How to write an award winning Training Plan

An introduction toThe Burns Unit tlc

•26 years Account Handling experience

•AAP, KMP Partnership and 24 years at Saatchi & Saatchi

•Worked on Award winning campaigns for creativity and effectiveness

•Most awarded training and development professional in the advertising industry

Paul Burns: The Burns Unit tlc

Tbe number-one rule ofaccount managementDear editor,It was great to see Sarah Golding("How to save the suit from ex-tinction") and Claire Beale ("It'sunreasonable to let account man-ager 'die''', Campaign, 6 August)both acknowledging the crisisand possible extinction of accountmanagement. In my view, theyboth missed the fundamentalpoint about why account handlersare finding themselves at this un-comfortable precipice.Having spent 26 years as an ac-

count handler, working with allmanner of clients and now runningtraining courses for agencies, theIPAand the EuropeanAssociationof Communications Agencies, 1have corne to realise that the mostvaluable course for any accounthandler these days is"Understand-ingyour client's business".Account handlers need to recog-

nise that doing what they do, blindto the basic language of marketingand business, is a recipe indeed forextinction.For any account handler in any

agency, having a real passion and

Golding .. suitsfacingextinction

understanding of their client'sbusiness is the only way to buildtrust,respect and a strong relation-ship;onlyfrom this will the brilliantcreativity we offer be allowed toflourish and transform not just ourclients' brands and reputations,but their businesses too.My challenge to every account

executive and to every senior ac-count director is to ask each otherthe following questions:1.What is the price of our client's

product or service? Is it higher orlower than our competitors?2. What is their brand share,

volume and value sales, and is themarket our client operates in upor down and by what percentagecompared with a year ago?3. How does our client measure

their business success?4. How does our client measure

the success of our contributionto their marketing and businessobjectives?5.In the past sixmonths, have you

been on a factory visit, store check,read their trade mag and visited atrade show or conference?From my experience, very few

account handlers would be ableto spontaneously rattle off theanswers to these questions. Theinability to answer these types ofquestions is the fundamental pointat the heart of why account man-agement is peering over the edgeand looking into a black hole.Account management must

pitch its tent smack bang in themiddle of the agency and be the keyteam of people who really under-stand their client's business morethan anyone else in the agency.They must use this understandingto mould the most brilliantly crea-tive communication strategies and

executions to solve these businessand marketing questions.Creativity with a purpose is vital

to the future of our business; crea-tivity for creativity's sake isa recipefor disaster.Paul BurnsFounderThe Burns Unit

Canvas set to provideless, not more, choiceDear editor,Campaign may not like Virgin Me-dia's opposition to Project Canvas(Virgin Media's attempt to blockProject Canvas, 6 August), but it'snot surprising the true nature ofthe service ismisunderstood.That's to be expected, given the

secrecy about how it will opera te inpractice. What we do know is thatthe project represents an unneces-sary collaboration between anumber of well-resourced organi-sations that should be competingwith each other in this fast-devel-oping market.For consumers and content pro-

viders alike, the result will be less,not more, choice. On the informa-tion currently available, the oppor-tunities that it provides advertisersare, to say the least, unclear. Open-ness and transparency is not some-thing the BBC and its partnersshould sby away from.Canvas needs far more rigorous

scrutiny than the BBC Trust hasprovided, especially as we're allalready paying for it, regardless ofwhether we wantit or not.Paul RichmandExecutive director,corporate affairsVirgin Media

The end of Account Management?

The language of business?

2. Training & Development Strategic ConsultancyWe create a training plan for your business

1. A tactical Training & Development InitiativeWe deliver a specific course

3. Out-Sourced Training & DevelopmentWe act as your in-house Training Director & gateway to over 40 trainers

What we do

• A meeting that goes badly wrong

• Global, Regional or Holding Company ‘initiatives’ demanding a change in behaviour

• Criticism & observations from other departments, suppliers or clients

• An identified skills gap following an individual appraisal

Training & Development is often a knee jerk reaction to...

But you know...

•Successful organisations constantly challenge the status quo

•They continually need to reinvent themselves to survive

•Great Training & Development can be the glue that binds your people into a more powerful strategic and creative force

My simple model

•Can be used for one office or globally

•Can be deployed for one team or the whole organisation

•Created for communication organisations but will work for any business

•Combines process and structure with fluidity and flexibility

What skills do we want to develop?

Craft Skills

To do your job

Culture Skills

To do it your way

Business Skills

To understandbusiness

To deliver high performing team members

Business Skills

Craft Skills

Culture Skills

The key to performance

Achieving higher performance is criticalat all levels

Culture SkillsBusiness SkillsCraft Skills

Director + Level

Executive Level

Manager Level

My strawman example

•To show how a plan might look

•Applicable to most communication agencies

•Accounts for all departments

•But is ONLY an example

•Needs to be tailored appropriately for each organisation

Craft skills

Director + Level

Executive Level

Manager Level

Negotiation Skills: Financial, political, time, difficult people and situations

The Creative Process: Brief writing, judging work, creative feedback, selling... not just presenting

How to be the best Account Handler in the agency: 25 years of wisdom

Director + Level

Executive Level

Manager Level

Business Strategy: Corporate strategy, marketing strategy and communication strategy

Understanding Client’s Business: Asking the right questions not answering the wrong ones

Understanding the agency’s business: Advertising’s role in business and how your agency business works

Business skills

Director + Level

Executive Level

Manager Level

Leading Relationships: Vision, storytelling, inspiring and decision making

Managing Relationships: Knowing team’s strengths and weaknesses, setting clear direction and timely feedback

Developing Relationships: Building trust, listening and creating rapport

Culture skills

The Burns Unit tlc courses

The Bootcamp for growing your existing business by 20%

Creating real opportunities by understanding your client’s business

Leadership. Inspiring your team

Making creative briefs...brief & creative briefings... creative

Getting brilliant work & better value from your agencies

Storytelling & making complex arguments buyable

Negotiation Skills.Beyond Win Win..mastering people, strategies & techniques

Planning for Suits.An injection of strategic confidence

How to be the best Account Handler in your agency

1. How to be the best Account Handler in your Agency

Framework

The Best Account Handler in your Agency

What is it?Account Handlers are a positive and competitive lot by nature. But the transition from lively pup to ‘Top Dog’ often seems a difficult and frustrating process.

The problem is that ‘on the job training’ is only as good as ‘that particular job’. This course provides an ideal opportunity to really focus on what makes a great ‘Suit’ GREAT

A huge chest of great ‘war stories’ and a collection of nothing other than tried and trusted methods of the art of Account Handling, a timely refresher for some, a lifesaver for others

Who is it for?Account Handlers with 1-2 years experience.

Objectives: To give delegates confidence and a solid foundation of actionable skills.

The key objective is for every delegate to walk away from this course with a renewed sense of optimism and purpose and a real view of the bigger picture in addition to the importance of the tiniest detail.

Duration:This course is run as a half day

How to make organisationa

l efficiency your friend

10 top tips & your own

charter for change 6

The Account Handler: Hunter

or Gatherer

Brilliant communication in

the agency and with clients

Never stop learning. Some basic language

for business

A workshop exercise on your client’s business

4

3

1

2

5

2. Create opportunities by understanding client’s business

What is it?

This course has been created to put the understanding of clients business back on top of the agenda.

Only by our people fully understanding our clients business and asking the right questions, rather than answer the wrong ones can we hope to create initiatives to build our client’s businesses, brands and reputations.

Who is it for?Account Handlers and Junior Planners with 2 -5 years experience. People who are brilliant at execution and may well have a good rapport with clients but are struggling to go beyond a good relationship and are becoming frustrated that they are not seen by clients as true business partners.

Objectives:

To give delegates confidence in asking more questions and the confidence in the power of curiosity. To appreciate why clients love nothing more than an agency really caring about their business. We want every delegate to walk away with a vigour and mission to know more about their clients business.

Duration:This course is run as a half or full day. A full day allows for more time to engage in the case studies making it a far more powerful course

A case study learned from

bitter experience

6

4

3

1

2

5

UnderstandingClient’s

Business

Why Understanding

Client Business is so

important

Basic language of Business,

Marketing and Communication objectives and

strategy

An exploration of the different

sources and types of data

Framework

A workshop exercise on

basic business numbers. ‘The

Sweet Shop’

A workshop exercise where teams tell the

story of a brand from a deck of

data

3. Making creative briefs brief & creative briefing creative

What is it?Creative Briefs are the key instruction to a creative team. The clearer and unambiguous it is, the more likely the creative work will be brilliant and right first time. That’s why it’s critical we understand how a great creative brief is written

In this course we will explore the key parts of a Creative Brief. How to write them in an inspiring way

We will also look at how we brief our creative partners as this can be as important as the written brief itself

Who is it for?Account Handlers, Junior Planners and Brand Managers with 1-3 years experience. People who are becoming frustrated that they are not involved enough in writing the Creative Brief and feel detached from the creative work

Objectives:To enable delegates to write and contribute to brilliant and inspiring Creative Briefs

To recognise that better briefs, better briefing and better work leads to a better relationships and better work

Duration:This course is run as a half or full day. A full day allows for more time to engage in brief writing, making it a far more powerful course

6

4

3

1

2

5

Creative Briefs

The Creative Brief in a business context

Creative Brief workshop.Writing a

Creative Brief

The role & importance of the Creative

Brief

7 tips for briefing in a

more inspiring way

Understanding how to write a

good comms challenge and single minded

proposition

The key sections of a typical brief

Framework

What is it?Huge amounts of time and money is invested in developing a strong positioning and communication strategy for the brands.

In this course we will explore many key planning tools that will demystify the dark art, long words and odd diagrams that make up the world of strategic brand planning

Who is it for?Account Handlers, Junior Planners and Brand Managers with 2 -5 years experience. People who are becoming frustrated that they are not seen by their clients or in their Marketing teams as true business partners

Objectives: To encourage engagement in more strategic brand debates by having a broader understanding of some of the main strategic planning tools

To instil an appreciation and confidence to discuss strategy, challenge assumptions, have a point of view and constantly strive for simplicity over complexity

To help delegates understand these planning tools and give them confidence to never assume someone else ‘knows best’

Duration:This course is run as a half or full day. A full day allows for more time to engage in the case studies making it a far more powerful course

4. Planning for Suits. An injection of strategic confidence

6

4

3

1

2

5

Planning for Suits

Framework Business,

Marketing &Communication objectives and strategies in

context

A real life case study cutting through the complexity

The role of a Strategic Planner

Workshop in teams

developing some planning

models

Brand Onions, Brand Axles, Master Brand

Temples & other models

The Planning Cycle

Models for constructing

arguments

Techniques for making

ideas buyable

The ‘Presentation

Brief’

Team presentations, top 10 tips and

wrap up

‘Whisky Galore’

workshop

The magic of ‘Storytelling’

Storytelling & making complex

arguments buyable

1

6

5

4

3

2

5. Storytelling & making complex arguments buyable

Framework

What is it?Clients and Agencies often have to present complex ideas. These may be creative ideas, strategic and comms ideas or detailed data analysis. Often the focus is lost and teams lose sight of the argument and fail to present it in the most compelling way.

This often results in missed opportunities and Clients and Agencies not being convinced of each others points of view or the merits of their ideas and proposals

Who is it for?

This course is particularly helpful for those in all types of Agency (Acc Handlers, Planners and Data analysts) or Marketing Dept (Brand Managers) who are involved in having to convince colleagues and Client/Agency partners of their proposals and arguments

Objectives:

To instil in delegates the skills to be able to utilise our unique, clear and simple methodology for constructing an argument so that is clear to understand and easy to ‘buy’ for all types of audience.

Duration:

This course is run as either a half day, full day or two day session. More time allows for greater engagement in the case studies making it a far more powerful course

What is it?We spend all our time caught up in negotiations, some of which are vitally important. Manage these well and you and the business will be better off

This course is for those who manage critical negotiations on behalf of their business; a new agency contract, a media or production price – through to non financial negotiations such as strategy and creative ideas or even personnel issues

Who is it for? Senior Directors and managers who have to undertake negotiations on behalf of their agency

Objectives:To instil an understanding and confidence in the key skills of successful negotiation. At the end of the course the delegates will be able to negotiate better agreements more successfully. Ideally both parties end up in a winning position, better than where they both anticipated

Duration:This course is run as either a full day or two day session. More time allows for greater engagement in the case studies making it a far more powerful course

The key principles

Knowing the

opposition

What destroys/creates

successfulnegotiation

Tactics &techniques

People issues

Preparation of the

negotiation strategy

Negotiation skills

1

6

5

4

3

2

6. Negotiation Skills: Beyond ‘win win’

Framework

6

4

3

1

2

5

Leadership. Inspiring your team

What makes a great leader

Enhancing your personal

style

RASCI and getting things

done

Dealing with difficult people

and giving feedback

Building winning teams

The courage to make

decisions, delegation &

letting go

7. Leadership. Inspiring and managing teamsWhat is it?The phrase ‘some are born to lead and others to follow’ suggests we are on a pre-destined course. But when we examine business leaders their qualities are often very different from the battlefield leaders of myth and history

In this course we’ll explore what the qualities (and tactics) that can dramatically improve any person’s ability to lead and manage a team

The course is focused on the inter-personal skills needed for the successful running of any team. By the end of the course, delegates will have a clearer sense of their own leadership style as well as a greater confidence to lead, manage, and know when to ‘Let go’

Who is it for? Those who have cracked the basics of managing the process of developing ideas but are now finding it hard to manage people and teams

Objectives:To provide delegates with the skills and insights into how to be a more effective leader of people and teams

Duration:This course is ideally run as a two day course but can work in a full day.

Framework

Why it’s so important

Techniques for giving

positive and constructive

feedback

How you can help them

10 tips for making agency relationships

more rewarding

The key tool for getting

alignement

Managing a multiple roster of agencies

Getting the best from you

agencies

1

6

5

4

3

2

8. Getting brilliant work and better value from your agencies

Framework What is it?Clients and Agencies who have either just started working together or a new team is put in place often come to loggerheads after the initial honeymoon period

This is because familiarity leads to short cuts and expediency. This course is an exploration in to what makes agencies consistently produce their best work and deliver greater results for your brand or business

Who is it for?This course is particularly helpful for those in the Marketing Department who have regular day to day contact with their agencies. They may be traditional above the line, below the line, digital and Social Media, PR or Media agencies

Objectives:To instil in delegates the skills to be able to create clear alignment between themselves and their agencies. By the end of the session we want delegates to feel confident in expressing their points of view and be able to deliver feedback in a more constructive and positive way in order to get the best work and best value from their agency relationships

Duration:This course can run as a half or full day.

9. The Boot Camp for growing business fromexisting clients by 20%

What’s the issue?New business is uncertain and expensive. Real growth more often comes from existing clients. Whilst agencies ‘expect’ this growth, they rarely adopt a process or provide the resources to make it happen. Thus these initiatives get relegated by day-to-day activities

What’s The Boot Camp?3 x 1 day sessions spread over a 3-6 week period for the extended Agency team working on one key client or brand

On day 1 the team interrogate the client’s business and we facilitate the identification of potential projects and opportunities. From this, the team select 1- 3 projects with real commercial potential for the client and the agency. On day 2 we facilitate the session and then develop the initiatives up to their full potential. On the final day, we will train the team in transformational selling skills, culminating in a pitch to the client at the end of the 6 week period. This is supported by post-pitch strategies to build momentum and convert the sell.

What’s the benefit?The opportunity to grow your clients’ businesses and grow your agency’s revenue. We turn good intentions into immediate deliverables. The whole team become more commercially focused, pro-actively seeking new revenue building opportunities. They’ll gain a better understanding of their client’s business and will achieve a step-change in selling skills (as trained to main board members of top Management Consultancies). The team will be stronger and your client’s perception of your agency will be enhanced by a real demonstration of proactivity

Or you can tap into the best Training & Development network

Coaching

Train The

TrainerDigital &

Social MediaChange

Programme

CraftSkills

BusinessSkills Culture

Skills

IPA Training Awards

Silver Award: Best Training Plan

Special Award: Best Long Term Commitment to Training

Special Award: Best Training Director

Two Gold Awards: Best Training Plan

“The training program is exemplary and innovative. The range of training offered is fantastic, but it is well linked to the development goals. It is great that so many people have been involved in the main initiatives, and that the activity is so well rated.”

IPA CPD Submission feedback: SAATCHI & SAATCHI

Marketing Week Agency Reputation Survey.SAATCHI & SAATCHI - 4 year T&D Investment

Post - 1st

Quality of Account Handlers

Pre Training Plan Not listed

Best Agency Over All Criteria

Pre Training Plan 16th

Post - 2nd

Some people we work with

See how we measure up

© 2012 The Burns Unit tlc The Burns Unit tlc

18 Sherington Avenue, Pinner, HA5 4DT.Registered Office: Audit House, 260 Field End Road, Eastcote, Middlesex, HA4 9LT.

Registered in England and Wales. Company Number 6828043. VAT Registration No. 947 8752 62.

Call Paul Burns on: 0208 421 1202 or 0777 1940 332

Visit www.theburnsunit.co.uk

Or drop him an email at [email protected]