“Effective Marketing and
Outreach”
US Department of Labor
H1B Grantee Conference
December 2, 2003
InspiriTec, Inc.
JConnolly@InspiriTec.org
InspiriTec
Inspiring work Through Technology
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A “Social Entrepreneurship” which exists to
enable people with disabilities to go to work in
information technology (IT) professions.
Vocational Assessment, Training and Placement
Assistive Technology
Information Technology Services
LANs, Networks
 Software Development
 Call Centers

75% of InspiriTec employees are persons with disabilities
Workforce Investment
Partners
Our H1B Project: An Overview
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Train American workers for hard-to-fill jobs
Multiple employers; region wide
“Employer Directed”
Tiered employer match
Single Point of Contact: ITTC
Target People with Disabilities: 70%
unemployment rate
Employers
(H1B  Entry Level)
Training
Providers
H1-B Project
InspiriTec ITTCs
Ideal trainee progression
Likely progression of clients/employees
Entry-level replacement
Clients
(Typically
Entry Level)
Project Goals:
Numbers to be Served

75 Incumbent workers with disabilities
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100 Unemployed people with disabilities
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125 Unemployed people and incumbent
workers without disabilities
InspiriTec H-1B Project Results
Task
Train incumbent workers with
or without disabilities
Train incumbent workers with
disabilities
Train and place 100 persons
with disabilities into new IT
jobs
Goal
Result
%
Exceeded
125
615
392%
75
459
512%
100
161
61%
A Model Responding to Regional
H1B IT Workforce Demands
H-1B Visas
Leading IT Work Categories
#
%
InspiriTec Trainings
#
%
Programming/Software Eng.
2,927
56.50%
100
7.00%
Technical Support/Admin.
1,077
20.80%
365
25.40%
Network Design/Admin.
1,070
20.70%
106
7.40%
Database Dev./Admin
56
0.01%
40
2.80%
Web Dev./Admin.
24
0.01%
122
8.50%
Enterprise Systems
20
0.00%
444
30.90%
Other
11
0.00%
258
18.00%
Totals
5,185
98.02%
1,435
100.00%
InspiriTec H-1B Project Progression
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Nov-03
Aug-03
May-03
Feb-03
Nov-02
Aug-02
May-02
Feb-02
Nov-01
Aug-01
May-01
Feb-01
Nov-00
# of Trainees
Location of H1B Trainees Served
Strategic Planning
“The process of developing and
maintaining a strategic fit between the
organization’s goals and capabilities and its
changing marketing opportunities. It
involves defining a clear company mission,
setting supportive objectives, designing a
sound business portfolio, and coordinating
functional strategies.”
Market Segmentation,
Targeting, and Positioning
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Segmentation bases
 Geographic
 Demographics - employee size, IT
utilization, progressive, disability focus
 H1B utilization
Program developed to the needs of region’s
employers using constant feedback loop
Message tested and refined with diverse
companies
Go-to-Market Strategy
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Single Point of Contact
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Channel Marketing
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Organizations tapped to help disseminate the program
offering
Co-Marketing
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ITTC role
Partnered with others offering complementary services
Customer Relationship Management
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Developed Systems
Go-to-market-strategy (con’t)
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Direct Marketing
 From
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Face-to-Face Presentations
 Made
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qualified mailing lists
to groups with potential interest
Cold Calling
 After
a media review of who was hiring, etc.
Stealth Marketing
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The best source of business is current clients
Every “non sales” call has already by-passed the
corporate sales defenses
Every person in a client organization is a buyer,
know it or not
Every person in YOUR organization is a
salesperson, know it or not
Every call is a sales call
Sell is not a four letter word
InspiriTec ITTC’s Manage Relationships with Key Partners
REFERRAL AGENCIES
•Refer job seekers
•Perform VR assessment
•Provide support services
•Provide assistive technology.
TRAINING PROVIDERS
•Identify employer prospects
•Assess career path trainees
•Identify potential job seekers
•Orient ITTC’s to training services
EMPLOYER
•Identify job openings
•Asses incumbent worker trainees
•Recommend training providers
•Certify accomplishment of outcomes
•Match training costs
ITTCs
•Act as “account manager”
•Assess employer training needs
•Facilitate administrative process
•Conduct IT assessment
•Coordinate support services
•Track and report progress
VR AGENCIES
•Identify employer prospects
•Identify potential job seekers
•Provide support services
ONE STOPS
•Identify potential job seekers
•Perform VR assessment
•Provide support services
•Provide assistive
technology
Employer Marketing Tactics
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Co-Marketing
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Network Marketing
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With collateral material
Cold Calling
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From qualified mailing lists
Face-to-Face Presentations
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Partnerships with groups serving defined population
Direct Marketing
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Using training partners
After a media review of who was hiring
InspiriTec Customers
Lessons Learned
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Extensive lead time needed for employerdirected approach
Downturn in IT market requires resiliency
Single Point of Contact (ITTC) a must
Communication and approach should match
employer’s style
Identification of disability a problem for
companies
Needed to work with both IT and HR staff
Must be entrepreneurial-> market driven
Demonstrate credibility thru testimonials
Employer Directed Model keeps specific
training real-job focused
Case Study
“Fleet Credit Card”
Case Study
“The Sierra Group”
Applicant Recruitment Tactics
 Development
of collateral marketing
materials
 Outreach to 43 Colleges and Universities
 Contacts with Agencies Serving
Constituencies
 Collaborate with other agencies serving
people with disabilities, various training
providers