Your 1st Step To Influencing

Hello and welcome...?to our weekly newsletter, where we share 3 things weekly to help you become a great FBP.

This week those 3 things are:

- Your 1st Step To Influencing

- 3 Interview Questions For an FBP

- Client Wins

And don't forget, theFBPteam is here to help you develop a highly engaged and commercially?strong?finance team that other functions want to work with.... book in a call to see if we can help at...

www.calendly.com/andrewjepson

Your 1st Step To Influencing

I have recently been looking over the advice that's out there for finance people trying to influence non finance.

And it all seems sound and logical.....provide facts and figures, be reliable, demonstrate your expertise, all stuff related to the work you are doing in finance.

But influencing isn't logical. Its psychological and physiological.

It doesn't start with those things.

There is a step before all of this that you need to nail first.

What's that 1st step? Relationships and Rapport

You can't influence anyone if they don't trust you

And one of the ways to build great relationships and rapport any time you want it is to ensure people "like" you.

This is one of the most important pieces of advice for any finance person we need to flex on - especially for the more junior finance staff.

Most finance people want to be tough, right and command a level of respect.?

Which is all admirable. But its not influential. And the junior staff can't do it straight off.

They don't have a position of authority or a history to lean on. So they need something else that can be quick and easy to apply. Being liked.

It's also the most misinterpreted pieces of advice. Liked doesn't mean saying yes to everything and being a pushover. You can be liked and be assertive. You can be liked and say no.

What you can't do is be disliked. People don't do things for being they don't like, they don't answer your questions or they make it hard.

Let me give you an example.

I have 2 neighbours. One is Michael. I really like him, we have similar interests, we enjoy a beer and a bbq and if he needs a carrot or some bread and comes over to my house to ask me for it.....what do I do.....sure no problem here you go. He has asked me for tax and finance advice and I just give it to him.

The guy on the other side is Bill. A real piece of work. I don't like him. He is always combative and causing trouble about nothing. My dog only barks at him. We never have a beer or bbq together.

And if he comes over and asks for a carrot or some bread do you think I give it to him.

Do you think I would give him any advice on financial stuff.

No way. No thanks Bill but the grocery store down the road has plenty and the accountant is there too.

That's what having people like you brings. They will bring you into things, they will answer your questions and they will happily handover the information you need.

The real question is how do you get people to like you? That's for another newsletter

3 Interview Questions For An FBP

This is one of the most common questions I get asked: What?do you look for when interviewing an FBP?

And likewise from the other side: What answers do I need to be prepared to give in an interview for an FBP role.

So here are my top 3 I ask when I am asked to help on a hire.

1. Tell me a bit about yourself

For this one, yes I am trying to get a read on whether I would be able to work with the person, interests, cultural fit etc.

But what I am really looking for is whether they talk about their career timeline....

....Or whether they actually "tell me a bit about yourself"

If its all work work work then I know its going to be hard to put them in front of non finance. And they are likely unable to build strong relationships from day 1 if that's there go to.

2. Talk me through an achievement you had with non finance

Here I am looking for two things.

Firstly, something they have worked on that is commercial with non finance colleagues.

How did they explain it as a business issue and what was their involvement.?

Are they saying "I" did this, or "we" did this. If it's "we" what was your involvement.

And quantify it for me. What was the impact?

Millions of dollars is going to be more impressive than saving 1 hour a month on process improvement.

3. Give me an example of how you convinced someone of your opinion

For this I am looking for their approach to influencing people.

Do they use facts and logic or do they layer in emotional appeal and persuasive techniques

Most finance people talk about building the facts and figures through a business case and the impact of the dollars

Which is great

Most people make decisions emotionally and off the preparation and positioning of the argument.

How did you leverage those little nuances and why did it work with this person but with another person it may have been different.

Three questions and ten minutes into the interview I will generally have a pretty good read on whether this person is ready to become a Finance Business Partner.

The question for you is if you are on the other side could you answer them?

Upcoming FBP Programs & Clients?

FBP Accelerator: Expert - starts Wednesday?16th October

ONLY 3 PLACES REMAIN?for our FBP Expert program coming up in October

8 weeks - 2 hours per week. Working directly with myself and a peer group.

If you think you have a decent grip on FBP but want to really propel yourself to the mastery level then this program is for you.

There is way too much good stuff in this one to go through here so if it is of interest?just click on the link below

But do hurry we only have 3 places remaining and once filled that's it til next year

FBP Bootcamp - Wednesday 25th September

If a full blown course over 8 weeks is too much then perhaps our Bootcamp is more your thing.

This month we will take you through the 5 things great FBPs are doing well to be great FBPs.

Get these 5 things right and you will be on your way to being better.

Get them wrong....and you won't

To sign up just click on the link below

Recent Client?Wins?

One of Australia's BIG Airlines?

This one is?early morning bakery fresh with confirmation this morning of doing our FBP Essentials program with one of Australia's biggest airlines.

There is really only two so either way its a pretty good win.

We will be working with the team face to face up until xmas with one group of finance pros.

And then if all goes well 2025 will be a deeper dive with that group and rollout to the rest of the team.

I am really excited about this one as it is our first airline we have worked with. So some more great experience in a very unique sector.?

Global Out of Home?Advertising Giant

This month we will be leading the offsite finance conference of one of the worlds leading out of home advertising companies. Think Billboards, yes someone owns and rents those assets.

Offsite and strategy days for finance teams was something we cut our teeth on in our early days pre covid.

So its great to be back doing these large format get togethers again.

This one is focused on storytelling and relationship building. And also the facilitation of an "air your frustrations" session which is always highly productive. If facilitated properly.?

If FBP development is high on your agenda for the remainder of 2024 please contact us immediately.

We are almost fully booked for 2024.....which means its 2025 before you move the needle on this

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?? We don’t help finance teams report performance, we help them improve performance

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Because once the robots arrive, the only thing left will be business partnering

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