Module 2 – Counseling Techniques and Tools

Table of Contents
1. Performance Objectives

2. Interpersonal Counseling Techniques

3. Counseling Settings

4. Center Ex: Web 2.0!

Performance Objectives

The business counselor will:

• The business counselor will display knowledge of Interpersonal

Counseling Techniques such as listening skills, empathy and
stimulation of conversation, goal setting, reinforcement, perception,
creative problem solving, and the ability to handle difficult people.
• The business counselor will be exposed to face-to-face and distance
counseling sessions.
• The business counselor will learn to integrate clients into the Center
EX system.

Evaluation

Your proficiency in counseling techniques will be evaluated by all of the

following methods:
• Counseling clients, as determined by an assigned mentor.
• Correctly answering case study questions concerning interpersonal
skills and client counseling techniques.
• Understanding of outreach tools and practices including Center EX.
• Receiving favorable reports from 80% or more of the clients returning
appointment evaluation postcards.
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Suggested Pre-Requisite

Module 1: Code of Professional Conduct.

How You Will Be Trained

Complete the following training assignments:

• Read Module 2 in its entirety.

• Observe, while co-counseling, the techniques used by the business
counselor who is working with the client. Record your observations on
the counseling checklist. At the conclusion of the client's appointment,
discuss your observations with the business counselor. Notice extent of
the business counselor’s use of distance counseling technologies.
• Business counselor will demonstrate use of Center EX system.

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Interpersonal Counseling Techniques

While technical expertise is a critical element of a business counselor’s

ability to assist clients, human and communication skills are more important.
A business counselor who lacks good interpersonal skills will be unable to
transfer technical expertise and motivate the incredibly independent
entrepreneurs who come to the WSBDC for knowledge.

Characteristics of Effective Business Counselors:

• Skilled at communicating openly and honestly. This includes participating

in active and engaged listening. This is hard work. Counselor needs to
concentrate fully on what is being said, not only to understand the
content of what is being said, but also to perceive what is not being
verbalized.
• Inspires feelings of trust, credibility and confidence from client(s).
• Able to see problems and solutions from the client’s point of view.
Measure the client’s abilities and weaknesses and suggest solutions
within the client’s grasp. Will attempt to understand, not to judge, the
client. Able to refer client to another business counselor if communication
breaks down.
• Communicate caring and respect for clients.
• Has expertise of value to the client. Has an understanding of world
events, including changes in the economy, demographics and political
implications for small businesses. If the client needs help in a field in
which you have no expertise, you will refer the client to another business
counselor.
• Can reason systematically, helping client to determine a step-by-step
course of action. Assign “homework” when necessary. Understand it is the
client’s decision to follow this course of action or to abandon it totally. You
know when to let go of a client.
• Believe the best counseling approach is “interactive”; both parties work
together in planning how to analyze and solve the problems.

The Three Parts of Effective Counseling

There are three distinct parts to the counseling process:

1. Assess client needs through listening and asking strategic questions.

2. Creating goals and action steps with client.
3. Follow up with client.

The needs and expectations of a client begin with the first contact and
continue through each session. A checklist of open ended questions to ask

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your client will help you identify the problems you will need to address and
will help you keep the counseling session focused.

Using a checklist, you can help the client identify his or her next steps and
set goals. Your role as a counselor is to coach the client into coming up with
the best answer for his or her business. Once clarified in the client’s mind,
help to formulate goals and action steps. These are best accomplished when
written down by client.

After goals have been set, it is important to have some method for following
up with the client to check progress and answer questions.

Demonstrate Center EX and our website with the client so they can receive
our services when our offices are closed.

Counseling Settings: Face To Face and Distance Counseling

What an exciting world we live in with all the technological choices!

Counseling settings can fall into two basic categories: (1) Face to Face and
(2) Distance.

Face to Face sessions occur in a variety of places and need not necessarily
occur at the office of the business counselor.

Distance sessions may include phone conversations, email, internet

conferences (such as Live Meeting, GoTo Meeting or other like services) or a
combination of the three technologies and possibly others. Text messaging is
likely to be in our near future and more technology is surely coming.

Our goal of distance counseling is to effectively outreach to our clients who

either prefer distance communication or are too far from a SBDC counseling
location to conveniently visit us. Our commitment to clients requires we use
technology in a prudent way to help meet client needs.

Counseling Setting Combination Examples and Possibilities

Wyoming SBDC business counselors will encounter various situations where
we use multiple tools to counsel clients. Listed below are approaches to
conducting face-to-face and distance counseling sessions:

• Clients may approach a business counselor in the following ways:

o Telephone
o Email
o Walk-In
o Snail Mail (US Postal Service)

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 o Request counseling through Center Ex (see next section)

• A business counselor may conduct a face-to-face meeting with a client

at the following locations, and others, the counselor deems appropriate
and/or effective:
o Business Counselor’s office
o A Public Library
o A Chamber of Commerce Building
o A City or Town Hall
o A UW Extension Office
o B.O.C.E.S. (Board of Cooperative Education Services) Education
Center

• A business counselor may conduct a distance counseling meeting

utilizing the following means:
o The client may call the counselor’s cell or office phone (Wyoming
SBDC is currently utilizing Unlimited Conferencing allowing several
clients to call from multiple locations at the same time, using the
same number, to conference with the business counselor)
o Email
o Microsoft Live Meeting in conjunction with telephone
o Text messaging

Materials Sharing

Counselors should utilize Center EX to share materials with clients. This

practice introduces the client to the Dashboard system which may be used to
serve the client beyond current functionality.

There are occasions where printed materials can be used such as face-to-
face meetings with no internet access. The materials disseminated should be
current to those we share using Center EX.

Center Ex: WEB 2.0!

Barriers of time and place are broken down with web technology, across all
organizations. Our digital world is one where clients can, and do, help
themselves to information, products and services at all hours in a day.

Wyoming SBDC has chosen Center Dynamics as a provider of database and

content management systems with the Center EX tool. Center EX allows
clients to sign-in to a Client Dashboard and take advantage of:
• Online training search and registration (payment capability coming in
2009)

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 • Auto-generated document recommendations
• Documents manually referred by counselor, including market research
• Survey participation
• Access to Wyoming Business Tips articles
• Features to come in 2009

Clients access the Client Dashboard sign in screen by surfing to WyEn.Biz,

then clicking on Client Sign-in toward the upper left side of the home page.

Center EX - Client Sign-in Screen

The sign in screen can be seen below:

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Returning clients can access their Dashboard by using their email listed in
our system and a password. A password can be sent to them using the
Forget your password? option in the middle of the page.

New clients will use the New to our network? field at the bottom of the page
by entering a zip code and clicking on the Locate Offices button.

Once the client signs in, the Client Dashboard (as shown below) will appear.

There are four navigational tabs on the Client Dashboard: Welcome,

Resource Library, History and My Profile.

Welcome tab has:

• Current training opportunities in client’s area.
• Search Events to find all currently available trainings.
• Available Surveys created by Wyoming SBDC.
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Resource Library tab has:
• Recommended documents and links to resources recommended by
counselors and auto-generated by our system.
• Personal Library, which includes all of the resources the client has used
at the Dashboard.
• Browse the Full Resource Library allows the client to search our Public
Library which is currently populated with our Wyoming Business Tip
Articles.

History tab has:

• Current training opportunities in client’s area.
• Search Events to find all currently available trainings.
• Available Surveys created by Wyoming SBDC.

My Profile tab has:

• Current training opportunities in client’s area.
• Search Events to find all currently available trainings.
• Available Surveys created by Wyoming SBDC.

Wyoming SBDC counselors can contact Mark Atkinson (matkins2@uwyo.edu)

or Cindy Unger (cindyu@uwyo.edu) for assistance with our website and
Center EX.

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Module 2 Training Checklist

• Business Counselor __________________

• Read Module 2 ______DATE
• Training Exercise (checklist): ______DATE
• Understands Center EX basics ______DATE
• Understands Distance Counseling tools/techniques ______DATE
• Co-Counseling ______DATE

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COUNSELING CHECKLIST INSTRUCTIONS:
Imagine you are the client who is now being counseled as you observe the
session. Answer the following questions by circling the number you feel most
accurately measures your observations of how the client feels. Then note
any comments or questions you would like to discuss after the client has left.

Strongly Agree Not Disagree Strongly

Agree Sure Disagree
5 4 2 1
3
I feel free to come back.
My counselor talked in
terms I could understand.
The counselor listened to
me.
He/she was a very
"human" person.
He/she was very patient.
I felt I could be open,
honest, and genuine with
him/her.
He/she was a warm,
sincere, and friendly
individual.
His/her tone of voice was
encouraging
The help was quite
worthwhile.
His/her remarks made
things clearer for me.
Overall, the experience
was good.
Generally, he/she was
well-organized.
The types of questions
the counselor asked were
good.
My questions were
answered to my
satisfaction.
He/she increased my
general knowledge.
He/she behaved as if the
session was a routine,
mechanical process.
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He/she insists on always
being right.
He/she has a
condescending attitude.

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He/she gives the
impression of being
intellectually
superior to me.
He/she talked too much.
The counselor
understands distance
counseling technology.
Center EX was clearly
explained to the client.

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