Doing Business in China (ROI)
By Bronwyn Bowery-Ireland
CEO, ICA
Last year Robyn Logan and I headed to Greater China to explore the coach training market. We had received many stories prior to going to China about what it would be like, what to expect etc. As it transpired, many of these anecdotes were based on stereotypes and unsuccessful business outcomes.
Since our return from China and Hong Kong I have been involved in a separate research project that seeks to evaluate the Return on Investment (ROI) in the coaching process. One particular model identifies four areas in which to evaluate a coaching program: Reaction - Learning - Behavior - Results
I wondered what would happen if I applied the model of ROI to our China trip. When I used this measure I found that we had a highly successful trip with a very large ROI. Here are the questions I asked myself:
Reaction:
What is our reaction to the trip - our findings, how we felt, what we experienced, how well it went.
Learning:
What did we learn learn from the trip - facts, principles etc
Behavior:
What changes would we make as a direct result of the trip?
Results:
What were the quantitative results of the trip ie achievement of business goals. What were the qualitative results of the trip ie. increased creativity etc
Whilst in China we met some amazing people. We learnt a great deal about the generosity and warmth of the many coaches we met. We also learnt that no matter what country you are from, core coaching principles are the same everywhere. We intuitively knew this anyway because ICA is an international school with students from over 40 countries - but this trip confirmed it for us.
L-R: Mr Ping Bronwyn Bowery-Ireland, Robyn Logan, Mr Qing Hua, Vanessa Xing, Mr Dongsheng Li
The connections we made continue today and we are working towards establishing ICA in China and Hong Kong. So many people shared our vision of coaching in China and share our enthusiasm as we set the processes in place.
This photo was taken In Shenzen at a round-table discussion about coaching and coach training in China. It shows members of the coach training business Outosky with Vanessa Xing from the China Gateway Program with Bronwyn Bowery-Ireland and Robyn Logan from International Coach Academy.
This experience, so far, has been highly stimulating and enjoyable. We look forward to bringing you more news in future issues of our newsletter.
3. The New Marketing Landscape
By Robyn Logan,
Director of Strategy, ICA
DoubleClick is an online media agency that, amongst other things conducts primary research into marketing and advertising trends, mostly in the online world. They have been around since 1994, which is early days for the internet.
DoubleClick have just published a report detailing a decade in online advertising from 1994 – 2004. This is a fantastic report and one that I recommend to all coaches, consultants and trainers. In fact anyone trying to do business on the internet should read this report.
Read the full report
Visit double click: http://www.doubleclick.com
Here is an exert from the report:
“No medium since black-and-white television has penetrated 50% of U.S. households as quickly as the Internet: both did so in eight years, counting from the 1993 birth of the Mosaic graphical web browser to 2001, when the U.S. Census found half of homes were wired. That compares to nine years for radio, 10 for the VCR, 17 for personal computers, 39 for cable TV and 70 for the telephone.
Unlike those other media, however, the Internet is literally a hands-on experience, where consumers, with hands on mouses and keyboards, can read, research, watch, listen, write, send, meet, organize, post, program, purchase and much more, all through various simple devices across a vast network of millions of collaborators and destinations.
In the midst of this churning sea of information and activity, companies advertise……”
The Decade in Online Advertising, April 2005 www.doubleclick.com
Think about how this report impacts on your business;
what are you currently doing that is outdated or inneffective?
what could you be doing differently?
how will you get yourself up to speed on current marketing trends?