PDUs for Business Acumen

Numbers! Numbers! Numbers! Wherever you go, you are bound to see them. On addresses, license plates, phones, prices, and of course, money! Numbers connect us all to each other in many more ways than we might imagine. Essentially, our world revolves around numbers.

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Some of us enjoy dealing with numbers while others may have a fear of them, or even a phobia. For those of you who have already recognized and appreciate the impact that numbers actually have on just about everything, you deserve a cookie. Welcome to Basic Bookkeeping!

Money matters can be intimidating for even the smartest people. However, having a solid understanding of basic financial terms and methods is crucial to your career. When terms like ROI, EBIT, GAAP, and extrapolation join the conversation, you'll want to know what people are talking about, and you'll want to be able to participate in the discussion. 

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The Budgets And Financial Reports course will give you a solid foundation in finance. We'll cover topics like commonly used terms, financial statements, budgets, forecasting, purchasing decisions, and financial legislation.

Through our Business Acumen course your participants will improve their judgment and decisiveness skills. Business Acumen is all about seeing the big picture and recognizing that all decisions, no matter how small, can have an effect on the bottom line. Your participants will increase their financial literacy and improve their business sense.

Business Acumen will give your participants an advantage everyone wishes they had. The course will help your participants recognize learning events, manage risk better, and increase their critical thinking. Business Acumen has the ability to influence your whole organization, and provide that additional edge that will lead to success.

A company's ethics will determine its reputation. Good business ethics are essential for an organization's long-term success. Implementing an ethical program will foster a successful company culture and increase profitability. Developing a Business Ethics program takes time and effort, but it will do more than improve business; it will change lives. 

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A company's ethics will have influence all levels of business, and will influence all who interact with the company, including customers, employees, suppliers, competitors, etc. All of these groups will have an effect on the way a company's ethics are developed. It is a two-way street; the influence goes both ways, which makes understanding the importance of ethics within a business very important. 

This course examines the basics of business etiquette: consideration for others, personal dress/appearance, the workplace versus social situations, business meetings, proper introductions and 'the handshake', conversation skills/small talk, cultural differences affecting international business opportunities, dealing with interruptions, and proper business email and telephone etiquette. Have you ever been in a situation where:

•     You met someone important and had no idea what to say or do?

•     You spilled soup all over yourself at an important business event?

•     You showed up at an important meeting under or overdressed?

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Let's face it: we've all had those embarrassing etiquette gaffes. Our Business Etiquette course will help your participants look and sound their best no matter what the situation.

The loss of valuable leadership can cripple a company. Business succession planning is essentially preparing successors to take on vital leadership roles when the need arises. It is essential to the long-term survival of a company. Every company should have a form of succession planning in its portfolio, as it is not the expected absences that can cripple a company, but the unexpected ones. 

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Whether it is preparing someone to take over a position of leadership in a corporation, or the sole proprietor of a small business, Business Succession Planning will teach you the difference between succession planning and mere replacement planning. How you prepare people to take on the responsibilities of leadership so that the company thrives in the transition, is just as important as picking the right person for the job.

Writing is a key method of communication for most people, and it's one that many people struggle with. Writing and communication skills have degraded with more and more people communicating through email and text messaging. Developing writing skills is still important is the business world as creating proper documents (such as proposals, reports, and agendas), giving you that extra edge in the workplace. 

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The Business Writing course will give participants a refresher on basic writing concepts (such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation), and an overview of the most common business documents. These basic skills will provide your participates with that extra benefit in the business world that a lot of people are losing.

Phone skills are a highly valuable tool to have in any employee's skill-set, and Call Center Training will help provide those skills. This course will help your participants improve their phone skills which will make them more confident, improve sales, and help gain new customers while retaining your current cliental. A more confident employee is also one that is happier, and happier employees will produce happier customers. 

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Call Center Training will lower costs, as it can reduce turnover. Participants will learn the skills to improve productivity and performance. This will produce a positive environment throughout your company and help influence the organization as a whole. Evaluating metrics and coaching are also used to make sure the participants are reaching their potential, and maintaining a useful skill set.

While a training program on workplace manners and courtesy may seem like overkill, the reality is: rudeness is an epidemic costing industry millions a year. Indeed, what society seems to be gaining in terms of both knowledge and technological advancement, it’s losing out on basic social values that directly impact the bottom line. 

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To address the growing problem of incivility in the work setting, this course introduces the concept of civility, its importance to a company, as well as its typical causes and effects. Skills needed to effectively practice civil behavior, as well as different ways organizations can systematize civility in the workplace, will also be discussed. The benefits to Civility In The Workplace are countless and will pay off immensely in every aspect of your job.

For many people, the term Contact Center relates to sales calls and telemarketers, but a contact center can provide customer support, information technology support, and much more.  The key to offering great customer experience is in the training. A well-trained contact center employee can be the difference between gaining more customers and losing them. Customers want a well-educated agent when they contact a business. They want to know that the person answering their questions knows what they are talking about. Training your staff and giving them the information that is needed to effectively assist your customer base is paramount.

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With our “Contact Center Training” course, participants will discover the basic elements of being an effective employee of a contact center. 

Each and every one of us serves customers, whether we realize it or not. Maybe you're on the front lines of a company, serving the people who buy your products. Perhaps you're an accountant, serving the employees by producing their pay checks and keeping the company running. Or maybe you're a company owner, serving your staff and your customers. 

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The Customer Service course will look at all types of customers and how we can serve them better and improve ourselves in the process. Your participants will be provided a strong skillset including in-person and over the phone techniques, dealing with difficult customers, and generating return business.

Customer support used to mean a face-to-face conversation with a customer, or a phone call.  Today, technology has changed how we approach customer support. It now encompasses the internet, websites, webchats, and even smart phone apps. The customer experience begins long before the purchase is made.

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With our “Non-Telephone Customer Support” course, participants will discover the new opportunities in customer support services via the internet, but also how to use these opportunities to their advantage.

With this course, participants will be able to develop a business environment that reflects a positive set of values and ethics. Aligning these characteristics with the standards of conduct is what makes a business stand out and be a leader in the business world.

Through our Developing Corporate Behavior course, participants should see improved team building, better communication, and trust. By realizing the benefits of corporate behavior and developing a successful plan, participants should see a reduction in incidents and an increase in team work and loyalty.

Many companies simply wait for talent to come to them. Simply advertising an open position and hoping that you find the right talent does not guarantee that you will find the best people for the jobs in your organization. Actively seeking out qualified candidates is the best way to ensure that you find the talent that you need. Recruitment is essential to the success of your business. 

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Hiring a new employee is one of the largest investments you can make in business. That is why hiring the correct employee is so important. Hiring the right employee is more important than ever, as training can be very expensive. Employee turnover costs companies a lot of money each year. This course will provide the Employee Recruitment that your hiring department need to help them interview and recruit the right employee for you.

Having to fire an employee is never an easy task. Sometimes, despite attempts of open communication and encouraging performance, an employee will need to be terminated. One of the hardest aspects of preparing to fire an employee is to separate the emotions from the facts. Firing an employee should always be a last resort, so it is important that the manager has covered all other avenues possible before moving forward. 

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With our Employee Termination Processes course, participants will begin to see how important it is to develop a core set of skills when they find themselves in a situation where they have to let an employee go. 

Being an Executive or Personal Assistant is a unique position that requires various skills. Whether updating schedules, making travel arrangements, or taking or creating important documents, all must be done with the highest degree of confidentiality. Confidentiality is one of the most important characteristics of any assistant.

Our Executive and Personal assistant course will teach your participants what it takes to be successful assistants. Participants will learn how to effectively manage a schedule, organize a meeting, and even be successful gatekeepers. Being an Executive or Personal Assistant requires a special skill set, and this course will provide your participants with the necessary tools.

While having various cultures in one workplace can present communication problems and conflicts, the benefits of such a variety in the workplace outweigh it. The workplace can present challenges to management in terms of handling the different generations present. As older workers delay retiring and younger workers are entering the workforce, the work environment has become a patchwork of varying perspectives and experiences, all valuable to say the least. 

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The Generation Gaps course will help participants understand the various generations present at work, and understand what motivates them and dealing with them on a daily basis. Both the young and older worker will have many ideas to offer, which will help the organization thrive in the marketplace. Learning how to deal with the Generation Gaps at work will help you become a better manager or co-worker.

Customer service is a necessary position in today's job market. It helps companies give customers what they want and need. Although many customers can be difficult, with the right training, skills, and knowledge, any difficult customer can be handled properly and effectively. With a positive attitude, your employee can effectively deal with the most difficult customers, and both parties can end the conversation satisfied. 

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With The Handing A Challenging Customer course, participants will learn how engaging customers properly can benefit both the employee and the customer. Effective customer service can change a company’s reputation for the better. Through this course, participants will gain a new perspective on how to react to negative customers and leave the customer satisfied and as a returning customer.

In the age of online shopping and technology, in-person sales can easily be ignored. However, do not overlook the importance of personal contact. You never know when or where you will meet your next customer, and it is important to make a good impression. Everyone who is interested in sales must be confident in the art of in-person sales. 

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With our In-Person Sales course, participants will discover the specifics of what it means to become an effective salesperson, and the steps to success. They will learn how to connect with customers and move them through the sales process.

This course will examine the possibility of increasing happiness through the power of positive thinking. Happiness will spread throughout your organization, and have a positive effect on everyone.

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With our Increasing Your Happiness course, participants will engage in unique and helpful ways to increase their happiness. This increase in happiness will have a robust effect on their professional and personal lives. Increase happiness will improve communication skills, increase productivity, and lesson absenteeism.

Marketing has changed dramatically over the last decade. Marketing is all about communicating, and the Internet has completely changed the way people communicate. The Internet is a marketer's dream come true, especially with Social Media, as you have a low cost marketing tool that can reach a large audience.

Internet Marketing Fundamentals will provide your participants with a great set of skills to market your business online. Content is the king of Internet marketing, and your participants will need to know how to utilize your great content. If you want your business to grow then your participants need to understand Internet Marketing Fundamentals.

Marketing is an essential element for every business. It can be that one missing piece of the puzzle, and when it fits, the big picture is revealed. Your participants will be given an introduction to marketing and its benefits. If you are not marketing your business you will not grow, and if you do not grow you will not succeed.

Marketing Basics will provide basic knowledge to your participants, and give them the ability to build and grow their business. Marketing has changed a lot recently and having a new perspective will give your participants the needed information to assist them in their marketing decisions. No matter what your product or service is, your business will benefit with a better understanding of marketing.

In this course, participants will get knowledge they need to manage effectively their image and value by forming solid networks through strategic communication planning. Effective networking is essential for day-to-day business or for those times when you are actively pursuing job opportunities. This course is designed to provide practical and hands-on tools that will give your participants a skillset in dealing with the media and the public. 

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Media and Public Relations is the most successful method of communicating your value to those around you. Furthermore, good networking skills enable you to tap into those relationships you already have and increase the scope of your network. The larger the scope the more people knows you and offers you opportunities.

Multi-level marketing, also known as MLM, is a business marketing strategy that many companies use to encourage current agents to perform while growing the team by recruiting and training new agents. This tactic helps boost the company’s sales force not only through the sales of the primary agent but also through the sales and profits of the agents they have recruited. 

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With our “Multi-Level Marketing” course, participants will discover the specifics of how multi-level marketing works and how to source agents effectively. For many companies, this can prove to be a valuable tool for building revenue and marketing and networking circles. 

Networking is the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business. These, and other events can become more easily managed with this great course.

With our Networking Outside the Company course, participants will begin to see how important it is to develop a core set of networking skills. By looking at the way people interact, and seeing things in a new light, participants will improve on almost every aspect of their networking strategy.

Networking has become a crucial part of the world today. Most people are aware of external networking and primarily focus on that. It is important to pay extra attention to internal networking, or networking within the company. To be truly effective, internal networking must be utilized throughout the company. 

The Networking Within the Company course teaches participants how internal networking is changing the workforce. This workshop gives participants a new perspective on networking and explains the benefits of fully utilizing and making connections with internal networking.

The productivity of a company begins with the health of its employees. While it may not always be possible to eliminate sickness, with the proper tools, reducing illness and its effects on the workplace, can be within your reach. This course will discuss the steps to implement to keep yourself and co-workers healthy.

A good proposal doesn't just outline what product or service you would like to create or deliver. It will convince the reader that it is the only logical choice. Participants will explore the proposal writing process including the most common types of proposals.

The Proposal Writing course will take participants through each step of the proposal writing process, from understanding why they are writing a proposal; to gathering information; to writing and proofreading; through to creating the final, professional product.

Prospecting and lead generation is the method of making links that may lead to a sale or other promising result. The leads may come from various sources: the Internet, personal referrals, telephone calls, advertisements, events, or a purchase of lists of potential clients. 

With our Prospecting and Lead Generation course, participants will begin to see how important it is to develop a core set of sales skills. By looking at the way people interact, and seeing things in a new light, participants will improve on almost every aspect of their sales strategy.

Workplace safety is the responsibility of everyone in an organization. Companies have legal obligations to meet certain safety requirements, but many go further than the minimum obligations. Safety standards and procedures must be put in place, and everyone needs to follow the standards in order for them to be effective.

Our Safety In The Workplace course will be instrumental in reviewing common hazards, safety techniques and after completion, your participants will have the tools to help them create a safety policy for their work place. By identifying and anticipating hazards, employers can prevent injuries and keep employees safe. 

Although the definition of a sale is simple enough, the process of turning someone into a buyer can be very complex. It requires you to convince someone with a potential interest that there is something for them in making their interest concrete – something that merits spending some of their hard-earned money.

The Sales Fundamentals course will give participants a basic sales process and some basic sales tools that they can use to seal the deal, no matter the size of the sale. Your participants will become more confident, handle objections, and learn how to be great closers.

We are being flooded with Social Media invitations and updates. Web-based communication icons like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn are dominating the way we interact with each other. People feel the need to be updated at all times. Social media has become a time-eater, and businesses are quickly becoming aware of the drain it can have on productivity. People love to share, but they need to know what is alright to share and what should not be sent out.

Understanding Social Media is about communicating the right way. We are beginning to communicate more through electronic means than face to face. Talking on a phone has been replaced more and more with SMS (texting.) Social media channels are becoming the main form of communication and your participants will realize how Social media and the Workplace can work together.

Working in a home office requires a unique set of skills. Teleworkers or virtual employees have additional challenges created by not being in a centralized office. Communication issues alone make it a challenging job, and recognizing these challenges will help your participants become great teleworkers.

Through Telework and Telecommuting your employees will see a great improvement in their performance and well-being. Being a teleworker does have the advantages of flexible schedules, no commute, and saving the company money. Your participants will establish the additional skills needed to be successful in their work from home environment.

No one is born a sales person. No one has a special gift that makes customers buy products/services. Everyone can; however, learn how to sell successfully. By learning to communicate with customers, build lead lists, and sell the company’s services with authority; anyone can be a successful sales person.

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With our “Top 10 Sales Secrets” course, participants will discover the specifics of how to develop the traits that will make them successful sales people and how to build positive, long lasting relationships with their customers!

Attending a trade show is a large investment for any company. Preparation is essential: It’s better not to go to a trade show than to go unprepared. Every person in your booth is an ambassador of your company, make sure they are prepared. Trade show attendees usually plan a list of whom they're going to visit before ever entering the convention center doors, make sure you are on that list.

Make sure your staff has the right tools to succeed with our Trade Show Staff Training course. A successful trade show will benefit your company on many levels. The most basic statistic is that it can cost half as much to close a sale made with a trade show lead as to one obtained through any other means. Get your staff trained and get to that trade show!

Whether you are preparing to be a professional trainer, or you are someone who does a bit of training as a part of their job, you'll want to be prepared for the training that you do. Your participants will begin the process of becoming trainers themselves, and understand that training is a process where skills, knowledge, and attitudes are applied.

The Train-The-Trainer course will offer various types of trainer's tools to create and deliver engaging, compelling workshops that will encourage trainees to come back for more. Skills such as facilitating, creating a needs analyses, understanding participant’s needs, and managing tough topics, will give your trainees what they need to become a trainer themselves.

Harassment can be based on a variety of factors such as race, sex, and disability. Experiencing uncomfortable situations in the workplace may be more than an offense against an individual. It can be a crime committed against the law, which is why the topic of workplace harassment has become a very important conversation for every organization to have.

The Workplace Harassment course will give participants the tools necessary to recognize harassment in the workplace as well as understand their rights and responsibilities under the law with regard to safety in the workplace. Through this course, participants will recognize the necessity to create programs that teach employees how to identify harassment and implement anti-harassment policies.

Workplace harassment is illegal and destructive to any organization. It is important to treat everyone in the workplace with respect and dignity. Workplace harassment must be identified, discouraged, and prevented in order to keep a hostile work environment from developing. Left unchecked, harassment can escalate into violence. Workplace harassment training is essential to the welfare of all businesses and their employees.

In order to prevent Workplace Violence, it is essential that managers and employees are able to identify individuals who could become violent and understand how to diffuse dangerous situations. This course will help participants to identify and address violence in the workplace, as well as give them the tools to develop their own Workplace Harassment Policy.