Are you interested in improving the efficiency of your company by being a Case Study for a Master thesis on Lean Management?
New Club Member Lena-Lynn Naraschkewitz is writing her Master thesis on Lean Management and how to implement it in SMEs through a simple guide and needs to find a manufacturing company to take part in her Case Study.
The company must have more than 10 employees and some kind of manufacturing process, even if it’s just packing a product.
The manufacturing process will be filmed and in the video will be shown to the employees as a group and analysed together for what could be improved using Lean Management methods. The process will be timed before and after the methods are applied. The project shouldn’t take more than a few days,
Russell Williams, Director of the Graduate Business School at the University of Aberdeen, (left) congratulates Executive Fellow Peter Waggott, of Vertical Motives, on his sales workshop achieving the academic standard required to have successful completion enable entry to the Sales & Marketing module of the University of Aberdeen Online MBA. Pic: ASM Media & PR
Experienced sales professionals without degrees now have a new asset they can gain to bolster their sales effectiveness and aid their application to a degree course thanks to Club member Peter Waggott.
The two-day practice-based sales workshop has been developed by Peter, who is an experienced sales coach and executive from Carnoustie who’s worked in B2B sales for blue chip companies in the UK, Europe and North America.
It gives candidates a competitive advantage in the job market by enabling them to make a better connection with customers, profit more from their interactions with them and learn from experienced people who can help them put theory into practice.
It teaches sales strategy, the need to collaborate with internal colleagues to make a smoother and better experience for the customer, how you need to understand better who customers are, what their business is and why they buy from you. It also enables students to understand internal customers, themselves and their job description. It’s followed by 1-1 coaching to embed the learning.
Achieved standard
The workshop has been continuously assessed by the university for academic rigour and has now achieved the standard required to demonstrate Recognised Prior Learning (RPL). This means non-graduate sales professionals can use successful completion of it to gain access to a five-day Sales and Marketing workshop delivered by the University of Aberdeen Business School, as well as use it as part of a portfolio of training and achievement for consideration for entry to the University’s part-time, blended-learning MBA programme.
It’s believed to be the first post-experience sales training in the UK to be quality-‘recognised’ by a university.
The workshop is based on Peter’s experiences and has been designed, developed and tested over 18 months, with both clients and university students. It’s been delivered to a number of organisations and to more than 270 postgraduate and undergraduate students at the University of Aberdeen to date.
It came about because Peter believes there’s a lack of understanding about the sales process in businesses and organisations. “They think it’s about selling a product, but it’s not – they need to understand their customer’s business,” he says.
“In the current climate there’s a fundamental difference between how an organisation thinks their customers do business and how they’re customers really operate, so traditional B2B sales processes are ineffective. Investor groups see a lack of sales knowledge when engaging with start-ups and scale-ups- organisations with aspirations to grow don’t have the necessary sales knowledge to deliver the growth required.
“Organisations have forgotten or lost the concept of asking at a base level ‘Why do they buy from us?’
Communication
“Sales is about communication – a sales person is the conduit between their company and their customer. Taking time to understand an organisation’s processes and structure will be more successful.
“Organisations now want to learn and be challenged, so this workshop focuses on this. It also helps develop the creative people they need to grow and flourish.”
The workshop also seeks to address the negative perception of sales as a career. “Sales is not seen as a career because there’s no global quality benchmark for it, so no perceived value in it by organisations,” says Peter.
“Sales is a great career – delivered correctly it can support companies to grow, both in revenue and with their customers. So sales needs to be taken seriously.
“This workshop allows me an opportunity to give candidates an understanding of what a sales role really is.”
Peter Waggott is making the workshop available to other universities who see the benefits to their students and non-graduates seeking to take up postgraduate study with them.
Training academy
It will also be the first course of a forthcoming training academy to be set up in Dundee by his company Vertical Motives Consultancy Ltd, which will also offer high-quality training in interim and new management, coaching, mentoring and customer experience, all of which he hopes to gain university accreditation for. Towards that goal, Peter is working closely with academics to embed and share industry experience and practice with other universities.
For Peter, a key element of the development process has come from his role as an Executive Fellow at the University of Aberdeen Business School: “As an Executive Fellow I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside talented students and showcase sales and sales process training. Most importantly, I’ve been able to develop, test and refine the materials.”
Russell Williams, Director of the Business School’s postgraduate programmes, said: “We’re delighted to have Peter share his expertise and insight with our postgraduates through his workshops. This part of their studies helps the students make the connection between theory and practice and, importantly, gives them practical employability skills.”
“Having worked with Peter and seen the sales workshop firsthand, we are happy to recognise those completing the workshop include it as a part of their record of achievement when applying to our MBA.”
For more information about Peter and Vertical Motives, go to its website.
Gerry Grant, Chief Ethical Hacking Consultant at Curious Frank, explained how to maximise your cyber resilience, at the event held by St Andrews Business Club at The Old Course Hotel.
How do you minimise the risk of having your business and life disrupted by a hacker or malicious software?
Gerry Grant, Chief Ethical Hacking Consultant, at Curious Frank, explained how you can use simple precautions to minimise your risk.
These included:
Securing your premises and IT properly
Using a strong password
Using a password manager
Using two-factor authentication
Ensuring your computer’s operating system has the latest updates
Over the last few years you’ve probably heard of mindfulness and that you should be doing it. But why? What is it? What are the benefits? And how can you do it?
‘Leadership Provocateur’, thinker and disrupter, bestselling mindfulness author, Paul Mudd answered all those questions and more by looking at the universal and the particular, the personal and the professional, the theory and the practice. And inspired several attendees to start their own Mindful Journey.
For more information about mindfulness and the other consulting services The Mudd Partnership offers, you can visit their website.
Gerry Grant, Chief Ethical Hacking Consultant, Curious Frank, Scottish Business Resilience Centre.
People doing business in North-East Fife can learn about cyber resilience from a top Scottish expert at St Andrews Business Club’s next event on June 6.
In the final open event of the club’s season, to be held at the Old Course Hotel from 5.30pm, Gerry Grant, Chief Ethical Hacking Consultant, at Curious Frank, the cyber section of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, will teach attendees about what cyber risks you should be most aware of and how to minimise these risks.
Anyone wanting to learn about this important business topic for business, as well as network, is asked to book via Eventbrite.
Full details of all our events, most of which are now open to non-members, are here.
People doing business in North-East Fife can learn things they need to know from members of St Andrews Business Club taking a presentation challenge at is next event on May 9.
In the latest evening event of the Club’s season, to be held at the Old Course Hotel from 5.30pm, members of the Club will be drawn at random to give presentations on important things for attendees to know for business.
Anyone wanting to learn as well as network, is asked to book via Eventbrite.
People doing business in North-East Fife can learn how to meet the challenge of Sales in the Digital Age from an international sales professional at St Andrews Business Club’s breakfast event on April 25.
In the Club’s first business breakfast of the year, to be held at the Old Course Hotel from 7.30am, Sales Coach Peter Waggott of Vertical Motives, who is an Executive Fellow at the University of Aberdeen and teaches sales to MBA students, will teach attendees how sales has changed in this digital age, how to develop their customer base and move away from ‘solution sales’.
Anyone wanting to learn about this important business topic for business, as well as network, is asked to book via Eventbrite.
People doing business in North-East Fife are being invited to hear Eden Mill owner Paul Miller speak at St Andrews Business Club’s AGM Evening on April 18.
In the event, open to all, to be held at the Old Course Hotel, Mr Miller, who founded the distillery and brewery brand in a former paper mill at Guardbridge in 2012 after almost three decades working for global brewing and distilling brands, will be the guest speaker.
Non-members should arrive after the club’s AGM formalities have concluded at 6.15pm for networking, food and refreshments before Mr Miller’s talk begins at 6.45pm.
Anyone wanting to attend is asked to book a ticket on Eventbrite.
Inspiring woman – Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal of the University of St Andrews, shared the University of St Andrews women who’ve inspired her in her keynote talk. Pic: ASM Media & PR
Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal of the University of St Andrews, joined an award-winning businesswoman in sharing her story and talking about the University of St Andrews women who inspired her in our event on the eve of International Women’s Day.
Attendees gained inspiration, as well as the chance to question both Prof Mapstone and Nicola Dames, in the well-attended ‘Inspiring Women’ event at the Old Course Hotel.
Professor Mapstone, who gave the keynote at the event, has been Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews since September 2016. Before taking up the role, her academic career was spent at the University of Oxford. Earlier in her career she worked as an editor in the book publishing industry.
She talked about the female role models who inspired her in her career, including several connected with the University of St Andrews.
First woman student
In 1862 Elizabeth Garrett became the first woman to matriculate there. Sadly, she was later removed from the list of students and prevented from attending medical classes.
She nevertheless went on to become the first woman to qualify as a physician in Britain, co-founding the first hospital staffed by women, and becoming Dean of the London School of Medicine for Women.
Her determination paved the way for other women, including Agnes Forbes Blackadder – who in 1895 became the first woman to graduate from St Andrews – and Margaret Fairlie, who in 1940 became the first female professor in Scotland after being appointed Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College, Dundee, then part of the University of St Andrews. It was a long time till the next.
Despite diversity and equality at St Andrews moving on greatly since – now a fifth of its professors are women and 44% of research students are female – Prof Mapstone said she felt “we are still not there yet”. Which is why she’s started several initiatives to improve that, including a mentoring programme for women in senior roles named after Elizabeth Garrett.
Finally, Prof Mapstone said she felt the most inspiring women are those who push for change not just for themselves for those who will follow them.
Inspiring woman – Nicola Dames, founder of Vanilla Blush, talked about her entrepreneurial journey as a result of bowel disease. Pic: ASM Media & PR
Nicola Dames shared how her life changed forever when she started to suffer with Ulcerative Colitis while a nurse in her 20s working in London. After surgery to remove her large colon, she found underwear available for women with stomas lacked femininity.
So she created her company, Vanilla Blush, in 2008 to provide attractive underwear for women like her. She now designs, makes and sells that and swimwear for all genders and is about to extend the range into sportswear.
In 2011, Vanilla Blush had its first range listed as a Class 1 Medical Device and in 2014 was named Post-Surgery Brand of the Year. In June 2016 Nicola secured £50,000 in Scottish EDGE funding. In December last year, she was included in Lingerie Insight’s Power List 2018.
Both speakers answered questions on their advice for women and who inspired them. Prof Mapstone named Michelle Obama, whom she’s met. Nicola Dames nominated her namesake, Nicola Sturgeon.
They were warmly applauded by the large number of attendees.
For more photos, go to the Album on our Facebook page.
Are you interested in improving the efficiency of your company by being a Case Study for a Master thesis on Lean Management?
People doing business in North-East Fife can learn how to meet the challenge of Sales in the Digital Age from an international sales professional at St Andrews Business Club’s breakfast event on April 25.
People doing business in North-East Fife are being invited to hear Eden Mill owner Paul Miller speak at St Andrews Business Club’s 
