Episode 22: What information should your promotional deck include?

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...

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 that they actually need, you're missing out on loads of work and you aren't making as much money as you should be.

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And that's why, in today's main event, I'm going to talk you about...

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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.

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.

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 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 their mess when shit hits the fan.

They only see HR as being reactive.

When you are 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.

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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 basis.

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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...

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So the Promotional Deck was created to help guide you through a general discovery call with a 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 you should be positioning your services because you're focusing on subscription based revenue first and an HR Audit is your gateway, and theirs, to work with you on time or project basis where it matters most.

However, the flow of the deck could be easily adapted to help you sell any service or package.

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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 questions:

And then I used an awesome framework called Elements of Value created by the big consultancy firm Bain & Company.

I LOVE this framework because it kind of based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and lists all of the different values that people or businesses take into consideration when making a buying decision.

So from a brand and marketing point of view, it's SO useful to go through each of these values to determine what messages you need to focus on the most to really get your point across.

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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 what themes 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 worked.

And I'm delighted to say that my clients started to see immediate results...

with one client winning a huge 30k piece of training and converted some of their pay as you go clients onto their brand new subscription based package.

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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....

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So imagine your on the phone to a business with 20 employees.

The operations or office manager has been looking after their HR up until now but they've hit a point where they need to get some proper infrastructure in place.

You've been recommend by someone they know or they've found you on Google and they've booked an initial chat to learn more about you.

At the start of the call, you'll want to do as much fact finding as you possibly can to get a good feeling for where they're at, what their goals are and how you can help.

And you know that they  basically they need to get some HR software in place to help manage a lot of the admin that's going on...

They need you advisory service to answer the first line support that they need ...

AND THEN, you'll need to do a HR audit to really figure out what's going on and were you can help.

So now is the time to bring up your deck and start educating them on the world of HR.

Slide 1 is a quick company intro...

So think of this slide as your website home page - you'll want to introduce the company super quickly and the best way to do this is via your elevator pitch, summarising your hero statement / mission statement / value proposition.

Here's how I would do this:

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 and your direct team quickly.

You don't need to go into 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.

People buy from people after all.

On slide 3, you'll want to talk about your wider team

So business owners want to know that your services and support are scalable.

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.

But to ensure you're compliant, work in an ethical way, have a 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 need to start explaining and educating them on the world of HR 

And we suggest using the Employee Life Cycle 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...

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.

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.

On this slide, you'll want to build trust and credibility with the business owner by running through the different ways you can help them using the concept of your "Partnership promise".

On slide 8, you'll want to introduce the HR Service Pyramid

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 vast and complex...

And you have organised 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 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...

On slide 13, you'll  then reiterate how they should access your support by telling them how to get started... 

So you'll advise 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 customised support in the most cost efficient way at management and director level.

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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 then please sign up to my flagship video programme: How to package up and sell HR to make more money.

Visit my website thehrmarketingguy.com to learn more.