Post on 21-Oct-2014
description
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 paul.burns@me.com