Winnthinks

Welcome to our fresh new look!

After six years of good service, our website was beginning to look a little ragged and in need of a refresh. And so, back in the era we might now call ‘BC’ (Before Coronavirus) I spoke to the delightful Barry …

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Welcome to our fresh new look!

After six years of good service, our website was beginning to look a little ragged and in need of a refresh. And so, back in the era we might now call ‘BC’ (Before Coronavirus) I spoke to the delightful Barry …

24th June 2020

It’s Conference, Jim, but not as we know it

The world was a different place when I booked my ticket in early March. 2020 was to be my first time at the UK International Coaching Federation (ICF) Conference. My diary had never cooperated in previous years, so this was …

20th May 2020

To all clients and associates

Between us we can still upskill, keep up morale and look after each other’s mental health. Let’s be creative, imaginative and altruistic as never before.

24th March 2020

2020, we’ve got your back.

Slowing down towards the festive season, I’m feeling pensive. What follows is largely me giving myself a talking to, but feel free to jump onto my train of thought. People’s lives are unique, aren’t they? Here in rural Suffolk my …

20th December 2019

Best workplace. Ever.

Picture the scene… It’s a sunny morning in late July and I’m looking across the glorious Tuscan hills from the balcony of a 12th-century villa. The cicadas are up early and getting louder as the temperature rises. There’s an occasional …

22nd August 2019

It’s YOUR training. What’s in it for ME?

Trainers, meet the Prisoner in the room. The person that’s looking anywhere but at you – or staring blankly at you with ‘challenge’ etched in hard lines on their face. How do we convert that Prisoner (and it might be a roomful of them) into a Learner? Indeed, how do we help everyone engage productively?

7th February 2019

Ticking the Seasonal Boxes

In case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas is thundering into view! Whether you celebrate it or not, Christmas has a habit of generating plenty of extra activity, be that fun stuff like mince pies with the neighbours, or less lovely concerns …

21st December 2018

Customers can be a nightmare…

Customers can be a nightmare! Who you gonna call?

30th October 2018

The Get Real About Business Podcast: Three Essential Ingredients

Last month, Rebecca spoke with Clive Maloney of Get Real About Business about unhappy customers and the importance of getting it right. Listen to the whole thing here. Like this? You can sign up for the whole series, conveniently delivered …

22nd October 2018

Is your Verbal Handshake like a wet fish?

Have you ever thought about the way you answer the phone as your Verbal Handshake? If not, you should. If our physical handshake delivers a powerful message about our trustworthiness and level of interest in the other person, our Verbal Handshake does exactly the same thing.

17th October 2018

We’re moving!

After a glorious three-and-a-half years at The Business Centre in Earl Soham, we’re on the move. From 01 August 2018 our address will be: Winnthinking Ltd The Technology Centre Station Road Framlingham Suffolk IP13 9EZ All other contact details remain …

25th July 2018

Sorry Not Sorry: A Star Wars Story

A long time ago in a decade far, far away (the 1980s), before apps and the internet, I rang my local cinema to book tickets for the latest Star Wars epic . Here’s how I learned about the power of positive language.

11th July 2018

Privacy Policy update

Privacy Policy Winnthinking Ltd (Winnthinking People Development) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. We take care to protect the privacy of everyone that communicates with us, as a customer, supplier, business associate or networking …

17th May 2018

Suffolk Coast Business Showcase: Competition Winner!

After a highly successful and enjoyable day at the Suffolk Coast Business Showcase in late February, belated congratulations to the winner of our Lucky Draw go to Shelley Curtis of the Ipswich Building Society. Shelley has received her own Clarity4D …

3rd April 2018

The One Where the Happy Sheet Wasn’t

Last week I received some negative feedback about a course I’d delivered, and it stung. This snowflake needs a good talking to (and I don’t mean the course participant!)

3rd April 2018

Making Difficult Calls: 14 March 2018

What was the last difficult call you had to make? Collecting a debt? Making a complaint? Refusing credit? Cancelling a contract? Giving bad news? Apologising for a mistake? Plucking up the courage to make a sales call? From time to …

5th March 2018

UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018: what a day!

Rebecca Winn presents the Gold Award for the Managing Your People category at the UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018 to outstanding winners, New Day.

1st March 2018

Poem: Christmas Eve at Winnthinking

On Christmas Eve at Winnthinking The staff had all gone home The Fairy on the Christmas tree Was feeling all alone. She sat atop her spiky branch So sorry for herself When suddenly, who should appear But Santa and his …

19th December 2017

UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018

Rebecca Winn is delighted to have been invited to judge at the UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018. The ceremony will take place on 22 February in London, and will recognise the very best in complaint handling and resolution from entrants …

30th November 2017

Induction: Ditch the PowerPoint!

Think about the best and worst induction training you’ve attended. What stuck with you? Do you remember it as a brilliant experience, or as one long PowerPoint presentation? Nobody sets out to design a dreadful induction course; but perhaps the …

30th November 2017

The Back to School Guide for Grown Ups

The grown-ups’ equivalent of going back to school is starting a new job. How can we make sure our new joiners at every level, like our children, arrive confident, equipped and ready to hit the ground running?

5th September 2017

The Importance of Silliness

Stick up for silliness! The ability to be silly can play a major part in the success of your oh-so-sensible organisation. Here’s how.

11th July 2017

Help! I’m frightened to make that call!

Ever get this? You have a list of people you need to call, but somehow everything else is more appealing. Filing, checking the database (again), making a coffee … somehow you can’t find your mojo when it comes to picking …

12th April 2017

Every Little Helps

The trust our customers place in us is hard won, and we play fast and loose with it at our peril.

15th February 2017

Springboard: Booking ends 20 January!

The Springboard Women’s Development Programme is a phenomenon. It’s the flagship development programme for women that’s growing female talent in communities and businesses in over 40 countries. Here in the UK it’s often only available to employees of large organisations …

11th January 2017

Has it become counter-productive to talk about ‘women’s issues’?

The contention goes that, by constantly ‘bleating on’ about women’s rights, we’re drawing attention to difference rather than similarity. It keeps women stuck in the role of the weakest link, constantly needing support and special privileges instead of naturally rising to the top through talent and hard work. Surely we’ve moved beyond all that now, haven’t we…?

4th November 2016

Hot News! Springboard comes to Suffolk in 2017

The Springboard Women’s Development Programme is coming to East Anglia. What an opportunity!

28th October 2016

How a tomato helped me get my work done

It’s one of the great mysteries of life. My youngest turned 22 this year, but as any parent will attest it seems only moments ago I had a chubby-cheeked toddler on my lap and endless hours of crayoning ahead of …

12th September 2016

Sisters are doing it for themselves

The fact that women are so empathetic, generous and strong is something I am rather proud of. It makes us a BRILLIANT gender! And it makes us GREAT networkers too.

12th September 2016

Selling without being sales-y

You know how it starts. (“Hello, am I speaking to…? Great! How are you today?”).
You know the type. (Pushy. Talks too fast, listens too little).
You know the tactic. (“A special deal, just for you, but only if you buy it TODAY…”).
You know the feeling. (Oh dear, here we go…).
For a nation that loves to buy stuff, the word ‘sales’ has a heap of negative connotations.

8th July 2016

HOW much?! Bespoke Training vs. Off the Shelf

What do you think you’re paying for when I quote you for a day’s training?

20th May 2016

A Voyage of Discovery

When launching on a Voyage of Discovery it isn’t enough to simply look at someone else’s holiday snaps. There’s no substitute for experiencing things for yourself to really learn something new.

20th May 2016

Spring Forward: For new and aspiring leaders

Rebecca is now a Licensed Trainer for Spring Forward, the highly regarded, innovative development programme for new and aspiring leaders….it’s so much more than just an ‘introduction to leadership’ course…

31st March 2016

Landing the aeroplane

Imagine the scene: Your aeroplane is three hours into a three-and-a-quarter hour flight when your pilot comes on the intercom and says: “Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, I’m going to try and land this aeroplane shortly.” What?! You’re …

29th January 2016

For David Bowie, 11/01/16

Monday 11 January 2016. I woke up this morning and through the fog of sleep thought I heard the R4 Today programme say that David Bowie would be sorely missed. I came awake with a start and no, it hadn’t …

11th January 2016

Merry Christmas from Winnthinking!

2015 has been another outstanding year for Winnthinking People Development, and that’s in no small way down to YOU. So whether you’re a client, supplier, associate, partner business, networker, advisor, wellwisher, mentor or friend – thank you for your support …

23rd December 2015

A Christmas Hamper of Customer Types

If your customers were the contents of a Christmas Hamper, what would they be? Here, then, is a light-hearted delve into the Hamper of Delights that is your customer base. Well, we’re allowed to get a bit silly at Christmas…

11th December 2015

New for 2016: Effective Communication for Busy Teams

Building on the success of our Core Workshops we’re introducing a new title in 2016 called Effective Communication for Busy Teams. Featuring the brilliant Clarity4D profiling tool this is a fascinating way for your team members to understand their communication …

23rd October 2015

Working with Eddie: A do-er not a say-er

Several years ago I had a boss (we’ll call him Eddie), who described himself as ‘a do-er not a say-er’. On my first day in the job he invited me to accompany him round the building whilst he carried out …

22nd October 2015

The Art of Apologising

‘Sorry’ is a word that’s very much over-used these days. So when you really need it to count, exactly how do you offer an unhappy customer a really great verbal apology? Here’s how…

24th August 2015

We Who Must Be Named (with care)

Names have power. Names have magic in them. Names wrap up all our expectations and emotional baggage into a neatly labelled parcel, whether we like it or not. Think carefully before you apply a label your customers…

9th July 2015

Customer Service Strategies to Grow Your Small Business – 30 July

Customer Service Strategy to Grow Your Small Business: Because happy customers make Repeat Business, Referrals and Recommendations…

29th June 2015

Delivering Top Notch Customer Service by Phone – 23 July

Delivering Top Notch Customer Service by Phone – a workshop for small businesses with a BIG customer service focus!

29th June 2015

New! Workshops for small businesses

You asked, we’ve responded! Coming soon… our brand new open workshops designed specifically for small businesses and sole traders. It means everyone can access our expertise and know-how on a range of customer service related topics, including: Customer Service Strategies …

11th June 2015

Five ways to spot opportunist complainers

The customer is always the customer – but what if we suspect he or she is trying it on? Here are five ways you might spot those Opportunist Complainers.

1st June 2015

Moving Tales: Customer Service A to B

As some of you will know, I’ve had a busy March and April completing the sale of one house, purchasing another, packing, moving and getting unpacked at the other end. After 21 years in our last home you can possibly …

20th April 2015

Winnthinking has moved!

It’s time to update your address book! We’ve now moved to our new base here in the beautiful Suffolk countryside, and we love it… You’ll find our new address and phone number here, and you’ll still find us in all …

11th March 2015

The Lego Movie: Are teams really that awesome?

“Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team Everything is awesome, living our dream…” The Lego Movie has been offering much delight in our household over these dark winter days, particularly the cringingly awful song ‘Everything …

17th February 2015

Springboard Women’s Development Programme: Colchester 2015

GREAT NEWS! We are pleased to announce that Rebecca will be running a Springboard Women’s Development Programme in Colchester this spring. It’s a rare opportunity – here in the UK the vast majority of programmes are run for large organisations …

5th January 2015

A Formula for Successful Change

Here we are at the start of another new year. I’m guessing your Inbox and social media feeds have, like mine, been full of advice about New Year’s Resolutions and creating a brand new you? Good luck with that – …

5th January 2015

Advent Offers Winners

We had a massive response to Advent Offers #1 and #2, thank you to everyone who took part! The winning names were drawn on Friday evening, and here are the results: Clarity4D Christmas Cracker Winners: – KAREN BROUGHTON – CHIRSTY …

23rd December 2014

Winnthinking Advent Offer #3: Springboard New Year’s Revolution!

Christmas is fast approaching… if you haven’t yet picked up on our Advent Offer #1 and Advent Offer #2 you’d better hurry! The closing date for these entries is midnight on Thursday 18 December! And so to our third and …

16th December 2014

Winnthinking Advent Offer #2: Santa’s Mini Workshop!

What a terrific response to our Advent Offer #1! There’s still time to take part – you have until midnight on Thursday 18 December to join in. But if you’re ready for more, here’s #2… Santa’s Mini Workshop! Well, not …

8th December 2014

Winnthinking Advent Offer #1: Clarity4D Christmas Cracker!

Welcome to the first of our special Advent Offers, celebrating our gorgeous new rebrand! Details of how to enter and the rules of entry appear below… Clarity4D Christmas Cracker! Clarity4D is a simple on-line questionnaire that generates an easy-to-understand but …

2nd December 2014

Introducing our fresh new look!

You said, we listened! Welcome to the refocused, refreshed Winnthinking People Development, spruced up and pumped up, ready to bring the very best in training and coaching to your organisation! What’s different? This year we’ve talked to our customers, reviewed …

1st December 2014

Customers In Disguise

I’ve worked with some interesting organisations recently, some of which are really not part of the traditional market for ‘customer service training’. And it’s brought about some fascinating conversations. Take, for example, the secondary school where I was asked to …

11th November 2014

High Hopes

I just rattled off a friendly email to a fellow coach, and as I’m a bit of a fusspot about grammar, spelling etc., I naturally proofread it before hitting ‘send’. Imagine my dismay when I counted – in a very …

10th November 2014

“I don’t hug trees and I don’t knit my own yogurt…”

How does coaching fit in to the development strategy in your organisation? Perceptions of coaching (and coaches) vary greatly, and that’s hardly surprising. There are some excellent professional bodies out there laying down rigorous standards and CPD (continuous professional development) …

14th October 2014

The Law of Harvest

September means lots of things: going back to school, nights drawing in, the start of that hurtle towards Christmas. It’s also harvesting time, which has been very much in evidence in my rural community. It got me thinking… if we’re …

5th September 2014

Watch out for our new branding!

Great excitement here at Winnthinking as we put the final touches to our new-look branding and upgraded website! It will all add up to a clearer message about how we help our customers achieve more of what they want, and …

23rd July 2014

We’re all in this together

As I work with organisations up and down the UK on their customer service delivery, I get very used to hearing one particular comment. Here it is: “I would love to promise my customers what they want (a response, a …

21st July 2014

“Behold the hands…”

“Behold the hands, how they promise, conjure, appeal, menace, pray, supplicate, refuse, beckon, interrogate, admire, confess, cringe, instruct, command, mock and what not besides, with a variation and multiplication of variation which makes the tongue envious.” Michel de Montaigne (1533 …

3rd July 2014

Congratulations to Liz Willis, OBE and Jenny Daisley, OBE

Very excited today to learn that Liz Willis and Jenny Daisley, joint Chief Executives of The Springboard Consultancy, have been awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty the Queen in the 2014 Birthday Honours List.   …

17th June 2014

The Complainers: How I see it

Have you been watching The Complainers on Channel 4? The series has been focusing on the work of customer service staff in a selection of large organisations. In particular, it’s been following their exchanges with a set of customers known …

11th June 2014

Firestarters (or things that wind up your customers)

“I’m a Firestarter…twisted Firestarter (whoooooooo!) HEY! HEY! HEY!” Firestarters. It’s the name I give to those gestures, sounds and phrases that can turn a perfectly reasonable customer conversation into a raging torrent of accusations, or a slamming down of the …

1st May 2014

The Four Step Assertiveness Technique

One of the things my clients often ask me to do is support their customer service teams, complaint handlers and helplines with the more difficult customer behaviour they encounter on the phone. ‘Difficult’ is a highly subjective term, so the …

24th March 2014

Whether the weather be fine…

Whether the weather be fine Or whether the weather be not Whether the weather be cold Or whether the weather be hot We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not!   This catchy little poem …

20th February 2014

Springboard comes to London, March 2014

Hot on the heels of the East Midlands delivery of the Springboard Women’s Development Programme comes a second chance to attend, in central London. Facilitated by Rebecca on behalf of Barefoot Coaching, this is a rare opportunity to get on …

31st January 2014

Springboard in the East Midlands, March 2014

Great news! Rebecca will be facilitating a full Springboard Women’s Development Programme in the East Midlands, starting in March 2014! The three-month, four-workshop programme is being delivered by Barefoot Coaching, the highly regarded provider of coach training and supervision. Rebecca …

31st January 2014

How changing your jacket can help you deal with difficult customers

One of the subjects I am most often asked to train out is how to handle difficult people – particularly customers who are angry or upset. There are lots of ways our customers can make themselves a challenge, and sometimes …

20th January 2014

New Year’s Resolutions for the Goal-Less

Every January my social media stream fills up with comment about New Year’s Resolutions and the importance of goal setting for the months ahead. As a Coach I am, of course, a huge fan of goal setting, both in the …

2nd January 2014

Lessons in Customer Service from Doctor Who

Last weekend was all about Doctor Who. Hard to believe it’s been going 50 years – and don’t those early episodes look OLD! How times have changed and how technology has moved on since those scratchy black and white days. …

25th November 2013

The Customer Service Magic Ingredient

If you were to ask most customers what they’re looking for in a transaction, they will probably tell you they want the right product or service, at the right price, delivered at the right time and to the right quality. …

21st October 2013

Experiential Learning: Not Just for Newbies

There’s a truly profound Chinese proverb that is often quoted by trainers, and it goes like this: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” It’s the powerful principle behind pretty much every …

9th September 2013

How to get more bang for your training buck

There are, it is said, three types of training course participant:   Holidaymakers Prisoners Learners Holidaymakers are those who put themselves on a course – usually an in-house one – because they see it as an easy day’s work and …

9th August 2013

Winnthinking partners with Hoskin Educational

Winnthinking is proud to have become a partner with Hoskin Educational, and as such Rebecca will be contributing learning slots to future Hoskin Educational Workshops in the Essex and Suffolk (UK) area. These monthly events are ‘networking with a twist’. …

30th July 2013

Self Determination and Building a Narrative

Rebecca and fellow coach Pavlenka Small of Suffolk-based Smallsteps Coaching (www.smallstepscoaching.co.uk) are delighted to be co-delivering a one-day workshop to members of the Colchester Executive Job Club (CEJC) tomorrow, 17 July. The workshop will explore key areas for those undergoing …

16th July 2013

“We Never Sell a Stale Cake”

Think about that for a moment.   This, a coaching colleague tells me, is the actual advertising slogan used by her local bakery, deep in darkest Nottinghamshire. I have looked at their website and it all looks just delectable – …

12th July 2013

Biz’ee Mums / Biz’ee Women Summer Networking Event

Really looking forward to the Biz’ee Mums / Biz’ee Women Summer Networking Event in Brentwood, Essex, UK on 01 July. I shall be one of two speakers aiming to put the Buzz into your Business! Do book a place and …

17th June 2013

Putting a spout on it

When my now grown up son was about four years old, we had those magnetic letters on the ‘fridge and used them to play simple spelling games with him. So, he would read out a word like ‘hat’, and then …

6th June 2013

Clarity4D profiling now available from Winnthinking

Clarity4D is a powerful profiling tool, ideal for individuals who want to understand their own strengths and development points better. It is also for organisations who want more insight into what makes their people ‘tick’ and how to bring about …

14th May 2013

Fifty is the New Twelve

Something strange is happening to me this weekend. I’m going to become a fifty year old. I’ve never been one of those before, so it will be an interesting experience. Happily this momentous occasion will be shared with a number …

2nd May 2013

Guerrilla Gardening for Managers

Did you know that 1st May is International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day? It’s ‘an annual event of optimistic seed growing’. If you want to find out more, go take a look at www.guerrillagardening.org – or better still, grab that trowel …

19th April 2013

“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way…”

Hard to believe that Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ has just turned 40 years old. It’s one of those albums that seems always to have been there for me – first heard on LP through my brother’s bedroom …

5th April 2013

The Forgotten Middle

I want to put in a word for the forgotten Middle. Everywhere I look, in the professional journals, online forums and on the business bookshelves, there’s heaps of opinion and commentary about Leadership; who our great leaders are, the qualities …

11th March 2013

Why the Gift of the Gab is not always a winner in sales

A best-seller for me at the moment is sales training. That’s certainly a sign of the times, when businesses are pushing harder and harder for every scrap of custom they can get in a marketplace where people are really only …

11th February 2013

Listen up, Greater Anglia!

Yesterday I had a day out in London with a good friend of mine. It should be a simple enough train journey home (I live 45 minutes away from London on the mainline), but as anyone who goes into London …

13th January 2013

In which Winnie-the-Pooh Introduces the Value of Coaching

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is …

8th January 2013

Season’s Greetings!

Thank you. 2012 has been a wonderful year for Winnthinking, and I have met and worked with a dazzling array of people over the past twelve months. So whether you’re a client, supplier, networker, advisor, wellwisher, mentor, associate or friend …

19th December 2012

Celebrating the International Day for People with Disabilities on December 1

Winnthinking Ltd is proud to be a sponsor of Dancing Giraffe CIC (www.dancinggiraffe.com), an Essex based organisation that supports people with disabilities and their care network in Essex and beyond. 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the International Day for …

26th November 2012

Top Tips for Taming Email

As a coach it seems that increasingly I am working with people who are fighting a malignant force in their place of work. You may well recognise it. It’s…email. Yes, email. It’s a blessing and a curse. On the one …

26th November 2012

Designing and Delivering Training that Sticks

If you attend training regularly you may have found that some sessions are forgotten almost the minute you step out of the door. Others will have you so crackling with new ideas and insights that you are still returning mentally …

24th October 2012

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

It’s a well known and well respected quotation from the eminent management expert, Peter Drucker. I use it all the time when working with organisations looking to improve their service delivery or the effectiveness of their managers, and there won’t …

22nd October 2012

Cockle-Warming Customer Service in Cold Hard Times

Customer service is a funny thing. We all know when we’ve received a poor version of it, and indeed, when that happens, we tend to go away and tell everyone we know all about it. Oh, and lots of strangers …

27th September 2012

Coaching Skills for Line Managers

Every manager wants to get the best performance out of their team members, but some seem to bring about better results than others. What’s their secret? Once you have sound coaching and feedback skills, you’ll wonder how you ever managed …

11th September 2012

Help! The bounce has gone from my bungee!

This morning it is the morning after the night before. Or rather, it’s the beginning of the autumn after the summer before. Yesterday was the Olympic and Paralympic Athletes’ Parade in London, and I also woke up to the news …

11th September 2012

Winnthinking is now on EmployHer.co.uk

Have you discovered www.EmployHer.co.uk yet? It’s a fast growing online directory where you can find all sorts of businesses, in all sorts of sectors, wherever you are in the UK. The twist is, they’re all businesses run by women. EmployHer …

31st August 2012

“Being English I crave disappointment…” (Bill Bailey)

Go on, if you’re English, admit it. You know exactly what he means. We could even widen it out to the rest of the UK, I reckon… self-deprecation and false modesty are peculiarly British traits and Bill Bailey nailed it …

28th August 2012

Introducing QuickWinns!

QuickWinns are short, quirky presentations leading to practical learning for group meetings and event days. They’re designed to run for two hours maximum, but if your time slot is shorter or longer, they can be adapted to suit your needs. …

17th August 2012

Business Coaching is for Winners

Who do you think is most likely to use the services of a business coach? Would you? Watching London 2012, from the comfort of my sofa, it’s crystal clear how integral coaching is to the success of our athletes. Tribute …

10th August 2012

Customer Service Room 101

Customer service is a funny thing. We all know when we’ve received a poor version of it, and we tend to tell everyone we know about it too, including lots of strangers in cyberspace as well as our family, colleagues …

30th July 2012

Find Your Inner Creative Thinker

“You cannot look in a new direction by looking harder in the same direction.” (Edward de Bono, father of lateral thinking). At a time when every penny has to go further and knotty problems and projects require increasingly imaginative solutions, …

26th July 2012

“We have a plan, therefore nothing can go wrong…” (Spike Milligan)

This time last year I was just about to plunge into something entirely new. For the first time in my professional life, I was about to walk away from a regular monthly salary and strike out on my own as …

10th July 2012

No time to train your customer service staff? Try this…

It’s the age-old problem for phone based customer service teams… they’re missing their targets, but you can’t take the team out for training because your customers are going to keep on calling in and the phones need answering. Here’s the …

10th July 2012

Brand YOU!

So there you are, strolling up and down the aisle at your favourite supermarket, and you reach the coffee section. What drives you to select one product over another? Maybe you believe that ‘you get what you pay for’ and …

2nd July 2012

Dancing Giraffe hits Colchester Carnival

Winnthinking Ltd is proud to support Dancing Giraffe, a Colchester based Community Interest Company that’s revolutionising the way disabled people and their carers access information. Information is power – it gives choices to people about how they live their life, …

29th June 2012

How to create your own luck

Someone very smart once said to me that “people will only ever treat you as well as you let them.” What wise words! We all, to a very large degree, create our own ‘luck’ when dealing with other people, and …

15th June 2012

Manage Your Time and Get Organised

Announcing Winnthinking’s new workshop, available for delivery in-house or to open groups by arrangement. Manage Your Time and Get Organised is a practical, hands-on session for managers and others who just don’t have enough hours in the day. Full of …

8th June 2012

Small is Beautiful

I’ve just enjoyed reading ‘The Tipping Point’ by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s a book about epidemics, and explores the factors that combine to make something go viral – be it a disease, or a social movement, or a fashion craze – …

31st May 2012

Even more Springboard for your money this autumn!

“A must-do event, enlightening for women everywhere of all ages, at any stage in their personal and professional life.” I have received considerable interest in the Springboard Women’s Development Programme I am running this autumn in Chelmsford, Essex. Thank you …

25th May 2012

Written in pencil or pen?

Last week I really enjoyed some performers that came all the way from Los Angeles to play at my local live music event, Live at The Institute. They’re called Sweet Talk Radio, and if you enjoy laid back harmonies and …

21st May 2012

Calling all Line Managers!

Have you been promoted into a management role, but feel that you have yet to discover all you are capable of? Maybe you are an experienced manager, but want some fresh ideas about how to support and motivate your staff …

11th May 2012

A World of Winnthinking direct to your Inbox!

Frequent visitors to this website will have noticed the arrival of something new – just over there, on the right. It’s our new Sign Me Up! box, giving you the opportunity to get a little bit of Winnthinking delivered to …

4th May 2012

Lessons from the World’s Fastest Blind Man

Last week I met a truly extraordinary man. His name is Steve Cunningham, and he heads up an organisation called Blindvision (www.blindvision.tv). I strongly urge you to hit the website and read his story. Steve lost his sight at the …

30th April 2012

What makes customers behave badly?

In a previous life I spent six and a half years as a complaint handler on behalf of an investment company. People get very emotional about their money, and rightly so, and during the course of what must have been …

11th April 2012

NEW! Springboard Women’s Development Programme in Essex, Autumn 2012

I am very excited to announce that Winnthinking is bringing Springboard to Chelmsford, Essex this autumn! Springboard is often only available to women lucky enough to have an employer who organises a delivery in-house, so don’t let this rare opportunity …

3rd April 2012

The Winnthinking view of Business East 2012

I was very pleased to be asked by Melanie Shoesmith of Jobserve Events to write about my experiences at Business East 2012, the highly popular business expo held in Colchester earlier this month. “Delighted to!” I said, and you can …

29th March 2012

Giraffes CAN dance – they just need the right music!

Winnthinking is proud to support Dancing Giraffe, a fresh, brilliant initiative working to provide a one-stop-shop for information, guidance, discussion and challenge for people with disabilities, their families, friends and carers. The website is still in its early stages, but …

26th March 2012

Writing it right

I’ve spent a lot of time recently helping a client work on their written material. In particular that has been about the quality and tone of the letters and emails the company sends its customers. As an investment company, they …

13th March 2012

Springboard for Women in London, March – June 2012!

“Every woman in the world should go on this programme!” (Springboard participant). The Springboard Women’s Development Programme is, quite simply, wonderful. It is for you if you are a woman and you want to move some aspect of your life …

27th February 2012

New ‘News’ section!

I’ve added a ‘News’ section, and this is the first test post! Please check back for all the latest news from Winnthinking, and don’t forget to sign up for occasional updates from the World of Winnthinking, direct to your Inbox.

26th February 2012

How Aristotle made friends and influenced people

Greece is in the news right now for all the wrong reasons. However, regular readers will know that I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for the ancient Greeks, who had some truly innovative ideas ahead of their time – …

17th February 2012

Lessons from Pantomime

I have been having such fun in the past few weeks. It’s the pantomime season (oh yes it is!) and my local drama group is putting on a really good quality show. This year’s production, Old Mother Hubbard, is sold …

2nd February 2012

Motivation without money: Can it be done?

A very timely item cropped up in Call Centre Focus this week, and although it concentrated on the situation in contact centres across the UK, it reflects all too starkly what is happening across most sectors right now. This is …

15th January 2012

Intense simplicities

I was reminded of a fabulous concept yesterday, when sorting through some old creative thinking course outlines. Like so many great quotes it originated with Sir Winston Churchill, and what he said was this: “Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities …

3rd January 2012

Wii wish you a Thinking Christmas

It’s a piece of text I’ve commented on before but it continues to fascinate me. I was reminded of it again on Sunday night when watching that nice Professor Brian Cox on TV deliver a lecture on quantum physics. (First …

20th December 2011

“Everyone lives by selling something”

“Everyone lives by selling something.” So said Robert Louis Stevenson, who was probably better known for writing tales of ‘derring-do’ on the High Seas than for giving business advice to the High Street. But the author of Kidnapped and Treasure …

9th December 2011

A Short Guide to Brilliant Customer Service

As regular visitors to Winnthinking will know, great customer service begins with enjoying your customers and truly appreciating them as the beating heart of your organisation. As with any heart, you need to keep them happy and active in order …

24th November 2011

What’s your Alternative Job Title?

Last time I promised you a fun exercise you can run with your customer service people, to get them thinking differently about the day job. The following works well within a team meeting or as part of a broader development …

3rd November 2011

Customer service happens head first

Following my last Winnthink someone asked me to post up a few thoughts about this knotty problem: How do you get your customer service people to do it better – particularly when you can’t promise them any more money or …

13th October 2011

Customer service: who gives a monkeys?

Last year, as often happens, I designed a course about delivering outstanding customer service. Not just good customer service. Not even great customer service – but how do you make an utterly, fantastically OUTSTANDING experience for every customer, every time? …

26th September 2011

See you in cyberspace

Fascinating article in my newspaper on Saturday. Apparently one in three smartphone users would rather lose their wallet than their phone. Initially surprised, I thought it through and actually, yes, that does make sense. All that personal data, those contacts, …

19th September 2011

“But I never win anything!”

Something rather delightful happened to me this week. I won a Kindle! Yes, really. And do you know what the first thing I said was? “Blimey! But I never win anything!” Which is clearly not true, of course, as I …

8th September 2011

Well, and here we are!

Like Christmas and the Love of Your Life, some things are just worth waiting for, aren’t they? So I really hope you enjoy exploring this, the new website for my company, Winnthinking Ltd. It would have been here to entertain …

17th August 2011