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SMART Way Forward

Name: SMART Way Forward
Address: Hitchin, GB
Telephone: +441952443596

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SMART Way Forward

SMART Way Forward; Specialist consultancy in leadership, management, sales, customer service training Visit www.smartwayforward.co.uk to find out more!

SMART Way Forward is a specialist sales, management and training consultancy working predominantly within the sport, leisure, health and fitness industry. We offer companies a unique proposition of commercially focused services, including bespoke sales training, customer service training, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), management training, coaching and mentoring workshops, skills devel

opment, strategic consultation and sales support. People are the most important asset within any company. Making sure you have the right people, with the right skills, in the right positions, sharing the same vision, is an essential part of business success. At SMART Way Forward, we can train and develop your people so they have the skills and knowledge to deal with challenging situations in a calm, controlled, professional manner. Being reactive is sometimes much easier than being proactive, so having the skills to understand both are vital if you want to make the most of every opportunity. We work with private and public sector organisations, including sports clubs, leisure centres, universities, trade associations, local authorities, sports National Governing Bodies (NGBs), County Sports Partnerships (CSPs), sports equipment manufacturers, product suppliers and sports event organisers.

02/09/2026

How is it September already? For me, August came & went so quickly due to travel, meetings & training delivery around the UK, I feel like I blinked & missed it!

One highlight was delivering bespoke field sales training with one of our clients based in the Midlands (NDA). They recently recruited a new Field Sales Executive to cover the West Midlands & Wales. After sifting through many CVs & interviewing various candidates, they offered the role to a really nice guy, who had ample sales experience, interviewed well, but was not familiar with their sector. However, he did possess a positive attitude & wanted to make the role a success.

After completing his induction training, I was asked to deliver a full day of 1:2:1 bespoke field sales training, off site in Birmingham, to help refresh his sales skills. I designed & delivered the following:

• Telephone appointment making
• Territory planning & management
• Business conversation & identifying needs
• Objection handling & negotiation skills
• Closing techniques
• New business development

We had a great day & the training was really well received. I made sure it complimented his current skills, but also introduced him to a different mindset & approach, learning new techniques & methods that he had not come across before. Feedback from the training was excellent but I knew the real proof would be from how he puts theory into practice, as this will be reflected in his performance.

Following up with their Director a few weeks post training, I was delighted to hear how their new rep had made a positive impact. He had qualified lots of potential new business leads, secured meetings with the right decision makers & had already brought in a couple of large orders. Wow, what a fantastic start! I was genuinely pleased for them, as it showed that their investment into role specific staff training & skills development was definitely worth it, especially as it had already paid for itself numerous times over.

People often say that "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". In my experience, that is usually a conscious mental block or a deliberate resistance to change to keep working in a comfort zone. If people are willing to learn, you position & align training in the right way, build rapport & have fun, amazing things will happen. When people feel valued & supported, they can often surprise you & exceed all expectations.

SMART Way Forward specialises in leadership & management training, customer service training, sales training, staff training, skills development, mentoring & performance consultancy. If any of these areas could benefit you, your team & your business, then please get in touch. Visit www.smartwayforward.co.uk, call us or drop an email to [email protected]. It'll be great to hear from you & we can discuss what you need & how we can help you. Many thanks

Nadeem

03/08/2026

Always a pleasure catching up with our very good friends at Dynamik Sports Flooring, who are one of the official partners of Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Sport this year.

Dynamik Sport supplied the sports flooring at many of the events at this year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, including the athletics track at Scotstoun stadium, the 3x3 basketball & wheelchair basketball, gymnastics, judo, netball, weightlifting, bowls & para bowls. All the venues looked absolutely fantastic, so a huge well done to everyone involved.

Delighted that my wife & I could join Fay & Ellie from Dynamik Sport at the athletics on Saturday night whilst we were up in Scotland celebrating our wedding anniversary. Thank you so very much to MD Craig & to everyone at team Dynamik Sport, we had a wonderful evening. Looking forward to working with & supporting you again later in the year.

Nadeem

10/07/2026

The last few weeks have been hot hot hot with beautiful blue skies & glorious sunshine. Everyone always seems to be much happier when the sun is out & we've been super busy with exciting meetings & delivering more fun & engaging training around the UK.

It's been great catching up with lots of businesses, good friends & clients (past & present) including Pinsons Workwear, Sepro Group, Hippo Leisure & artificial grass & synthetic surfaces legend Bryn from BLC Sports Ltd.

There's also been lots of leadership training delivery, mentoring, follow ups & bespoke staff training & skills development with companies working in manufacturing, engineering, automation, fencing, facilities management, hotels & hospitality (NDAs). Key training areas have included

• Leadership & management strategies
• Effective communication skills
• Emotional intelligence training
• Understanding body language
• Building healthy working relationships
• Delivering excellent customer service
• Increasing membership
• Consultative sales training
• Conflict management
• Professional culture in the workplace

A big thank you to RNA Automation for such a lovely testimonial (see below). Incredibly kind & truly appreciated.

"RNA Automation took part in a day’s training course on emotional intelligence, which included a further three follow up sessions. I think there was some apprehension from certain areas of the team to take part in this course when initially asked, but the way this was delivered by Nadeem though, soon seemed to put these worries to rest. It was engaging, entertaining and got everyone involved from the offset. I can honestly say that as a business we have taken away more from this than even I thought we would and it has changed the way we think and created large improvements within the business. Nadeem is a very knowledgeable and great guy who will always help you out where he can, thank you again"

Also, must say CONGRATULATIONS to all of the team at Dynamik Sports Flooring for the partnership work & preparations they have completed ready for Commonwealth Games Scotland & Commonwealth Sport. The Games will begin in Glasgow on 23rd July.

On a slightly separate note, 'Thank you' for all my kind birthday wishes. Yes I'm another year older (possibly wiser, definitely greyer!) & celebrated in the beautiful Cotswolds with my wonderful wife & some of our friends. Lots of good laughs shared & more happy memories made. Thank you to De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel for such a fabulous time.

If bespoke is something that could help you & your company or business, then please do get in touch. Visit www.smartwayforward.co.uk, call us or email [email protected]. Alternatively, please send me a DM on LinkedIn & I'll be happy to help you as best I can. Thank you

Nadeem

01/06/2026

Wow, where did May go? Such a busy month, with glorious blue skies & beautiful sunshine to enjoy, it just flew by!

There were lots of exciting meetings with clients to discuss more bespoke staff training & skills development. I really enjoyed meeting up with so many lovely people at the Midlands Business Network at Wolverhampton Racecourse & Conference Centre too.

May was incredibly busy for training, as I delivered leadership programmes with a few different businesses (NDAs), plus lots of 1:2:1 & group mentoring sessions, online & in person, as well as some great walk & talk sessions around the beautiful grounds of Lilleshall National Sports & Conferencing Centre. There was also more tailored staff training delivered (with engaging tasks & plenty of laughs shared along the way!) with individual follow ups scheduled in post training to support people putting theory into practice. The following key training topics were covered;

• Effective communication skills
• Emotional intelligence
• Organising & managing your workload
• Presentation skills training
• Building strong working relationships
• Delivering excellent customer service & exceeding expectations
• Consultative sales training
• Negotiation & closing techniques
• Conflict management
• Leading by example

Training is always much more memorable & effective when you share good fun & laughter along the way. As I have said many times before, in my experience the most successful businesses & organisations don't just focus on KPIs & selling more products & services. They also recognise the importance of investing in the skills, knowledge & experience of their people. They know that by doing this, they are not only growing & developing their teams, but they are also ensuring a better customer experience for their clients, partners & suppliers. This in turn drives & increases overall efficiency, sales, performance & revenue.

When people feel valued, acknowledged, appreciated & respected, regardless of whether they are internal colleagues or external customers, it creates a supportive culture, with a 'can do' attitude that causes a ripple effect. This makes a huge positive difference across the whole of their business & leaves a reputation & legacy for everyone to be proud of.

Please feel free to reach out & get in touch if bespoke leadership & management training, staff training & skills development is something that would benefit you, your team & your business. Visit www.smartwayforward.co.uk, call or email us at [email protected]. We'll be delighted to help you as best we can. Thank you

Nadeem

19/04/2026

An absolute pleasure working with RNA Automation Birmingham last week. Great to meet friendly people from some of their different departments & catch up with our good friend Nick Parker too. I thoroughly enjoyed delivering a bespoke staff training session focused on emotional intelligence.

Lots of new skills & techniques shared with the team through engaging content, exercises & fun tasks, to help them gain a deeper understanding of themselves & their colleagues. Emotional intelligence feeds into every communication & interaction we have, whether that is at work, at home, with family or in our social circles. It is an essential skill that helps us manage our emotions, thoughts, words, actions & our behaviours.

Understanding how what we say, think & do, has a major impact & influence on how our day turns out, along with how we manage various relationships, is such an important skill. Emotional intelligence also helps us recognise the difference between intention & perception. Not everyone has the same head & heart as we do, so often we judge others by their perception & judge ourselves by our intentions.

Changing our communication, mindset & behaviour accordingly, impacts this in a huge way. It doesn't matter which industry sector you work in or the job title you hold, having a heightened understanding of self awareness, self management, social awareness & relationship management can be incredibly powerful. It can influence whether we achieve successful positive outcomes & build something special, or whether we create our own issues or unnecessary conflicts.

I am really looking forward to seeing how this team develops & performs over the coming weeks. Consistency is the key & I'm sure that once the team begins putting emotional intelligence theory into practice, they are going to flourish. Well done again everyone!

Nadeem

13/03/2026

Earlier this week I delivered a bespoke leadership training session focused on the importance of company culture & leading by example. (NDA)

Training was attended by staff from
various departments, along with team leaders, managers & their Managing Director. Really pleased to see this, as it showed how committed everyone was to learning & developing their skills, regardless of their role or title.

When delivering a session like this, it's important to ensure that everyone feels comfortable & relaxed so they can openly share their views without feelings vulnerable, compromised or have fear of backlash. No one should take anything personally & recognise that sharing constructive feedback is an opportunity to develop & improve. So, a lot of open honest discussion took place, but it also came with plenty of fun & laughs along the way!

A few key areas that cause internal frustration were identified as follows:

• Not being involved or kept informed of decisions made at senior level

• People not returning phone calls, acknowledging or replying back to emails

• People or departments not wanting to relinquish control & accept help from others

• Feeling dismissed, rushed or cut off by senior management who don't want to hear or know all the details

• Blunt emails. People are not saying 'Hi, Hello, Please or Thank you' especially when being asked to do something

• Focus is on KPIs rather than acknowledging effort or commitment

• Awareness of work/life balance. Managers sending emails out of work hours so staff feel obliged to acknowledge or reply back to them during personal/family time

The little things are often the big things that truly matter. None of the above are difficult to resolve but they do require a willingness to change behaviour, along with a level of self- awareness & emotional intelligence to help build stronger working relationships. People need to feel recognised, valued, respected & appreciated. They need to know that their contribution & commitment matters. Therefore, staff will only tolerate bad manners or poor behaviour up to a point. Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care, as no amount of pay rise, promotion or incentive will ever bring them back.

In the past, I've had to remind CEOs & MDs that holding a senior title doesn't make them exempt from communicating professionally. In fact, there's probably more pressure on them as they have an obligation to set the standards, tone & culture for everyone else to replicate. People watch senior leaders very closely & are either inspired by them or demotivated by them.

Following up post training, I'm delighted to hear how the company has made a huge proactive effort to address the highlighted areas. It will take time, but everyone seems to be implementing what they agreed to do & supporting one another. Small positive changes have already made a massive significant difference in a matter of days. Well done everyone, I am incredibly proud of you all!

Nadeem

11/02/2026

A great day at Farnborough International Exhibition Centre for Southern Manufacturing & Electronics Show recently. It's always nice to see what's new & learn about the exciting solutions & future innovations within this sector.

We were only there for the day meeting up with some of the companies where we've delivered leadership training, management training, customer service training or bespoke staff training & skills development programmes with over the last few years. Electronics is such a competitive industry, so due to NDAs unfortunately we cannot name specific companies - but you know who you are.

We shared some really good laughs with so many people throughout the day, especially with companies we'd met with before or with businesses who approached us whilst we were walking around - it wasn't always about work! I love seeing good people being enthusiastic, proactive & engaging, as ultimately this is what drives excellent results. Really looking forward to working with & supporting more electronics manufacturing companies this year.

Finally, a big 'Thank you' to the amazing organising team at Farnborough & Southern Manufacturing. Everyone was really friendly, helpful & nothing was ever too much trouble. A very enjoyable fun day.

05/02/2026

Thoroughly enjoyed being at the Black Country Chamber Expo at Wolverhampton Racecourse & Conference Centre today. Another excellent event organised by our good friends Andrew Charlton & Gavin Belton-Rose from Hashtag Events.

Lovely to meet up with the amazing Sam Rathling again too. It has been a few years since Sam & I last caught up, so it was an ideal opportunity to catch up, share happy memories & have a few laughs! Equally, what an absolute pleasure to meet up with the Mayor of Wolverhampton Craig Collingswood too. Thank you for your kind words.

It was fantastic to meet up with so many people & businesses today. I love learning about their exciting products & services, along with the challenges they often face. In my experience, businesses of all shapes & sizes, from all different sectors, regularly have to navigate testing times. The most common problem areas often relate to financial strain, recruitment, workload, lack of knowledge or experience, leadership expectations, strategy management, timescales or deadlines, sales & revenue, customer service or company performance.

The stress & pressure can be high & often quite frustrating too, but the good news is help is always available, IF you have the courage to reach out & ask for it. The first step is always recognising that the problem exists & then making the decision to proactively do something about it. A lot of issues can be resolved or rectified very quickly through decisive action, clear communication, along with thorough planning, implementation, consistent support, staff training & skills development.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with me today, I'm looking forward to exciting times ahead. Let's keep making that positive difference!

Nadeem

23/01/2026

A brilliant British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) in Harrogate this year. I've been attending this event for almost 20 years & for me, it remains as one of the friendliest shows within the golf, landscaping & greenkeeping industry.

Harrogate is a lovely spa town & the convention centre is an ideal venue to meet up with many of the clients we know or work with at SMART Way Forward from this sector. It's always a pleasure catching up with clients & friends, sharing great laughs & enjoying the event. BTME also provides an excellent opportunity to learn about the new products, services & innovations that are being launched & speak to the businesses & people behind them.

The networking is superb & I want to say a big 'Thank You' to all the people who kindly took time out to explain their products & services, as well as share the internal challenges they often come up against. It's clear to see that the most successful businesses recognise the importance of investing in their people, with regular staff training & CPD being high on their agenda. Lots of engaging conversations around leadership & management, high performance, communication skills, emotional intelligence, consultative selling & the importance of delivering excellent customer service. Hence, we're really looking forward to working with more amazing people & companies this year, providing solutions through tailored staff training, mentoring support & skills development programmes.

Finally, a big 'Well done' to all of the organising team at BTME 2026 for delivering another fantastic show!

19/12/2025

As we finish up for 2025, we'd like to say Thank you & wish all our lovely family, friends, colleagues, partners, clients, customers & connections a very Merry Christmas & a Happy healthy & prosperous New Year. Have fun, stay safe & enjoy the festivities! We'll be back on the 5th January 2026. Best wishes always

🎅🏼🎄☃️🎁❄️

Address

Hitchin

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 5:30pm
Thursday	9am - 5:30pm
Friday	9am - 5:30pm
Saturday	9am - 1pm

Telephone

+441952443596

Website

http://www.smartwayforward.co.uk/

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