Podcasts

In Part 1 of this podcast series, Ed Boswell, CEO of Forum Corporation and Raymond Green, CEO of Paradigm Learning discuss the details behind the 3 keys to successfully leading an organization in a tough economy and provide specific successes from their clients and other leading organizations.

In Part 2 of this two-part podcast, Ed Boswell, CEO of Forum Corporation and Raymond Green, CEO of Paradigm Learning, share their expertise on how to execute strategic changes during an economic downturn, address talent retention and lead now so your organization emerges from the downturn poised for success.

Does Your Sales Force Have Business Acumen?

Take seven minutes out of your day and listen to this introductory podcast on the five critical business acumen skills your salespeople need. You will learn how salespeople can quickly differentiate themselves from their competitors by acquiring business acumen skills to better understand how their clients' businesses operate.

In this first introductory podcast, Andy Smith, vice president of Paradigm Learning, will provide an overview of critical business acumen skills for sales teams. Then listen to the entire series of podcasts, below, to learn more about each of these critical skills:

Skill #1 - Gaining access to senior executives and have meaningful, insightful conversations.

Skill #2 - Getting past being an approved vendor and become a trusted adviser.

Skill #3 - Aligning with your customers' strategic issues while growing the size of every opportunity.

Skill #4 - Creating a sense of urgency with customers to avoid the "no-decision" decision.

Skill #5 - Creating greater customer loyalty by quantifying the value added.

Part 1 of "The 5 Critical Business Acumen Skills Your Salespeople Need"

This is the first in a series of podcasts on business acumen for your salespeople. This podcast discusses the importance of the salesperson's ability to gain access to senior executives and have meaningful, insightful conversations.  Andy Smith, vice president of Paradigm Learning, will discuss:

• What's keeping sales reps from making these connections with higher levels in their accounts?
• What are the ground-level consequences for the sales rep who does not have access to and relationships at the senior level?
• What are some tangible things a sales rep could do to connect with a senior executive and ultimately become an advocate?

Part 2 of "The 5 Critical Business Acumen Skills Your Salespeople Need"

This is the second in a series of podcasts.  Part 2 of this series outlines how the salesperson can get past being an approved vendor and become a trusted adviser. Andy Smith, vice president of Paradigm Learning will answer the following questions:

• What does it mean for a sales rep to be a "trusted adviser"?
• What is the difference between meeting with customers as a preferred vendor and meeting with them as a trusted adviser?
• What's the payoff to the time and effort that must be invested into building this type of relationship?

Part 3 of "The 5 Critical Business Acumen Skills Your Salespeople Need"

This is the third in the series of podcasts on business acumen for salespeople. The podcast outlines how to demonstrate alignment with your customers' strategic issues while growing the size of the sales opportunity. Andy Smith, vice president of Paradigm Learning will dicuss:

• What does aligning with your customers' strategic issues really mean?
• What are the consequences for sales reps who fail to understand their customers' strategic issues?
• What specifically do I need to know about a customer's strategies?

Part 4 of "The 5 Critical Business Acumen Skills Your Salespeople Need"

In this fourth podcast in the series of podcasts on business acumen for salespeople, Andy Smith, vice president of Paradigm Learning will discuss:

• What is a "no decision" decision and why does it happen to sales reps?
• How do sales reps create a sense of urgency for customers to act on their recommendations or their proposals?
• How does a sales rep go about discovering these pressures and then using this information to build urgency?

Part 5 of "The 5 Critical Business Acumen Skills Your Salespeople Need"

This is the last in the series of podcasts on business acumen for salespeople. The podcast outlines how the salesperson can create greater customer loyalty by quantifying the value add of their products and services. Andy Smith, vice president of Paradigm Learning will discuss:

• Must everything be quantified for it to count?
• What are the real-world consequences for a sales rep who fails to quantify his or her value to the customers?
• How do sales reps go about quantifying the value they bring to a customer?

A major U.S. healthcare insurance carrier formulated a powerful two-part mission: to transform its business and industry. In just four months, all 6,000 company employees had taken part in an innovative discovery learning session designed to help them build support and enthusiasm for these strategic changes.

Join Jan John, Director of Strategic Workforce Planning and Executive Development for Regence, and Kurt Hine, Executive Vice President of Sales with Paradigm Learning, in a 20-minute podcast as they talk about:

• How Regence is going to transform health care and reduce waste and confusion for its members
• How constant changes in today's business environment require employees to quickly grasp the impact and concepts of new initiatives
• The learning methodology used to communicate Regence's message to its employees

In this short podcast you will learn how Touchstone Energy Cooperatives used a Discovery Map® to educate its members about what makes Touchstone different. Ann Maggard, director of communications and membership for Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, and Robb Gomez, president of Paradigm Learning, will also discuss the process of designing a Discovery Map® and how you can use discovery learning methodology to increase customer value and expand brand awareness.

Southwest Airlines has had 33 straight years of profitability, and has become widely recognized for the motivating culture it creates for employees and its dedication to customer service. As we all know, these past 33 years have not been easy for the airline industry and many airlines suffered from the massive jump in fuel prices and economic recessions after 1973. Many airlines have merged or declared bankruptcy. So what makes the difference at Southwest? 

Join Elizabeth Bryant, director of leadership development for Southwest Airlines, and Kristan Evans, director of marketing with Paradigm Learning, as they talk about how Southwest uses an engaging business game for business acumen training to their managers. Elizabeth will also talk about the 4 magic numbers that drive Southwest's strategy, and how they handle organizational change along the journey.  Financial literacy programs have been implemented to Southwest employees over the past several years to ensure that all employees, at all levels, understand not only the company's business and financial objectives but also how their individual jobs impact the bottom line.

Join us and hear Raymond Green and Catherine Rezak chronicle the life of Paradigm Learning, the need for increased business acumen and the growth of discovery learning as a powerful corporate training tool - all over a pitcher of Sangria.

The podcast, "Sangria, Advertising and Business Acumen Training: The Common Thread," talks very frankly about the origin and evolution of Paradigm Learning and its flagship product, Zodiak^®: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy. Paradigm, founded in 1994, developed a custom business-acumen training program for a major manufacturing company and quickly turned it into a "wildly popular" classroom board game that is currently played by over half the Fortune 500 companies, has been translated into seven languages and is being played in more than 13 countries.

Green illustrates how Zodiak has evolved over the years to encompass many other industries' financial literacy needs, such as with the development of Zodiak for Service Organizations, Zodiak for Sales Professionals and Zodiak for EVA. He also adds his thoughts on where Zodiak is today and how it has evolved and grown over the last 12 years.

Rezak ends the podcast with a discussion on the importance of infusing popular advertising techniques into corporate training. She also goes on to talk about discovery learning benefits and how this specialized methodology increases learning retention and employee engagement.

Hear why Robb J. Gomez is so passionate about the power of discovery learning. Learn how corporate resistance to business games and simulations disappears when clients see the results for themselves.