10 things you should be doing to market your contract training program

10 Things You Should Be Doing to Market Your

Contract Training Program

#1 Be active on social media

In the past• If a prospect wanted a reference, to talk to the CEO, or even to know

the price – they needed to go through the sales rep.

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Today• A prospect can go to a review website for a reference.• A prospect can got to Twitter to reach people in the organization –

and ask for references.• And pricing may be right on the website.

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The shift in how people shop has left sales reps at a disadvantage• 89% of Americans search the Internet before making a purchase • They’re going to social media for information

5* Inbound 2012, Gary Vaynerchuck

89%

11%

Americans

Americans who search firstAmericans who don't

The sales rep now becomes involved in the sales process later

• Estimates from Garner, Harvard Business Review, and Sirius Decisions indicate buyers begin the buying process without the involvement of a sales rep 60-80% of the time.

Estimates from Garner, Harvard Business Review, and Sirius Decisions 6

How do you deal with it when many of your prospects start the buying process before you know you should be calling them?

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Social media• A study done by Social Centered Selling and A Sales Guy Consulting

found that 78% of sales people using social media outsell their peers.

Social Centered Selling and A Sales Guy Consulting 8

Quotas• 72.6% of sales people using social media outperformed their sales

peers.• They exceed their quota 23% more often.

Social Centered Selling and A Sales Guy Consulting 9

They closed deals• 54% of sales people were able to track their social media usage back

to closed deals.

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#2 Establishing a Relationship with Your Client• Consistency and clarity are important in CT• Three things every customer wants:

Speed up the process of support &

reduce the time taken to solve the problem

Identify their problem &

show sincere understanding

of their suffering

To be heard

Two Reasons for a Customer Connection

PAIN- a gap between the performance they have & the performance they

want

GAIN- Recognizing they have an opportunity that cannot be minimized

without assistance

“Product” Connection Points for CT• Needs• Price• Expectation• Marketing

Differentiate Yourself • Help clients discover• Be different• Customers warm-up & trust in you• Culture of awareness

Think about it……If you aren’t out there making connections with your clients –

somebody else will

#3 Work with (not around) your marketing team

Some things just go together• Burgers and fries• Peanut butter and jelly• Pepperoni and pizza

Sales and marketing, not always so much …

There’s a new way of marketing!• If telemarketing was your thing, for instance, the Do Not Call Registry

in 2004 left you with fewer and fewer contacts to call.• If newspaper ads were your things, well, they don’t pull like they used

to.• The answer is an integrated approach.

Marketing buzzwords can be confusing• Inbound Marketing• Outbound Marketing• eMarketing• Email Marketing • Direct Mailing Marketing• Social Media Marketing• Long Tail Marketing• Search Engine Optimized marketing

What should I do?• Plan• Execute• Measure• Repeat

• Don’t worry about what it’s called!

#4 Be Prepared• Critical preparation- avoid the trap• Planned sequence of qualifying questions• Help find the need

Have Relative Information at Your Fingertips

List of questions

Testimonials

Samples

Letters of support

Pricing

Do you have a sales structure?• Business structure of CT• Salesperson role• Answering questions & giving information• Don’t just use “telling”• Emotional reason for change• First impression – be prepared

Preparation allows you to………..Be proactive not reactive.

#2 Being Unprepared

#5 Send more email• Have your promotional emails come from a person – not just

organization. • For instance, you probably received emails from both William Draves

and Suzanne Kart about different LERN events – rather than just “LERN.” • Emails that come from a person are more likely to get opened.

A good open rate is just 20%• Send more emails to less people. You’ll get more business. If your

open rate stays at 10-20% and your opt out and bounce rates are both <1%, it’s working.• Also, send people information they can use• White papers• Webinars• Articles• Brand yourself as the expert

#6 Face to Face Selling• 70/30 rule• Listen & ask questions• Rundown on your website• Two way dialog

Listening• Selling is not just talk• Important as talking• Customer defines what they need• Determines effective strategy

Selling Contract Training Services• Primary goal • Lead with questions • Best Practice: Sell today & educate tomorrow

Think about it…..Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective

than interrupting strangers who don’t.

#7 Capture customer reviews and use them in all your promotional materials. • People love customer reviews. You should be offering your customers

the opportunity to review your training.• Then use the results in all of your promotional materials – web pages,

catalogs, brochures, other direct mail Facebook, even TV and radio if you do any.

#8 Balance is Key• You must balance the ingredients of your message• Do not bore customers with unnecessary details that are of no

tangible use• Work towards offering the best solution or product that meets the

customer’s needs

Selling Features• Features tell but benefits sell• Logical appeal vs. emotional attitude

Resistance• Customer resistance is a natural reaction• People don’t like to be told what to do and especially what to buy• Leading customers to discover helps them own the decision• Resistance can be eliminated- Want the secret?

Think about it…..The truth is sales are really contingent upon the attitude of the salesperson and not the attitude of the prospect.

#9 Don’t ignore Gen X• The big story right now is all about Baby boomers (1946-1964) and

Millennials (1980-1999).• Your Gen X demographic is now age 35-49.• Different messages resonate with this group including:• At work, it’s about work. They want skills for their employees.• Motivational speeches don’t motivate Gen X.• Outcomes are more important than time. If you can train them in 45 minutes,

don’t take 60 minutes.

#10 What is the Bottom Line?• Customers either need what you have to offer or they don’t• Your job is to help the decision makers recognize the pains associated

with not having your product, service or expertise• The message must be clear and consistent

Understanding the Source of Pain• Identify your customer’s point of pain• Relate their pain to the product or service you are selling• Ideally your product or service should completely solve your

customer’s problem

Think about it…..In selling as in medicine - prescription before diagnosis is malpractice.

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