The bigger your business, the bigger the impact when your customer-facing employees aren't the strongest communicators they can be. That's why CDW -- the $10 billion North American provider of technology solutions for business, government, education and healthcare -- was looking to provide practical training for its front-line sales managers in their small business division. That's where Kate came in.
CDW engaged the Corporate Learning Solutions division of Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, where Kate Colbert was the lead faculty member for non-degree business communications training. Kate delivered her proprietary Business Communications Boot Camp in a half-day format to groups of CDW managers in Illinois, New Jersey and Arizona, to rave reviews and an average instructor rating of 4.7 on a 5-point scale.
Using participants’ current workplace communications challenges, the sessions focused on:
- Making business writing more efficient and enjoyable
- Enhancing clarity and, therefore, results
- Making business writing more memorable
- Helping participants choose the right medium for their messages (e.g., e-mail vs. verbal conversation)
- Being more persuasive with written and verbal arguments (and closing more sales deals)
- Tackling recurrent challenges and confusion regarding common grammatical and mechanical rules of the English language
- Helping “non-communications experts” feel more comfortable in writing situations
- Establishing a clear and deliberate sense of style and personality in their communication
- Learning some tips and tricks for avoiding misunderstandings with colleagues and customers, and some "hacks" for communicating more quickly and efficiently
Immediately following the training seminars, participants reported significant increases in their confidence and ability to be effective in the areas of brevity, choice of communications medium, and persuasion.