Marketing
SkillMap
Assessments
TM
Webcast Agenda
 Quick review of the Skillmap “value proposition”
TM
 Two common marketing/selling cycles
• Reactive (prospect recognizes a need, we respond)
• Proactive (before prospect perceives a need)
 Marketing strategies
• Lead/prospect generation
• Leveraging technology and the web
 Selling tactics
• Getting a “foot in the door”
.
• Client discussions that change the “trajectory” of the sale
Our Target Market
Internal Resources
30%
70%
.
Training & Development Needs
Our Target Market – Decision Makers
 Business performance issues
 Budget constraints
.
 Career concerns
Two common selling cycles
 Client controls when engagement occurs, and pace of advancement
 Often reaches out
to current vendors
 Drives a “bake off”
decision process
Client
perceives a
need
Introduction
or Initial
Contact
Needs
Analysis
Presentation
and Proposal
Proposal and
“Bake Off”
Decision
 Majority of prospecting calls are essentially hoping the prospect has a
current/active perceived need relevant to the offering.
Initial Contact
(Client perceives
NO need)
Early stage (pre-need) dialogue, value delivery,
relationship building and informal “needs analysis”
Adjust the TRAJECTORY of client needs and wants
Client
perceives
a need
Formal
Needs
Analysis
Solution
Recommended
 Initial engagement is DIFFICULT to achieve, but worth the effort
 Provides an opportunity to adjust the “trajectory” of perceived needs
.
 Eliminate or minimize the “bake off” competition with other solution providers
Decision
Reactive Selling Cycle
 When the client perceives a need, we want them to
think of us first.
.
 Or when the client receives a communication from
us, we want them to immediately link us to a
need they already know they have (but have not
yet been able to address adequately).
The Value Proposition
 Our prospects:
• Business
performance
issues
• Budget
constraints
• Career
concerns
 We want them to think about:
• If your training expenditures were
not fully aligned with the deepest
training needs of your organization,
how would you know?
• If your training initiatives cannot
show a provable ROI with tangible
impact on the business, what will
happen to your training dollars?
.
• When every element of a business
is being re-evaluated and rerationalized, will that help or hurt
your career?
The Value Proposition
 Know your training dollars are being targeted for maximum
positive impact on the business.
 Assess specific training/development needs:
• Individual
• Departmental
• Organizational
.
 Immediately act upon assessment results with an integrated
blended learning solution which can include:
• Individual coaching
• Group workshops
• E-learning
• Video reinforcement
• Audio podcasts / CDs
• DvD Videos
The UNIQUE Value Proposition
.
Have you considered a broad assessment of your entire organizational culture?
Has the significant investment required to do this been an issue?
The UNIQUE Value Proposition
.
If your employees were
20% less productive than
they could be, how would
you know?
Prospect/Lead Sources
 Local Business Groups and Associations
• Offer free resources or services if they will notify ALL
members via newsletter, email or announcement
• Volunteer for a project aligned with your expertise
 Local Unemployment Services Agencies
• Offer free resources or services if they will permit press
releases and news access to the events or activities
 Local Shopping Mall Management Companies
.
• Offer free customer service training for employees of mall
stores, if they will provide the training venue and allow
press access
Prospect/Lead Sources
 Local ASTD Chapter
• Offer free resources or services
• Volunteer for projects aligned with your expertise
 Local Press Releases
• Develop email list of local press contacts
• Send brief press release regarding EVERY significant
training initiative
• Emphasize the intended RESULTS of the training
 Local Schools, Sports Teams, Tournaments, etc.
.
• Offer free resources or services
Linked In - Prospecting Strategy
 Web links on your profile
• Link to “Free Resources” pages on your website
• Example: www.FreeSalesTraining.com
 Search for target prospects based upon geography, job title
and company size
 Custom invitation message, highlighting the free resources
 Join Linked In Groups that your prospects would join
 Send out MASSIVE numbers of invitations
.
• Carefully craft the invitation (see above) to minimize
rejections
Massive Referral Strategy
 Develop a profoundly valuable introductory offer
• Should have value for both prospective and current clients
 Contact every existing/former client
• Detail the intro offer
• Ask them if they know of any organization that could
possible benefit from the offer
• Can they provide a contact person / referral?
.
• If they express interest for their own organization, go ahead
and offer it to them
Free Assessment Previews
 Create a preview link for the Workplace Productivity SkillMap
and send to EVERY current/previous client, EVERY friend and
acquaintance, EVERY other person on the planet you know.
• Explain briefly what it is and encourage them to forward the
link to ANYONE who might be interested in improving their
workplace productivity.
.
• Whenever you are notified of an assessment completion,
follow up with a request for feedback, ensure they have
your contact information, and encourage them to forward
the free preview link on to others.
Proactive Selling Cycle
 We want to engage with a prospectiveclient who doesn’t
yet perceive a ‘need” to engage with us.
 Through a series of engaged conversations, we will:
• Provide unexpected value to the client
• Help them think in a new way
• Change the “trajectory” of their needs/expectations
.
• Act as a catalyst to activate dormant needs
Engaging early is hard because…
 They don’t WANT to
engage early
 They are apathetic
.
 They are not motivated
to help you “build a
relationship” with them
Average Sales Intros
 “We are the biggest…”
 “My background is…”
 “We offer the most…”
 “Our products are…”
 “We are the best at…”
.
 “We are known for…”
What They Hear…
“Hello, my name is Greg Jones
and I’m with Ultra Training
Solutions, Inc. and…”
.
“… flarfl grog hula shu
mragonist frak plonks Shri
laois catjs sjsc jaocso cjcsoc
cjxcosco hoaishc cpahcs
cshhc shhc cshaso
acposhso….”
Our Conundrum
.
Until the prospective client has decided they
have a need, they are not interested in our
learning anything about our “solutions.”
.
I Won’t Be IGNORED Dan…!
.
So you need to be DIFFERENT…
.
You need a COMPELLING value offer
And you need a POWERFUL “hook”
 Internal referral
 External referral
 Recent/surprising company or industry news
 Counter-intuitive facts (with valid research)
 Competitor facts (the PROSPECT’S competitors)
.
 Other examples…
Prospecting Process
May all occur during a single interaction
lasting just a few minutes
May occur as an initial telephone call
followed by a face-to-face meeting
.
The
Hook
The
Elevator
Speech
The
First
Date
Prospecting Process
May all occur during a
single interaction lasting
just a few minutes
May occur as an initial
telephone call followed by
a face-to-face meeting
“NO”
Reinforce benefits
with more evidence
worst case scenario
Ask again for first date
.
“NO”
Acknowledge apathy
Reinforce benefit with
evidence
Ask again for first date
.
Your “Elevator Speech”
Exceptional Elevator Speech
Open with
BENEFITS
.
that address Primal
Buying Motives
Primal Buying Motives
.
 Desire for gain (usually financial)
 Fear of loss (again, usually financial)
 Comfort and convenience
 Security and protection
 Pride of ownership (ego satisfaction)
 Satisfaction of emotion (love, anger, stress, joy, etc.)
Which needs should be the target of
our elevator speech?
We don’t yet
know the
customers
actual needs
Customer
Needs
.
Competitor
Our Value
We need to aim
for the broadest
target…
Yet still be
differentiated…
Exceptional Elevator Speech
Opening Benefit Statement
“We help organizations like yours target their training
dollars and activities to ensure maximum positive impact
on the business”
Brief Example or Evidence
“For example recently a supply chain management
company was able to improve the productivity of two
divisions by more than 18% through a series of targeted
workshops and e-learning courses - without any added
expense – because they shifted dollars from areas where
they determined training was having less business impact.
Request for a “First Date”
.
“Do you have some time to talk about this in more detail?”
Exceptional Elevator Speech
Emphasize
Benefits
.
(Results You Produce)
Don’t focus too much on how
you produce those results
Exceptional Elevator Speech
.
The natural response
to a great elevator
speech should be
“hmm… how do you
do that?”
Productivity
Prospecting Exercise
Too Little
Optimal
.
Tension / Pressure
Too Much
A Great “First Date”
 Begin with the end in mind. What should be the
outcome of this first substantive discussion?
 The customer is left thinking:
 “That was time well spent”
 “They are more/better/different than what I
expected.”
.
 “I’m looking forward to meeting again.”
The “First Date”
How you handle the first
substantive conversation
will determine:
.
•
•
•
If you ever have a SECOND conversation
The “ground rules,” and
The “trajectory” of the selling cycle
The “Ground Rules”
• Most prospects begin a sales
engagement with assumptions regarding
the relative power between you and
them. (They have it, you don’t)
• Unfortunately many salespeople have
similar assumptions.
• Power relationships are always
negotiable
.
• Once the relative power in a relationship
is established, it becomes increasingly
difficult to adjustYour sources of power
include:
• Deeper knowledge
• More strategic thought process
• Willingness to invest time
The “Trajectory”
.
Where does this lead to…?
.
The Ideal “Trajectory”
.
5 Steps to a Great First Meeting
Just enough to earn
the right to ask great
questions about the
customer
1.
Sell Yourself
2.
Sell Your Company
3.
Ask GREAT questions
4.
Provide/create value
5.
Confirm the next ADVANCEMENT action step