How to Create High Value courses using a limited amount of resources
Michael Pedone grew up with the dream of becoming an international rock star. As a child of a poor family, Michael imagined a life of luxury, but more crucially, a lifestyle which he could enjoy money freedom. In time, the idea was a hobby, however Michael realized a profession which allowed him to perform like a rockstar, selling.
Since the age of 25, Michael has worked as a straight commission sales representative--a sales rep with a total income made up of commissions by closing sales. This isn't a surprise since, in his heart, Michael has always lived the life of an businessman. The first company he started was amid the 2000-dot-com crisis and later sold it at seven figures. After that, he was able to establish a business which has won him lots of recognition today: SalesBuzz.
"Of all the business ideas I thought of it was this idea I kept coming back to. I know what it feels like to have the phone seem like a twenty-five-pound burden and not want to touch it anymore, and I know the stress of having to get it out of the way since you have children to care for."
"Out among the many platforms that we evaluated, Plus was the best choice to allow other companies to provide their sales personnel with trained quickly and in a cost-effective solution," Michael says. Michael.
A core of two individuals, Michael, Founder and CEO along with Brittany the Training Coordinator. SalesBuzz created their online educational service from scratch on Plus. By focusing on course development with clients as well as their students with an eye on the future, this tiny however strong group has succeeded in developing their top-quality Engage Selling course in 9 different languages. They have 1081 students counting!
"I come from a teaching background. Not one with a background in computer science. It's a breeze to use, it's very easy to configure and customer service is excellent, and it's very user and user-friendly." This is the explanation of Brittany who created SalesBuzz's complete site.
And, without a platform, what is the way SalesBuzz has been able to attain its successes with the smallest available resources?
Michael is a unique person with the view of both an agent for sales as well as an owner of a business. Each of these perspectives he applies to SalesBuzz. The secret to their achievement boils down to three key elements:
- Understanding your students
- Understanding your customer
- Delivering valuable content
Understanding your students
Michael understands what drives his students. He understands what they'd like to learn, how they'd like to reach their goals and the obstacles that could stand in their path.
"When I was struggling as a young sales rep, I wanted to learn the best way to conclude. I was wet in my ear, and had to understand that you will more effectively close in the event that you don't skip steps early. The key is to master each step, one at a time. Once you've started, you're going to close quicker and experience less resistance ."
Using his past experience and insider knowledge, Michael and Brittany have developed their course . For example, to counteract the urge of wanting to "skip ahead" they've made it possible to provide drip content and allow students to enroll in the course only after they've completed the specific sections of the course. In order to promote completion and accountability, SalesBuzz provides a certificate when the course is completed that students can use to show off on their LinkedIn profile.
Michael recognizes that increasing the skills you have in sales requires practice. That's the reason he gives students access to his course throughout the year so that they can go back and refresh themselves whenever needed.
"You can't just go through something and then learn it all by yourself You have to learn it by doing it," he says. "If you're trying learn something, especially with regard to sales skills, you can take a listen for a few minutes, but it doesn't mean you're going to succeed in mastering it. ."
Learn to understand the needs of your customers
Being aware of the requirements of your students is vital and understanding the demands of your customers is essential. SalesBuzz is a B2B (business-to-business) company whose target audience is small business owners to Sales Directors of Fortune 500 companies. Understanding what a customer's needs and what they value is the reason SalesBuzz has been able to take decisions that affect their users' experience in addition.
The ability to monitor progress, report on performances, and incorporate check and balances such as exam and quizzes are among the factors that Brittany and Michael considered when they decided on the platform they would use for their courses. Actually, one of the primary reasons Michael and Brittany decided to go with Plus was the ability to create unlimited groups in the Analyst feature.
"Money is invested, and If the business is planning to put money into its employees it is essential to are able to track the progress of your employees and make sure that your team is doing their best to grow. The ability to provide every manager the chance to login, check the performance of their teams and keep track of their progress is vital," states Michael.
The Group Analyst feature permits SalesBuzz to offer their customers with the ability to access status reports for teams and groups who are taking part in their training courses. This allows them to know where their investment is going and also provides responsibility to students who they coach.
Deliver valuable content
The most important aspect of the SalesBuzz strategy is the distribution of relevant and useful material. This factor has been crucial in the growth of SalesBuzz and it's what makes Michael's company thrive. Through the years, the business has learned a lot about the art of producing content. With the advent of the "on-demand" method of the delivery of courses, they've discovered that "more customers are selecting this model" and that "new customers love this model ."
What is the standard of material? As per Michael Michael the most important factor is the quality of content, not quantity.
"It should be relevant throughout the entire process," he explains, and "there there is no reason for creating fluff just so that it is more easily accessible. If you can instruct someone in three hours, there's no reason to be wrong with creating thirty hours of content ."
Michael as well as Brittany have broken their content into digestible chapters. They've also created a variety of engaging lesson plans, including presentations that include the sound of voiceovers, printable PDF guidebooks, worksheets, quizzes, as well as assessments.
According to Michael his colleagues, having a quiz at the conclusion of every chapter is vital to the students and clients. It is possible to give a range of options within the bank of quizzes ensures his students aren't just remembering the answers, but are actually learning and this is now an important selling point for his business.
"They must be acquainted of the content. It's an enormous benefit for our clients. When they find out that these tests are being conducted, it makes a big distinction because they don't just have to go through the check or fast-forwarding an exam and taking the test and learning. It's essential to be able to comprehend these skills!" Michael explains.
It is the winning formula
"Our clients are enjoying the learning and are enjoying the program. It's a win-win that's for sure."
Michael uses the experience of 25 years of selling expertise as well as 10 years of teaching to create content he knows the students and clients will enjoy. Through his understanding of his students and the needs of his clients, SalesBuzz has been able to expand and provide quality courses to customers across the globe. They are constantly striving to get to up the ladder, one fact is for sure that the team's size and a platform that's committed to satisfying clients and students are essential for delivering the most effective learning experience.
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