How Computacenter turned presentation training into a competitive advantage

Computacenter wanted to improve the quality and consistency of customer-facing presentations across its account and specialist teams. With colleagues coming from diverse sales and technical backgrounds, the organisation needed a practical framework that would help employees craft clearer messages, deliver stronger proposals, and present with greater confidence.

Improv4Business partnered with Computacenter to design a bespoke programme called The Art of the Proposal. The training combined message development, presentation skills, and improvisation-based exercises to help participants communicate complex ideas more clearly, adapt under pressure, and engage customers more effectively. Every element was tailored to Computacenter's environment, people, and commercial objectives.

• Presentation confidence increased across customer-facing teams.
• Participants adopted practical frameworks for delivering stronger customer proposals and presentations.
• The programme received exceptional feedback, with many attendees describing it as one of the most valuable training experiences they had attended.

"The first few seconds matter. How clearly you articulate your message and how well you tailor it to the person in front of you can change the outcome. Our people are our capital. If they communicate less effectively than our competition, we lose.”

Oliver Chapman is Solution Area Director, Network and Security UK, at Computacenter, a FTSE100 IT reseller. The global organisation provides technology sourcing, professional IT services and managed services for large enterprises across many sectors. Based in Hatfield, Computacenter employs around 21,000 people worldwide and turns over £14 billion.

Oliver explained why presentation skills are so crucial to Computercenter’s success: “We sell IT services, so we depend on the messages and experience our people bring into every customer conversation. That person-to-person connection matters enormously, and we care about giving our teams the support they need to be at their best.”

Creating consistency without losing individuality

In a large organisation, every team brings a different mix of experience and personality. Some people come from a sales background. Others bring deep technical knowledge. Oliver saw how those differences could shape the way individuals built proposals and engaged with customers.

“We needed more consistency in how we communicated,” said Oliver. “That meant improving how we planned, shaped, and delivered messages in front of customers. To raise the standard across the team, we wanted everyone to have a practical framework they could build from. We also wanted that framework to work for different types of people: experienced sellers, technical specialists, and colleagues at every stage of confidence and experience,” he added.

Presenting complex ideas to senior people in large enterprises can feel intimidating. Some people handle it naturally but stay close to familiar topics or customers. Others need the right support before they feel ready to stretch themselves. Building peoples’ confidence at Computacenter and empowering them to go further was central to individual and organisational growth.

Oliver had a clear goal in mind:

“We wanted a bespoke training session around messaging and presentation skills we could roll out to our entire account-facing team, now and as the team grows. But it had to feel relevant, engaging, and genuinely useful.”

Computacenter also knew that people don’t always rush towards presentation training. In previous programmes, 40% of those invited had made excuses and failed to attend. This time, Oliver needed a different approach.

Designing around real work, not generic theory

Computacenter’s internal enablement team introduced Oliver to Improv4Business and Alex. Having already supported other divisions for five years, Oliver first invited Alex to contribute to a leadership team away day. That session opened the door to create a broader programme for account and specialist teams.

Oliver wanted his customer-facing teams to sharpen their messages, deliver stronger pitches, and improve the quality of their conversations.

Together, Oliver and Alex developed a custom one-day course called “The art of the proposal”. Computacenter planned to deliver it to around 250 people across five days. Oliver shared his commercial challenge and desired outcomes with Alex, showing him plans for other aspects of the day. From there, Alex shaped his resources around the same goals, so the final programme felt built for Computacenter rather than a generic off-the-shelf course.

“We explained our idea to Alex and what we wanted people to take away. He then showed us where he could add most value. That collaboration created a programme to match our needs exactly.

Learning from an important lesson, we remained covert about the content of the training. By calling it “the art of the proposal”, people didn’t immediately feel they would be attending a daunting presentation skills session,” said Oliver.

In the event, the course attendees would have a lot of fun.

Translating sales proposals into effective presentations

The training helped Computacenter’s sellers turn strong proposals into more engaging customer presentations. Many sales opportunities demanded more than a polished PDF. They also needed a confident, personal pitch that worked in the room or online.

The first half of the day focused on crafting the message: highlighting value, shaping the story, and connecting the proposal to customer priorities. The second half homed in on delivery: how to present that proposal with confidence, clarity, and energy.

When delivering his sessions, Alex used three approaches: theory to give people practical message-crafting tools, group work to encourage peer collaboration, and improvisation exercises to build adaptability, resilience, and creativity. His improvisation (signature) work helped people practice performing more effectively under pressure in a fun way, enabling them to handle uncertainty and shifting customer conversations with confidence.

“Alex understands our organisation, our job roles, our environment, and the customers we work with. That gives him a much deeper understanding of how to build training that fits our needs,” said Oliver.

Oliver chose off-site London locations for every session, giving people a safe and comfortable space to discover new techniques and practice skills that can feel daunting at first.

“It was a lot of fun!”

Presentation training can be hard to measure, especially when 250 people take part. Some benefits show up straight away. Others build quietly over time. Oliver, therefore, pays close attention to feedback, and this programme generated more than usual.

“More people than normal came forward with feedback after this training and told us how much value they’d got from it,” said Oliver. “I’m confident many of them will now build presentation practice into their personal development plans and stretch themselves further."

The feedback also suggested the training gave some people a boost of confidence to have conversations they might previously have avoided. With new techniques and practice, they felt more comfortable stepping into those moments.

“When someone feels compelled to give strong feedback, I believe it means they’ve genuinely taken something from the training and intend to act on it,” added Oliver.

Participants repeatedly commented on Alex’s humour, energy, and ability to make the training feel enjoyable. One person called it "the best sales training they had experienced in eight years!" Others talked about the energy in the room, the insight they gained, and the confidence they felt afterwards.

“Alex brings a playful spirit and humour that lifts the room, breaks down barriers, and helps people lower their guard. Everyone felt safe and relaxed, even when he asked them to tackle challenging tasks. Few trainers have that skill. Alex is a great human to have around, whether you’re planning training, delivering it, or chatting at the coffee machine,” said Oliver.

Building a suite of custom courses

Computacenter now plans to keep building tailored training that gives sellers the capabilities they need to help the organisation grow. And as new people join, they’ll have the same opportunity to develop the confidence, clarity, and adaptability that strong customer conversations require.

“I fully expect to be calling on Improv4Business again. So many divisions across the organisation could benefit from sharpening their presentation skills, the need never ends. It’s rather like painting the Forth Road Bridge.

Investing in our people gives us a real competitive advantage. When we help them communicate with more confidence and stretch their capability to connect more effectively with customers, we strengthen the business and achieve continued success,” concluded Oliver.