Learn how to convince and sell your ideas!

Do you have lots of ideas in your head, but no-one seems to take your suggestions on board? Communicating well and being listened to is a real talent, acquired through experience and training. Your job sometimes requires you to maintain a certain reserve, but you have a global view of the company that enables you to identify processes to be improved and new tools to be integrated. So have confidence in yourself, in your value. Élisabeth Duverney-Prêt, a specialist in the secretarial and assistant professions, presents the best practices for convincing and selling your ideas.

Assistants, you are at the heart of what your company does! By managing e-mails and telephone calls, researching and disseminating information, keeping track of the accounts or preparing seminars, you have, more than any other employee in your company, a global vision that enables you to analyse the way your company operates and suggest relevant improvements. Being an assistant today means understanding the strategic challenges facing your company, grasping the relationships between the various departments and taking part in the development of the corporate culture. So why not share your comments and suggestions with your N+1? You can take matters into your own hands and be proactive. Making suggestions is an exciting way to make your own job richer and more interesting.

Like her, don't hesitate to take the plunge and share your idea with your boss.

What subjects should you focus on?

Of course, there's no question of revolutionising the company, but every improvement is important. So which topics should you focus on? There's no doubt that you'll be more relevant if you propose improvements and changes relating to assignments that you work on regularly.

Examples

• The tools implemented within your company

As you use them more and more, you know exactly which features would improve them.

• The layout

You can also take action if you realise that storage, filing or layout are not optimised.

• Internal processes

Sometimes you are faced with complex and time-consuming procedures that block certain projects, when they could be considerably simplified.

• The timing of meetings, video projection equipment, the introduction of selective sorting, improving the quality of life and working conditions...

Your room for manoeuvre in terms of proposals is as wide as the range of subjects you deal with on a daily basis.

But you still need setting up your project so that it is received as favourably as possible by your contacts.

Preparing well

There's no room for improvisation when it comes to presenting your ideas.

Learning to argue effectively in your professional environment will be a formidable weapon in influencing the people and teams around you.

Visit adapting your arguments to the person you are talking toYou'll even have a better chance of winning your case.

Put forward arguments to show how your idea will help the company to perform better, how it will improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, etc.

Put a figure on the expected benefits and present them clearly and dynamically.

Don't forget to mention the necessary adaptations, the investment, the areas for improvement... because the person you're talking to is bound to look for them if you don't do it for them. You might as well make it easy for them and not try to hide anything.

In short, detail the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and disadvantages of your project.

Beforehand, you can even discuss it with your colleagues to improve your arguments. This could turn your idea into a group project and show that you know how to rally teams around an important issue. A good point!

And what about presentation?

Remember to structure your sales pitch around the "four parts of the brain" of the person you are talking to.

By following these simple tips, you have every chance of convincing people with ease.

On the big day, how do you sell your ideas?

Now that your sales pitch is ready, choose the right moment. You know from experience which days are the least busy for your boss. Maybe the weekend, when he's starting to look ahead to his weekend, or Wednesday when the planning meetings have already finished... but never between two meetings or on a busy day.

Once you've found the right moment, it's time for the presentation. Don't worry, you've prepared well. Remember that the first thirty seconds are the most important: that's when you'll have your interviewer's full attention and whether or not you'll succeed in capturing his or her interest.

Your objective must therefore be clear, and your destination unambiguous, both for you and for the listener.

Then unfold your sales pitch and prepare yourself for your interviewer's comments, concerns and motivations. The moment when you are faced with their objections is the key moment that will enable you to defend the merits of your new idea. So be attentive to every remark, and take the necessary distance to put forward your counter-arguments.

Before your meeting, try to put yourself in the other person's shoes and note down any criticisms they may have. If you are sufficiently familiar with the other person's position, you will be able to react effectively during the meeting, and you will demonstrate that you know your subject perfectly.

But be careful, being persuasive in no way implies being aggressive. ORSYS training Responding to customer objectionsbased on active listening, argumentation and persuasion, will help you become the master of the discussion, at all times.

In short, put down on paper all those ideas that have been running through your head for some time. See how you can put them into practice, how you can present them, and then get ready to defend them. The ability to make proposals is a highly sought-after soft skill in a company. It shows creativity, boldness and perseverance. No one will hold it against you!

A good manager knows that letting his or her staff actively contribute to the company's development can only be beneficial. So go for it!