2022 Communications Coaching Initiative
pelotonRPM is excited to be working with you on our Communications Coaching Initiative. Our goal is to help you and the Riverside team to engage more effectively with sellers, lenders, investors, intermediaries, and each other – virtually and in-person. Our highly-differentiated approach to skills-building combines extensive live, virtual instruction and coaching, application, and one-to-one feedback to deliver an impactful learning experience. This page will sketch out how our program will benefit you in the weeks ahead.
- Engaging, hands-on learning experience
- Content that is targeted at private equity professionals
- Honing virtual and in-person communication skills and messaging
We're Here to Help You Dial Up Your Communication Skills
It’s both a challenging and an exciting time to be in the private equity market. Sky high valuations have been driving big exits and LPs are making large commitments, but it’s not an easy time to acquire businesses that will hit your return thresholds. You need to cast a wide net to find and close on the best opportunities.
In order to grow your firm, expand the top of your funnel, and increase your close rates, you need to put your best foot forward during every single interaction – with LPs, business owners, operating executives, intermediaries, and financing sources. You may be on the buyside but, given the hyper-competitive nature of private equity, you are essentially in a sales role. You need to look your best and deliver great presentations. You need to qualify prospective targets, message the Riverside story and value proposition in a compelling and differentiated way, handle spoken and unspoken objections effectively, and push towards a close. You also need to adopt a sales mindset internally, be it garnering resources, positioning yourself for a partnership role, or advocating for your transactions with IC.
Our Communications Coaching Initiative is designed to help you reach your true potential and maximize your contributions to Riverside’s success and reputation in the marketplace. pelotonRPM will help you develop the critical skills, competence, and confidence you need to thrive.
We calibrate our one-to-one coaching to your specific needs to maximize impact. When it comes to coaching, there is no one-size fits all solution. Each of you comes to the table with different roles, strengths, weaknesses, and potential for growth. We have a well-defined coaching roadmap, but we allow you to drive the direction of the experience as well.
Overall Learning Objectives
- STRENGTHEN OMNI-CHANNEL COMMUNICATION SKILLS
- LEARN AND ADOPT PRESENTATION BEST-PRACTICES
- ENSURE ALIGNMENT ON THE RIVERSIDE VALUE PROPOSITION AND CONSISTENT MESSAGING ACROSS THE TEAM
- CATER YOUR MESSAGE AND DELIVERY TO YOUR AUDIENCE
- BECOME A MORE EFFECTIVE INTERNAL COMMUNICATOR
SENIOR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS
Here is how we have structured your coaching program. Think of this as a general roadmap, but we will be changing things up along the way depending on specific challenges you may be having or topics you would like to cover. Everyone benefits from a slightly different path. We will find the one that works best for you.
- Be comfortable and effective 'omni-channel' communicators
- Communicate the Riverside value proposition in a clear, concise, and compelling way
- Balance establishing a personal connection with professional engagement
- Ask probing and insightful questions without being prosecutorial
- Understand the psychological motivations and biases of your audience, building trust and credibility
01
SURVEY & SELF-EVALWe will be conducting a team survey to gain perspective on what the team does well and where things can be improved in terms of communication and presentation. We will also be asking you to complete a self-evaluation form to prepare for our first session.
02
90 minutesLAUNCHThis will be our longest session. We will spend time getting to know each other and will then turn our focus to discussing your goals, walking through your self-evaluation, and setting clear objectives for the program. We will also spend a few minutes scheduling your other sessions.
03
60 minutesVIDEO SKILLSThe Video Skills coaching session is designed to help you make the most of live video, look your best ‘between the corners’, stage your environment, configure your settings, etc. This is a very dynamic one-to-one session in which you can ask any question you like and learn things you probably don’t know about presenting effectively on live video.
04
30 minutesSIMULATION #1Simulations are an important part of the pelotonRPM approach. You will have a 30-minute one-to-one video meeting with one of our Simulation Specialists who will play the part of a business owner, banker, or LP (to be determined). You will outline the Riverside value proposition and handle some common objections. The simulation will be recorded and we’ll need you to do a self-evaluation afterwards.
05
60 minutesFEEDBACK / VIDEO PRESENCEWe will spend the hour discussing your simulation, your self-evaluation, and focusing on how we can work to develop your skills as an effective video presenter.
06
60 minutesTHE RIVERSIDE STORYThis session will be focused on helping you deliver concise and compelling Riverside messaging and handle common spoken and unspoken objections. We will also use this session as an opportunity to discuss presentation materials.
07
60 minutesSTRUCTURE & THE ART OF QUESTIONSThis session will focus on how best to prepare for and structure your meetings. We will also spend time discussing how to be most effective when asking questions and probing for information. Let’s discuss how to get to the information you need without being prosecutorial or putting the other person on the defensive (unless you intend to do so).
08
30 minutesSIMULATION #2Our second and final simulation will be more conversational in nature and will give you an opportunity to practice some of the techniques we have been developing during the program. Have some fun with it!
09
60 minutesFEEDBACKOur final coaching session will concentrate on feedback from your second simulation and will address any other topics you would like to discuss. If you would like, we can include others in the discussion.
10
20 minutesQUARTERLY CHECK-INIt’s important that learning be continuous as opposed to one-off events, so we also include three quarterly check-in sessions to discuss any topics you would like to focus on. Be it a technology issue you have struggled with, something that came up in a pitch, or anything else that’s on your mind, let’s discuss it.
OUR TEAM IS ALWAYS HERE TO HELP YOU TAKE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
In addition to guiding you through the Communication Skills program, we’re always here to answer your questions, give you important updates on the technology, and help you set up your environment. Never hesitate to drop us a line or give us a call if we can be helpful in any way.
WE'RE YOUR TEAM
WE'RE EXCITED TO WORK WITH YOU!
Always remember, it's about what we say AND how we say it...
LET'S LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
