As the world continues to emerge from the pandemic, many companies want their staff to return to the office after an extended period of remote work.
However, this transition is not without its challenges.
Here are some of the biggest challenges that companies can face when bringing their staff back to the office after working from home.
1. Flexibility & Comfort of Working From Home
Many employees have grown used to the flexibility and comfort of working from home.
They have become accustomed to:
Being in their own environment
Controlling their work hours
Avoiding stressful commutes
Employees may be anxious about returning to the office. The fear of adjusting to a new routine, and the pressures of in-person interaction can cause anxiety and fear.
Employers can try to allow flexible hours where possible, and staggering schedules to help employees gradually adjust to their new routine.
2. Resuming Old Routines
Working remotely offers the flexibility of setting individual work schedules and reducing daily commute time.
Consequently, returning to the office may be challenging for employees who have gotten used to their remote work routines.
Employers can provide guidance and support on how to re-establish routines, including:
Waking up early
Taking the same commute to work
Building new daily habits
Encouraging social interactions, team meetings, and getting to know new colleagues can also help employees settle into their new routine.
3. Workplace Culture
After spending a considerable amount of time working from home, employees may have a different perspective on the company’s culture, values, and expectations.
There may be a disconnection between employees who have been working remotely and those who have been in the office.
Employers should consider ways of re-building and strengthening the company culture, such as:
Organising team-building activities
Social events
Recognition programs to celebrate employee achievements
These initiatives can help bring back a sense of belonging, which may have been lost during remote work.
4. Emotional Challenges
Returning to the office after a prolonged period of remote work can be emotionally challenging for employees.
It may be difficult to transition from the comfort of working from home to a more structured office environment.
The office may be a source of emotional triggers; reminding employees of the stress and anxiety they experienced pre-pandemic.
Employers should encourage open communication, provide emotional support, and acknowledge that returning to the office may be difficult.
The return to the office after working from home is not an easy transition, but it is a necessary one.
Employers should be empathetic and flexible, and recognise the challenges employees may face.
Clear communication, transparency, and support will be essential to make the transition back to the office as smooth and comfortable as possible.
By addressing the challenges, employers can foster a more productive, cohesive and positive workplace environment.
Contact KONA today to discuss tailored options for your business that can help to ease the return to the office.
Despite the urge to act now to avoid the “use it or lose it” budget spending, it’s vital to think strategically about your organisation’s future objectives before moving forward. Be wise when considering your End Of Financial Year (EOFY) spending, but don’t be complacent.
Notably, your actions right now could positively impact other areas of your business. That is, investing in professional development now could result in bolstering employee morale as well as helping you get ahead on your KPIs for the upcoming quarter.
Ultimately, with the right investment you will have more than a budget increase to look forward to next year.
INVEST IN VALUE
So use your budget now and we will hold delivery dates for when you are ready to use them in the next 12 months. Consider being part of the KONA Credit Benefits (KCB) Program.
With this in mind, here is how to get the most value for your organisation by spending your budget before the end of the financial year. Put simply, there has never been a better time to upskill your team.
To Get Your KONA CREDIT BENEFITS > Before the End of the Financial Year > to Use over 12 Months
Top 4 EOFY Budget Spending Ideas
1. Learning tools to Streamline Processes
Investing in sharpening the tools of your team while you are able to is a wise business move. Basically, it ensures your employees are well equipped to start bolstering the budget for the remainder of the year.
The end of the financial year is a great time to take inventory of your team’s current skill level. Also, it’s a wise time to identify any gaps in your learning processes that cause pain for productivity.
Even though educational needs vary from person to person and department to department, consider the value of uniform learning. That is, embedding a uniform teaching methodology across your entire business. By doing so, you are creating ONE language everyone can both speak and understand.
For example, the valuable profiling tool of DISC teaches all employees across all levels how to understand human behaviour. By instilling the language of DISC in your workplace you ensure everyone is operating form the same manual. Ultimately, it guarantees solidarity and strength in the eyes of your customers.
2. Recognise Employees
Everyone enjoys feeling appreciated. If your company enjoyed a successful year or your team has gone above and beyond, why not use the budget money to reward your employees?
Recognition takes many different forms, which can fit almost any budget imaginable. Moreover, employee recognition is best when there is a measurable result that comes from it. Consequently, it is worth considering investing in team-building activities. Ultimately, it strengthens trust, encourages communication, resolves conflict, and increases collaboration between employees. Additionally, effective team-building activities produce more engaged employees. And as a result, contributes to a healthy work culture while at the same time boosting your ROI.
Treat your employees to fun and dynamic team building sessions! The best team-building activities don’t feel like the typical day at the office. Or in recent times, another virtual meeting! Try one of KONA’s energy high knowledge rich Virtual and F2F Team Building Workshops! SO many belly laughs and so much employee satisfaction.
3. Invest in EduTainment
Budget surpluses also provides ways to invest in education opportunities that can keep employees up to date with industry standards. Workforce statistics reveal that companies with engaged employees make 2.5 times the revenue. Additionally, those highly engaged employees are also 87% less likely to leave their jobs.
There are some interesting ways to impart dynamic as well as educational information on to your employees. And these do not necessarily involve state-of-the-art technologies. Ultimately, by being engaging you ensure what they are learning will stick. We call it EDUTAINMENT! That is an investment that keeps on giving!
Edutainment makes sure you get your money’s worth, by adding a level of entertainment and education to your team’s learnings. In fact you are embedding the learning in a way they can retrieve the information on a daily basis. Consequently, this ensures they don’t return to their old habits. And the bonus? You have up skilled your employees, entertained them and skyrocketed mojo to produce more work!
4. Assign Resources to Professional Development efforts
There never seems to be enough time or resources to complete every goal, project, or assignment that comes our way. Especially when it comes to professional development.
Admittedly, the reasons are often simple enough. That is because in most situations we are limited to budget constraints. But, when we are able to assign End of Financial Year funds to professional development, we are effectively making an investment in the year ahead.
Importantly, you should provide your people with core learningareasand ask them what they need upskilling in the most. Remember – we don’t know what we don’t know!
Workshops Can all be Delivered onsite or virtually, and Include Core Learning Areas in:
Don’t forget, June 30 is just around the corner. These are just four of the ways that you can spend what remains of your budget with the intention to boosting your ROI.
Use your budget now and we will hold delivery dates for when you are ready to use them in the next 12 months. Consider being part of the KONA Credit Benefits (KCB) Program.
Why?
Cost-effective, simple and efficient – the perfect way to spend your leftover budget.
Purchasing Professional Development KCB Points in advance is hassle-free.
With the KCB Points there is no need to conduct formal tenders on a project-by-project basis. This will save you time and money!
There is no spend limit – no matter how detailed the customised content is for your training or how many people you want to upskill, there will be no additional paperwork or costs.
We make the transaction simple, with one set of agreed terms and conditions.
You can be confident that all your people’s Professional Development obligations are met.
You are guaranteed transparency and clarity throughout your entire KONA Credit BenefitsProgram
As an Australian-owned and operated organisation, nobody understands the requirements of Australian business and employee training like the KONA Group.
The more KCB Points you build the wider access to our range of holistic business services.
KCB Points are only offered to the first 50 applicants before June 30, 2021.
KCB Points can be used across ALL our holistic business services! Restriction Free.
We’re committed to providing the highest quality training solutions to your team, especially through the latest round of pandemic restrictions. Additionally, we ensure your business and people will be guided through an engaging and enriching learning experience.
For more information about how you can secure your KONA Credit Benefits, contact us to invest in your KCB Points, on 1300 611 288 for a confidential conversation, or email info@kona.com.au anytime.
How to handle difficult customers – not a question we should be asking ourselves, yet one we are unfortunately facing more and more often since the onset of COVID.
Customers are more likely to make repeat purchases with companies that offer excellent customer service. Since difficult customers are inevitable and more prevalent in this COVID environment, it is important that you and your team know how to effectively resolve customer conflicts.
Learn how to handle difficult customers
To enhance your team’s conflict resolution capabilities and increase their skills in knowing how to handle difficult customers, contact KONAfor information on online workshopsand practice role-playing with customer service and call centre workshops.
Some people believe “the customer is always right,” but I do not. However, I do believe that the customer is “always the customer”, they may not always be easy to deal with but you must still politely deal with them.
What to do
Learning how to handle difficult customers is vital ingredient for any business, especially those who have call centres. Even businesses with the best products and services are bound to have occasional run-ins with angry customers.
Consumers expect businesses to provide good customer service, now more than ever and with the increase in stress created by the global pandemic, many of our customers are experiencing an increase in “unreasonable” customers.
To build a positive reputation with consumers and to help manage internal stress, it is important to have professionally trained staff who can handle difficult people and resolve customer complaints.
How to do it
Many people’s natural response when faced with how to handle difficult customers, is to get defensive and get into a negative mindset with a disgruntled client. Once you flip the switch and start with ‘thank you,’ the response is out of the ordinary for them.
This works in every business, and once the strategy is taught to the customer service teams, sales divisions, and leadership, the impact is amazing.
However, handling an angry customer doesn’t stop there. Here are several other techniques and strategies that your team can learn to enhance their quality of customer service when dealing with complaints.
First and foremost, listen. Do not try to talk over the customer or argue with them. Let the customer have their say, even if you know what they are going to say next, that they don’t have all the information or that they are mistaken. As you listen, take the opportunity to build rapport with the customer.
Build rapport through empathy. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Echo the source of their frustration and show that you understand their position and situation. If you can empathise with a customer’s problem, it will help calm them down. If you verbally “nod” during the call, the customer will feel better understood.
Lower your voice. If the customer gets louder, speak slowly, in a low tone. Your calm demeanour can carry over to them and help them to settle down. As you approach the situation with a calm, clear mind, unaffected by the customer’s tone or volume, their anger will generally dissipate.
Respond as if all your customers are watching. Pretend you are not talking only to the customer but to an audience that is watching the interaction. This shift in perspective can provide an emotional buffer if the customer is being verbally abusive and will allow you to think more clearly when responding. Since an unruly customer can be a negative referral, assume they’ll repeat the conversation to other potential customers; this mindset can help you do your best to address their concerns in a calming way.
Know when to give in. If it is apparent that satisfying a rude customer is going to take two hours and still result in negative referrals, it may be better to take the high road and compromise. This will give you more time to nurture other, more productive customer relationships. Keep in mind that the interaction is atypical of customers and you’re dealing with an exception.
Stay calm. If the customer is swearing or being verbally abusive, take a deep breath and continue as if you didn’t hear them. Responding in kind will not solve anything, and it will usually escalate the situation. Instead, remind the customer that you are there to help them and are their best immediate chance of resolving the situation. This simple statement often helps defuse the situation.
Don’t take it personally. Always speak to the issue at hand and do not get personal, even if the customer does. Remember that the customer doesn’t know you and is just venting frustration at you as a representative of your company. Gently guide the conversation back to the issue and how you intend to resolve it.
Remember that you’re interacting with a human. Everyone has an occasional bad day. Maybe your rude customer had a fight with their spouse, got a traffic ticket that morning or had a recent run of bad luck. We’ve all been there, to some degree. Try to empathise and make their day better by being a pleasant, calming voice – it’ll make you feel good too.
If you promise a call-back, call back! Even if you promised an update that you don’t have yet, call the customer at the scheduled time anyway. The customer will be reassured that you are not trying to dodge them and will appreciate the follow-up.
Summarise the next steps. At the end of the call, let the customer know exactly what to expect, and then be sure to follow through on your promises. Document the call to ensure you’re well prepared for the next interaction.
TRAINING COURSES AND WORKSHOPS FOR MANAGING DEMANDING CUSTOMERS
It is important for businesses to give their teams the proper conflict management training and techniques to be successful and know handle difficult customers. You can train your customer service, sales and leadership by investing your team in customer service workshops with KONA.
There are several great training resources available, both online and offline. To help you find the right resources for building a supportive team, we spoke with experts to compile a brief list of great training workshops.
ACTIVITIES FOR HANDLING DIFFICULT CUSTOMER CONVERSATIONS
Honing your customer service and conflict management skills takes time and practice. After your team completes the KONA training courses, you can implement recurring in-house exercises to keep their skills sharp as we will develop the training customised and branded for each client.
In conjunction with our customers, the Customisation phase is to tailor the appropriate training workshops and methodologies that will reinforce all the current in-house training and development.
This will include:
Roll out and logistics.
Worksheets.
Exercises.
Case studies.
PowerPoint slides.
On-going coaching manuals.
Our customers have experience amazing results with the below process:
KONA’s A.C.T.C Proven Process
Step 1: Assessment
Before we make any recommendations, we gain an understanding of your team’s effectiveness in the following key areas:
Strategic Objectives and your customers.
Distribution Strategy.
Climate of Support Leadership.
Team Culture.
Customer service Team Management.
Customer Management.
Required Soft Skills and Service Methodology.
Individual Performance Management and Accountability.
Step 2: Customisation
Having identified key areas of your current team’s effectiveness we will then be in a position to give feedback and recommendations of service improvement and the immediate key areas to focus on to generate continued growth.
In addition, we customise the training and coaching so that it is relevant to your customers service delivery and strategy.
Step 3: Training Modules
The Assessment and Customisation steps will help us to tailor practical training and development programs, in alignment with our customers overall strategy. For ongoing learning and referencing, and “to keep the training alive” – learning materials will also be handed over to you after the workshops.
Step 4: Coaching
Ongoing coaching plays a key role in driving sustained results from any customer management Effectiveness Strategy. We recommend follow-up, on-the-job coaching that will embed the processes, behaviours and skills required to make an ongoing success in delivering training excellence. Also, by this approach, combined by our active learning and participant engagement workshops – your team won’t revert to their old, comfortable habits!
To GET YOUR TEAM TRAINED IN HANDLING DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS ESPECIALLY DURING COVD-19, contact KONA1300 611 288 | info@kona.com.au for a confidential conversation today.
Is your company one of the many forced to cancel the much anticipated Christmas party due to that pestilent C-word, COVID?Express gratitude to your team andat the same time prepare your Sales to be successful for 2021 –invite your Leadership Team toKONA’sVirtual GettingAhead ChristmasRetreat. This is a light-hearted, knowledge packed one-off 90 minutes Workshop with your Leadership team. Scheduled for November and December. And is ultimately, designed to get you ahead of the competition when 2021 kicks in.
WHY?
Because often employees don’t ask for training, but it has nothing to do with their desire to learn. They may be unsure how to ask, afraid of rejection, or under the impression that it will make them look incapable. We have found that most employees crave opportunities for professional development. And furthermore, will be glad if you offer it.
HOW
KONA’sVirtual Getting Ahead ChristmasRetreat addresses high-level topics that will significantly impact your business in 2021. This is delivered through our microlearning approach. Microlearning has long been used primarily for corporate training where participants learn new processes in short time frames. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that the microlearning market is predicted to grow from $1.5 billion in 2019 to $2.7 billion in 2024 (MarketsandMarkets, 2019). Microlearning, or learning in bursts, reduces cognitive overload in workshop participants. And one of the biggest results we have seen from microlearning, is how it prevents learner fatigue. Plus it also increases knowledge retention from our participants.
WHAT
You can completely customise your Sales and/or Leadership workshop, or cherry-pick from our high-level topics of 2021.
Have you calculated how much your customer service costs you? Do your Customer Service Officers (CSOs) know how to make the best use of time?
The concept of sales coaching, in an effort to reinforce the information learned during training and facilitate changes in workplace behaviour, is gaining moremomentum. And industry feedback reveals some businesses still need to do more.
In August 2020, the KONA and HBB Group coached over 500 salespeople virtually. However, it is important to understand that salesis not the only area where coaching has a key role to play.
In fact, coaching your staff in the art of customer service is every bit as important. Without doing so, you are unlikely to put together a truly customer-orientated workforce, increasing the likelihood of customers having bad experiences. That, in turn, can have some serious consequences for your business.
Most businesses recognise that delivering good customer service is now a prerequisite for success.
Indeed, customers are more demanding than ever before in this area. Also, the level of customer service that would have once provided a competitive advantage is now considered to be the bare minimum expectation.
It is, therefore, best to assess the importance of customer service by looking at the cost of failure.
One of the KONA Groupsclients – American Express, in a survey found:78 percent of customers have backed out of an intended purchase.
Why? Due to poor customer service.
Meanwhile, 67 percent have hung up the phone because they could not reach a live agent.
Crucially, it is not just the affected customers that may be lost. Research published by the White House Office of Consumer Affairs states “news of negative customer service reaches twice as many people as news of positive customer service”. This means, failure in this area can do catastrophic damage to a company’s reputation.
WHAT CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY WANT
Good customer service need not be complicated. In truth, despite customers having higher expectations than in the past, their demands are still all perfectly reasonable and achievable.
For example, in 2019, a HBB Group global survey revealed the single most important quality was “competent CSOs who could listen and empathise”.
The other main trend revealed customers do not want to have to wait ages for help. Again, this is a reasonable expectation. But when we speak to our customers, there is one common issue. Three quarters of all customers believe it currently takes too long to reach a person capable of assisting them.
What does this mean? That the focus of your customer service development should be on providing your staff with a detailed product knowledge and ways to reduce waiting times. Add in personalisation, such as insisting that staff actually use customer’s names, and you are well on your way.
Also, the cost to the organisation on not obtaining and recording accurate information can put undue pressure on the business. It also significantly heightens the customer’s frustration level. In a recent study conducted by The KONA Group while coaching 172 CSOs, it was found that one mistake caused 20 minutes to fix! If you amortise this – the time to the organisation is 1,964 days of productivity. That is an approximate cost of $765,000.
WHY CUSTOMER SERVICE COACHING MATTERS
Businesses that invest heavily in customer service training may wonder why ongoing coaching is required? The same answer applies to sales training and sales coaching. The role of a coach is to work with staff on a personal level, help them identify areas of weakness. Then, teach them to put their knowledge into action.
“Coaching is an interactive process that helps the other person improve, learn something new or take individual performance to the next level” explains Garret Norris, CEO of The KONA Group and author of “Build a Healthy Business”. “It is often an under-realised tool with which you can get the most out of your employees.”
In order to optimise your customer service, you are likely to have to need to make certain changes. That includes, reducing waiting times and personalising the customer experience. This requires staff to not only learn new ideas, but to actually use the information on a daily basis. Put simply, if you want to make improvements to your customer service, you cannot afford for them to revert back to old habits.
At The KONA Group, we offer a customer service coaching courses, learning how to develop talent and give feedback, with a view to improving performance and productivity, and in turn result in a strong ROI.
Our Key Account Management Training Program has 10 modules that can be delivered in full or you can select just the ones you need.Each session is 1.5-hours in duration and includes homework and session notes and is delivered live by ZOOM or TEAMS. After COVID-19 we will resume delivering onsite but this new format has been well received, we have actually trained over 400 account managers over the last 4 weeks.Modules, as featured in the clip:DISC Session 1 Understanding OurselvesDISC Session 2 Professional DevelopmentDISC Session 3 Profiling CustomersProfessional Account Management- 3 HorizonsAccount Planning + Meeting PlanningEffective Communication – Questioning SkillsEffective Communication – Active ListeningIntroduction to Negotiation SkillsScience Based Selling TechniquesIntroduction to SPIN™ SellingPlease contact us today to learn more about our KAM Training sessions or anything else from our KONA Training Academy. 1300 833 574 or email info@kona.com.au
Here we go again! Another lockdown, and another Work From Home set up. Yep. Work From Home (WFH). Now since the last episode of remote working, we have all progressed in our systems and processes. We have all established our own WFH routines and near mastered virtual meetings and the glitches that go with them.
But, one thing that will still test us and continue to rear its heavy head, is our motivation levels. No matter how many times we do this lockdown game, in fact the more we do it it seems, our mojo always at some point suffers.
Work From Home Mojo
You know something is set in place when it becomes an acronym – that is, WFH: Work From Home. But for some of us the trending hashtag #WFH is a bit of a WTF. Work From Home. It’s not an option nor a plea for management to gift you twice a week anymore, it is now mandatory, at least for the immediate future.
Now you have almost figured out how to manage your remote employees.
But have you any idea how to maintain motivation on a virtual scale?
How do keep your remote employees fully charged?
How essential is employee stimulus to the performance of your business?
Monitoring moral does not mean you need to change the entire business strategy. It just means that you need to make a little more effort to keep employees driven and feeling part of a team.
The proven way of maintaining staff motivation is to show you care. Simple sounding right, but how? Care can come in the form of incentives or bonuses, awards, recognition and appraisals.
But the biggest indicator you care for your staff is what you invest in them. They will see that you care for their personal growth and success, and without batting an eye lid productivity will skyrocket – even remotely.
INVESTING IN YOUR STAFF BY UPSKILLING THEM SHOWS YOU CARE
Contact the KONA Group and we will not sell to you but help you tailor the best growth strategy for your team with focus on employee motivation and coaching the manager training.
Keep your virtual team realistically motivated, focus on stimulating their ideas and maintaining their mojo. Here, we’ll get you started:
WEEKLY TEAM VIDEO CALLS
Be connected by staying connected. Include everyone. Akin to a normal team office meeting, this will allow your employees to have their voices heard, literally, as well as allow space to air concerns as a network. There is a lot that can be understood from eye to eye contact.
USE AN INSTANT MESSENGER SERVICE
It’s all well and good sending emails back and forth to one another, but even these can seem a bit too formal at times. Instead, have your employees use instant message platforms that come with video conferencing software, such MS Teams or Skype, to be able to quickly fire questions across to each other, or even just to chat, feel connected and build better working relationships with one another.
TRUST THEM
Do you doubt your remote staff are actually working the required hours each day from the comfort of their home? It’s okay, they also wonder if you know they are working the required hours each day. It’s a two-way trust. And the key to letting go and trusting both your employee and in turn have them trust you, is belief – if you’ve hired the right people in the first place, you have to give them the autonomy to go away and get on with it. A lot of people will find that they’re more productive when working remotely for a team, as they feel they need to prove that they’re getting things done without the boss nearby to check in.
APPRECIATE TO ACCELERATE
Ensure you’re providing incentives to help encourage your remote team members. Give plenty of recognition for the great work that they do, letting them know that it doesn’t go unnoticed, despite them not being present in the office. And, where possible, offer plenty of opportunity for learning, development and growth in their role.
KEEP THE MENTAL STIMULATION UP
Just like an office environment, WFH can also become stale for some staff, especially if they love to socialise and network with team mates daily. Throw a new project their way with a challenge attached. Ask them to design something completely out of their realm and see what they come up with. Set them a group task or an exercises that must be submitted in pairs.
There is an entire day’s learning and more on how to stimulate, motivate and nourish your staff remotely – it’s just a matter of you opting to invest in your team to produce results for your business. Get motivated with KONA’s remote REAL Academy. Call 1300 611 288 or email info@kona.com.au and we will help.
Hi Garret, I just wanted to say thank you again for today the feedback I was given this afternoon was that it far surpassed what they expected and that it was completely different to expectations but it covered everything in such an immersive and engaging way. I hope you had a safe trip home. And I will be in touch for some more future training opportunities!
Erica Wilkinson
Pathways Business Manager
Thank you Garret Norris. Your dissemination of knowledge was inspiring, insightful, thought provoking and lot of Fun! Your ability to create a safe, relaxed & energetic environment in which to deliver & demonstrate your ideas and knowledge is remarkable! Made for lots of learning and had a positive impact on us all! Thank you
Melissa Peace
Strategic Partnership Expert
A fantastic 3 days, you had us engaged, interacting, learning and threw us out of our comfort zones in the best possible way. I echo what my colleagues have said below, all of which is 100% true. Implementing these three days into what we do is now the focus and I look forward to connecting again soon, and look forward to more sessions where we can continue to learn, develop and and thrive in what we do, whilst living and breathing our WHY. Still buzzing, thank you!
Hessa Robinson
Education Sales Manager
The team loved the day and were raving about it to our marketing colleagues and managers who were unable to make the session. Garret, you were an amazing and engaging presenter.”
Dominic Taafe
Oncology Portfolio Manager
Hi Garret, I would like to say thank you for your time and effort last week at the Martec sales conference. The session from you went beyond my expectations in both your delivery and the involvement from my team. Thank you once again!
Ken Dick
General Manager
Hi John,
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the sessions and contribution in our journey towards service excellence. The sessions were very well planned and relevant to our modus operandi. The team is very appreciative of your guiding principles and quick lessons from the sessions. The immediate display of the lessons learnt will be witnessed during our current peak time. I’m definitely a better listener now Thank you.
Aakanksh Nyayapati
Senior Analyst, IT Service Delivery
Again I found the training session really engaging, you can tell that Garret is very passionate about what he does. It may sound cheesy, but I left feeling inspired and refreshed.
Kimberly Britts
As always I thought Garret was amazing and motivational, great refresher and gave me some new ideas to try and apply to what I do. Always great to participate in these sessions.
Stuart Gill
Honestly I don’t think it matters his cost as always has something insightful and thought-provoking to leave you with no matter how many times you’ve seen him or your position or length of tenure.
I would love to see what he could offer the wider company (not just sales) from a psychology point of view because I feel that the provocation he provides is beneficial to all he comes in contact with. I really enjoy it because we just get each other.
Daniel Jura
Being relatively new to this industry I was a little apprehensive going into my company training day, I thought it may have been scientific and technical and it's an area where I feel a teeny bit inadequate. The relief I felt when Garret started "warming up" the room was ridiculous. He made everyone feel comfortable, relaxed and engaged. At times I feel we over complicate things to make ourselves feel more important or special. In the end, Garret reinforced the need to slow down, fully engage, leave the ego at the door and listen. This training is a must have for all teams, no matter the level. It will make you stop, think and love sales again. Can't wait until the next one.
Stacey Taylor
Account Executive
Garret Norris is a rock star coach. He has transformed our Inside Sales team.
Love his work!
David Piggott
Managing Director
Having just competed a national customised training program where we engaged Garret and KONA all I can say is thank you Garret does his homework and prepares.
The impact we were able to achieve with our teams in rolling out a game changer was fantastic. Thanks Garret appreciate the effort and the results to date.
Iain Whyley
National Sales Manager
It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to participate in a number of Garret's training and skill enhancing workshops and I cannot recommend him highly enough. Even as an experienced sales professional I always learn new things from him, think harder about what I do, and become more effective in my role. Garret's presentation style is both unique and genuine, honest to the core, while his role play and coaching principles are easy to understand and extremely worthwhile.
For anyone who needs to hone or develop sales and negotiation skills Kona, and particularly Garret, are certainly the RIGHT choice.
Craig Alderson
Business Manager
As a sales and negotiation professional, I have been involved in a few courses. I am very impressed by the way Garrett gets to the point directly and I know he speaks from experience. He has lived it.
I would like to work with Garrett more in the future as I believe we speak the same language in business. I’ll be in touch soon. Thanks Garret.
Shane Campbell
Senior Key Account Manager
Garret and Healthy Business Builder has been a huge influence on our business and its staff, The results have drastically increased thanks to his techniques and on going support. Very impressed with the overall service and I look forward to continuing our partnership in the future. Highly Recommended.
Johnny Justic
Founder and Managing Director
If we have the opportunity to have more sessions, I think it would be very beneficial. I have found that the concepts presented and the skills we are working on are quickly delivering results and are relevant to us, not simply adapted from their usual clientele. He is much more engaging than other speakers we have had in the past, and from the way other members of the team have been speaking about him it’s a feeling and opinion shared by many others. Also : if he can turn skeptics like Palagy around, I feel that says something!
Rebecca Landers
Tax Depreciation Specialist
Thank you again for spending time with our team over past 2 days.
Some valuable tips learnt and looking forward to seeing the impact it has on our team moving forward.
Jeremy Sinclair
Team Leader, Business Development
Definitely the best training session I have attended (including my own ha ), I could relate to the methods conveyed to us very easily. Well done Garrett and look forward to another head bashing
Gary Tozer
Tax Depreciation Specialist
We certainly appreciate the time and effort and will be making sure we include some of the hints and tips into our processes moving forward.
Matt Jenkin
Team Leader, Business Development
I really thought Garret was brilliant, its not just about selling, its about getting the conversation started. I felt it was really good. I have started using some of the techniques already and adapting to my style.
1 – First call Thursday, did a different approach, lady called in, started the chat by tell me about the property, then went onto telling me the info on the house, I went over everything, she was sounding relaxed, got her remaining details and said “lets get this started today for you” response Great lets do it.
2 – next call was a guy, same style all went well, then the Cost question, Ï can get this for $660.00 from another company” My response, that’s great, Do you want to save $100 today or save $thousands more in deductions with us in the long term, slight silence, then said good point, went ahead!
Stewart Gill
Tax Depreciation Specialist
I enjoy his take on what to say to clients who have been given the wrong free from their accountant. He said not to apologise and don’t get stuck on it and simply say that the fee is $770 and that you’ll call the accountant afterwards to make sure they know the fee’s, but then move on straight away. It was refreshing to have an outsider’s perspective on that. I tried it yesterday and didn’t apologise to a client when the accountant gave them the wrong fee. Not sure if it was just luck, or if Garrett is a genius or if it made me sound more confident or what but she converted.
Sarah Jackson
Tax Depreciation Specialist
I was so impressed with your training programmes, I felt compelled to write to you in appreciation. Although it was blatantly obvious you were a professional outfit right from our first meeting, your services have far surpassed my expectations.
I have been in sales and sales management for 15 years with 5 different companies and have attended many quality-training programs. During this time I have never experienced a program that adapted its philosophies and methodology so succinctly with a companies industry, market, products and value proposition.
Ultimately! The test of any training program is the results it delivers. Since KONA has worked with James Hardie the sales effectiveness of the team has increased dramatically. But an even more noticeable improvement is the quality of leadership displayed by the sales management team.
Glen Doherty
General Manager Sales
Glenn Dobson is the most charismatic and inspirational sales training and business development coach I have ever had the pleasure of working with.
At times confronting, Glenn breaks down your current sales process and delivers honest direct feedback! With a thorough understanding of your customers, product and industry, Glenn provides you with the necessary tools and roadmap to be more effective in professional sales.
Glenn's material is all his own and is presented in an easy to understand format, tailored for your business. I look forward to working with Glenn in the future. Ps, all the best for the IronMan world champs Glenn!
Graham Winder
BDM
Not only has our partnership with KONA proven to be highly beneficial for our management team… it has also proven to be an enormous return on investment with sales improving by over 23%.
Mark Lucas
Director XEROX UK
I have enjoyed working with KONA several times.
KONA have worked with my sales team strategically to raise the bar on their performance and belief in their ability to deliver results.
As personal coaches the HBB Group have guided me through my career by reminding me to clear away the clutter and keep it simple Sam. Keep on running Glenn.
Frank Courtney-Jay
Sales and Marketing Manager HP Singapore
Next Business Solutions used the team at KONA to take us through their Hearts and Minds training. Great team at KONA of people who are not only very experienced their product but they also bring their people skills that have been developed through their extensive global activities.
Rob Clydesdale
Microsoft Next Business Solutions Franchisee
Garret is a true professional and constantly challenges the norm which creates the high performing teams we have at MLA.
Garret has lead and coached our team to deliver outcomes that make a difference.
The approach from Healthy Business Builder was unique to our business and it has proven to be successful for MLA.
I would highly recommend Garret for any other business wanting positive, successful outcomes for your business.
Lisa Sharp
Chief Marketing Officer
The KONA Group has provided excellent customised training and coaching for our managers and staff at Nova Employment. First of all the KONA team gave a vast amount of knowledge to our managers on how to manage their staff. They then educated the employment consultants on how to handle difficult employers when telemarketing for jobs, before also giving them the skills on how to hold a face to face sales meeting. KONA have increased our jobs by 50% ever since they have been providing Nova managers and staff training and coaching.
They are always willing to provide assistance when needed and are always available to call if we need any further help.
Their training has been very successful for our organization and has been able to put Nova Employment in an extremely strong position. I highly recommend the KONA training and coaching as they are very good mentors in providing the best outcomes.
Peter Delimitrou
Employment Service Manager
The development programmes have had an outstanding effect on our business and results, and on the way our sales people treat our customers.
Frank Morberger
State Manager
As a consequence of KONA’s efforts and commitment very quickly we have seen some explosive changes with the team through the introduction of various client focussed and sales strategies, measurements and skills. Their motivation, direction and activity have all increased… and we expect our profits to escalate accordingly.
Ian Crowther
General Manager
Glenn Dobson and Garret Norris are coaches that really stands out to me as they take pride in what they do and deliver. I first utilised KONA around 7 years ago when he evaluated our business which ended up delivering some hard hitting facts , as a result changes needed to be made BUT as a consequence of those initial chats KONA helped set up a sales pipeline where we could track our activity and results which led to a 300% increase in sales within the first 6 months of implementing his sales tools.I HIGHLY recommend KONA but don't want the world to know what they can provide a business as this will give other companies an unfair advantage like we have !Glenn is now a mentor, a friend and above all someone that inspires you to always achieve your best.
Keiran Hathorn
Managing Director
Glenn is high highly talented leader who has assisted us in defining industry leading strategy. I would recommend KONA to anyone requiring an honest, intelligent, strategic, motivating and hard working business leader.
Troy Dawson
Chief Information Officer
Dear Glenn
As we complete stage one of the Campbell’s and John Lewis learning and development programs, I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thankyou to you and the KONA team for all of your time, commitment and energy to the project.
The response from our managers and sales team has been absolutely outstanding and everyone has benefited immensely from your involvement.
I agreed with both Brian and Geoff at the time when they stressed the importance of developing a program tailored to our business and you more than achieved our expectations.
I know you invested a lot of time in preparation and the time you spent with our people out on the road, visiting customers, was obviously well worth it. Included in the feedback from participants from around the country are, amongst many others, the following quotes: “Already I am putting some of the new techniques we learnt into practise and getting results from them”
“ I now feel as if I have greater control and structure over my sales approach and customers”
“I am communicating with my customers like never before and they are telling me things about their businesses that prior to the course I didn’t have a clue about” “I am managing my people in a far more effective and productive way and I feel that I can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel” Once again Glenn, thankyou very much for all of your efforts and I personally can’t wait for the next stage!
Kurt Wilson
National Training Manager
Since NOVA and KONA started working together we have almost doubled our results in less than 9 months!
I had identified a need for developing our sales skills, but KONA delivered so much more than sales training to our business. Glenn encouraged us to take a step back, analyse our methods and develop a performance culture. As a manager responsible for performance, I appreciated that he clearly and fearless articulated our performance gaps from an outsider’s perspective to our management team, helped us to reverse engineer our results so that we could clearly identify what was needed to achieve performance KPI’s, and delivered practical, real world and customised training based on our business.
I look forward to a continuation of our partnership with KONA and learning more to help NOVA move forward and be even more successful.
Anne Goyer
Training & Development Manager
KONA professional sales and sales management training has been an excellent educational journey on how to enter the Hearts and Minds of our customers and Shareholders. To become business resources and strategic advisors. To build a relationship that understands our customer’s hopes, fears, dreams and vision to create opportunities for future growth that we can be a part of. The course has been taught in detail that can easily be implemented and has brought the entire sales and management team at Plumbing World into focus looking to achieve a common goal. I highly recommend any time spent with the KONA Group.
Russell Thomas
Branch Manager
KONA Group’s services were used by Brickworks Ltd in the form of Sales Management training. Glenn is unlike any other in his ability to connect with the audience. Glenn motivated me so much during a session. I decided at that point I would change my life forever. There was a group of us, that very moment who decided it was a time for change. Glenn explained the model for change and by using this model, it was possible to increase your chances of success 10 fold in anything you wished to achieve. The change we wanted to make was a healthier lifestyle. We decided to embark on a weight loss challenge. Using the attributes of the model, many achieved their ideal weight within months. My personal journey has seen me continue with the challenge and have now lost 29kgs, with 10 kgs until I am at my ideal weight. My lifestyle is now very different, being very careful with what I eat, walking approximately 50kms per week and doing Crossfit 3 times a week. I am on the way to fantastic health. my dad said to me yesterday, son you are looking the best you have in 30 years. They were great words to hear considering I am only 44 years old. I am healthier, I am stronger than I have ever been, I am more motivated, I am more focused and feel like a real winner. I don't believe I could have achieved this without using Glenn's model for change. Thanks Glenn, I would not have been able to do this without you, you have changed my life.
Trevor Marshall
Sales Manager
I have been lucky enough to attend B2B sales training run by the KONA Group. I have found Glenn to bring the same drive and passion that he applies to Iron Man training across in his training sessions. His training is not something you could read straight out of a text book - there is no "turn to page three". Glenn delivers real world pointers that are applicable in the changing workforce of today. The tools that he gives you, help you go through the door to be become a true business/strategic partner for your customers. Without these tools you would be standing on the curb, looking in, being a 3 P flogger! I would highly recommend attending a training session if you get the opportunity.
Keith Geenty
Sales Representative
Glenn is one of those fearless "can-do" high achievers that every business needs. His team at KONA make a valuable blend of skills and experience that deliver Sales results fast and ongoing. The hands on approach makes the KONA business a Sales consultancy suited to SMB up to large corporate, because it is all about people and their activity. Highly recommended regardless how good you think you are!
Paul Scanlan
General Manager
I would like to recommend The Kona Group for sales training that is succinct and professional and works.
I would have to say that after the training that we had received we have noticed a huge difference to our KPI's and have made for the great results that we are now seeing.
Belinda Hamburger
Branch Manager
KONA has provided a unique sales program to the Sales Team at Plumbing World, with an in depth knowledge of the subject and passion for sales that has ensured that the key tools required to be a successful sale person and build business to business relationships has already started to occur in the company in only a short period of time.
Casey Stuart
Regional Manager New Zealand
KONA has a unique approach to sales training, which has allowed Plumbing World to make a significant step change with its sales team. The training is fully customised for Plumbing World, which is important, as the it has developed far more engagement and buy-in from the sales team. The results have been immediate, giving Plumbing World a better understanding of and relationship with, our customers. Leading to new accounts being opened and an increase in sales from existing customers. For example as a direct result of the KONA training, a customer who's spend had dropped away for the previous 12 months, has increased their spend 16 fold.
Mike Dyer
Sales & Operations Manager
I was so fortunate to be able to attend the KONA training workshop at the 4life office in Sydney in February. I cannot begin to tell you how motivating and inspiring I found it to be. You gave me tools that I can use for both my personal and business growth. You demonstrated in a very simple manner how to set short and long range goals that are attainable. As you said hope is not a business strategy.
The day spent training with you was so worthwhile I have been implementing some of the strategies and am passing it to my downline. I would recommend this workshop to anyone who is serious about business building.
Jyoti Sidhu
KONA has a passion for seeing both people and business's improve through the process of training and educating staff. They will encourage and coach the business and your people to become better at what they do and to improve your "bottom line.
I have known Glenn both professionally and as a friend for 13 years now, and I have no hesitation in recommending KONA as a Business professional and also as person who commits fully to whatever challenge, be it business or physical such, as Ironman triathlon or running across the Sahara desert.
Robert George
Team Leader Inventory Control
Following the reorganisation of the field sales force, the KONA Group provided a number of workshops and coaching sessions in order to improve the understanding of how the company was changing the way that it operated. KONA supported us with the change by building trust and gaining buy-in from the team. KONA did an excellent job of emphasising the role of the field force in developing new business and building the sales and performance culture.
Jonathan Shinn
Operations Manager
Glenn is one person who knows how cut through to the real issues facing sales organizations of today, unearth the real potentials of a market of opportunity and help managers develop their companies unique "point of difference" to increase sales beyond what they ever thought possible.
Glenn is a master coach for both business and life's goals.
Paul Winter
QLD State Manager
I had the pleasure of meeting Glenn Dobson through our participation in one of the toughest footraces on the planet, The Marathon De Sables. In the time we spent together leading up to the race I became quickly aware that Glenn was an extraordinary human being.
His athleticism and endurance not only humbled me but inspired me to push myself to peg new boundaries. Whilst Glenn's achievements in Ironman and other endurance events puts him in a very small minority group his drive, motivation, energy and business knowledge puts him amongst an even smaller elite group of people. I have been fortunate to have been a professional in the financial markets for close to 20 years and this has exposed me to a vast array of individuals, their ethics and work practices.
During this period I don't think I have meet a person with the focus and drive to consistently deliver quality outcomes to his clients and business associates. Having an opportunity to interact with Glenn on any level whether it be business or social is something that will ultimately make you a better person. I have been fortunate to have shared an extraordinary challenge with Glenn but have been as equally enriched by the relationship we now share as a result of the race.
Justin Gallagher
Head of Equities Sales Trading and Execution
During my tenure in the building and construction industry the KONA Group was engaged to help align the sales function with the business and marketing strategy - a major shift in how we presented to market. KONA’s Hearts and Minds program challenged past paradigms and equipped our sales resource with a robust sales strategy, along with sustainable sales management and tactical skills which continued to deliver year on year growth.
Linda Ginger
Marketing and Branding Director
Glenn Dobson is a rare individual worthy of being on anybody's list of potential mentors. Glenn is an entrepreneur, successful business-operator, world-class Ironman Triathlete, terrific father and rumour has it, a pretty good husband! We have worked together on various projects over the last decade and I continue to marvel at his pragmatic ability. Glenn is a master at taking any 'theory' in the field of sales and translating them into immediately applicable methods for any client. He truly understands that "Results Count" and has consistently been able to cut through the bullshit in our project work, for his clients and in his own businesses. If you ever wanted to see a living breathing example of a 'balanced' individual who exemplifies Covey's "Important vs. Urgent" Glenn is your man. Add to that Collins' "Disciplined (person), applying disciplined thought and taking disciplined action." and you've found yourself a winner! Good on you Glenn. You really are a role model.
James Michael
Founder and CEO
We have been very impressed with your capabilities and see you as a key player in rolling out our customer service programmes.
Andrea Westwood
Capability Development
Throughout my career with Commonwealth Bank I met several business coaches, but 'Glenn Dobson' is the only name that I don't need to challenge my memory to remember. Glenn is an amazing coach with unique techniques; structured and interactive. He is one of the most positive people I have ever met, his amazing achievements are certainly as a result of his dedication, his commitment and his 'can do' attitude.
Odette Shahnazari
Manager
I was introduced to the KONA Group some five years ago through a mutual and respected business contact. My first impression was that Glenn has a unique sense of purpose, he is driven, motivated and passionate about achieving results personally but also in supporting others to achieve beyond their own expectations.
Over the past five years I have witnessed KONA in many business scenarios including business consulting, change management projects, sales management projects and executive level leadership programs.
Glenn is a natural leader and a manager in these environments. People respond well to him and his down to earth style.
Personally Glenn has an engaging communication style, an unstoppable enthusiasm to exceed expectations and first class networking skills.
I am proud to call him a friend, colleague and business partner and would recommend you consider his services when required.
Susie Lomas
Director
I have been in Glenn's training groups for the past 10 months, 4 to 5 sessions. I have found him to be a very enthusiastic speaker with a wealth of knowledge for us to take on board and work with. His presentation is hands on and easy to work with.
Working with KONA has had a huge impact on the Nova's business as we have increased results in some areas by between 50 -100%. I would highly recommend him and his business.
N/A
Glenn is one of those clients that truly partners with you and adds value back to you as a service provider. He's not a slave to his own views, nor is he a passenger in the process. He's very outcome focused and understands the core drivers of personality and individual values in achieving goals. That said, this is a man that no doubts lives by the virtue that profit, without honour, is loss. There's nothing manufactured or contrived about his work, quite simply he is inherently like this by nature. His background and experience speaks volumes. Over and above that he is a quality person.
Craig White
Director
Glenn is an effective business owner and trainer, he is clearly passionate about his company and the services Kona provides. Glenn has an energy and enthusiasm that is both infectious and motivating, which leads to confidence in his delivery and professionalism.
Nick James
National Sales Manager
KONA Group facilitated several workshops at the Advanced Group of companies for both the sales and operations teams. They are highly motivational and provided the teams with tools and techniques to improve their ability to connect with customers in both business development and service delivery roles. KONA is very business focused and pragmatic and focuses on what gets results.
I would recommend KONA to any other business that is looking to improve their sales capability or turn their project managers and operations managers into customer champions.
Jonathan Shinn
National Operations Manager
You'll only meet one Glenn Dobson of this caliber. Glenn is an International Ironman, Businessman and Sales Guru. With an extensive career in sales across UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Glenn is a consummate professional who has 'been there and done it all' when it comes to competitive sales environments. Commercially aggressive, his ability to identify growth opportunities and drive activity to deliver results for his clients is astounding.
The energy and discipline required to compete as an athlete at the elite level is evident in everything he does. As a Speaker, Glenn is inspiring, direct and highly motivating. All his business engagements are conducted with the highest level of integrity and results are always the number one priority.
Sue Thompson
Business Manager
Glenn is a master at focusing the attention of any sales team, business owner or sales manager on the importance of having a strong sales pipeline to the future prosperity of any business. He lives and breathes what he teaches and is able to succinctly and very effectively impart his extensive knowledge of how to establish and then manage a sales pipeline that will continually deliver new and profitable business. If your business needs a significant improvement in its sales performance Glenn should be the first person that you contact.
I recommend him highly for any size business or corporate enterprise.
Daniel Watson
Managing Director
Glenn is one of those rare individuals that makes you feel positive about life, just by being in the same room with him. I have known Glenn for a couple of years now and I am constantly amazed at the total energy output this man has. A true strategic thinker who has the ability to spot a great idea and turn his skills into a passion that is so infectious. If you are considering getting alongside this true gentleman, then I would say that this is one of the best things you will do today, if not the week, month or even year.
Greg Gillespie
Owner
I have worked with the KONA Group for over 6 years and have found them to be some of the most consistent and driven people ever!
A dynamic trainers with a strong emphasis on activity and results, KONA has brought invaluable experience to my own, and my staff's training.
If you are involved in any Sales capacity, or are managing a team involved in Sales, then KONA Group is a "must call" individual.
Aaron Williams
Founder and Managing Director
Garrett and Sienna at KONA group, were absolutely fantastic from appointment right through to the follow up of initiatives post workshop. Both had communicated effectively prior to the workshop and made sure the day was a phenomenal success for our Leaders at Openmarkets Group. Most importantly, Garrett is very engaging and all our leaders were switched on throughout the session with some key insights. I highly recommend Garrett, Sienna and the KONA Group.
Heidi Mehl
Executive Assistant to CEO
Engaged Kona Group to deliver account training workshop for Etex - Siniat. Great collaborative approach to course preparation and workshop execution very effective and extremely engaging for all participants. Great job Garret!!
Joe Mori
National Business Development Manager
Right from my first call to the actual day of DiSC profiling session, the KONA group were fantastic and provided excellent service. Garret facilitated the session, and his delivery technique was impactful and valuable to all attendees.
Umesh Datwani
Operations Manager | Investment Services
Garrett is a great coach/mentor, it was an honour having him here, and the progress was WAYYY more than I had anticipated, so I am very thankful.Hope you guys have an awesome day, just like you! ☺
Hana Hellou
Customer Support Manager
I have recommended Garret and the team at Healthy Business Builder to many organisations I have worked with. Their methods constantly challenge the norm, creating and supporting high performing teams. Garret has lead and coached our team to deliver positive and sustainable outcomes that make a difference to our teams and stakeholders. The approach from Healthy Business Builder is unique to each business or organisation and it has proven to be successful time and time again. I have witnessed many dysfunctional teams make changes to the way they operate after sessions with Garret and it is such a delight to see our teams work collaboratively and cohesively. They begin to communicate in new ways due to the deeper understanding of how individuals operate, communicate and learn. I would highly recommend Garret and the team at Healthy Business Builder if you are wanting positive, sustainable and successful outcomes for your business.
Kathryn Emmett
Executive Assistant to Head of Asset Projects | Olympic DamExecutive Assistant to Head of Technical Portfolio
My team and I had the pleasure of hosting Garret for Sales Training and it was absolutely fantastic. A thoroughly enjoyable day as we tackled key concepts, engaged in role play and absorbed the benefit of Garret's extensive experience. We look forward to working with Garret and his team again in the future.
Melanie Pritchard
Group Manager - Digital Revenue
Truly the most insightful and relatable training/professional course I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of. Absolutely will leave a review - 5 stars
Narissa Chan
Senior Digital Account Manager
Garret took our team of 10 (experienced) sales consultants for the day looking at profiling and strategic sales techniques. It was motivating, insightful and fun. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Garrett and Kona - we will be back.
Stephen Richards
Director Sales Marketing
Thank you for the most insightful and relatable professional workshop session. It was gratifying, and I feel empowered and more confident.
Thank you so much for delivering such a valuable and engaging session. It was certainly in the spirit we intended. I have had positive feedback, and the team mentioned how valuable they found your session specifically.
Ekta Manwal
HR Advisor
Thanks Garret Norris & the KONA Group for an awesome day yesterday! We learned a lot, but also has so much fun along the way. We look forward to working with you again.
Peg Vaghaye
Executive Manager, Broker Relationships
Thanks Garret Norris for a fun filled 2 days with not only lots of laughs but lots of valuable lessons on how to improve our skills when communicating with our customers and fellow work mates. I know all of us are excited about putting all we’ve learnt into practice.
Heather Priest
Head of Sales APAC at Altura Learning
Garret has a gift which enables him to connect and engage with everybody in the room. Although he is very accomplished, he is very down to earth and uses his Irish charm and humour to put everyone at ease. His delivery of the training was excellent and kept our groups attention for the whole 2 days which is no easy feat! The tools learned in the workshop re-ignited my passion for the sales environment - which is exactly what I was hoping for. All feedback from our team was positive and I would not hesitate to recommend Garret and his team.
Jaime Reid
Senior Business Development & Training Manager
Excellent session with you both Garret and John. Really appreciate the insights into delivering a better experience for all parties involved in a negotiation. Couldn't recommend KONA enough for anyone looking to enhance their Sales and Negotiation capability.
Luke Day
Business Development Lead
Thanks so much Garret Norris and John Wright. It was great training and the team have been talking about it all week. Just what we needed! We will definitely be getting KONA back again!
Judy Cole
Managing Director
Garret delivered some sales training for our team in Brisbane. We are a specialist recruitment agency with people of various experience levels. He was able to tailor an engaging session that everyone was able to benefit from. Thanks Garret!
Forrest Briggs
Principal Consultant & Director
The training that was provided by KONA and delivered by Garret was second to none. I believe my team and I have learned a lot over the training and have had a lot of positive feedback from them.
Benjamin Helmore
Branch Manager
This was a fantastic few days, thank you Garret.
Donavan Derman
CFO
Garret's Sales Communication Training delivered a strategic advantage to our team, who are now equipped with the practical tools needed to drive customer success.
Robert Guerin
Chief Executive Officer
Very interesting/enlightening experience. Quite surprising to receive and witness such accurate profiling of each individual's DISC Profile.
Mitchell Jeggo
Operations Manager
Hey Garret. Just a quick word of thanks. My time on the road with my team has become so much more intentional and productive. One thing I hear when I ask about what they want from the meeting is they say things they want to share. I am getting them to ask what do they hope to learn and discover from the meeting. Anyway just saying again, you have helped me.
Marco de Geus
General Manager - Sales
Really enjoyed our group training day. Learned some interesting insights about myself & colleagues.
Betty James
Senior Marketing Specialist
I couldn't speak any higher of Garret and his team! To gain the trust in our team and instil such empowerment so quickly, is incredible! The ongoing support and encouragement following the training has been wonderful and invaluable. To anyone looking for sales or leadership training for yourself or your business, this team is the best I've ever come across!
Samantha Sullivan
Sales & Marketing Manager
Very down to earth and very easy going.. extremely informative and made the day fun. Thank you greatly.
Adam Carr
Supagas Australia
I've had the good fortune of being trained by Garret on two separate occasions - firstly as a sales agent & later as a leader. His highly engaging delivery, backed by his extensive knowledge is inspiring & insightful. I will always be grateful to Garret at the Kona Group for re-igniting my passion for sales & mentorship.
Gary Lawson
Senior Sales Development Manager
We had the pleasure of John at KONA facilitating some DISC training at our workplace. The group was cohort of different leadership levels at a federal government department. John's expertise and engaging teaching style made the half day thoroughly enjoyable. His real-world examples and interactive approach kept everyone involved and provided valuable insights into team dynamics and personal communication styles. Highly recommend John and KONA for professional development needs!
Jahn Giolitto
Assistant Director
My favourite session at mid-cycle was the guest speaker Garret Norris. It boosted my motivation & made me rethink the way I have conversations in scoping calls with potential customers. I came out of that session with new skills in communication & questioning and found it really valuable as someone new to the sales world.
Natalia Henderson
Pharmacy Business Consultant
Fantastic hands-on coaching by Garret. Really appreciated the wealth of insights and strategies from Garret’s breadth of experience working with other businesses that we can reference. Highly recommended to anyone who would like to improve their external engagement or sales skills!
Lily Che
Senior UX/UI Designer
Thanks Garret, the team really appreciate everything that you did, it was extremely informative, you made the role play interesting and comments from our team that have been on sales courses before, "The best sales course they have ever done.” Our focus now is to put some of these techniques into play!
Our team of expert coaches and trainers are dedicated to crafting personalised strategies that align with your unique goals and aspirations. We have the tools and expertise to guide you towards greatness.
By contacting us, you are taking the first step towards transforming your team and achieving the extraordinary.
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