As I understand what you are doing, that is selling a prepackaged training program (with customization, and correct me if I'm wrong), my starting point would be financial...How much do you need to earn to support or to advance your lifestyle.

Just for illustrative purposes, say you want to make 50,000 a year.

And you are paid a commission, say 200 bucks for every thousand you bring in.

How much training do you need to sell? Which packages are higher profit? What is the EASIEST SELL?

Who is buying what? What is your competition, and I'm thinking that TRAINING is very competitive, but that also means companies are spending on training too.

What I'm getting at Mitch is it might be easier to find a larger company, 200-400 employees, with maybe 20 in a given department, like Human Resources, and to sell them a variety of packages.

It could be you would only need 6 or fewer a year to reach your financial goals...so you could affort to spend more time in the research part.

If you have to do smaller companies, you may need to make more sales, and see more people to do it.

I try to work from ECONOMIES of scale. It's just as easy for me to talk to a guy who owns 4 restaurants, or 10, or a corporation that owns 20 franchises..

as it is to talk to the mom and pop restaurant.

So, I might spend more time learning the needs of the chain and the restrictions of a franchise...on the other hand, I could GET TO Mom or Pop a lot quicker and have my answer a lot sooner.

If what you are doing is just repping the training, that is acting as a salesman and you are not presenting...then you want to mix it up.

See a lot of Mom and Pops to get a fast start, and hit the big boys too.

As for information, a Chartered Corporation may issue annual reports and these are usually placed in the library. A college or university may have a whole ton of annual reports available.

Call your library and ask if they have CONTACTS INFLUENTIAL or a local Who's Who, and don't forget to join Chamber of Commerce, and BBB, and Regional Development Boards...all have directories and listing.

There is a whole bunch of information available, but the best way is to network. To go to meetings and to MEET people.

Now, I would put my TIME on a chart for the next year, see how much INCOME I had to produce routinely...pick one, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly...what were my cash flow needs.

This done with the END result in mind...50k, 100k...and what efforts were needed to reach that figure.

So, it may very well be worth my time to spend 6 to 8 months "WORKING" on a company (and that could include several presentations) if the PAYOFF was going to be 25k or more.

Think long range, and the secret to your business is this: see the people, see the people and see the RIGHT people.

It might take you 6 to 8 months to build a network of contacts. And in the meantime you could be making nice income from the smaller less time consuming customers.

Do this:

Make a ONE month plan of action.
Week One: Spend 10 hours researching companies with more than 100 employees.

Call on at least 10 companies in person. Now I compared this to resumes. I'd send my clients on INFORMATION interviews, and these are fairly easy to get. You can do the same.

Cold call on a company, meet the 'gatekeeper', tell her/him you are there for an INFORMATION interview, your BOSS wants you to "learn" all you can about companies in your area.

If nothing else, you'll get a feel for the company.

And call with the idea of SELLING something to somebody also. I'm sure your parent company has ample sales collateral for you to use, and probably even a script or two...or a sales plan.

Follow it.

My point to you Mitch is to start thinking from DAY ONE about the economies of your time, with the idea that PERHAPS you'll get to the point that you only need a couple of sales a year to reach your goal...and the rest is gravy.

Which companies can do that for you? What training are they currently buying? Who's who?
(Annual reports, company newsletters, talking with employees and networking)...

then set your sites on being the MAN when it comes to providing their training needs in the area you are offering.

BE EFFICIENT.

Would it be better
> to directly approach the owner/president
> with an approach like yours or would you try
> to go through the training department? What
> other sources would you use to concentrate
> on a particular company/industry.

Depends on the size of the company. As a general rule, you'll find companies with less than 100 people have a tendency to be autocratic...that is, ONE key person runs the show and makes the decisions. Probably the Founder or President.

In this case you need to know which OVERWORKED department head mosts benefits from your type of training. That is the KEY person for you.

In the mid size range, 100-300, you'll find Department Heads or Managers that will have to be sold on training, and then it goes to a decision maker, like a VP.

More than 400 you run into bureacratic places where decisions take longer, more committees and all that.

Large companies with 600 plus you have to LEARN and cultivate relationships...there is a lot of politicking going on there. BUT, one continuous training contract produces you a nice foundation income.

> Also, do you feel a 3 step, Dan Kennedy type
> letter approach would be appropriate or just
> one letter then the phone call?

Me? I feel a 12 step approach might work.

Hi I'm Gordon (Hi Gordon)

It's been two weeks since I've called upon you about training. Would you like me to bring over plan a or plan b?

If this is going to be your career, then don't let a month go by that you don't contact your prospects. They just might be ready for you this month.

LOCATE the key contacts, send them birthday cards, President's day cards, St. Patricks Day, Easter/Spring cards, Memorial Day, July 4th...the point is to keep your name in front of them.

Letter. Personal call. Phone call. Letter. Phone call. In person. Card. Card. Phone call. Card. etc. etc. Memento. Phone Call. until you make a sale.

Hope this helps Mitch.

First BELIEVE in your product. Second make a commitment to do whatever it takes. Set goals. Backward chain the EVENTS (action steps)...take action, and continue and adjust the action until it works. Repeat what works.

Simple? Yes. Easy. NO. But then, that is why they call it work.

If you can do it with a smile on your face everday (from joy)...and a song in your heart, then you'll meet your goals. Just take one step at a time. But take the steps every day.

Gordon Alexander