john landry grassroots final paper

Communications Plan

Georgetown UniversityMPPR – 780 Grassroots Communications

John LandryAugust 14, 2015

Grow Your Future

Mentor Intelligence Consulting

ALtuitive Holdings, LLC


Table of Contents:

Background………………………………………………………………………………………………2

Problem/Opportunity……………………………………………………………………………….2

Strategic Insight………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Goal………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………………………3

Key Publics………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Messaging…………………………………………………………………………………………………4

Strategies & Tactics…………………………………………………………………………………..5

Budget………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

Calendar……………………………………………………………………………………………………6

Evaluation…………………………………………………………………………………………………7

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………..7

Communications Plan 1


Background

ALtuitive Holdings, LLC, was created in 2013 by Alan Landry, who sought to provide a surplus of services including Mentor Intelligence consultationsi. Of the various business aspirations, Mentor Intelligence has become the most successful with ample room for growth. Upon the publication of his book, “Growing Mentor Intelligence,” Alan had the platform to spread his views on the growing concept of developing sustained mentorship practices in the corporate world. The first two years resulted in zero clients, but then personal contacts at Raytheon reached out to Alan through his Linkedin account and requested a quote for a seminar. Alan had worked for Raytheon prior to the founding of ALtuitive and responded providing a catered program built around four quarterly seminars. The first began with approximately 170 volunteer attendees, the second had around 30, and the third a little bit less. On September 22nd of this year he’ll give his final seminar from the initial contract without any conversation of follow-on services.

The market for consultations is generally crowded, but not in this field of study. Alan’s approach is towards long-term services with mechanisms built to facilitate consistent

support. His model is centered on teaching a company’s employees how to mentor their subordinates for sustained growth beyond the typical job description. This is significant because he focuses on all the intangible institutional knowledge that is earned through experience and how those with it should share it. His seminars further distinguish themselves by their

volunteer basis and consistent follow-up engagement practices. Additionally, Alan’s books serve to both compliment his seminars and encourage the attendees to continually adapt its principles in the way the best fits their company, resulting in organic practices.

Problem/Opportunity

ALtuitive Holdings is still at the early stages of development within the mentor intelligence consultation business. Three years into it the list of clients remains minimal and their renewals are in jeopardy. Despite having two published books on the subject,

Alan Landry has still not separated himself from the pack of traditional consultants. However, Alan does have a steadily growing contact list he’s built of the years and has yet to leverage his most valuable brand to its capacity, himself. This new brand will do two things. First it will establish itself as the authority

within Mentor Consulting. Second it will provide a human credentialed face, thereby asserting him as the leading authority on the subject. These will work as the base to streamline current touches, allowing for greater accessibility of products or services in a cohesive manner.

Communications Plan

The company is at a crossroad

The brand itself is not clear

2


Strategic Insight

There are enough testimonials saying great things about the products being offered by ALtuitive Holdings, but these are getting lost in the shuffle and not shared. There is also

a lack of sufficient marketing to paint Alan Landry as an expert in this field. The brand itself is not clear to anybody looking for a mentorship consultation and what is currently used doesn’t lead to a well-defined call to action. Furthermore, the brand will live or

die with the reputation of the company’s only employee, Alan Landry. He gives credibility to both the consulting services and the books. Building his credibility is essential to both growing the brand and sustained attraction of current or future clients.

Goal

Develop Mentor Intelligence Consulting, of ALtuitive Holdings,’ into it’s own brand by credentialing Alan Landry as a leading voice within the mentor intelligence consultation industry.

Objectives

A. Develop Mentor Intelligence Consulting brand to increase potential customer interactions by 10% and an additional 5% each quarter thereafter throughout 2016.

B. Increase the number of interactions among decision makers within Raytheon by 10% by the end of the 4th quarter of 2015.

C. Increase the current potential client pool by 30% by the end of the 2nd quarter of 2016.

Key Publics

Current Contactsii

Demographic Diverse, Male & Female, Ages 35-55, $50-120k/yr, College Graduates, Some Post Graduate Educated

Psychographic This might be a good idea for my companySelf-Interest Credit for Helping Their CompanyRelationship to Issue Good/Bad/No Mentor ExampleInfluencers/Interveners Supervisors, Contracting Department LeadsObjective A & C

Communications Plan

Credibility is the key

3


Raytheon Executivesiii

Demographic White, Male & Female, Ages 45-65, $300-500k/yr, Post Graduate Educated

Psychographic The Bottom LineSelf-Interest Credit for Growth, Innovations & Becoming

Employer of ChoiceRelationship to Issue More Personal Experience of good or bad

examples of mentorshipInfluencers/Interveners Raytheon Directors, Raytheon Senior ExecutivesObjectives A & B

Messaging

1. Mentor Intelligence Consulting is more than your traditional consulting firm and can grow your future.

a. I created the Mentor Intelligence field of study because I saw a need.b. Mentor Intelligence Consulting is a long-term investment in your

company’s ability to grow from within.c. My seminars give your company the tools to allow for organic

development of your richest commodity, your employees.2. Your employees are craving some level of mentorship.



a. Mentoring your employees is not a luxury, but a necessity for long-term growth.

b. Telling your leaders to mentor their subordinates will not yield consistent results unless you train them on the art of mentorship and that’s the Mentor Intelligence Consulting difference.

c. Mentor Intelligence Consulting has trained over 200 Raytheon employees who have now taken that knowledge and built their own forums to share best practices and aid each other as they invest in their future.

3. Replacing Employees is more expensive than developing them.a. According to a study conducted by the Center for American Progress the

cost of employee turnover is about 1/5th of the worker’s salary that is replacediv.

b. You can’t afford not to invest in teaching your employees how to mentor.c. According to a study released by Cornell University, turnover is caused

primarily by poor supervision, or a poor work environment, but teaching your employees how to mentor each other will help prevent it, saving your bottom linev.

d. Some managers don’t understand the relationship between employee retention and company profitability, but the reality is it affects your bottom linevi.

e. Turnover is more expensive the higher up the corporate ladder it occurs as it follows the salary demands and Mentor Intelligence Consulting offers catered executive level servicesvii.

Strategy 1: Develop a simplified brand centered on the credibility of Alan Landry and the benefits of Mentor Intelligence consultation services.Tactic 1: Leverage company history, current brand and image of Alan Landry to create a redefined brand by September 1, 2015.Tactic 2: Incorporate the redefined brand across all forms of customer communication contact to include business cards, websites, emails, social media and all official products by the end of the 3rd quarter of 2015.Tactic 3: Launch redefined brand simultaneously with the final consultation date with Raytheon, September 22, 2015.Tactic 4: Invite business publication reporters to the seminar by offering insight to how Mentor Intelligence could benefit them. Any replies are followed with a personal phone call.

Strategy 2: Increase interaction access among current and prospective business contacts with clear call to action opportunities.Tactic 1: Create bimonthly blog type email that provides current contacts with a taste of mentor intelligence lessons learned and application with clearly defined calls to action to allow them easy access to further internet presence, consultation requests or book purchases. This will demonstrate Reciprocity.



Tactic 2: Develop blog with comment sections cataloging each blog type email sent to facilitate interaction afterwards. It will also act as further solidifying Alan Landry as the authority on Mentor Intelligenceviii.Tactic 3: Send follow-up emails to any replies to formally invite to join the conversations on the blog.Tactic 4: Create and invite select contacts to join a “Leaders in Mentor Intelligence” group for conference call sessions and private discussion forums. Discuss this group’s insights in later blog entries to further build interest in services. Tactic 5: Use Facebook presence to share articles on the benefits of mentoring in the corporate world with invitations to join discussions on the blog.

Strategy 3: Communicate measurable results and successes to decision maker publicsix. Tactic 1: Update current clients and their leadership with email or physical brochure with current analytical data from current employees receiving consultation. This will also include quotes from corporate leaders to promote linking. This should be done biannually and in a presentable format they can forward on to their supervisors, senior executive ready.Tactic 2: Configure website to focus on both the success of Alan Landry and results from both the books and consultations. Showing consensus of success.Tactic 3: Incorporate success stories and ideas created by seminar attendees as follow-ups to replied emails, with credit given to clients to demonstrate the growing applications while demonstrating Alan Landry is the facilitator of this type of innovation. The purpose of this is to highlight the scarcity of this type of effects following a consultation.Tactic 4: Provide current client executives with a list of identified talent originated from seminar attendees to demonstrate further commitment towards their growth, the new kind of consultation.Tactic 5: Provide cost analysis of comparing what Mentor Intelligence Consulting charges against the cost of replacing employees. This will highlight scarcity as well.Tactic 6: Utilize Twitter to tweet company announcements and successes with a focus on earning business journalists and corporate leaders as followers.

Budget

This communications plan does not require the purchase of any advertising space, nor does it require a complete overhaul of current practices. The major costs, at a price of approximately $2,000, will come from the redesigning of the company’s logo and



associated costs with synchronizing it across all communication mediums. The remaining tasks are organic to the company’s current assets.

Calendar

The majority of tactics will require a startup completion by September 22, 2015, which coincides with the conclusion of the completion of the 3rd quarter. However, many of them will become sustainable practices of communications that will inevitably aid the bottom line of the business. These include the blog entries, discussion forums, phone calls, conference calls and emailing, or any other client contact action.

Evaluation

The main form of evaluation is focused on three things. First is the amount of increased interaction from current contacts. Second is the amount of increased interaction from newly generated contacts. This interaction can simply be a reply to a tactic or the joining of discussions in blog chats. However, the most important metric is on an increase in seminar contracts and book purchases. This bottom line will demonstrate its overall effectiveness.

Conclusion

ALtuitive Holdings is at a self identity crossroads. Its mentor consultation services and corresponding books have been the most successful endeavors to date, but the future remains uncertain despite signs of success. All the groundwork for creating potential clients has been done, one introduction at a time, and has given Alan Landry the ability to initiate a tailored communications plan. However, this plan all hinges on building the credibility of Alan Landry himself. His credibility is the center of gravity for the success of both the consultation service and the books. This proposal seeks to do exactly that while enabling him to streamline his brand into a cohesive presentation that clearly leads potential clients to his doorstep for sustained, yet controlled, growth.


i Landry, Alan. 2015. ALtuitive Holdings & Mentor Intelligence John Landry Interview 1 by. In person. Video Conference.ii Landry, Alan. 2015. ALtuitive Holdings & Mentor Intelligence John Landry Interview 2 by. In person. Video Conference.iii Ibid.iv Boushey, Heather, and Sarah Jane Glynn. 2015. 'There Are Significant Business Costs To Replacing Employees'. Center For American Progress. https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/CostofTurnover.pdf.v Hinkin, Timothy R., and J. Bruce Tracey. 2015. 'The Cost Of Turnover: Putting A Price On The Learning Curve'. Scholarship.Sha.Cornell.Edu. http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1446&context=articles.vi Ibid. 17vii Ibid. 18viii YouTube,. 2015. 'Science Of Persuasion'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw.ix Inc.com,. 2015. http://www.inc.com/scott-steinberg/how-to-build-a-consulting-business.html.

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