What better way for the new online home of Orangebox Training Solutions to start than by launching a new CEO column too – Steering the Ship.
This is our third website. If I think back to when the first was launched it reminds me of when I launched the company in 2016.
I used to take great enjoyment and satisfaction back then from meeting potential new clients, having the opportunities to describe our offer.
To this day we still try to be unique and offer training solutions that cater exactly for what our clients are looking for. Today, before writing this column, I looked at my diary, full of back-to-back meetings, and I was trying to work out if I could squeeze in a lunch break.
Our business development manager, Claire Stamper, asked me if I’d go along with her to a meeting she had arranged with directors and heads of department at Quorn in Stokesley. I’m so glad I went.
I hadn’t realised just how much excitement and buzz I still get from these kinds of meetings until then. The whole experience took me back to the early days in 2016 when one of my hats was head of sales and business development.
The meeting was very productive. We identified several areas where Orangebox can help Quorn develop their leaders and enhance their health and safety training. We talked about how our clients come first and how we like to create long lasting partnerships, like we have with Engie and Equans.
Most importantly, we described how we like to deliver bespoke training where the clients receive exactly what they are looking for. We talked about the full commercial offer, which includes how we can develop leaders and managers for businesses and organisations, and how we take great pride in delivering first aid, fire safety and health and safety training that has an impact too. These courses are definitely not just about ticking a box.
Then there are other courses too, where we can access our government funding for qualifications like lean manufacturing, mental health first aid and environmental sustainability.
What I liked most about the morning at Quorn was explaining how we can save a client money, while making sure they receive the required training that genuinely adds value. Orangebox has always been reluctant to have a business development and sales element to the business. That’s because we have found before that this can be too aggressive when it comes down to sales.
Our success has been achieved organically; our clients always come back to us and spread the word. But we are now looking to develop and grow our business development function so we can add even greater value to more clients and organisations in the UK and overseas. Our new website is going to be a vehicle to highlight our ongoing vision, growth and success – as well as my very own column!
Before I sign off on my very first one, I also want to reveal how the excitement and positivity from the meeting described above allowed me to get over my weekend misery!
There will be people reading this who say that football coaching must be all about the kids, the young footballers coming through. Well, maybe that’s true, but I was still fuming that the FC Hartlepool Under-13s team I coach could only draw with the bottom of the table side at the weekend – it put a right dent in our title challenge. Sorry about me!
I invite you to browse our new website to explore our full range of training solutions and see how Orangebox can help your organisation thrive.
