Customized Workshops

Our training emphasis is on helping organizations become more competitive so they can grow their top- and bottom-line results.

Qittitut Consulting offers courses as part of its Organizational Effectiveness and Development practice. Each course may be tailored for management, staff, or a mixed audience. All training sessions use a combination of knowledge transfer and skills development techniques including plenary and small-group discussion, instructor/participant presentations, self and group assessment, role playing, case studies, video, experiential exercises, quizzes, and games.

Please select from the following categories to view the course descriptions:

Strategy, marketing, sales, and pricing workshops
Management and employee workshops
Employee benefits/retirement workshops

Strategy, marketing, sales, and pricing workshops

For information about the following workshops, please contact Bill Diggons at +1 (713) 240.7714.

Oilfield Economics & Decision Analysis

Understanding the customer’s business model
Probability analysis
Decision trees and influence diagrams
Cash flow, NPV and IRR calculations
Value metrics: total profit contribution, payback and return on incremental investment (ROII)

Account-Cracking Strategies

Multi-level selling
X-division selling and pull-through
Developing harder-hitting cost-benefit tools, pitch decks and proposals
Staging a Value Chain Lab to influence procurement practices
Using a local technical forum to improve tenders
Benchmarking and scorecarding gambits
Persuasive communication techniques for executives, managers and procurement

Proposal Writing

Enhancing templates with local content
Adding high-impact summaries and closes
Embedding sales traps
Using best practice and top-10 lists to highlight differentiators
Best practices: style, grammar, spelling, units, abbreviations and mnemonics

Product Launch/Communications

Push vs pull vs guru marketing
Aligning/leveraging the internal team
Big bang vs creep strategies
Marketing communications best practices
Tools that work

Sales Management

Best practices of the best teams
Managing vs coaching vs leading
Focusing on contribution margin
Big deal closing vs mentoring
Motivation: compensations, awards and games
Discipline
Tracking and monitoring

Renegotiating Customer Relationships

Focusing on what’s in it for me as a customer
Establishing real win-wins
Tactics that leave both parties satisfied
Playing hardball

Strategic Account Management

Account management best practices
Account planning
Improving tenders
CRM do’s and don’ts

Competitive Pricing

3Cs of pricing optimization: customer value, costs and competitive alternatives
Value segmentation
Erecting price fences
Understanding fixed, variable and stepped costs
Contribution margin–based pricing
Premium techniques
Discounting techniques
Segmentation and new business model pricing
Implementing price changes
Negotiating with the customer

Competitive Selling

Transaction vs relationship vs competitive selling
Shifting buyers’ preferences
Probing
Simple stories
Handling objections
Trial and presumptive closes
Economic value analysis
Setting and answering sales traps
Provocative selling
Presentations to win executive sponsors

Strategic Marketing

Industry trends
Market research
Segmentation and targeting
Positioning
Marketing mix: product, place, promotion and price
Communications
Control: roles and responsibilities

Four-Step Growth Strategy

Know the vision
Know the business
Know the options
Decide and do it
Roadmapping/action planning

Management and employees

For information about the following workshops, please contact Bill Thomas at +1 (866) 302.9099.

Managing a Virtual Workforce

Adapting to shifts in team membership
Managing team members, including those from outside the organization (clients, collaborators)
Managing workers on multiple teams
Communicating with and managing workers who are widely distributed both organizationally and geographically
Handling formation of teams and continuous team reform
Dealing with teams that have multiple reporting relationships with different parts of the organization at different times

Excellence in Customer Service

The business case for excelling in customer service
Aspirations around customer excellence
The role and types of customer service (inbound, outbound and others)
Customer service as a commodity or differentiator
A walk in the customer’s shoes
Identifying and addressing the customer’s moments of truth
Differentiating customer behavior, satisfaction and loyalty
Small steps that yield big results
Using the customer compass
The benefits and use of CRM systems

Building a Customer-Focused Culture

Understanding the changing competitive landscape
Defining new sources of market differentiation
Core capabilities needed for delivering the ultimate customer experience
Redefining and creating real customer value
Customer value mapping and individual roles
Customer service is a mindset, not a department
Moving from service provider/supplier to business partner
Collaborating across internal and external boundaries
Balancing customer advocacy with customer profitability
Measuring and improving customer satisfaction and loyalty

Time Management

Managing a Diverse Workforce

The business case for diversity
The diversity continuum—tolerance, acceptance, inclusion and leverage
The legal parameters of diversity
Recognizing and appreciating differences
Diversity support groups and similar venues or support mechanisms
Dealing with boomers, gen X’ers, gen Y’ers and others
Harassment issues
Managing personal relationships and conflict
Individual and organizational liability

Communications in the Workplace

The communication process and management
Types of communication
Communication vehicles and techniques at our company
Personal communication styles—assessment and interpretation
“Answer first” verbal communications model
Non-verbal communications
Listening assessment
Critical and selective listening skills
Barriers to effective verbal communications
Written communication skills

Managing Conflict Effectively

The communication process and management
Types of communication
Communication vehicles and techniques at our company
Personal communication styles—assessment and interpretation
“Answer first” verbal communications model
Non-verbal communications
Listening assessment
Critical and selective listening skills
Barriers to effective verbal communications
Written communication skills

Managing Change

Key changes in American business and work environments
Change as an obstacle or opportunity
Creating your business case for change
Understanding and managing the stages of change
Recognizing your current state of change (strategic and tactical)
The head, heart and hands approach to change management
ACHIEVE model for individual change
Seven-step model for organizational change
Defining your role in change management
Leading change internally and externally

Managing with Legal Parameters

The legal aspects of management:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1937
Age Discrimination in the Employment Act of 1964
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Application of policies and legal requirements to management areas such as recruitment, selection, promotion and termination
Discrimination, harassment and retaliation in the workplace
Progressive discipline and documentation
Effective termination decisions and process
Privacy and confidentiality issues

Optimizing Manager-Employee Relationships

Preventive employee relations practices (can include union avoidance)
Employee satisfaction vs employee engagement
Today’s manager as coach
Performance improvement—tips and tools
Designing and applying internal complaint processes
Use of surveys, focus groups and self-directed work teams
Key employment laws and the supervisor’s role in each
Overview of relevant policies and procedures
Creating a culture of inclusion and respect in the workplace
Understanding and leveraging interpersonal differences (DiSC, conflict or similar assessment)

Building your Employment Brand

Defining and becoming an employer of choice
Developing your employment brand and EVP
Employee engagement vs employee satisfaction
Defining and communicating the different dimensions of employee growth
The role of performance management in growing your talent
Career planning and individual development plans
Succession planning—the business case and how to do it
Addressing soft and hard skills in employee challenge and growth
About tests and assessments—what’s so good and not so good
Addressing the negative and rewarding the positive

Effective Compensation Management for Line Managers

The real role of compensation in today’s business
Its short- and long-term characteristics and impact
The different components of total compensation and the purposes of each
Understanding your company’s compensation philosophy
Using compensation to drive results—building a pay-for-performance culture
The limitations—things compensation can’t fix
Making individual compensation decisions for each piece, and making it all fit together
Related actions—merit and bonus decisions, equity adjustments, promotions, demotions and salary cuts
Compensation land mines and how to avoid them
Communicating your decisions to individuals
Dealing with leaks, rumors, entitlement, counter offers and other nuances

Performance Management for Line Managers

Using performance management as a business process
Planning (team and individual levels) for superior performance
Quantifying performance standards and critical success factors
Converting KPIs into SMART objectives
Tips for effectively applying performance appraisal tools and process
Effective use of self-assessments and upward reviews
Monitoring and evaluating employee performance
Preparing for and conducting an effective performance appraisal
Coaching and resolving below-standard performance and behavior problems
Creating and reinforcing individual accountability
Dealing with high-potential employees, and other career planning and development needs

Developing High-Performing Teams

Heroes vs teams
Characteristics and competencies of HPTs
Selecting team members—styles and skills
Sorting out individual investment and membership
Recognizing informal roles and use of authority and influence
Understanding the stages of team development
Addressing specific barriers to peak performance
Situational leadership and team S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
Assessing the current and desired state of the team’s performance
Ten keys for effectively leading HPTs

Identifying and Retaining Key Talent

What is key talent and why does it need a special focus?
The talent circle (select, retain, remove and realign key talent)
Understanding performance vs potential
Buying vs building your talent base
How to recognize or identify high potential performers
The different types of development—redefining growth
Evaluating your level of key talent loyalty and risk
Early warning signs of derailment and/or defection
Nuances in motivating and developing key talent
Ten nonfinancial tools for retaining key talent

Recruiting and Selecting High Performers

Preparing and reviewing job specifications
Analyzing departmental staff
Identifying recruitment sources
Evaluating resumes and/or applications
Utilizing behavioral interviewing techniques
Selecting the best candidate
Checking references
Offering the job
Creating an orientation checklist

Transition to Management

Constants of the effective leader
Professionalism defined
Managing prior co-workers and friends
Ten rookie mistakes
How things have changed . . .
Managing personal relationships
The importance of SMART objectives
What you need to know
Managing your manager (upward management)
Trends in business

Employee benefits/retirement

For information about the following workshop, please contact Craig Narum at +1 (281) 693.3777.

Complete Financial Management Workshop

Seven roadblocks to financial success
Six keys to financial success
Risk management
Cash management
Investment concepts (including analysis of company 401k choices)
Tax management
Retirement planning
Estate conservation

Comments from workshop attendees

1 2 3 4 5

Thoroughly prepared presenters

“Preparation on their behalf is outstanding, delivery is effective, and management of session time is superb. Since our initial Qittitut training session, our company revenues have increased fivefold. Without question, Qittitut was a major reason for our success. Their team of well-trained, very experienced and thoroughly prepared presenters handled our crusty, set-in-their-ways oilfield sales force pros in a manner that would make believers out of anyone. Look at the numbers. It is my strong position the ‘Qittitut effect’ was the confidence builder my team desperately needed and warmly received from Qittitut.”

Effective pricing

“I am convinced that if it were not for the work we did with Qittitut we would not have been able to hold prices the way we have in the downturn. The essence of what they delivered was the ‘psychological Viagra’ we needed to hold the line with the customer.”

Excellent

“The sales role plays, unique value proposition, and elevator speeches were excellent and valuable training.”

Enjoyable

“What I enjoyed most about the workshop were the role plays, setting competitive sales traps, the economic value analysis calculator, and benefits-value tree.”

Effective selling skills

“The tools to help us increase pricing were the most valuable part of the workshop. Total cost of operations EVA analysis will help us capture more value, and using points of parity/differentiation and unique value props will help us sell more effectively.”

Helpful

“The sales role plays and elevator speeches were very helpful—even to an experienced salesman like me.”

Useful ideas

“After 30 years of experience, I must admit I’m usually bored with just about any kind of training. This course honestly surprised me. Creative, practical, and thought provoking. The exercises and case studies were loaded with ideas we can use right now.”

Eye opener

“Prior to attending this session, I thought we were already pretty good at this stuff. But what an eye-opener! There’s much we can do to improve the way we work with each other and with our customers.”

Tremendous value

“Everyone in the organization should attend this. I got tremendous value out of it. Love the Qittitut instructors!”

Solid solutions

“Fast-paced and very relevant! Solid solutions to real internal and external performance challenges.”

Insightful

“I’m normally very skeptical about all this training and development jazz. But this course was hard hitting and insightful and really challenged our thinking and approach.”

Innovative and practical

“The exercises were innovative enough to keep us engaged and practical enough to give us real tools and ideas to use. Great job!”

Interactive and relevant

“The sessions weren’t just generic academic lectures. They were very interactive and based on real challenges we face each day. The instructors’ practical experience and ability to relate it to our business were exceptional.”