The first choice for skills training
Additional Courses
Our 'Commercial skills for schools' course provides a quality environment for learning and developing confidence
but to ensure that we provide everyone at differenet levels within schools the opportunity to gain a thorough understanding
of the commercial world we have put together the following courses for you to choose from.
Negotiation 1
Negotiation 2
Developing Specifications
Contract and commercial Law 1
Contract and commercial Law 2
Managing Small Projects
Marketing and Sales for Schools
Buying 1
Buying 2
Title: Negotiation 1
Description: Negotiation is at the heart of commercial life. Salesmen are trained and experienced in negotiating the best deal that they can. This session explores the tools and processes that they use, and gives practice in preparing to get a better deal for your school
Topics Covered:
- The phases of negotiation
- Planning a negotiation
- How supplier see schools
- Body Language and perceptions
- Establishing the zone of potential agreement
- Exercise: The deal
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Negotiation 2
Description: Some negotiations are more difficult than others, and it may seem impossible to get what you want. This session explores this situation and gives you a series of tools and approaches you can use to get better results in more difficult situations and when you feel weaker than the supplier.
Topics Covered:
- Difficult negotiations
- Developing options
- Countering salesmen's arguments
- One off and recurring negotiations
- Changing the basis of a negotiation
- Case Study: An Impossible negotiation
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Developing Specifications
Description: Everything starts with the specification. If you don't know what you want, how will you know how to get it? And how will you be sure you have got the right thing? Specifications are often used by suppliers to push themselves ahead of competitors, or to get out of delivering what you thought you bought. This course is about working together to ensure you have the right specification to buy against, and use as the basis of a contract.
Topics covered:
- The role of the specification
- Functional or technical specifications
- How salesmen use specifications
- How to get what you want without paying too much
- Branding and quality
- The role of the specification in the contract
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Contracts 1
Description: Commercial law is different from the law as it applies to consumers in everyday life. When schools are buying goods and services outside of the frameworks agreed by local authorities or purchasing consortia, they need to be aware of their rights and obligations - and of how best to protect the school.
Topics Covered:
- Differences in commercial and consumer law
- Contract formation
- The battle of the forms
- Terms and conditions
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Contracts 2 - COMING SOON
Description: Having a good contract is the starting point. You many also need to prove that validity of that contract, and ensure that suppliers do what you want. Legal battles are time consuming and costly, and this course aims to help you ensure you are aware of your rights and obligations so that you get what you want from your suppliers first time.
Topics Covered:
- Negligence and damage
- Non-compliance and broken contracts
- The essence of the contract
- Guarantees and warrantees
- Disputes and resolution
- Legal action and remedies
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Managing Small Projects
Description: Schools are used to running projects, but working with external suppliers can be different. Suppliers are often balancing a number of different projects, and trying to optimise their opportunities to make a profit. Major projects may require a dedicated project manager, but this course outlines the principles of making sure that smaller projects are delivered on time and on budget.
Topics Covered:
- Defining the project
- Developing the Work packages
- Engaging with all the people involved
- Tracking progress
- Getting projects back on track
- Ensuring completion
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Marketing and Sales for Schools
Description: In a difficult environment, schools are looking for every opportunity to generate extra income by providing their assets and resources on a commercial basis. However schools are often not experienced in being a supplier rather than a customer, and can find it difficult to sell what they have for a good price. This course goes through the basic principles of sales and marketing to make it easier for you to generate extra external income.
Topics Covered:
- Principles of marketing and sales?
- Who are your customers?
- What do they want?
- What have you got to offer?
- How do you let them know about it?
- What is the right price to charge?
- Inappropriate customers
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Buying 1
Description: Commercial buying is very different from shopping, and requires us to think in a very different way to everyday life. This course covers the basics of commercial buying process for schools, and provides a series of tips and checklists to make sure you buy the right things for your school at the right price.
Topics covered:
- Prioritisation
- Different approaches to purchasing
- Collaborative purchasing approaches
- Networking
- The 3 bids approach
- Finding good suppliers
- When and how to negotiate
- Documentation
- Buy or lease decisions
- Upfront and lifetime costs
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Title: Buying 2
Description: When buying larger goods and services, different processes should be used. For the largest purchases European Union rules require a strict process is followed. This course outlines the relevant processes and regulations, and how to approach the procurement of high value goods and services.
Topics Covered:
- European Procurement regulations
- Advertising your requirements
- Running a tender process
- Evaluating tender submissions
- Providing feedback
The course is £75+vat per person and includes tea/coffee refreshment and course handouts.
Each course assumes that delegates have attended the Commercial Skills - Introductory course.
The courses can be booked individually or as part of a package* at a reduced price of any 5 course for £300+vat. Courses are run on an open basis, but can also be run "in-house"** for your school at a time to suit you. Additional courses can also be developed to meet your requirements, for example on writing bids for grant funding.
* A package of five different courses for one individual. ** minimum of 5 delegates