Appleton Greene – Learning Provider Testimonials
This page incorporates a selection of general quotations from Appleton Greene Learning Provider references that have been obtained from each industry sector and are provided for information purposes only. The personal names and contact details have been removed in accordance with our Learning Provider privacy and confidentiality policy. There are literally hundreds of testimonials now available, so please take time to peruse through these testimonials because it will enable you to develop a more complete understanding about the benefits of the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) program and about the Appleton Greene corporate training experience. You can also peruse through Client testimonials by scrolling down the side bar on the right-hand side, or by clicking “Read more”.
Accountancy
“I have always considered myself to be a trainer. It did not seem to matter what job I did, everyone always seemed to come to me for direction. I have been lucky in my career and have worked within some good companies and have obtained a lot of experience in a management and executive capacity and I had always considered a career move into consultancy. I had some interviews with the top consultancies and accountancy firms and did some research, but everything seemed to focus upon either managing projects or providing advice. Nothing seemed to click with me. Then I was introduced to Appleton Greene through a company colleague and it was like a light bulb moment for me. I initially looked into becoming a consultant with them, but it was clear that the Certified Learning Provider was more appropriate for me. I liked the idea of developing something tangible, something that would have my own personal footprint on it and everything just felt right for me. The training and support was extremely good and the process helped me to shape my own program. I also like the fact that you have an established client base before developing your program. This really motivates you to keep going and ensures that you are not just wasting time. I carried on working while studying so it afforded me a very smooth transition without unnecessary risk.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Accountancy industry. Appleton Greene
Advertising
“Coming from a consultancy background, I had 20 years experience of consulting before I approached Appleton Greene. I had 12 years experience working with Accenture and KPMG and another 8 years as an independent consultant. Although I was reasonably successful, I was still working extremely long hours and was always restricted in terms of income because I was charging for my time. I wanted to improve my work-life balance, earning more and working less, if at all possible. The Appleton Greene business model was difficult for me to adapt to at first, because I had probably picked up too many bad habits along the way and I had always provided project-driven services. The idea of charging clients for a product instead of time clearly resonated with me and the fact that we had clients signed up provided the motivation. I was really impressed by how patient everyone was with me at Appleton Greene, something that I never really experienced in corporate life and I gradually became a more patient person myself. I now believe that this is the true measure of a good trainer, because you have to learn to enable others, instead of doing things for them and you have to allow them to progress at their own pace. It has been a road well worth traveling for me and even though I am unquestionably earning much more than I used to, which was my objective initially, I am much more at peace concerning the quality of service that I now provide my clients with.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Advertising industry. Appleton Greene
Aerospace
“I had no prior experience as a trainer or as a consultant, but I had worked in an executive management capacity within a variety of different industries, but primarily within the aviation, aerospace and manufacturing industries. I was introduced to Appleton Greene by taking part in one of their corporate training programs that was being implemented by my employer. I was particularly impressed by how well prepared the learning providers were and the level of support they had from a variety of specialist consultants, who really brought things to life for us. Some time later I took some time off work to care for a close family member who was seriously ill and it gave me time to re-evaluate everything in my life. I contacted Appleton Greene and asked about becoming a learning provider, but was told that they only consider candidates once every year. I went back to work and then applied to Appleton Greene 6 months later. I was delighted to be accepted and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. I still work within the same industries where I have experience, but I am now able to use my knowledge to better effect. I am proud that I have been able to develop and establish my own program, something that I really believe in and something that delivers value and I love the interaction between clients, consultants and other learning providers.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Aerospace industry. Appleton Greene
Agriculture
“I originally applied to an Appleton Greene vacancy in Human Resources but I then learned about the opportunity to become an independent Certified Learning Provider and this really appealed to me because I have been a trainer all of my life in a variety of different industries and geographical locations. It seemed like a perfect fit for me and I was really excited by the thought of developing my own programs. I am developing my fifth program now and employ several consultants myself. I also outsource to other Appleton Greene consultants who specialize within the Agriculture industry. I like being in control of my own destiny and once you taste independence, you never want to go back. I would not have achieved this without Appleton Greene and I have to thank them for their constant support, their valuable advice and assistance and the enthusiasm with which they appear to do everything. It is such a positive environment to work within and this helps to make work enjoyable.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Agriculture industry. Appleton Greene
Automotive
“I had worked within the automotive industry in a management and consulting capacity and had never really had the time to be proactive about my career. It all just happened for me. Then I was unexpectedly made redundant during the recession and I had no idea what I was going to do next. Then I received an invitation from Appleton Greene to apply for a position as a Learning Provider. It occurred to me that I was indeed a people person and actually enjoyed mentoring and the thought of being independent, but still having something tangible to offer clients, really appealed to me. Having the support of Appleton Greene and not having to develop business for myself also helped to provide me with the confidence to have a go. I guess it was just the right time in my life to do this, because I thoroughly enjoyed the program development process. The quality of support and assistance was excellent and there is structure in everything that Appleton Greene does. It gave me the confidence to put everything into developing my own programs and my own practice and I don’t regret it for a moment.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Automotive industry. Appleton Greene
Aviation
“I had just completed my MBA and wanted to put it to good use. I had worked for several airlines in a number of different management positions within operations, human resources and customer services, but I never really felt that I was being recognized or appreciated for my achievements. I felt that I could achieve more if only I had the opportunity to do so. I had been involved with two different Appleton Greene corporate programs and asked one of their learning providers for advice. They suggested that I apply for a position as a learning provider myself, because I was intuitive and I enjoyed knowledge sharing. I applied several months later and was accepted. I carried on working part-time within an airline and did some consultancy work and worked as an Associate Learning Provider while studying, which was good experience and helped me to broaden my horizons. I am now fully qualified as a Certified Learning Provider and plan to expand my program portfolio. I feel for the first time in my life that I am achieving what I am capable of and it is very rewarding, both financially and personally.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Aviation industry. Appleton Greene
Banking & Financial Services
“I had undertaken an MBA and DBA through distance-learning, so I had no qualms about doing the same with Appleton Greene’s CLP. The potential benefits were obvious to me and the risk minimal, compared to what I had already invested in my personal career development. I was pleasantly surprised with CLP, indeed it was not really like a distance-learning program at all. The program and business model is very well thought out and the program was far more interactive than was the case with my MBA and DBA. I received support from a team of Professors and Mentors at Appleton Greene, and I would like to give a special mention to Jenny, my program administrator who was marvelous with me. I was also impressed by the level of interaction between learning providers, consultants and client contacts, which meant that I never felt as if I was studying alone. Appleton Greene proves that distance-learning can work if it is implemented properly. This is most definitely the future of corporate training within a global environment.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Banking and Financial Service industry. Appleton Greene
Biotechnology
“I have always been attracted to innovative products. I know that this means that you need to take a chance sometimes, but having worked within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, I am used to risk assessment. The risk with the Certified Learning Provider program was not really that great, particularly when you compare the cost to traditional academic programs or other professional programs and I liked the fact that you could study each part of the program and pay for it over a sustainable period of time. I also liked the fact that clients were engaged before I had to develop the program. This provided me with the required peace of mind and motivation to do the work and took pressure off during the development phase. I also scaled down my own client base and started working as an Associate with Appleton Greene while studying, which provided both income and insight into how things worked. When you consider how much it would cost financially to do this on your own, without any support or assistance, then the cost of the CLP program is insignificant by comparison. I was a banker in a previous life, so I always calculate and compare the return on investment with what I could achieve in interest. I would be lucky to receive 5% annual interest at a bank at the moment, my return on investment with Appleton Greene has consistently been over 1,000%, taking into consideration all of my fixed and variable costs. This investment has been well worthwhile.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Biotechnology industry. Appleton Greene
Call Center
“I have worked within marketing for over 30 years. If there is one thing that I have learned during that time, it is that the process of product development can make the process of bringing the product to market either impossible or easy, depending upon the research and development that goes into it. It is always easy to sell good products. It is incredibly difficult to sell a bad one. When I started consulting independently, I was floundering because, although I had good experience, knowledge and skills, I had no tangible product to offer clients and I became increasingly frustrated with trying to explain to clients what I was going to do for them. I spent a small fortune on developing and managing leads and developed and presented a lot of proposals to potential clients. I managed to keep afloat, but always seemed to spend more time developing business than doing it. When I received an invitation from Appleton Greene to develop a tangible product, in the form of a corporate training program of my own, I jumped at it. This was just what I had been looking for and getting clients to make a financial commitment in terms of paying deposits in advance of program development is a terrific business model, because it engages clients at an early stage and provides learning providers with the level of comfort they need. From a marketing perspective, I can understand why clients are so eager to get involved with the development of new Appleton Greene corporate training programs, because we all want to be part of something new and the competitive advantage that these programs provide clients with is considerable. If the programs are not good enough or are not completed, they get their money back, so no risk and clients are used to investing in human resources and corporate training. At least now my clients understand what I am selling them and for that matter so do I.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Call Center industry. Appleton Greene
Chemicals
“My initial interest in Appleton Greene was their client base, I wanted to work with much larger and more established companies. I had worked as an independent consultant for some time and had experienced working with a number of consultancies that focused upon small and medium sized businesses. This was good experience, but I became frustrated because most of the services that I was providing could be considered fire-fighting or crisis management. I wanted to provide services that were implemented over a more sustainable period of time, with clients who could afford that level of commitment and had the resources to benefit from what I did. The thought of productizing what I wanted to do, made perfect sense to me, because it would not only clarify my understanding of what I was going to do, but my potential clients’ understanding as well. I also have an engineering background so the thought of a detailed process and structure always appeals to me. Developing my own corporate training program at Appleton Greene has enabled me to take my consultancy career to the next level and I feel that I am providing clients with something that is much more sustainable and worthwhile.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Chemical industry. Appleton Greene
Construction
“Coming from the construction industry, the business development approach at Appleton Greene appealed to me, because I was used to the practice of taking deposits prior to and during the development process. There is always a significant investment required within the construction industry and while the return on investment is always rewarding, the level of risk is extremely high and most construction companies are highly geared as a result. By contrast, my consulting career at Appleton Greene has been entirely self-financing, which means that the risk is much lower, but the return on investment has still been considerable by comparison. What you invest most of all with CLP is your time, but you need to do that with any business venture. I still own a company within the construction industry, but my sons pretty much run it now and having a separate corporate training company provides me with a good financial and work-life balance. I see myself evolving into a professional trainer and mentor in the future and it feels good to be able to give something back to an industry where I have prospered.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Construction industry. Appleton Greene
Consultancy
“I would imagine that there are probably many consultants who eventually cross the bridge into corporate training. In reality, it is the only way to provide clients with something more tangible than advice and it is a natural step up for us to take. I have always enjoyed my consulting career and have worked for EY, BCG, KPMG and IBM in my time. I have also worked independently for a number of years as well. However, working as a Learning Provider at Appleton Greene has really opened my eyes and provided me with the opportunity to package my knowledge and experience into a product which is both unique and easy to understand. I am a cup half full kind of person, so I would never look back with any regrets, but I would certainly have been a lot better of financially, had I done this 20 years ago. I am however just grateful that I have taken the plunge now.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Consultancy industry.
Consumer Goods
“I had no prior consulting or training experience before becoming a Certified Learning Provider at Appleton Greene, but I understood the importance of having good products and a good brand. I had thought about consulting for some time, but never found the opportunity that gave me confidence to do it before Appleton Greene. The whole business model just made so much sense to me and I felt comfortable enough to invest both my time and money into this, while still working full time. I appreciated being able to progress at my own pace and the flexibility allowed me to stop and start when my work and personal commitments required me to do so. Everyone at Appleton Greene has been really supportive and the interaction with learning providers, consultants and clients from all over the world has really helped me to see things from a global perspective.”
< A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Consumer Goods industry. Appleton Greene
Defense
“I am a practical person by nature and always prefer academic and professional programs which incorporate practical features. This is why I have done so many professional qualifications, as opposed to academic ones, because they tend to be more realistic and beneficial. The Appleton Greene CLP program is probably the most practical of them all, because there are no formal examinations and your standard of work is evaluated and assessed based upon the quality of the corporate training program that you yourself develop. All of the feedback and assistance is both practical and instantly usable and this means that all of the time spent on this is well worthwhile. It also enables you to achieve the same quality standards when developing your own program.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Defense industry. Appleton Greene
Department Stores
“Continuous learning and self development is important for anyone in order to progress in life. I have always enjoyed learning new things and I have always allocated at least 10% of my time towards self improvement. This does become more difficult later on in life, when you have financial and family commitments and when you are working full time. It is therefore important to ensure that your programs are flexible enough for you to manage them around your other commitments. I have never been a fan of short-term intensive programs, because you tend to miss most of what goes on and quality suffers. The Appleton Greene CLP was ideal for me, because I only needed to allocate 3 or 4 hours per week and could increase or decrease this as and when I needed to. The quality of knowledge transfer was extremely high, due to the practical nature of the program and the qualified support that was always available. I completed the program much quicker that I thought that I would and this was probably due to the motivation of having clients waiting. It has been a very good personal experience for me.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Department Store industry. Appleton Greene
Digital/New Media
“The international flavor of Appleton Greene, their Learning Providers and their Consultants, is what attracted me. I have traveled a lot and have lived and worked in the USA, Europe, Africa and the Far East and so I tend to consider myself as international. I have learned the importance of a global attitude, as opposed to a provincial one. The majority of problems in the world appear to be caused by people who are insular, people who do not see their lives in a global context and people who do not evolve. I could not believe it when I looked at the consultants and clients all from a variety of different cultures, backgrounds and locations, all brought together by a common goal, which is based upon learning. Appleton Greene is truly an international company if ever there was one and is so culturally diverse it is refreshing. I wanted my corporate training program to be perceived as being international and this was the perfect place to develop and establish it. I now have clients located in 5 different continents and it doesn’t matter which one I happen to be in personally at any one time.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Digital New Media industry. Appleton Greene
Education
“I have worked within the Education industry for most of my life and have been a professor and lecturer at a number of universities and business schools. I have also had experience with some e-learning and distance-learning products, so I suppose I was well placed to consider Appleton Greene and it’s place within the market. Appleton Greene does not provide any academic programs and as such they do not really compete with traditional universities or business schools, they operate within the commercial professional program market. There are plenty of corporate training service providers around, but the majority of these tend to develop bespoke programs and operate internally within their clients’ organizations on a project-by-project basis. Appleton Greene is unique in that it develops standard programs where at all possible and these all still have strong unique propositions because they are developed around the core skills and experience of the individual learning providers who create them. It is a refreshing approach and one that is made all the better by the practical contributions of participating consultants, who each bring their own industry, service or geographical experience to the table. This makes the programs far more real and brings them to life for clients and keeps everything really fresh. “
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Education industry.
Electronics
“The benefit of CLP should really be obvious to anyone who takes the time to read the program information. It is cost-friendly, time-friendly, risk-friendly and the potential benefits and ROI are considerable. I had already made my decision to do this approximately a third of the way through reading the program information guide. The key for me was the fact that all of the training programs incorporate business process improvement benefits which clients can identify with easily and it is therefore easy for clients to appreciate the benefits. The same is true of the CLP program because the benefits are realized as you are working through the program, rather than having to wait until after you qualify. This is probably the easiest business decision that I have ever had to make.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Electronics industry. Appleton Greene
Energy
“I was working for ESSO in a management capacity when I was approached by Appleton Greene. I had never really considered consulting or training, but I was intrigued enough to complete the candidate assessment form. By the time that I had completed the candidate assessment form, I had completely changed and realigned all of my career objectives. It presented me with the unique opportunity to try something new, without risking what I already had. The financial risk was negligible and the potential gains were enormous, both financially and in terms of work-life balance. I was already earning the income forecast by Appleton Greene at ESSO, but I was working 12 hour days in order to achieve it. Appleton Greene enabled me to re-evaluate what my skills and experience were actually really worth and then to package them in such a way as commercial companies could recognize this as a tangible product. There is no magic involved here, all that Appleton Greene does is provide a process that productizes what we do. Simple but very effective.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Energy industry. Appleton Greene
Entertainment
“Consulting is a curious career. Many are attracted to it because of the potential for commercial and financial independence and then just end up being a cog in a top 5 consulting machine. I am talking from personal experience unfortunately. My transformation from a consultant into a Learning Provider at Appleton Greene was therefore a welcome opportunity. What enables us to achieve the financial independence that we are looking for is working for ourselves, instead of working for someone else and in order to achieve this objective, as with any business, we need to develop products that companies are willing to buy. The business model at Appleton Greene is a good one. Training programs are implemented over a sustainable period of time with clients, which means that there is less feast and famine and more consistency. I spend very little time developing new business because the client retention levels are extremely high. This all contributes towards having less stress in your life, which is good for everyone, my family, my friends and my work colleagues.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Entertainment industry. Appleton Greene
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
“In the FMCG industry, everything needs to happen fast. Product development, distribution, customer care, marketing, human resource management, technology and project management, it all needs to happen yesterday in order for them to remain competitive. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I could provide a service to this industry which actually had the effect of slowing things down for them, but that is precisely what I have done. The corporate training program that I developed at Appleton Greene focuses on business sustainability and provides my clients with a process which can be implemented across all departments, with the sole purpose of gradually improving their business processes over a sustainable period of time. I never realized that this would be a key corporate objective for the FMCG industry and I would not have realized it or developed it without the valuable assistance of Appleton Greene. All that clients are really looking for are clearly defined key performance indicators which enable them to measure the performance of what you are doing, easily and consistently. This ensures that your service never runs out of steam and provides your clients with the comfort that they are looking for. “
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry. Appleton Greene
Food & Beverage
“The first word that comes to mind with Appleton Greene is quality. They employ the services of turtles, not hares, if you excuse the analogy. Everything is developed carefully and slowly in order to ensure that quality is of the highest possible standard. Having worked as a Quality Management Assessor myself, I instantly warmed to this approach and to my pleasant surprise, so did my clients. I wanted to move away from providing a consultancy service that my clients were employing, merely because they had to for compliance reasons, to a service that they actually wanted and would be more engaged with. This is difficult to achieve in Quality Management, but we achieved this simply by repackaging what I was already doing into a product that was proactive, rather than reactive. I realized during this process, that clients do actually want to improve the quality standards of everything they do, but we all naturally rebel against anything that we perceive is being forced upon us. If we choose to do something, then we will always be more committed to it.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Food & Beverage industry. Appleton Greene
Franchise
“I am convinced that whoever created the business model for Appleton Greene, must have been thinking of the Franchise industry, because their corporate training programs are ideal for franchisors and franchisees. A franchisor wants to sell their brand and a successful tried and tested business model, but they do not want in any way to be involved in the management of a franchisee’s business. Therefore the more that they can outsource the better, including training. The problem with this approach of course is that quality management becomes more difficult, because they have to adopt a decentralized approach which can result in a loss of focus. This is why franchisors love Appleton Greene’s corporate training programs because they can outsource the training and the management and support responsibility. I have developed 2 standard programs and a number of bespoke programs now for this industry and have employed my own internal consultants to implement them. This leaves me with time for developing new programs, which I love to do, because it feeds my passion for creativity.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Franchise industry. Appleton Greene
Government
“Public service organizations are possibly more used to relying upon departmental processes, particularly in government, because while the elected personnel invariably change every 4-8 years, the civil service staff and the processes which they use provide a necessary stability. Government are always interested in services that focus upon process improvement and this is why Appleton Greene appealed to me personally. I had some experience with being on the client end of some Appleton Greene programs and their market positioning always made sense to me. As soon as I decided that it was time for me to be independent, they were the first company that I contacted. I had a clear idea of what I wanted to develop and I knew that Appleton Greene had the processes, resources and contacts that would enable me to develop it professionally.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Government industry. Appleton Greene
Healthcare
“Having worked within the healthcare industry for so long, it will come as no surprise to hear that I am a great believer in chance. It was certainly chance that I happened upon Appleton Greene. I had just finished implementing a complicated and labor-intensive human resource project within a hospital and decided to take a vacation. Before I left I had a meeting with a close colleague and intimated that I had probably had enough of implementing these types of projects and would love to do something more creative and less time consuming. Then, while I was on vacation, my colleague forwarded me a copy of an invitation that he had received from Appleton Greene regarding their CLP program. Under normal circumstances, I would probably have been too busy to read the information and would probably have let the opportunity pass me by, but the timing was right, I had an open mind and the pieces of the jigsaw just fell into place for me. Unfortunately there were no more places available and I had not received a direct invitation myself. I registered my interest with them and thought nothing more about it. About a year later, they contacted me, inviting me to apply and I did so the very same day. It has been a very natural progression for me since and is an opportunity that I am delighted to have taken.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Healthcare industry. Appleton Greene
Hotel
“The hospitality industry has always invested heavily in corporate training. It is a people industry where customer service is deemed mission critical. I was aware of Appleton Greene for probably 5 years or more, as a result of my employers implementing some of their programs, but I had no personal experience. When I asked a few colleagues about them they gave very complimentary feedback about the programs and the level of support provided and the word innovative kept cropping up. When I had an opportunity to take a closer look at one of their corporate programs, the thing that struck me most was just how specific and unique it was. I started thinking about what I could develop myself and ended up convincing myself that I could do this. I applied to Appleton Greene requesting information and was forwarded information about the CLP program. I thought that the candidate assessment form was an excellent way to pre-qualify candidates and I learned a lot from this process. I also realized that the purpose of this entry examination was to sort out the wheat from the chaff, so I put a lot of effort into this. Interestingly enough the more effort that I put in, the more I realized that this was just what I wanted to do for the rest of my career.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Hotel industry. Appleton Greene
Hypermarkets & Supermarkets
“I was introduced to Appleton Greene by a friend and colleague who was already a Certified Learning Provider. I found the program very well structured and a great deal of thought had been put into every aspect of it. The attention to detail was apparent throughout and this theme was also reflected in the way that support was provided. I had access to a team of professional mentors, rather than just one and although they worked within very structured guidelines, they each had individual perspectives, which made the program all the more enjoyable and rewarding. I loved the fact that specialist consultants were also involved and that clients took an active interest too. I remember when I was doing my MBA, the most exciting days, when I was the most switched on, were when we had guest speakers or workshop managers who had commercial experience and were invited to do a presentation or take part in some of our workshops. This was far more engaging and rewarding than the academic process. This theme is embraced wholeheartedly by Appleton Greene as you have access to a wide variety of specialist consultants, located all over the world, all with different service and industry experience and it is invaluable to be able to use these resources when facilitating the implementation of your programs with clients.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Hypermarket and Supermarket industry. Appleton Greene
Insurance
“If I was forced to pick one of the most important benefits of the Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider program, it would be reduced stress levels. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but coming from the insurance industry, where the constant pressure to perform is immense, I found the whole approach from Appleton Greene refreshingly stress-free. This must have been important to me, because it is the first thing that I think of. From the evaluation and selection process, through program planning, business development, program development and then ultimately program implementation, I always felt that I had plenty of time in which to do things and was working well within my capabilities rather then beyond them. I think this is testament not only to the way in which Appleton Greene does business, but in the way they train their clients.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Insurance industry. Appleton Greene
Internet
“I am not one of these people that is paranoid about doing business on the internet. I trust my judgement and a good business model is always easy to spot. Appleton Greene has a unique market position within the corporate training market and their success factors, as I see them are: their strong focus upon productizing the core skills and experience of individual learning providers; their ability to integrate key service, industry and location factors, by using an impressive international consultancy network and their innovative marketing approach, which enables learning providers to focus entirely upon the development of their product. The common denominator with all of these success factors of course is substance.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Internet industry. Appleton Greene
Logistics
“Appleton Greene was a very enlightening experience for me personally. In truth, I never really anticipated that I would personally be capable of developing corporate training programs to the standard that I have. I have never lacked confidence in any way, but I have always been realistic in terms of my abilities and opportunities. As with everything in my life, I really started my Appleton Greene career with no expectations, which I now probably look back upon as a strength. I registered for the Certified Learning Provider program because there had clearly been a lot of thought and effort put into it, the program objectives made sense to me and I believed that I would be able to progress at my own pace. It was also cost-effective and low-risk. I took things one day at a time and everything progressed at a pace that I was comfortable with. I still put a lot of time and effort into this because I am a firm believer in the old adage that you get out of life what you put into it. The nice thing about the Certified Learning Provider program is that you never feel that you are wasting your time. You can always see where it is taking you and what you are going to achieve.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Logistics industry. Appleton Greene
Manufacturing
“Manufacturing companies love training programs like this, because they are all process-driven and can be measured by clearly defined business process improvement KPIs. The clever thing is that the programs that are developed within each individual industry sector are developed by people with the relevant industry experience. They can also be implemented by commercial consultants who have specific industry experience as well. This enables clients to perceive Appleton Greene programs as industry-specific and industry benchmarks. It also makes the programs much more engaging for clients and their employees. It has been a well worthwhile experience for me personally and I would have no hesitation in recommending Appleton Greene programs to my clients.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Manufacturing industry. Appleton Greene
Media & Marketing
“I have always had a passion for innovation and I love creating new things. In today’s fast-moving world, I firmly believe that survival is achieved by those who are prepared to evolve, although this has probably always been true. If there is an opportunity for me to change something I embrace it. Given the fact that I had embarked upon a consulting career and had operated independently for two years, the opportunity to learn from the Appleton Greene CLP program was too good an opportunity for me to miss. I was intrigued by the idea of being able to develop my skills into a tangible product and increase my credibility and earning capacity as a result and I absolutely love new challenges like this. The program did not disappoint and I learned a phenomenal amount over a relatively short period of time. The experience has been one that has opened many doors for me personally, that would unquestionably not otherwise have been available and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to become a Certified Learning Provider.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Media & Marketing industry. Appleton Greene
Mining
“Some industries never seem to change from the inside, industries like oil and gas, mining and industrial manufacturing, can seem very set in their ways. But from the outside, these industries are facing very challenging times and are having to evolve and to some extent re-invent themselves in order to remain viable over a sustainable period of time. Corporate training has never been so important as it is now. Knowledge research and development is certainly a key corporate objective for these industries and companies within these industries are investing heavily in products that will help them to gain even the smallest competitive advantage. Appleton Greene programs are ideal for these industries because they all feature practical process integration, process re-engineering and process improvement. I feel that I am personally at the forefront of all of this by being a Certified Learning Provider who represents these industries and I am proud to do so. Global partnering is the new frontier and it is happening proactively over the internet at Appleton Greene.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Mining industry. Appleton Greene
Non-Profit & Charities
“I have specialized within non-profit organizations for many years, but not because I am an idealist. I have no problems with returning a healthy profit, all good companies need to, even non-profit organizations. The difference is that they are committed to re-investment. Without investment we achieve nothing and companies that are motivated by increasing shareholder profits are always subject to complacency. The same is true with individuals. I have always been committed to investing in my future and if I manage to do well with something, I will always re-invest the profits into future self-development. That is the way of progress in my humble opinion. I am always on the look out for new and exciting opportunities and the AGC CLP represented an opportunity that enabled me to diversify into corporate training and I now have a separate corporate training practice, which operates entirely independently of a consultancy that I also operate and a number of other product-related businesses. All of my business ventures operate on a non-profit or re-investment basis as do my clients and I simply take a salary from each company. I share the management and operations of these businesses with like-minded business partners. Appleton Greene itself does not claim non-profit status, but it certainly implements the same re-investment policies and is totally self-financing. This bodes well for the future, for both clients and for learning providers and consultants alike, because it is likely to be operating at the forefront of innovation for some time. Watch this space!”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Non-Profit & Charities industry. Appleton Greene
Oil & Gas
“As a practical person, the whole product or program development process at Appleton Greene really appealed to me. Having worked as a consultant for a variety of different companies I am well aware of the practice of telling people the time and charging them for it, so it was a welcome change to spend some time developing something tangible. I didn’t need to take time off work and fully intended studying to become a Certified Learning Provider while working full time. However, I had worked intensively on some heavy projects for three years and was a bit battle weary and I needed to re-charge my batteries and the excitement of what I was doing at Appleton Greene took over. After a month I resigned from work and dedicated all of my time to Appleton Greene. I did register as an Associate Learning Provider as well and was offered some projects, but I decided to turn them down in order to focus on my own program. I qualified as a Certified Learning Provider within 6 months and now have an established client base. I also feel refreshed because I had plenty of time off during this six month period, without the pressures of day-to-day work. I appreciate that not everyone is in a financial position to do things this way, but I would certainly recommend it if you can.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Oil & Gas industry. Appleton Greene
Pharmaceutical
“I have always been fascinated by how differently people consider the value of a return on investment. Using two extremes, the pharmaceutical industry, where I have worked for over 20 years, invests millions of dollars into new product research and development, as you would expect, but in anticipation that only one in a hundred of these products is likely to be successful. The successful product, then returns a profit, as well as covering the cost of the research and development for all of the other products. Of course as individuals and mere mortals, we do not have the resources to make such highly geared investments into our own futures. Yet it still amazes me that many of my colleagues, family and friends, do not expect to have to invest anything in their futures. They are happy to try anything as long as it is free of any cost requirement and free of any time requirement. I firmly believe that you get just what you pay for in life and as such if you are prepared to invest nothing, you will achieve nothing. The smart answer is somewhere in the middle of these two extremes and should be determined by risk analysis. I am risk-averse by nature, but I still accept that risk is necessary. It cost me $45k for my MBA and $55k for my DBA and approximately 7 years of my life. I do not regret this investment of both time and money for a minute and am a much more capable and valuable person as a result of these investments. However, by comparison, I invested $15k and one year into the Appleton Greene CLP program, which I accept is a professional qualification, not an academic qualification, but as a result I have established a viable corporate training practice returning an annual income circa $350kpa. This represents a healthy ROI by any standards. If this does not qualify as a low-risk personal career investment, then I am not sure what would qualify.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Pharmaceutical industry. Appleton Greene
Real Estate
“I have consulted independently for many years and while I had always considered myself to be reasonably successful, I still felt that I was spending more time developing new business than actually consulting. I think that it is fair to say that most independent consultants experience the feast famine way of life because the problem is that while you are consulting, you are not developing new business. I have tried numerous things to resolve this issue and have spent a lot of money outsourcing to companies who have developed leads on my behalf, not to mention the time that it takes to meet with potential new clients, put proposals together for them and keep communications going until a decision has been made. When I originally read the information relating to the Certified Learning Provider program at Appleton Greene, there were two things that struck a chord with me. Firstly, I recognized that the majority of what I was actually doing, was in fact training, but I had not formalized this into a tangible training product. Secondly, by developing a suite of standalone training programs, it would be much easier for my potential clients to understand what I was selling, without my having to explain it to them, over and over again. The result has been a revelation for me personally. I have reduced my new business development time down by 75% and the sales process has become much easier and I am now able to charge more and earn more for what I do. It has been an opportunity for me to realize my true value in the market place and to take my consulting career to a whole new level. This is the best personal investment that I have ever made!”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Real Estate industry. Appleton Greene
Restaurants
“I have always had a passion for training and mentoring. I have been fortunate enough to have a very rewarding career and have always thought about consulting as a way to give something back, as it were. As a Senior Executive I have been on the receiving end of many different types of consultancy and I did not want to do anything myself that was project-orientated, or where clients were outsourcing to me. I wanted to advise, mentor and teach. The problem of course is doing this in such a way as it is perceived as having value. Appleton Greene was perfect for me, because it enabled me to develop my own training programs and provided me with the opportunities, support and the resources to make it work.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Restaurant industry. Appleton Greene
Retail
“When I first looked into Appleton Greene, I thought it was another way to network professionally. I was so tired of networking on LinkedIn, Facebook and a long list of other professional and executive networks and had come to the conclusion that these were all a complete waste of time. The problem with social or professional networks is that you spend so much time on them, just to keep up with communications with people within your network, groups and circles and you really get very little or nothing in return. It always seems that you have to give far more than you can receive. Having become a Certified Learning Provider at Appleton Greene, I now realize that they are not really a network at all. They certainly don’t operate like a network. Sure they have clients, learning providers and consultants worldwide, but everything is managed through Appleton Greene directly, you do not have to waste time networking yourself. This means that everything is managed and controlled professionally and that all of your time is productive and well worthwhile. If I am spending any time with Appleton Greene clients, consultants, or other learning providers, I get paid for it.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Retail industry. Appleton Greene
Technology
“I have worked internally in an Executive Management capacity for 25 years and really wanted to make the transition into independent consultancy. I wanted to be in control of my own destiny and hopefully improve my quality of life and spend less time traveling and more time with my family. I had interviews with a number of different consultancies and support groups, but the Appleton Greene business model just appeared more structured and solid to me. I instantly understood what I would be developing, how I would develop business and how I would provide value to clients. I particularly liked the idea of developing tangible products, rather than selling time, advice, or opinions. The transition was therefore an easy one for me to make and I was able to work as an Associate Learning Provider while studying, which really helped to gain experience and reduce risk. There is nothing high-pressure about working with Appleton Greene. I feel that I can do everything at my own pace and quality is certainly valued over quantity here.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Technology industry. Appleton Greene
Telecommunications
“I initially worked as an Executive Consultant at Appleton Greene, but felt that I could be more proactive about obtaining the financial independence that I was looking for if I qualified as a Certified Learning Provider. The difference is that the training programs that I am working on now are my programs, they do not belong to someone else and my earning capacity has doubled as a result and the growth potential in the future is very exciting. I enjoy being in control of my own destiny and I get a great buzz from facilitating others. I am as busy as I want to be and can increase or downsize operations to coincide with my work-life balance needs. I had planned to retire after doing this for 10 years, but I don’t really need to. I could just reduce my workload whenever I need to and scale down operations gradually. I get so much out of this personally that I would hate to give it up completely.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Telecommunications industry. Appleton Greene
Transport
“Coming from the haulage industry, where companies are lucky to be paid within 90 days from the point of invoice, it is something of a novelty to be paid monthly in advance of service provision at Appleton Greene. My clients just accept this because the service is that important to them. The key is simply to make sure that the programs which you develop constitute critical success factors for your clients. Appleton Greene calls this synergy between your program objectives and your client’s key corporate objectives. Like any good product or service, it is just about making sure that it does what you say it will and is packaged and marketed correctly. Appleton Greene is so much more than a corporate brand, they provide the business processes, the resources and the support to ensure that if you are prepared to put the work in, then you will be rewarded handsomely, both financially and personally. For the first time in my career, I feel that my work is appreciated.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Transport industry. Appleton Greene
Travel & Tourism
“I had just graduated with my DBA when I started the Appleton Greene Learning Provider Program. I had good qualifications, but little in the way of experience, but I had a very good idea about the programs that I wanted to develop and I believed that they were unique and this helped in terms of getting me accepted onto the program. It proved to be a very good way for me to gain the experience that I was looking for and I was able to work with a portfolio of major clients instead of just working my way up the corporate ladder, one company at a time. I was also able to work at a much more senior level and it has provided me with plenty of quality content for my resume. The nice thing about Appleton Greene is that once your programs have been developed and established, it is always something that you can continue to do. If I want to do other things in the future I can do and I can still enjoy a professional association with Appleton Greene at the same time. I envisage that Appleton Greene will always be a significant part of my career in the future.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Travel & Tourism industry. Appleton Greene
Utilities
“I really love developing and creating things. I am a prolific writer and have had several books published. I have also developed a number of programs at Appleton Greene after qualifying as a Certified Learning Provider. I like that program innovation and unique program propositions are valued and rewarded and this provides me with a real sense of value and motivates me to write more. I am not personally involved in program implementation. This is outsourced to other consultants at Appleton Greene and I achieve commissions on all work undertaken in relation to the programs that I develop. It is a win win relationship and I am able to focus upon what I am good at and what I enjoy doing. I have the highest regard for Appleton Greene and would recommend them to any potential client, learning provider, or consultant. It has been a very rewarding experience for me.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Utilities industry.
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