Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Made in the UK for HR consultants worldwide. You're listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast.
[00:00:13] Hello, James here and welcome to this week's podcast episode. In this week's main event, we're going to talk about what information business owners need to know in order to buy from you, and the best way to present what they need to know in a promotional deck. And in this week's Thought of the Week, I'm going to talk to you about the biggest business lesson that my mentor has taught me over the years. So let's jump straight in this week's main event.
[00:00:39] Most consultants I know hate the thought of selling. It's something that they really struggle with and they have a terrible sales process as a result. And that's why most consultants I speak to feel like they're a bit of a pushover in the sales process, because you probably allow business owners to tell you what they think they want and as opposed to what you know they actually need. Yet you kind of just go with it because you don't want to rock the boat too much or lose their interest. But by doing this, you aren't giving them the support they need, you're missing out on loads of work and you aren't making as much money as you should be. And that's why in today's main event, I'm going to talk to you about what the sales process should actually look like, what information business owners need to know in order to make a decision to work with you, and the best way to present this information in a promotional deck to help guide the initial discovery conversations you have with business owners. So let's jump straight into what the sales process should look like. I'm going to get started with a big bit of advice that will help you to think about the sales process in a completely different way. So I want you to stop thinking that sales is this horrible, pushy sales process, and instead I want you to think of it as an educational opportunity. So when speaking to business owners for the first time, your first priority is to educate them on the world of hr. Most business owners think that they know what HR does, but you and I know that they don't because they just think you're there to hire and fire people and clean up after their mess when shit hits the fan. They only see HR as being reactive. When you and I know that HR is way more than that. The real value you can provide is by working with them as a strategic partner. And they should definitely be investing in preventative HR like absence management, performance management, and Management training because this type of work will save them thousands of pounds and dollars in the future.
[00:02:30] So for business owners to understand the true value and impact of hr, you have to teach them about it first. Educated people buy and as a result you'll sell more ongoing work to them rather than just working with them on a pay as you go basis, which a lot of you I know are trying to get out of. So last year I did a big research project to create a templated promotional deck for my clients which includes everything a business owner needs to know in order to buy from you. And this is what I'm going to talk you through now. So the promotional deck was created to help guide you through a general discovery call with the prospect and it has been designed to help you primarily sell your admin and advisory, subscription based packages and a one time HR audit as a project. For me, this is the right way that you should be positioning your services because you're focusing on subscription based revenue first and then HR audit is your gateway and theirs to work with you on a time and project basis where it matters most. However, the flow of the debt could easily be adapted to help you sell any service or package. So how did I research the information business owners need to know in order to make a decision to work with you? Well first I held a workshop with 25 of my clients in London last year and I asked the following question, so what do business owners need to know? What are the questions that business owners ask? What are the main objections that business owners have and what are the benefits of working with you? I then used an awesome framework called Elements of Value created by the big consultancy firm Bain and Company. I love, love, love this framework because it's kind of based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and it lists all of the different values that people or businesses take into consideration when making a buying decision. So from a brand marketing point of view, it's so, so useful to go through each of these values to determine what messages you need to focus on to really get your message across. Anyway, I spent days going through this framework and also worked with a number of my clients on it to create key information that business owners needed to know. And then I grouped that information into themes that should be included within the promotional deck. Then, using all of my marketing and sales experience, I created a templated promotional deck that I field tested with my clients to make sure it works. And I'm delighted to say that my clients started to see immediate results with one client winning a huge 30k piece of training in the first week and converted some of their pay as you go clients onto their brand new subscription based packages. That was a fantastic result. So now I'm going to talk you through a very basic version of the promotional deck that I created for my clients so you're not overloaded with information and get a good sense for what should be included and how. So imagine you're on the phone to a business with 20 employees. Let's say the operations or office manager has been looking after their HR up until now, but they've hit a point where they need to go and get some proper infrastructure in place. You've been recommended by someone that they know or they found you on Google and they've put in an initial chat to learn more about you. At the start of the call, you want to do as much fact finding as you possibly can to get a good feeling of where they're at, what their goals are and how you can help. And you know that basically they need to get some HR software in place to manage all of the admin that's going on. They then need the advisory service to answer the first line support that they need. And, and then you'll need to do a HR audit to really figure out what's going on and where you can help. And for most consultants I speak to, that HR audit is the key piece.
[00:05:55] So you've had that conversation in your head, you've kind of figured out what they need and now is the time to bring up your deck and start educating them on the world of hr. So slide one is a quick company intro. So think of this slide as your website homepage. You want to introduce the company super quickly. And the best way to do this is via elevator pitch, summarizing your hero statement or mission statement or value proposition statements. Basically that's what your elevator pitch is. So I would do this like, hey, I'm James, I'm the world's go to HR marketing guy and I help HR consultants get new clients and create a life they love. On slide 2, you'll want to introduce yourself and the direct team. So think of this slide as your website's about us and team page. You'll want to introduce yourself quickly and your direct team. You don't need to go into too much detail, but giving a quick summary of what each person does will help your prospect build a personal connection with your consultancy, which is really important. So people buy from people after all. On slide three, you want to talk about your wider team. So business owners want to know that your Services and support are scalable and for that reason it's important to tell them that you have a trusted network of professionals that you can work with to help them achieve their Goals. On slide 4, you'll want to explain how qualified and credited you and your team are. Now, it's important to educate business owners that there isn't actually a regulatory body for hr, both in the UK and us, but to ensure you're compliant, work in an ethical way, have commitment to quality and have a great reputation. These are all direct values from the framework. By the way. I think it's important that you talk about the CIPD or SHRM or however, you stay ahead in the game to reassure business owners that you know what you're talking about and they can trust you to do an awesome job. On slide 5, you'll need to start explaining and educating them on the world of hr. And we suggest using the employee lifecycle as a framework to help business owners understand all of the different areas in which you can help them. On slide 6, I want you to start positioning yourself as a strategic partner. Now, this is probably one of the most important slides on the deck as it answers so many of the values that business owners are looking for. And this is really where you demonstrate your value as a HR consultant. On slide 7, I want you to create a partnership promise. So as their strategic partner, you need to be trusted to help the business in lots of different ways. And on this slide, you want to build trust and credibility with the business owner by running through all of the different ways you can help them by using the concept of your partnership promise. On slide 8, you want to introduce the HR Service pyramid. So this is when you start talking about how your services are delivered. Before you can talk them through your packages, you need to explain that HR is fast and complex and you have organized your services via the different levels of the HR Service pyramid to make things easier to understand. This is key to them understanding how you're packaging up and value stacking your services and that everything isn't included in just one package. On slide 9, you'll guide the business owner through your admin package. On slide 10, you'll guide the business owner through your advisory package. And on slide 11, you'll guide the business owner through your HR audit package. And on slide 13, you'll then reiterate how they should access your support by telling them how to get started. So this is you as an expert HR consultant saying, look, these are the steps that I would take rather than kind of just throwing your packages at them and letting them kind of create a pick a mix, you know. So you'll advise them that they should come on board with your admin and advisory subscription based packages and then your one time HR audit as this is the best way to provide them with customized support in the most cost efficient way at management and Director level.
[00:09:38] So like I said, I've just whizzed through what a very basic promotional deck should look like for your consultancy. But if you would like access to my full research and the completed templated packages and promotional deck that my clients are using to win all of their lovely new clients then please sign up to my flagship video program how to Package up and sell HR to make more money. Visit my website the HRMarketingGuide.com to learn more. James Thought of the Week if you didn't know already, I'm also the Growth Strategy Director for an international marketing company that has over 800 clients worldwide. I've been working with the owner Paul on and off since I was 22, so a long time now and I'm very grateful to have him in my life as he has been a great inspiration and my business mentor. He's taught me lots of things over the years, but the one thing he's taught me that I'm most appreciative of is his attitude and ability towards taking fast action. He doesn't let anything stop him. He's a great problem solver and he gets stuff done fast and I think this is one of the most powerful and important attitudes and abilities to have as a business owner. I remember when I first started working for him, this was back when I was 22 or something so I was very green in my career. We were creating a big business manual for our clients. It was like 150 page document or something and it was a huge project, it needed to be proofed before it got sent out to print and I'm not that great at proofing. So this was a really big scary job in my head which inevitably pushed the project back because I was procrastinating. And when we were catching up on the project I said that I didn't know how I would be able to proof it in time and he flippantly said well let's just find the content proofer on people per hour to do it for us. It'll be done within the day. And at the time my mind was blown. I never really delegated anything to anyone before and didn't even think that I'd be able to go onto the Internet and find someone to complete any job that I wanted. And honestly, looking back now, this seems so silly, but at the time, I remember it being a really big thing and like an explosion had gone off in my head. But for Paul, it was nothing. He didn't have an attachment to how the job was getting done. He just found the easiest and quickest way to get the job done so that we could actually start sending our business manual out to our clients and getting more sales, which was the most important thing. And this was a huge, huge business lesson for me when I was a young, sprightly 22 year old. And as a result, every single time I look at a project, I ask myself, what is the quickest and easiest way for me to get it done? Because getting the job done is the most important thing. Now. I know lots of consultants that are sitting on their goals and if that's the case, then I hope that this thought of the week will inspire you to take action fast. Just think to yourself, what is it that you want to achieve and what is the fastest way for you to achieve it? And if you need help creating a plan, take fast action now by booking a call in with me today and let's chat. You've been listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast, helping you to get new clients and create a life you love.