In November 2011, I had the pleasure of meeting Roisin Ingel of the Irish Times when she attended one of my "Cold Calling & Appointment Making" courses in a Dublin suburban hotel.
At the time, I initially wondered why a well-known journalist would want to partake in such a workshop. And I quickly learnt that the Irish Times wanted Roisin to "uncover the tactics employed by those who are paid to sell stuff over the phone for a living" and write an article on her findings.
On the day, I nervously told myself that Roisin was just another participant and that she would be fair in her assessment of the course. So, I immediately got the group working on group exercises where they were encouraged to interact with each other and it kept me distracted too!
When reading back the article again today, it reminded me about how effective "Open workshops" can be when you have groups of people with varying levels of experience and from very different industries. And I can certainly say that, this was the case when Roisin attended the training.
The key for courses like these is to get people to mingle as quickly as possible, so that they can relax, open up and share their concerns, fears and ideas. As a result, they gain the benefit of shared learning as they hear other people's stories and draw on each other experiences.
Thankfully the group gelled well and it generated some lively discussions. More importantly the feedback at the end of the day was positive both from the participants and also from Roisin. Let's hope Roisin's article may have inspired others to give Cold Calling a chance and bring them closer to a Yes!
