectrum of nonverbal fundamentals. Studies vary, but research indicates that from 85 – 93% of interpersonal communication is nonverbal. When these unspoken elements are recognized and acknowledged, there is a greater sense of rapport - a stronger connection between people.

This does not mean that words do not matter. We also work on key language that speaks directly to various styles along in order to increase understanding, empathy, and influence. These are the contextual elements – the approach, framing, word selection and tactics that can make or break success in conversations.

Measurable Competencies

Upon completion of the Establishing Rapport CCM your team will have the ability to:

Recognize four DISC communication styles
Exactly mirror match a partner’s tone, pace, volume, and physiology
Articulate information about four DISC communication styles
Demonstrate nonverbal aspects of four DISC communication styles
Articulate five keywords for each DISC style
Explain three role-specific elements to four DISC styles using any style specific keywords

Establishing Rapport CCM is ideal for:

Executives who desire a greater level of understanding and cooperation within their team
Managers who desire higher levels of service and satisfaction with internal and external customers
Professionals who want to quickly form high quality connections with more people

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Conversations That Count
The Conversations That Count CCM builds the ability to reach more effective, mutually agreed outcomes with less time and effort. This skill is very much about our habitual approaches to important conversations. We take the time and effort to examine those habits, break down and strengthen the crucial elements and practice with real examples of participants’ conversations.
(more) hyperlink to Conversations That Count CCM Page

Details:
Participants learn to ask effective questions, listen for meaning and emotional context, rephrase content and reflect emotion, identify presuppositions and subtext and create “S.M.A.R.T.” action items to get the most from each conversation. Your team will also clarify their focus on conversational objectives.

The expected outcome for participants in these sessions is the ability to consistently reach mutually agreed upon, effective action steps. Team unity, harmony and bottom line performance will significantly improve.

Teams that are skilled in conversational effectiveness get more done in less time and build strong connections with prospects, customers, peers and others. Team members are more supportive of each other. This fosters greater harmony and unity, fewer destructive confrontations, improved employee retention and cultivation of organizational leadership.

Measurable Competencies

Upon completion of this CCM your team will have the ability to:

Articulate time frame, purpose, and process for three specific conversations.
Articulate the components of an effective question.
Construct an effective question using outlined components.
Articulate and define the components of SMART.
Create and articulate an action including each component of SMART.
Articulate the process for active listening.
Ask “Four P” questions and accurately reflect answers.
Articulate a desired conversation outcome and three elements to realize it.

Conversations That Count CCM is ideal for:

Executives who want to get more from their team
Managers who want to spend less time and energy on non-essentials
Professionals who desire to work more efficiently toward greater results with clients, vendors, team members, peers and supervisors

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Presentations That Pop
An Account Executive speaks to groups of prospective clients. A Manager presents an initiative to the Board of Directors. A representative of your company is interviewed on video. These presentations are more effective and powerful when they incorporate the values and interests of their audience and use language to engage all of our senses. In the Presentations that Pop CCM, participants build these abilities while they exercise with style, content, and delivery of their verbal presentations.

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Targeted Sales Conversations
Participants in the Targeted Sales Conversations CCM learn to optimize their sales process to better serve prospects and clients. Your team will identify the specific targets at each stage of their sales process. We practice properly framing conversations through mutual agreement of conversational objectives. This leads to clear, concise, communications that are relevant to the need of each client.

Details:
Participants will be able to protect their own time and interests by systematically dealing with well-suited prospects and bona fide decision makers. They will also build credibility with relevant business professionals and orchestrate value-added hand-offs.

Furthermore, each participant will increase their returned call ratio by learning and implementing a framework for effective voicemail messages. By the end of this module your team will have an understanding of how to increase customer loyalty. With better-matched and stronger client relationships your team will improve sales numbers and efficiency.

Upon completion of this CCM your sales team will possess a relationship-building mindset, follow an effective sales process, and fine tune their skills in sales conversations. They will outperform competitors.

Measurable Competencies

Articulate a personal sales process.
Articulate four pre-determined goals for each stage of a personal sales process.
Articulate the desired outcome for each appointment in the personal sales process.
Articulate time frame, purpose, and process for three specific sales scenarios.
Articulate four characteristics of your ideal client.
Articulate three “ideal client” questions.
Articulate the components of PUCC.
Use the components of PUCC to construct a voicemail message.
Articulate the three actions that comprise your personal follow up strategy.
Explain role specific products and features using verbal and nonverbal aspects of DISC styles.
Qualify a business prospect for three business partners using criteria determined by member and business partner.
“Herald” three business partners using three pre-determined positive characteristics of each

Targeted Sales Conversations is ideal for:

Sales teams who want a more coordinated, systematic sales effort
Sales teams who want to make more money
Sales teams who want to get more satisfaction from their careers

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Power Sales Habits
The Power Sales Habits CCM will equip your sales team with essential skills needed to outperform your competitors by building strong and lasting client relationships. Your organization will benefit from synergy as each salesperson is better able to benefit from the success of others on the team.

Details:
The module empowers participants to frame the sales conversation to establish win-win outcomes. We emphasize the importance of emotional connections in the sales process. We also identify and practice addressing common considerations of your prospective clients. Through practice your team will effectively maximize your referrals, testimonials, and ongoing client support.

By the end of this module your sales team will possess strengthened abilities to set and exceed expectations and utilize defined, effective referral and testimonial systems. Participants will understand what it means to do business with the competition to best attend to the needs of your prospective clients in their buying decisions.

Measurable Competencies

Upon completion of the Power Sales Habits Module your team will have the ability to:

Articulate three common considerations for your products.
Articulate three responses to each consideration.
Articulate the components of a referral request.
Articulate a request for referrals.
Articulate three market specific testimonials.
Demonstrate nonverbal and verbal aspects of four DISC styles.
Deliver each testimonial to any of the four DISC styles.
Articulate history, competitive strategy, main products/features, and personnel for top three competitors.

Power Sales Habits is ideal for:

Sales teams who wish to systematically elevate their understanding of their competitive landscape
Sales teams who don’t enjoy the dynamic of dealing with “objections”
Sales teams who want more referrals

Each of TCG’s measurable competencies can be offered in a group workshop. We refer to them as “workouts,” because the emphasis is on practice so that participants leave with the ability to apply and further strengthen those competencies. Any of the competencies within the CCM’s are available. Other Workouts include competencies that strengthen Win-win Negotiation skills, Making the Best Hiring Decisions, Coaching skills, Remembering Names, Handling Conflict, and Working as a Team. Workouts can be delivered in as little as an hour or a day-long retreat. Please contact us for further details.

Corporate Slot in Open Gym
You may purchase annual or permanent slots in TCG’s Open Gym. Each corporate slot allows you to send one person to as many as two ninety minute workouts per week. Each session will strengthen a measurable communication competency, focus the participant on their professional competence and elevate their value to your organization.
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Gymposium™
Each calendar quarter TCG offers an opportunity to gather with professionals dedicated to improving their communication skills. The Gymposium™ is a unique blend between seminar and networking meeting. Participants receive the opportunity to have value-added conversations with one another while strengthening a communication competency. This is a great way to see how TCG can help your organization improve its team function and communication abilities.
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