Grow Your Training Business

What Training Business Owners Can Learn from Steve Jobs

Many people have explained what one can learn from Steve Jobs. But few, if any, of these people have been inside the tent and experienced first hand what it was like to work with him. Guy Kawasaki worked closely with Steve and in the article below shares his list of the top 12 lessons he learned from Steve Jobs.

There is a LOT of insight here that is directly relevant to every owner of an independent corporate trianing business.

1. Experts are clueless
Experts—journalists, analysts, consultants, bankers, and gurus can’t “do” so they “advise.” They can tell you what is wrong with your product, but they cannot make a great one. They can tell you how to sell something, but they cannot sell it themselves. They can tell you how to create great teams, but they only manage a secretary. For example, the experts told us that the two biggest shortcomings of Macintosh in the mid 1980s were the lack of a daisy-wheel printer driver and Lotus 1-2-3; another advice gem from the experts was to buy Compaq. Hear what experts say, but don’t always listen to them.

2. Customers often cannot tell you what they need
“Apple market research” is an oxymoron. The Apple focus group was the right hemisphere of Steve’s brain talking to the left one. If you ask customers what they want, they will tell you, “Better, faster, and cheaper”—that is, better sameness, not revolutionary change. They can describe their desires only in terms of what they are already using—around the time of the introduction of Macintosh, all that people said they wanted was a better, faster, and cheaper MS-DOS machine. The richest vein for tech startups is creating the product that you want to use—that’s what Steve and Woz did.

3. Jump to the next curve
Big wins happen when you go beyond better sameness. The best daisy-wheel printer companies were introducing new fonts in more sizes. Apple introduced the next curve: laser printing. Think of ice harvesters, ice factories, and refrigerator companies. Ice 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Are you still harvesting ice during the winter from a frozen pond?

4. The biggest challenges beget best work
I lived in fear that Steve would tell me that I, or my work, was crap. In public. This fear was a big challenge. Competing with IBM and then Microsoft was a big challenge. Changing the world was a big challenge. I, and Apple employees before me and after me, did our best work because we had to do our best work to meet the big challenges.

5. Design counts
Steve drove people nuts with his design demands—some shades of black weren’t black enough. Mere mortals think that black is black, and that a trash can is a trash can. Steve was a perfectionist, and he was right: some people care about design and many people at least sense it. Maybe not everyone, but the important ones.

The Apple iPhone, officially unveiled at the Macworld trade show on January 9, 2007, was arguably the single most anticipated gadget in the history of the high-tech and consumer electronics industries.

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET)

6. You can’t go wrong with big graphics and big fonts
Take a look at Steve’s slides. The font is 60 points. There’s usually one big screenshot or graphic. Look at other tech speaker’s slides—even the ones who have seen Steve in action. The font is 8 points, and there are no graphics. So many people say that Steve was the world’s greatest product introduction guy. Don’t you wonder why more people don’t copy his style?

7. Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence
When Apple first shipped theiPhone there was no such thing as apps. Apps, Steve decreed, were a bad thing because you never know what they could be doing to your phone.Safari Web apps were the way to go until six months later when Steve decided, or someone convinced him, that apps were the way to go—but of course. Duh! Apple came a long way in a short time from Safari Web apps to “there’s an app for that.”

8. “Value” is different from “price”
Woe unto you if you decide everything based on price. Even more woe unto you if you compete solely on price. Price is not all that matters—what is important, at least to some people, is value. And value takes into account training, support, and the intrinsic joy of using the best tool that’s made. It’s pretty safe to say that no one buys Apple products because of their low price.

9. A players hire A+ players
Actually, Steve believed that A players hire A players—that is people who are as good as they are. I refined this slightly—my theory is that A players hire people even better than themselves. It’s clear, though, that B players hire C players so they can feel superior to them, and C players hire D players. If you start hiring B players, expect what Steve called “the bozo explosion” to happen in your organization.

10. Real CEOs demo
Steve Jobs could demo a 'Pod, 'Pad, 'Phone, andMac two to three times a year with millions of people watching, why is it that many CEOs call on their vice president of engineering to do a product demo? Maybe it’s to show that there’s a team effort in play. Maybe. It’s more likely that the CEO doesn’t understand what his/her company is making well enough to explain it. How pathetic is that?

11. Real CEOs ship
For all his perfectionism, Steve could ship. Maybe the product wasn’t perfect every time, but it was almost always great enough to go. The lesson is that Steve wasn’t tinkering for the sake of tinkering—he had a goal: shipping and achieving worldwide domination of existing markets or creation of new markets. Apple is an engineering-centric company, not a research-centric one. Which would you rather be: Apple or Xerox PARC?

Unique + Valuable = Has a market

12. Marketing boils down to providing unique value
Think of a two-by-two matrix. The vertical axis measures how your product differs from the competition. The horizontal axis measures the value of your product. Bottom right: valuable but not unique—you’ll have to compete on price. Top left: unique but not valuable—you’ll own a market that doesn’t exist. Bottom left: not unique and not valuable—you’re a bozo. Top right: unique and valuable—this is where you make margin, money, and history. For example, the iPod was unique and valuable because it was the only way to legally, inexpensively, and easily download music from the six biggest record labels.

Guy Kawasaki

Bonus: Some things need to be believed to be seen. When you are jumping curves, defying/ignoring the experts, facing off against big challenges, obsessing about design, and focusing on unique value, you will need to convince people to believe in what you are doing in order to see your efforts come to fruition. People needed to believe in Macintosh to see it become real. Ditto for the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Not everyone will believe—that’s OK. But the starting point of changing the world is changing a few minds. This is the greatest lesson of all that I learned from Steve. May he rest in peace knowing how much he changed the world.

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It has never been easy to build a corporate training, speaking or coaching business from the ground floor up, but in today's tough economy it is more difficult than ever for two reasons:

• Budgets for "nice to have" training have been cut. Sometimes even the "need to have" training budgets have been reduced or eliminated.

• A large number of recently laid off corporate training staff and human resources professionals have given up looking for employment, and have decided to try their hand at building an independent training business. So you now have more competitors than ever. It is relatively easy for them to pop up a website, print business cards, create a presentation on a specific training topic, then start marketing their corporate training "expertise."

So you are going to need to do more than ever to differentiate your training business from both traditional competitors and these new entrants into the corporate training marketplace. So with that goal in mind, here is a series of of practical tips and strategies to retain existing clients and maximize your potential to acquire new clients.

1. Speak up, be heard and be known. Speaking is one of the best ways to leverage your natural talent, establish you as an expert and generate qualified leads. If you put your mind to it, you will be able to identify dozens of speaking opportunities. Local business groups, school groups, community organizations and church groups - find every venue possible to share your expertise and spread the word about the passion and capability you bring to your particular corporate training arena.

If you have already identified a certain market to target, relentlessly appear before them in as many ways as you can. Appearing in different speaking venues reinforces a strong impression that you are the person to see when any need related to your expertise arises.

2. Start writing. Writing is another effective way to tell people that you are the obvious expert and increase your visibility. Magazines, trade journals and newspapers are some of the publications that you can write for. Make sure your articles are interesting and easy to read (e.g. use shorter paragraphs and bullets). Focus on practical tips for improvement rather than broad philosophy or perspective.

Your writing, along with your speaking engagements, will help establish you as an expert available to take calls from reporters and editors. Develop relationships with them, and let them know you are a good source that they can turn to for information and story ideas. Once you are able to achieve that, your name will show up everywhere, and readers will notice and remember you as the expert that they can rely on when they need your services.

3. Get referrals from existing clients. This is by far one of the easiest and the least expensive marketing strategies. If you are not already getting most of your business from referrals, you need to work hard in this area. Getting referrals is not that difficult--you just need to ask for them. A simple question such as, “Do you know any other organizations that might benefit from a similar program?"

At least once a year you should conduct an "annual impact review" with each client organization. If there are several key individuals within the organization, meet with all of them (either together or individually) and go through a series of questions to help you gauge how much of an impact your training is having on the company, and where there might be room for improvement. This review meeting is a perfect opportunity to ask for referrals.

One of the best ways to get referrals is to give referrals. Help your client organizations gain new business, and they will be even more highly motivated to do the same for you.

 

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Is "Word of Mouth" Enough?

 Last year I met a (relatively) young man who had just launched his own independent sales training business. He had lost his job as the lead sales trainer for a large local company and decided that now was the time to finally pursue a long-held dream of owning his own company.

His first client was his previous employer. His second was a company owned by a friend of a friend. Only a month into his new life, he was feeling pretty good. When I asked about his marketing strategy to acquire additional clients he smiled and said "word of mouth, that's the key."  He had talked to a number of other independent training professionals in the area who had all built successful businesses (decades ago) and many had horror stories of the money and time they wasted on marketing and promotions.-their advice to him was simply "word of mouth, that's the key."

Recently I caught up with the intrepid entrepreneur to ask how things were going, and it was clear that he had been struggling. His first two clients had faded away, and he was barely getting by with a string of short-term speaking and training engagements. Feedback from his clients was exceptionally positive; they all loved his work and were more than willing to "spread the word." But the word just didn't seem to be enough.

And I think that is the experience of many in the corporate training business today. While it is great to have enthusiastic clients who are willing to tell others how wonderful you are, it just isn't enough to sustain a business. Especially if you are just starting out.

At the same time I would hesitate to reccomend spending significant time or money on traditional advertising and marketing strategies. When your funds are limited and the economy is exceptionally tight, you have to leverage the one thing you have that no one else does: your creative mind.

Start with the question: Are there, right now, organizations and individuals in your market who would benefit greatly (in a tangible, measurable way) from your training services? And would they benefit to such a degree that it would make sense for them to PAY you for your services? Remember, when money is tight, a business needs to justify every dollar spent. So if you were the client business, would you realistically be willing to pay for the type of training that you - the trainer - are providing?

Think about these questions carefully. I know too many people who are struggling to selling soft, mushy, feel good training that "empowers" people and "engages" employees.  And when I suggest that they consider something a little more tangible (sales, negotiation, telephone skills, customer service, etc.) they turn up their nose. That stuff is boring to them. But... it is not boring to their prospective clients.

So the first thing to do is think clearly about the training services you are offering. And whether or not they are the right services for the times were are living in today. If not, make a change (more about this in a later posting).

Assuming you are providing a compelling training service that produces tangible value for your client organizations, the next question is - where is your PROOF? Not referrals, not just testimonials, but actual cold hard PROOF that you can deliver that value you are talking about? In today's world everyone is talking a good game. What will truly separate you from the thundering herd of average desperate trainers is solid, tangible evidence. 

Write three brief case studies of your most successful client engagements. Describe the initial situation, your training solution, and the ultimate outcome in terms of tangible business results. Get quotes from your clients to back up everything you are saying.

If you want to know how to structure a good marketing case study pick up a copy of the Harvard Business Review and emulate their caste study structure. Except that you want to use fewer words and more graphs.

Click here for several good examples of marketing case studies. The key is to build a rock solid, bullet proof case that you absolutely can produce the results you are talking about. Then build another. And another. I'm not totally sure why but in my own experience, presenting a single case study to a prospect is interesting and effective, but presenting three case studies is far more powerful.

So let's assume you have amassed the evidence you need. Now what? Pick the prospect organizations you want to work with (more about this in a later post as well) and start at the top. Call the CEO, the President, the Executive Director - whoever is ultimately in charge. Lead with the OUTCOMES and RESULTS you have produced for others and ask for a BRIEF conversation to determine if this organization would benefit from the same OUTCOMES. 

"Mr. Jones, I was hoping to talk to you for just a few minutes about how I worked with Dunbar Corporate and two other local companies to reduce unplanned employee turnover by 12% and increase employee job satisfaction scores by more than 20%, even as their benefits packages were being scaled back. Would you have time for a brief conversation to talk about how we did that?"

This approach - starting at the top of the corporate food chain, leading with compelling RESULTS (that you can back up with tangible evidence) and asking for just a brief conversation to talk about how you did it - will almost always get you either a meeting (or telephone conversation) with the top person, or they will refer you down the food chain to someone else.

Now of course you have to convert that first conversation into a second, deeper discussion. More about that in the next post...

Practical Time Management Tips

Salespeople who struggle to manage their time effectively often are facing two common challenges:

1. They procrastinate uncomfortable tasks such as prospecting and following up with difficult customers.
2. They find it difficult to say “no” to time-consuming requests from others.

How To Stop Procrastinating

Recognize that procrastination stems from habit. New habits will be needed, and these take time and commitment to develop. Procrastination typically results from:

• Real or apparently unpleasant tasks
• Difficult and complex projects
• Indecision
• Fear of failure - If you are uncertain of your skills, starting a project will be tough and delaying will be easy. (Sometimes fear of success can be harmful as well)
• A desire for perfectionism - you can't go on until you get it perfect
• Lack of interest in the work
• Hostility towards the person who assigned the project

Recognize the difference between an appropriate decision to delay, and an irrational postponement without justification. Fix procrastination by working on a) tasks and b) your environment:

Procrastination - Task Strategies

• Complete unpleasant tasks first. Schedule them for early in the day.
• Reward yourself for accomplishments. Go out for special lunches when major projects are completed. If you don't earn the reward, don't take it.
• Break large jobs into smaller, more manageable tasks.
• Plan and complete a start-up task, no matter how small.
• Set deadlines for yourself.
• Tell other people your deadlines and encourage them to check up on you.
• Maintain a focus on the end result, not just the process.
• Develop a clear mental picture of the completed task and how you will feel at that time.
• Make a game out of unpleasant tasks. Give yourself points, or do a running commentary on yourself as you do the task.
• Remind yourself how good you'll feel when you're finished.

Procrastination - Environment Strategies

• Tailor your environment for work. Remove distractions such as water coolers, snacks, in-boxes, coffee machines and magazine racks.
• If you work at home, treat your office as an office. Don't go out to lunch before lunchtime or watch television before the end of the day.
• Tell your family that you are not to be disturbed in your home office.

How To Say No

We say "yes"to others because we want to please them. But when eventually we can't continue, we let them down and we feel guilty. Both parties suffer. Recognize that a desire to please often prevents us from saying no. Stick to your plan. If you have a written set of goals and strategies, this gives you a reason to stick to your course. ("Thanks, but I already have an investment plan, so you don't need to send me a newsletter about stocks.") When someone persists, repeat your position, perhaps in a slightly different way. ("As I already said, our policy is to donate to charities that help children only.") Here are a few additional tips:

• Make sure you understand exactly what is being asked of you before you respond. Perhaps the task is more time consuming than you thought. On the other hand, it may not take much effort at all.
• Excel at just a few things, rather than being just average at many. Don't try to do everything.
• You have a right to say no. Remember that others may take you for granted and even lose respect for you if you don't.
• Be polite, but firm in saying no. You only build false hopes with wishy-washy responses. For instance, the phrase "I'll try to be there" in response to a party invitation is giving yourself an excuse to avoid a commitment. It doesn't do anyone any favors.

When a superior asks you to do a new urgent task;

• Remind her that you are working on other projects that she has already identified as top priorities
• Ask for help in deciding where the new task should fall on the list of priorities
• Ask "What you like to give up in order for me to do this?"
• Point out that you might be able to do everything, but not to the usual high standards that are expected.

Some experts recommend keeping your answer short. This way, you can say no without feeling the need for a lengthy justification. ("I'm sorry, I'm not available that night.") On the other hand, others say that giving a longer answer with reasons reinforces your credibility. Let the situation decide.

• Provide suggestions or alternatives to the person who is asking. ("I can't do that task today, but how about next week," or "How about asking John instead?")
• When in doubt, it's easier to say no now, then change your mind to a yes later, rather than the other way around.

When You Have to Say Yes

Sometimes, saying no is simply unavoidable. Here are some techniques to use:

• Tell the person you can agree to their request this time, but ask how the two of you might plan better for the next time.
• Tell them yes, but remind them they owe you one. For example, they might cover you for a shift next time you need time off.
• Tell them yes, but take control by saying you'll come back to them with a timetable. For instance, say, "I expect I'll be able to do that for you by the end of the week."
• Put a tough condition on your agreement. "If it would only take an hour, I'd be able to help, but I can't give you more than that.

Achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Virtually every business is challenged with the trend toward increased commoditization of their products and services. Unique/profitable products or services are quickly “cloned” by competitors, customers focus more and more on price comparisons, margin pressure increases all around due to pricing concessions that are all too frequently given in order to win or retain business.

What is the answer? Some people say, "As soon as the market softens/hardens/turns around, things will improve" or "We have some real unique features that our competitors can't match. We just need to get better at telling our story."

Unfortunately, research indicates that:

1. It is not going to get better any time soon, so you had better rethink how you sell if you do not want to continually play the "Give me your lowest price" game.
2. Trying to differentiate using a "unique" product or product feature is the equivalent of saying, "Please price shop me against my competitors who are also touting their 'unique' product features."

What impact does this have on selling strategy? If what we sell is no longer effective at creating and sustaining a competitive advantage, then what should we do? If the products we produce or distribute no longer create differentiation, is there any good news?

Absolutely, and the organizations that have figured this out are thriving in even the toughest competitive markets. The good news is that the ability to drive differentiation and get paid for that differentiation lies in the ability to leverage the experience and competencies of your sales force.

To put it simply; is your sales force a value creating sales force or a value communicating sales force?

It used to be that the best salesperson was the one who was the best “talking brochure.” To be the best meant simply translating product uniqueness into something a customer cared about and the sale was made. These days, that translation has to be far more elegant. It is not enough to let the product create the value—the seller has to.

Today, salespeople who simply communicate value to customers are not achieving their maximum potential—only those salespeople who are able to CREATE customer value will truly thrive in a commodity marketplace.

What does the phrase “create value” really mean? How do you do it?

Try this test
What is it that you do on a sales call that is so valuable that a customer or broker would pay for your time, whether or not they actually purchased from you? It is a tough question. Frontline Learning’s research with thousands of customers who paid above the minimum for services or products reveals that there are several ways to create value for your clients, beyond the products and services you sell. This will help you to be more strategically important to your clients and difficult to substitute, and a true value creating salesperson.

The skill and sophistication with which you can execute these ideas will increasingly dictate whether you can break out of playing the commodity game and win all of the business that you should be winning, or continue to fight the price war for every deal.

Value Creating Strategy #1 - Recognize the unrecognized problem
This involves working with the client to uncover the problems that they don't see, or realize the magnitude of the problems that they do see. The key word is with—not at. You want to craft the conversation to get the client talking about their issues, not you.

How skilled are you or your sales team at being able to conduct a diagnostic meeting or conversation with your customer? How effective are you at being able to understand and communicate your products in terms of client problems and outcomes? Do you know what value you bring when you have a conversation with a client? It can make the difference between winning and losing a piece of business.

Value Creating Strategy #2 - Develop the unanticipated solution

When your clients are making a decision about whether or not they are going to place their business with you or your competitor, what factors are they looking at? Yes, price, of course—but what else? In many cases, there are criteria that are potentially more important than price, if only the client could see value in them. How effective are you at being able to increase the value of those other criteria to reduce the emphasis on price?

One way of developing the unanticipated solution is to match the full array of your company's capabilities to meet your client's needs and criteria. Does your company offer capabilities that the client is unaware of that can offer them a superior solution? How can you create value in these capabilities?

Value Creating Strategy #3 – Be a broker of capabilities

You or your company don’t have to be the source of every valuable idea. If you identify that a customer has a need – any need – and can provide information about possible resources or solutions that are available elsewhere (and not competitive with your offerings) then you can become a “broker” of ideas and capabilities by referring them to this other resources.

When you hear that one customer is having great success with a particular product or service, or has tried an innovative approach to a problem that is common to many of your other customers, when you hear the same problem from other customers be sure to share what you have learned.

Value Creating Strategy #4 - CREATING Value in the Sales Process

Have you ever had a conversation with someone you respect who, through their questions, comments and genuine interest in your well-being, was able to help you gain a new insight, awareness or perspective on an issue that was important to you? Not just by sharing their thoughts or opinions, but by engaging in a true, deep give-and-take discussion of the issue.

In many discussions like this the “value” this person brings is based upon their desire to understand you or your situation at the deepest level possible, coupled with their ability to help you explore new possibilities or solutions that would not have occurred to you on your own.

There are several purposes to the Question, Probe, Discover step of REAL Selling:

• Identify the prospective customer’s direct/tactical needs for your products and/or services.
• Identify the prospective customer’s indirect/strategic needs for your products and/or services.
• Strengthen and deepen your relationship with the prospective customer.
• Potentially help the prospective customer gain a valuable new insight, perspective or awareness.

A final thought…
Does successfully using these three strategies to become a value-creating sales person guarantee that you will never have to compete solely on price again? Absolutely not! There are those clients that want your price and they want it fast and that's all they want. But we have seen time and time again that there are clients out there that are being driven to price shop by the behavior of their sales person. Is the way you sell reinforcing that you are a commodity?

Frontline's research shows that there is good news to selling in a marketplace where the client perceives little difference between solutions. Thousands of clients have told us that there is a way to break away from the commodity pack, that there is a way that you can become differentiated, more strategically important and difficult to substitute. Becoming a value creator is a good place to start.