Gazing Helps Xerox to ‘Get on the same page

Darren takes up the story, “For three main reasons. Their use of maps. Their training structure. And the simplicity of their approach. But I also liked the fact that they looked at the problem in a very different way”.

Crucially, for Darren, by proposing a ‘train the trainer’ cascade approach, the Gazing team was able to answer his misgivings regarding their size and ability to deliver.

And their strategy addressed another important issue:- how to adapt the training to make it relevant in multiple languages and cultures. 

For Darren, though, the clincher was that “they were prepared to look past the initial project and see the real opportunity that lay beyond it. They were prepared to take a risk with their own intellectual property in pursuit of the bigger picture”.

So what is unique about Gazing’s training approach that helped it see off twelve other – significantly larger – training companies to win a 1000 person contract for a global brand leader? The answer lies in their skill acquisition process using their map-based methodology and their focus on helping teams and individuals to achieve high levels of performance whilst under pressure. 

John Esposito from Gazing describes their strengths more simply. He says “through our early work with coaching high performance athletes, we knew that the athletes ability to deliver was largely based on their ability to cope with the pressure of the situation. We then applied this thinking to the commercial world and found the same thing; having highly developed technical skills is irrelevant if you can’t cope with the pressure”.

John’s team then translated this thinking into ‘Performance Maps’. These one-page documents contain all the elements that clients must be aware of if they want to perform at the highest level. Plus - and of no less importance - an awareness of the psychological factors that can prevent that performance level from being achieved.

Gazing CEO, Martin Fairn, explains further. He said “Maps are essentially navigational aids that help people plot a route to their destination. We have applied that thinking to our courses such that delegates can locate where they are in a situation, and then plot a route to their ultimate objective, be it to close a sale, or whatever”. He went on “maps have the added advantage that all the required information is available on one page. 

Again, we have adapted that philosophy, so that all the models used in our courses can be presented on one page”.

It would be wrong, however to label the simplicity of Gazing’s approach as a simple approach. All their courses are underpinned by a strong theoretical base. In addition there are very practical tools supporting movement around the map.

The Gazing Strategic Selling Programme adopted by Xerox –recognises that the decision to buy is entirely made inside the head of the buyer. The training courses therefore focus on helping delegates learn more about the ‘predictable and consistent sequence of psychological states that a buyer moves through during any successful sale’.


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