Insights from AGL

When you are Graham Fink with a business called ‘Fink Different’, and you have a high-stakes keynote speech coming up…then working with a communications agency that also ‘thinks differently is essential.

From high-stakes moments to everyday conversations, we are the human communication company that helps you really connect with your audience and ensure they THINK, FEEL and DO as a result.

It’s all about becoming more yourself (not less).

Easy to say, harder to do.  But with AGL in your corner, it is not just achievable, but also enjoyable.

Performance review season is here.  Read on for some top tips from our expert AGL communication coaches.

Many people dread the idea of giving feedback and avoid it all together.

So how do you given constructive feedback and handle manage potentially difficult conversations?

We answered exactly this question last week at a masterclass in the glorious surroundings of Soho Farmhouse for the senior team of a leading venture capital and private equity firm.

Swipe for some top tips you can use to have more effective feedback and performance conversations.

The testimonials from participants following our workshop were a joy to read, including comments such as:

• “very insightful and hugely engaging - 5 stars!”

• “I am more equipped to deal with feedback and provide it”

• “I came out of the session with tangible strategies that I’ll use moving forward”

• “The sessions was delivered in a practical, engaging way”

To discuss a tailored workshop to embed an effective feedback culture within your organisation, please email tomrc@aglcomms.com

Credit to Paul Hessey, AGL Coach

Want to avoid hitting the ‘so what’ buffer? That invisible hurdle between you and your customer in a sales conversation.

People do things for their reasons, not ours. Emotionally intelligent selling is all about understanding the client’s perspective, without pushing to share our own.

AGL coach Paul Hessey shared some invaluable techniques for selling without clients feeling ‘sold to’ at the AGL Communication ‘Client Journey’ masterclass, held at The Lanesborough last week. He explored how to balance push and pull, find where agreement lies, handle objections, sense-check your approach and adapt in real time.

AGL Associate Joanna Nowakowska then took the group through the fundamentals of Clienteling: the art of turning a client interaction into a lifelong relationship (and the significant value this adds to the bottom line). We learned about waking the ‘Sleepers’ and why it can be costly to overlook the High Potentials, especially when companies only measure sales and not relationships.

It costs between five and seven times more to win a new client than to nurture an existing one, while long-standing clients spend a staggering 67% more than new ones. The trick is knowing how to recognise, nurture and measure the Clienteling process.

Emotional connection lies behind both successful selling and Clienteling. For those who like data, the research* backs this up:

• Purchase intention rises from 53% to 73% when the sales advisor establishes a genuine connection with the customer.

• 78% of customers say a single negative interaction with a sales advisor can cause them to abandon a purchase.

• 96% of buyers say that a seller focusing on the value they can deliver influences their purchase decision. Yet 64% say sellers aren’t very effective at communicating value.

• 73% actively avoid suppliers that send irrelevant outreach, and just 19% of B2B buyers say meetings with salespeople are valuable.

AGL’s Emotionally Intelligent Selling & Clienteling workshop is a tailored full day of training that supports sales teams in taking the client from ‘so what?’ to ‘Where do I sign?’, covering:

• Building trust

• Creating meaningful buying experiences

• Influencing with authenticity

• Deepening relationships

• Inspiring clients to return and spend more

• Fostering loyalty and advocacy

If you feel an Emotionally Intelligent Selling & Clienteling workshop, tailored to your organisation, would benefit your team, get in touch for a chat.

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us at The Lanesborough for this taster masterclass!

*Sources: Forrester, RAIN Group, Gartner, CXG and McKinsey.

How do you help your people maximise last minute public speaking or presenting opportunities?

The answer, for several leading organisations is the discreet AGL Alongside service.

A flexible bank of hours provides 1:1 coaching support whenever required, for whoever within your team needs it.

Some moments are simply too important to leave to chance: a major presentation, a high-stakes keynote speech, an important announcement or a critical pitch.

When the stakes are high, even the most experienced people benefit from someone trusted in their corner.

AGL Alongside gives you the expert support that different people in your team may need, at short notice. The coaching is tailored to both the moment and the individual, and is delivered by coaches that develop a deep understand of your organisation’s context.

To explore how a flexible bank of hours (available in blocks of 10, 25, 50 or 100 hours) could help your people maximise high-stakes, last-minute opportunities, please do get in touch.

Have you watched this yet? If not, add it to your Netflix watchlist.

As the great AI safety debate rages, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist offers a timely look at what could lie ahead for us all, creatively presented in layman’s terms.

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher is determined to understand whether this is a good time to bring a child into the world, or whether we are all doomed, as he and his partner prepare for the birth of their first child.

He sets out to understand AI and what it means for the world, interviewing a wide range of voices: those analysing AI risk and urging caution, as well as the industry leaders pushing the tech forward at speed (Dario and Daniela Amodei of Anthropic, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind).

Some are optimists. Others are convinced we are heading towards an apocalypse. Some are enthusiastic and deeply concerned in equal measure. Daniel eventually concludes that he is an “apocaloptimist”.

But one message shines through: although the risks are real, we still have agency in shaping what happens next. Professor Ramesh Srinivasan of UCLA sums it up neatly towards the end of the film:

“Life is about the capacity to act, the capacity to relate, the capacity to feel. We need to double down on the capacities that we have as humans that robotic systems will never have.”

“All the preparation with AGL clearly paid off. The team were even more confident, polished and fabulous on the night.” Jane Caujolle, co-CEO of Townhouse. Now that’s feedback we love to hear!

Some of the most powerful communication work isn't about teaching people what to say. It's about helping them find the confidence, clarity and conviction to tell a story they already deeply believe in so that they really connect with their audience in a human way.

We were delighted to partner with Townhouse team on a bespoke "Communicating the Townhouse Story" workshop, designed to support preparations for their special Showcase event and strengthen the team's confidence in bringing the Townhouse proposition to life.

From the outset, Townhouse was clear about its ambition: to ensure every team member could represent the brand with confidence, professionalism and authenticity, while building stronger relationships with clients, prospects and partners.

The results were terrific. All participants rated the session as either Excellent or Highly Effective.

Thank you to the entire Townhouse team for your openness, enthusiasm and commitment throughout the process. It has been a pleasure supporting a business so dedicated to excellence, hospitality and client experience.

At AGL, we believe the strongest stories are the ones people can tell with genuine belief. We're proud to have played a small part in helping the Townhouse team do exactly that.

This brilliant video by Rob Mayhew made us laugh (video link here).

It perfectly illustrates the AI loop of doom that so many people are experiencing. Someone receives a communication that is AI generated, they use AI to craft their response.  That response is fed into AI and on it goes…become less and less human every time.

For those actively wanting to sound ‘agentic’, please see a handy recipe for producing AI communication below.

For those wanting to sound authentic and real when communicating – please get it touch.

RECIPE FOR AI SLOP

Serves: No one

Prep time: 4-10 seconds

Ingredients:

Subscription to your favourite LLM
Hastily written, ill-thought-out prompt
Dollop of corporate jargon
Handful of em dashes
Several ‘its not this, it’s that..’ phrases
A few words humans never use ( eg: ‘delve’ and ‘unlock’)
A superfluous rocket emoji 🚀

Method:

Toss vague prompt into the AI
Let it simmer for a few seconds
Do not taste, edit or fact-check
Serve immediately to your entire mailing list

Serve: as a speech, linked in post, email or report

Chef’s Tip: For maximum effect, add: “Make it sound more human” to the prompt