Episode 1: Beyond the Bandage - Training, Trust and Business Growth

Welcome to the very first episode of Beyond the Bandage, the ABC First Aid podcast.

In this launch episode, hosts Jeff Irvine and Dee sit down with Susan Devlin, CEO of ABC First Aid, and Andy Parker from Understand Your Group to explore the future of first aid training, compliance, leadership and business growth.

Susan shares her journey into the training industry, why high-quality first aid education is critical, and how the sector has evolved over the years. She also gives a behind-the-scenes look at how ABC First Aid supports its training partners and why professional development, compliance and people remain central to success.

Andy then joins the conversation to unpack the marketing and business growth side of the industry, discussing AI, brand trust, digital marketing strategies and why returning to the fundamentals may be the most powerful strategy for businesses heading into 2026 and beyond.

This podcast series has been designed for industry, by industry, giving training providers, partners and business leaders access to practical insights, real experience and expert perspectives.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Susan Devlin’s journey into the training and safety industry
• Why quality first aid training matters more than ever
• How the first aid training landscape has changed
• The impact of blended learning and express training models
• How ABC First Aid supports partners behind the scenes
• Why professional development and currency are critical
• How training providers can improve client retention
• Marketing challenges facing small businesses today
• The role of AI in business and marketing
• Why brand trust and storytelling matter
• The leadership mindset required for business growth in 2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome everybody to the very first ABC First Aid podcast Beyond the Bandage. I'm Jeff Irvine, the head of training and operations here at ABC First Aid, and I'm so excited and privileged to be joined by my friend, my colleague, and my co-host Dee. Welcome. Hey! Dee's also part of the ABC team as one of our training and development gurus. This podcast series is shaping up to be an amazing series of events with really hand-picked, amazing industry experts, industry legends and gurus who are going to be joining us on the couch over the coming months to provide expertise on leadership and management, marketing and communication, and of course industry insights designed to assist our partners, our trainers, and the wider community, really providing access to their expertise, their experience and their knowledge. We've been providing training, development and accredited training at ABC First Date since 1997. That's right, almost three decades now. And over that time, we've learned professional development needs to evolve with our partners. We need to provide it in a dynamic format, something that's really going to assist support and allow them to access it where they want and where they want. So this industry, this podcast rather, has really been designed by industry for industry. It's for our partners, it's for support, and it's for them. Really can't wait for this series. But enough from me. Let's first have a look at our two presenters that we've got joining us on the couch today. First of all, industry legend Susan Devlin, CEO of ABC First Aid. With over 20 years of industry experience, Susan will be providing some great insight to what's happening in the industry, pulling back the curtains of ABC First Aid, and really giving us a glimpse to the inner workings, the inner support, and how we work with our partners. And of course, then we're joined, rather, by Andy Parker from Understand Your Group, literally a Brisbane-based firm designed to assist support businesses to grow and succeed. So excited, so can't wait, but let's get it started. Welcome to Beyond the Bandage.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Welcome! What a great lineup we have.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Can't wait.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Joining me now on the couch is Susan Devlin, the CEO of ABC First Aid. Susan has over 20 years experience in the vet sector looking after first aid compliance and health and safety. Welcome to the couch, Susan. Thanks for having me, Dee. Susan, you've worked in the vet sector for over two decades. What first drew you to the training sector and what has kept you passionate about it?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

I feel like I've I've told this story a few times already, but it's it is truly how this all began for me. Probably going back to the early uh teenage years, um I grew up in in Ireland. You can certainly hear the accent. I grew up in Ireland near what we would call a loch, which is like a really large lake, um, and essentially spent my my years um swimming um in the water there. Uh, and um loved loved that there was like a lifeboat club nearby, and I was always really interested in what they were doing, why they were doing it, super intrigued as a kid. Um, and I got to the age where I was able to get a bit involved, do my bronze medallion, thought I was the best swimmer in Ireland, probably was. Um sorry for any Irish people. So I guess for me as a kid, everything then, once I'd done my bronze medallion, everything had really started to knit together. The why had started to knit together for me. Um and look, as time went on, um I wanted to become a lifeguard essentially. So um I went through that period like most of us do. Uh I went, I was studying um and I had a part-time job as a casual lifeguard. Um, that that job as a casual lifeguard went then quickly to wanting to become a swimming instructor, um, then to um doing some fitness, which I don't do very much with now in terms of instructing, but um then I wanted to learn to become a first aid and a lifeguard instructor. So that was through the Royal Life Saving Society, UK. Um, and that that took a number of months, actually. It's um things have really changed since then. But to become a lifeguard instructor back then, it did there was a lot of work to do to become become that. So then from there, um I essentially started to deliver first aid training. And um, funnily enough, the the lifeboat club that I talked about um just a little bit earlier, they then started to come in and to do their bronze medallion or the lifeguard training, and I was the the trainer then. Yeah. So again, late teens, early 20s, that all that all happened. Um after doing that for for a few years, I then moved out here to Australia. Um and my first real job here in Australia was with the Royal Life Saving Society. I guess that's when everything just started to really unfold then because I got into I guess the seriousness of what what this was all about in term in terms of training people and you started to hear the stories with Royal Life Saving. You were part of, you know, you were part of the drowning reports that were released every year. You heard all of the stories from the families of things, you know, if there weren't um such great great stories. Um and I think hearing those stories, or you know, you might have remembered that the floods that was it the 2011 or the I think it was the 2011 floods, having to go back um a few years, but I think there was quite a lot of um uh I guess terrible things that happened then. And a lot of people at Royal Life Saving at the time and within that industry, we were all talking about that. Um, so I think for me, that really going back to your your question, that really gave me the the passion and the purpose to step up, step in um and be involved as much as I possibly could in terms of delivering that training to people because ultimately what we're trying to do is prevent injuries and save lives, right? So every I guess every single day that that's the passion. It it is it is deep within my core. Um, you know, I think our core values within our organization are really um uh revolved around around that. Um, and I think, you know, I'm I'm super proud to step up every day to know that we're making a difference. Um so yeah, that that's where that's where it's all began. That's a pretty pretty a shortened version of the story, but definitely a bit of a long story there too. Um but yeah, absolutely love um doing what I do every day.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Yeah, it's really important to play a part in that drowning prevention and where you've come to now, like it's still moving forwards, like years and years ago, obviously there wasn't that much in that drowning prevention space, but things have changed a lot now since then. Um so it's really good that you you started in that little journey and you've been able to progress into the uh first aid compliance and and keep that health and safety going as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

That's right, Dee. And and obviously meeting you along the way, you become part of that journey quite a few years ago too, and and obviously you're you have that background as well. We speak the same language, and um, you know, as as you know, it's really important to be part of that. So um, yeah, it's yeah, we're pretty um pretty lucky to to to be in the positions that we are to help people.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Definitely, definitely. Um, why is high quality training particularly important in the first aid and health compliance space? And what risks can arise if training quality drops?

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Great double question there, Dee. Thank you. Again, back to the I guess back to question one really. Um we're we're training people to help others, right? You know, we're trying we're training people to whether you know they're they're a bystander to an incident, um, you know, where they're having to treat someone or manage a scene, you know, um to prevent, let's say, an incident worsening, um, where injuries become worse, the scene becomes, you know, I guess even more unsafe than it than it was. Um and of course saving lives, right? So we're we're training people fundamentally when you think about it, like we're training people to to step up and and step in at a vital at a vital time. So why is quality important? Exactly that, exactly that. Um if if our if our students in the classroom are stepping out into the real world and they didn't get the opportunity to practice, um let's say they didn't get the opportunity to practice in a scenario-based environment where there's time taken to actually um, you know, I guess put scenarios in front of them to test the reactions, um, because that is ultimately how how it goes in the real world, right? We, you know, you're not going to be told what's going to happen next. It's just going to happen.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

So and likely um it's going to be one somebody that they know and love. So they want to do quality um training on them, you know, to actually help survive them.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's the thing as well. Like there's certainly stats around that that most people are likely to are more likely to have to save or treat a loved one than a stranger. So it's it's closer to home than than we think. Um so, in terms of um the risks associated, of course, again, if people are stepping out into the real world, they're not receiving or they haven't been given the opportunity for that quality training experience. Um, they're really not equipped with the skills and knowledge to be able to step up when need be. So um I will harp on about that in any conversation that I have in industry meetings with my team when we're talking product, when I'm talking with trainers, because it is so unbelievably important. And look, it doesn't need to be super serious in the sense that it's boring and and it's not exciting. I've been in so many different um scenario-based training um, you know, experiences or events or uh classrooms where there's it's actually been fun as well. Yeah. So there's that element that you can actually um you can introduce fun to that too. Um and and if it's not, you know, if I guess if people are not being barked at and they're feeling like it's a safe environment, they are there to learn, and there's a reason why we often come back to the why, then they're more likely that um I guess that muscle memory will kick in when they they step into the real world.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

So yeah, definitely I think creating that engaging training for that student to actually um remember what's going on in the classroom to actually act out in the community.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

100%, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Um, the vet sector has seen significant changes over the years. What are some of the major shifts you've seen in the first aid landscape?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah, wow. Um there's there's definitely one thing that comes straight to mind. Um and I think probably going back a few years on this one, um, so follow me on the journey here. Um I think for anyone listening that's been delivering training for for many years, or anyone listening that's um that's that's I guess sat in a first aid um classroom and they have been for several several years, they might recall that first aid was one full day or two full days. Right. So yeah. And if let's say we were just talking about one full day, um they would spend, let's say the course was from nine to five, they would spend from nine till three, three thirty-four, sitting um sitting, I guess, in the classroom and death by PowerPoint. Well, I've certainly used that, I've heard that um the terminology before, but essentially, yes. Like they're um listening to the stories that the trainer's reading off the PowerPoint, and they're having to do an extended like a super long um theory session, and they're having to listen to stories. And look, don't get me wrong, stories are great because it does help with the retention, but to an extent, right? Like to an extent and much fluff. Yeah, well, it has to connect as well, right? It has to connect with people in the room, it has to be relevant, yeah. Um, so like again, there's there's not uh a whole lot of point telling uh, you know, let's say a story around um how let's say a paramedic has treated uh it's good for context, but how a paramedic might have treated someone with advanced technologies and all of the tools and equipment that they've used to someone that's just there to do a two-hour CPR course because again, it's not really relevant and it's not real. Um so yeah, essentially long-winded classroom sessions and then spending maybe 30 minutes to an hour on practical training. I think there was there was certainly a shift, and there has been over uh um over the last few years, and if we all remember, it it really did happen when COVID kicked in because we couldn't have students in the classroom for an extended period of time. Um, we couldn't have students, let's say, two per mannequin or something like that. So what what a lot of organizations we all had to think quickly because we needed to still provide the vital skills and training for these for people.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

We still had the frontline workers on on the road, didn't we?

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Yeah, and it's also part of first aid, like the code of practice, people need to actually have first aid in the workplace. So ultimately we had to think quickly. Um, and a lot of training organizations um introduced express first aid or fast track first aid or however they they called it. Um but essentially it was it was it was like a blended, as you would know nowadays, it's blended first aid training. They would do a lot of the theory at their own home and they would come in and do a practical assessment session. At the time, that was major. That was a major um significant change in the training world because um there was a there was a test that it that the training was no longer valid and um it it would lose its relevance because they weren't sitting in front of an instructor for seven or eight hours doing theory and and whatnot. So don't get me wrong, there were certainly providers that were doing a blended approach before that, but I think the the lessened or the reduced practical time really kicked in and around that COVID um period of time. So, look, there was uproar. Um, us as an organization, ABC, we we did um introduce the um express first aid at that time, and our our training partners were really thankful because they had to continue to operate their business, right? Um, but also they had to continue to offer that service because their their clients, their students needed it for work, etc. Yeah. So that look, although we've gotten past that um to an extent, it still remains uh, I guess, an issue for some training providers because there is the belief that um it again still is not valid, that um having that one hour practical session or whatever it might be does really um impact the outcome the training outcome. So I think one thing um to take away from that though is express training is great if it's done properly and if it's for the right people. For example, uh express training for from our side of things, as in for first aid, uh sorry, ABC First Aid as a training organization, we offer that to people who have done training or first aid training before, or CPR before, yeah. Um, or people who who work in the industry as nurses, paramedics, etc. So because they do have the skills. Yeah, they they do have the skills, or they're at least to expect it to when they step into the classroom, it doesn't again, not ever not as doesn't apply to everyone, but it it doesn't, it shouldn't take as long to um to to complete the practical assessment. So in saying that, if it does, then the students should be given the opportunity to to complete it um and and take the time that they need to be competent. So again, we talked about this earlier, um D, an earlier conversation, confidence and um competent. Um they need to step out of the classroom and feel those things, of course, um, in order to be successful. So uh again, yeah, that that's a significant shift for me. Um, and probably most first aid providers and trainers across the country. It's been it's been mega. Um I'm not against it, I'm for it. Only if it's done properly by qualified instructors that are doing the right thing.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Yeah, I agree. I think that Express has definitely um been a positive change in our um industry with that blended learning um different to that standard delivery as well. Um, we're catering for those standard deliveries, or even the people that are just busy, right? Yeah, exactly. So time for people with the express delivery. So, yeah, I think um being a trainer myself, I think that express delivery does work really well for a lot of different students as well. Um, ABC has been supporting training providers since 1997. Can you share what happens behind the scenes to ensure partners receive strong support and quality resources?

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Absolutely. And 1997, right? That's um that's quite some time, um, which is very, very impressive. Yes, look, absolutely. From from the moment um uh let's say we we first speak to a potential new partner, um I think they're met with uh a great understanding of why we do what we do, um, who we are and and how we can support them. I think what is really important is we've got to understand that they're people. Um they're of course delivering a service uh to their students, but I think getting to know them as well as them getting to know us is one of the very first things that I think is extremely important to start that, I guess, professional relationship with them and to build what the future looks like in the partnership. Um so having that that opportunity to really connect with them, they'll essentially work through an onboarding um process with us. And that's all fate, that's all face-to-face over Zoom or face-to-face in person if if we're in the same place at the same time or the same state at least. Um and at that point, again, we really get to understand who they are. They can bring their team along, whether that's their trainers, their administration team, whoever that is, they're all welcome to the session. And I guess from there they they know that they can contact us at any time. We've got a really wonderful team in our operations team led by Jeff. Um, and Jeff works really closely with his team to make sure that we're constantly monitoring and tracking any support uh tickets or any phone calls that we receive from our partners. I guess through a modern framework approach that we have. Um, we're always looking at what the reasons are that our partners are contacting us. Um, are they ongoing challenges? Are they systemic issues that we need to that we need to deal with? Um but again at the same time, you know, no one's a stranger to pick up the phone and and give our partner a call so we can help them um through things. So that's anything from the system to I need help with um building a website, I need marketing assistance, how do I um set up another training location? Um, you know, I'm in let's say Perth, I would really like to expand into Victoria, whatever that looks like. And I think the beauty of ABC is that we really want to help support them to do that and expand because um, you know, we don't we're we don't deliver training directly as as we've spoken about um uh previously. So we're we're really um pushing them to grow and encouraging them to grow and set up in those different locations because that's that's success to us where we see our partners succeed. So from all, I guess, all angles, we're really um we're really backing them um to succeed and making sure that we're always just a phone call or a you know a support um ticket away, let's let's say from using our ticketing system. And our response times are really important too. So um we often have have a a giggle because um Jeff is maybe he just does that all the time, but he's constantly monitoring um the speed to response. Um I'm joking, Jeff, when you're listening. I know that you'd certainly do a whole lot more than that, but um, you're just making sure that I guess that the team are accountable, they're supportive and responsive. And then I guess we we certainly can't forget about our product team. Um that's Lisa, Lisa Bailey. Um she heads uh a team of uh five product developers, which is uh amazing. Um and through I guess the um ongoing continuous improvement and feedback, Lisa's always tweaking um course resources, looking at ways to improve our resources as well. Um, but spends a lot of time talking to our partners from a subject matter expert um uh side of things to you know involve them in the process, which they love. Um and they're using the products, right? So they're delivering the product. So they they and again their feedback doesn't go unnoticed.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Sh l l lit literally Lisa picks up the phone and calls them to talk it through um unusually quickly. Um, which is amazing. But also, I guess one one last thing to that point, and D, this is um part of your role, is you you take a proactive role in our organization where you set up quarterly check-ins with our partners, which I think is incredible, and um I love that you do that. Uh, and you reach out to them on a quarterly basis as a check-in. Um, and some of the questions that you ask them is what can we do better to support you? How can we improve what we do? Um, are there any other courses that you would love to deliver that you didn't A know that we have or that you don't know that we're open to developing for you? And that's how that connection between your role, Jeff and his team, and Lisa, that's how that connection remains really strong. And of course, you're always connected with sorry, with that team, constantly connected to the partners. So it's a pretty good operation. Um, we're we're very, very happy with um with the support services that we offer, and um, of course, the the partners love that too. So it it's it's excellent.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

It's a great journey that the new partners go on from start to finish, once they're on boarded and they uh are kind of essentially let loose to um train and deliver and grow their business in the direction that they want to take, and knowing that there's all that support there um from everyone and from all of our team is really, really um, really important for for them to actually be successful, right? We're setting them up for for success. That's what we want to do. So yeah, that's it's a good little team that we have, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 23:32

It's great. I love it. I absolutely love it. Love seeing it every day.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Um, lots of happy faces. I think when I have um done some check-ins and um knowing everyone has that different business journey is really important so that you can help create that little niche that they actually have as well. So instead of them, you know, going out too far and touching in too many pockets, keeping them on a track which actually helps them in the long run is really important as well. So yeah, that focus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Um, what do you think are the most important things training partners should focus on right now to maintain strong compliance to deliver great learning outcomes?

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Great one. Um currency. Currency. Absolutely. I think it's PD, PD, PD. Absolutely. And and we know um uh you know that we're we're constantly receiving um updates to to guideline changes, to new devices on the market. You know, I think it's incredibly important that trainers keep up to date with with that with that. Um whether that's you know, through ABC webinars, um reading newsletters, um attending conferences. Yeah, you know, I think as well uh a NIFAT membership, the guys there are incredible at um sending through updates when things change. They've been um they've been excellent when you know we've needed, we've needed people to step in and run webinars for us on on industry changes. So, you know, signing up to to those um those organizations, uh, of course, keeping keeping an eye on ARC guidelines, but just making sure that again when they when they step up and step in that that the information that they're delivering is as per the curriculum, but also as per the latest guidelines, the latest information. So, yes, um from a trainer's standpoint, I think most trainers know that that they need to do it. It's just getting the time like anything else to get it done. But even if it's just a little bit of reading from from time to time just to keep up to date, again, um the the the students in the classroom trust the trainer, right? Yeah, so they're expecting that the information they're delivering is accurate, up-to-date, compliant.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

We offer a lot of PD, um, but I guess knowing why those partners need to do PD and keep current is really important because, like you said, they need to be delivering the most up-to-date content to our to our students because they're the ones saving the the young children, the vulnerable childcare workers or the you know, disability support workers, you know, they're the ones that are actually going to be actioning those um guidelines that we teach. So um that PD is is really important. It's not just us drilling down on you guys need to do PD, PD, PD. There is actually a reason why you need to do that PD as well.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

I agree. There there always is a why, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:35

There always is a why. There always is a why. Um if you could give partners one key piece of advice to maintain strong client retention in 2026 and beyond, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 26:52

One one key piece of advice, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Yep. So client retention.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Yeah, look, I think I'll give one key piece of advice, but there's a couple of little layers to this. Yeah, go for it. But I think it's all about their people. Um it's all about the people um in the seat that represent their organization and making sure that they where they can, um, that they have the right people literally flying their flag for them. Um, again, their trainers, their administration staff, the yeah, the promotion of their brand, that their people are walking um and talking the same core values that that I guess the the they the partners set upon them. So and I think the knock-on effect to that is um ultimately to their to the clients, right? So because if people want to show up to work every day, they have the same fuel, purpose, passion. Um if in the context of students in the classroom, they see that. Yeah, students see if a trainer wants to be there. So if our partner, as let's say in this example, is the employer, um, they they of course want want their people to to be showing up and reflecting who they are as a as a brand, as an organization or as a business. Um, and again, I think from a retention standpoint, there's word of mouth marketing. You you've you've heard um Andy talk um about the the marketing side of things as well, Andy Parker, that um you know, building that trust is is extremely important. And one way of doing that is by ensuring that you're investing in good people to represent you and your brand. And and people come back, people look for um trust, people, people look for that that service. They and you know, us as human beings, we we look for comfort too, right? So if we know that we're going back to the same place or the same um organization or business and we're gonna get hopefully the same service as we did last time that we liked, then why would we go anywhere else? Yeah right. So yeah, I think I think the people in the seats um or in the classroom, of course, uh is definitely the the number one thing I think that's really, really important.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

I agree for for sure, because you want those students to be coming back because they've enjoyed their experience, they've learned, they've retained the information so that um the next year they're actually really confident in that classroom and every single time, then after, uh it's gonna be easier and better and and more comfortable. Like there are a lot of students that are scared to walk into that classroom, but just knowing that they've had that really great experience, they're gonna come back. Um, well, thank you very much for joining me on the couch today. Um, it's been a pleasure talking to you and really getting in on the why and who we really are.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

Thank you so much, Dee. You you did a great job as well. And um, yeah, thank you for your time. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

Wow, Dee, what an amazing segment. Thank you so much for uh bringing Susan to the couch.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

Yes, thank you. It was a great segment with her. Um now you have Andy Parker from Understand Your Group coming up.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

We're joined by Andy Parker from Understand Your Group. Understand Your Group is a firm, a Brisbane-based firm that was literally launched to help businesses with their strategy, their growth, and their development. And we're so lucky to have Andy on the couch today as he's going to uh explore a little bit more about digital marketing and how we can help our partners succeed in that space. Welcome, Andy. Thank you, Jeff. It's great to be here. Wonderful. So great to have you here. So, Andy, I really just wanted to start with um businesses across many sectors are facing rapid change at the moment. What are some of the biggest marketing challenges organizations are facing? And can you give some examples?

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Yeah, I think as far as uh rapid changing uh AI is obviously a massive topic uh within business and even just within life at the moment, uh, the way it's moving is huge. And the impacts on everyday activities is growing in intensity. And so um that would probably be at the absolute top of the pyramid if we were looking at what is affecting marketing for small businesses at the moment. It's AI, both as a really, really powerful lever that they can they can use, but also as something that's just um because it moves so fast, it's something that feels like it's just continuously out of reach. You're never quite up to date with it, which can be quite off-putting for a lot of small businesses who are just trying to run their business. And yet every time they open LinkedIn or they read the latest marketing newsletter, it's like, oh, AI can now do this. And it's like, I'm still trying to work out X, Y, and Z features from 12 months ago. And so um, you know, just in that AI discussion, there's so much happening. Probably some of the other aspects are marketing budgets. Um, you know, once upon a time, marketing was a little bit simpler in the idea that, you know, paid advertising was very um, very concentrated into some hard mediums, whereas now you've got a dozen different platforms all vying for your advertising dollars. Um, and then you've also got uh other more traditional forms like your um your print mediums, your events, uh sponsorships, partnerships, all that kind of stuff. So how do you break down your marketing budget? How much should you be spending? What channels should you be prioritizing? Um, they would be sort of the two key challenges I would say for small businesses at the moment when they look at the marketing landscape, applying it within their own business, uh, but also trying to think, you know, a couple of steps ahead as to how do I prepare for changes in that landscape because the reality is it is changing fast. Um, and it's part of our responsibility as people in business to stay on top of that and try and uh match that speed of change.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

Wonderful. And um, Andy, I couldn't agree more. Um, you faced or you focused on some challenges in that uh answer. Thank you. Uh, what would be some practical suggestions that you could make for small to business uh small to medium um businesses to implement immediately?

SPEAKER_02 33:13

Yeah, I think uh, and and some of these are probably gonna be pretty universal. You talk to anyone leading in the marketing space or the strategy space, they're gonna give you a very similar kind of response. But one of them is just start practicing with AI. Um, AI just at a base level. So say you open ChatGPT, and we can use just the chat function to start writing uh content a lot faster. Now, obviously, the more we understand how it works and how we optimize the system, the better we can make the output. But just at a base layer, the more we practice with it, the more we actually play with the platforms and the technology, the more we're gonna understand how it works, how can I leverage it. And then all of a sudden, you're starting to explore different tools and functions that might actually exist outside of that chat function. So that'd be one of them. Um practically from a budgeting standpoint, it would be really uh committing to the idea that every business's uh annual budget should have a line item dedicated to marketing spend. Now, there are benchmarks and there's aggregated data, and we've got um little modules that we've built that help businesses understand that. But at a base point, if you don't have a line item dedicated to marketing in your annual budget, you're never going to spend the money. And marketing is a pay-to-play sport. There are free initiatives, there are free activities that you can do. But the reality is that if you want to compete uh against your competition, you do need to start spending some money. And it does, again, it doesn't need to be heaps, but it does need to be something, and you need to be comfortable with spending that money. Um, and that's why having it as a line item is really important because you've committed that to the annual budget.

SPEAKER_03 35:02

Um, absolutely. No, I love that. Marketing is a pay-to-play sport, fantastic. That's one key takeaway I'm taking with me. Andy, look, how important would brand trust and reputation be, particularly in health and compliance training?

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Oh, that's that's good. So I think brand trust, uh, I mean, brand trust for any organization is imperative. Um, but how you build that trust is actually where um I think that's where the the differentiation between good players and great players exists. Um I think uh one of the reasons I love working with ABC Um in a growth um in a growth capacity is their commitment to delivering value and letting that value create stickiness. So uh one of the great features of being a partner with ABC is that ABC doesn't deliver training itself. And so um there is no competition from the RTO that you are a part of to that we're not vying for the same customer. We're here and our value is purely in supporting a first aid trainer or a safety trainer to deliver the safety the best they can to their market and capitalize as much as possible. That's the value that ABC provides. And the stickiness that that creates when the the customer understands that the only uh objective of their partnership is to make their business better, that's an that's how you build brand loyalty because it's it becomes a rising tide lifts or boats scenario where as ABC's service and support and all of the underpinning pieces uh grow stronger, so does the business that is um benefiting from those. So when you talk about building brand and and the strength of that brand, um, it really comes down to two parts. One is what are you telling the market? What are you pushing to the market and saying this is what we do? And then how are you backing that up? Um, in in our everyday lives, we just call that integrity. Do you do what you say you're gonna do? Uh but from a brand building perspective, that is like that is the two-step process to building brand and not just building a brand, but making it sticky. So when people come to the brand, they experience the brand, they want to keep experiencing it because it delivers so much value and to them it feels one-sided.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

Wow, fantastic. Couldn't agree more. And look, I think we've sort of explored the foundation of marketing. We've focused on the power of the brand. But taking it one step further, what role would you say that digital marketing and online presence really plays in a training organization's growth strategy? So focusing on the future.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

I again, I think the future is really uncertain because everything's changing so quickly. I think at the moment, um there's a lot of competition in the paid media space. So when we think paid media, I think uh Facebook ads, Google ads, um, I mean TikTok ads are going absolutely bonkers at the moment. Reddit's just opened up their advertising, ChatGPT has recently announced that they're going into the paid advertising. So there's a lot of paid advertising space, and so it becomes very congested. And just like any competitive landscape, the more competitors you have in that landscape, the more expensive it comes to be a big player. And so within the training space, particularly in health and safety and that that particular area, there's a lot of players. And so, again, the more players, the more expensive. And so, really, one of the big things that um training organizations need to be looking at moving forward is how do we creatively leverage uh lower competition channels to create. Um, so there's a great book called Blue Ocean Strategy. They talk about blue oceans and red oceans in strategy design. So, a blue ocean is a low competition or a zero competition space that you create. How do you find channels where you can create your own blue ocean and avoid the red oceans where everyone else is playing? That would be one of the key things I'd be encouraging training organizations to do. The other thing I'd be encouraging them to do is social media as a platform is the best broadcasting channel you can ask for. The key difference is is your story engaging enough? People, it's an attention business. Social media gets attention, but it promotes things that get more attention and hook attention. So is the story connectable? Uh, do people engage with the story? Do people understand it and do they want to follow the story? So it's less about, hey, let's pay to run ads and try and convert people. And it's more around how do we bring people people on a journey? How do we share the narrative of the business so people can engage with what we're doing? And then out of that, once, again, we're talking about brand now, we're back on that topic. But once you build that story and that narrative and people are loyal to it, then you can start to say, well, you've come this far. We actually do X, Y, and Z, and this is the value we deliver. And because you trust us and you're engaged with us in this part, why don't you give this a go as well? And so it's a bit of a long-term play, but I think there's still a really untapped environment as far as narrative-based social media marketing. And when I say marketing, I use it very loosely. It's more of the umbrella term, but narrative-based social media content from training organizations.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

Fascinating. And Blue Ocean Strategy, I have to put that on my reading list. Um you tapped into people. So now I would love to sort of take that to that next level. So for businesses wanting to grow, what mindset shifts do their leaders need to take or make?

SPEAKER_02 40:59

Yeah, I mean, and this is something that we're privileged to work with you guys quite deeply on is shifting from getting to-do lists done to thinking five, 10 steps ahead and understanding that the as we build team structures, we can put people in seats to do stuff. But it's the onus of leadership to actually understand where we're going and the roadmap to success so that everyone under underneath us that are doing things, when they're asked why are we doing it, there's a really clear, concise, and singular answer on this is why we're doing what we're doing. And it's going when we achieve what we're aiming for, it's going to deliver this value and these results for our team. So it's really, really simple in that sense. But as far as a mindset shift, it really needs to, it requires discipline. It requires accountability because it's it's really easy to just get stuck in doing stuff because it's easy and it's instant gratification and it feels nice to check things off a list. I think the mindset shift is changing the list from today's tasks to this week's or this month's or this quarter's tasks and letting other people have today's tasks.

SPEAKER_03 42:17

100% agree. And look, um, Andy, having worked with you and your team before and asking that exact question, what are your team doing and why? It can be confronting but definitely empowering. So thank you, and couldn't agree more with that. Now, this is my favorite question that I have for you today, because it requires you to get out your crystal ball. Okay. If you could give training providers one key piece of advice for their for growing their businesses in 2026, what would it be? Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Oh. Um if I was to give one piece of advice to training organizations that is purely focused on growth for 2026, I actually think it would be a return back to the fundamentals. It would be understanding why your partners and your delivery uh personnel are with you. So if we can understand that piece, I think my my piece of advice would be double down on that. Keep doubling down on that because um the future is really uncertain with technology, both in a in a great way and maybe in an anxiety-inducing way, depending on who you are and and what it looks like. But people are still going to be the core of businesses. Um, I was having a discussion this morning with someone that works very deep in the tech space, and they were talking about, you know, there's sort of like these two camps. One camp is just like all jobs are going to be replaced by AI eventually. And I sort of sit in this other camp, which is I I actually think that AI lacks a really human feature. Um, humans can develop trust, and trust is really, really important. I would say it's almost the most valuable um. Piece of economics within business is trust. And so understanding why are your partners and your people with you, what do they trust the most? And how do I double down on that and promote that as a new unique selling proposition or just a core value that we embody in every part of what we do? I think that would be the key. If I was to look really big picture, that would be what I'd be looking at as an organization. And partly because I don't know what's three months from now. I don't know what the AI companies are going to do. I know that the last three months has been crazy disruptive, but I know that in six months' time everyone's still going to have a team, everyone's still going to have customers, and those people are going to be still asking the question why am I still doing business with these people?

SPEAKER_03 44:50

Fantastic. Thank you so much, Andy. That sort of wraps up our segment today, and really appreciate you joining us on the couch. And um yeah, look forward to maybe having you along again soon. Look forward to it. Thanks. Wonderful, thank you so much. And that brings us to the end of today's first podcast, Beyond the Bandage. We are so excited about this series, which is really designed for our partners. It's designed to provide education, assistance, guidance, and insights into industry topics. If you're interested in tuning in for more, we would love for you to like and subscribe and join us for the next podcast. Again, thank you so much for joining us, and welcome to Beyond the Bandage.