FE News exclusive with David Batup, Managing Partner wi

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Engaging and selling to Employers requires as disciplined and structured an approach as any other role in a college.

A Harvard Business Review report published earlier this year in September, has highlighted [p124] the need for more a scientific approach to sales. The report recommends more discipline in planning and in the application of sales tools and reporting. The report also goes on to discuss the merits of capitalising on the performance of top performers in the company by using them to help close the gap between them and the next band of performers.

This is exactly the approach Perperitus Ltd took earlier this year in building an Employer Engagement Coach aimed at colleges and learning providers. The concept of an online coach has come from their work with commercial companies but the design, development and content is 100% focused on learning providers.

The Employer Engagement Coach (see www.eecoach.com) provides a framework for improving the ability of the provider to engage with employers in a way that focuses on the employers business; allows the provider to be highly effective in the way they sell and enables both parties to build towards a contract that benefits the employer, provider and learner equally.

Perperitus conducted research and top performer workshops across the country [from colleges and learning providers], from areas including Reigate, Staines, Northampton, Manchester and Sunderland. The attendees to the workshops were asked to self assess themselves against performance criteria that included their ability to sell, the providers ratings for retention and success rates and Ali scores.

Through the workshops, we were able to model the top performers, categorising in terms of how they performed at each stage of the Employer Engagement Methodology; patterns of successful behaviour, and their engagement within the company to reach the desired goal.

Further, the results from the workshops have been built into the framework that Perperitus has successfully implemented in the commercial world. In addition to this, they have added tools and techniques specifically designed for the learning provision market.

As a result, Perperitus now have a highly effective online coach that successfully raises the performance of all employer-facing staff; increases non-funded revenue through differentiation and teamwork; implements a “broker” style of operating to extend the value of the sale and more fully meet the employer’s needs and acts as the core of change programme, putting the employer at the centre of the operation.

The Employer Engagement Coach is available as a web based service from Perperitus Ltd. Details of the costs and membership benefits can be found at www.eecoach.com or if you have specific questions please call 0118 965 4066 or email [email protected].

David Batup, Managing Partner, Perperitus Ltd.

Next Friday exclusively on FE News: David Batup writes on how Colleges can sell their solutions effectively to meet employer needs

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