Please help validate my business idea

[3trades]

Hello forum members.

I would like to offer a 3 hour sales training webinar and charge for attendance

The training webinar will cover.

• The basics of sales and finding prospects
  
• How to sell and the characteristics of a successful sales person
• Understanding what people and buyers need and want
• How to influence and persuade people
  
• Objection handling
• Closing techniques
• A simple 4 step sales method/process

What else would you like it to include?

How much would you be willing to pay for this? {please vote in the poll}

When would be the best time for you?

 

[NickGrogan]

3 hours?

Not a chance, not unless you are someone very well known, with a proven background. And even then, 3 hours is a long webinar.

 

[3trades]

3 hours?

Not a chance, not unless you are someone very well known, with a proven background. And even then, 3 hours is a long webinar.

Thanks for your feedback.

In your opinion, how long should a sales training webinar be? Most sales training seminars I have attended lasted about a day, usually two.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

I would save my cash and buy this book instead

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Little-Red-Book-Selling/dp/1885167601

 

[Excel Expert]

If it was 3 hours or more I wouldn't package it as a webinar (unless the live element was essential)

Put on video and sell it as a course on places like Udemy.com. Alternatively find a way to host the video on your own site behind a pay wall and then charge for access to them. People can either pay to have a access to the video for a set period or pay to have access to your video collection for a set period. It means you can sell the same piece of work over and over again while you concentrate on marketing it.

 

[beasty]

0

OR

201 or more *But only if your name is Swiss Tony

 

[3trades]

0

Thanks for the feedback.

Can I ask why?

 

[beasty]

Simple

If you are good, fill an auditorium and go on tour
If you are good sell a book

If you can do neither, then you need to make a name and prove yourself
Do if for free and link to the guys who are selling out the auditoriums etc

YOU get numbers and people listening and you say inspired by this check it Tony Robbins etc click here and get paid that way

You churn big numbers of happy people, gain a reputation, make money and can come back to them for cash later

Generate a following of happy people, retain their info and offer them follow up webinars at a cost

answer your question?

BY GOOD I MEAN FN SPECTACULAR

You can read more about this technique in my upcoming book

 

[3trades]

It kind of answers my question. If I understand you correctly Beasty, you would not be willing to pay anything because you are concerned about my credibility and what value I would bring to you in the webinar.

What if I was to offer it for free or even at 1 pound for registration to reserve you a spot with the rest being billed 30 days afterwards. If your not happy you could cancel and request a full refund.

Just to get started and to build my following.

 

[beasty]

Do not ask for a pound, I know you are going to ask me to elaborate, but how about this

GIVE ME A POUND and I will tell you why, I NEED either paypal or i can take a card payment, give me your info, do you think people would be confident in someone who is an expert in sales who then says look to hear what i have to say i need you do a paypal transaction or bank transfer (IT SCREAMS SCAM and I would not be giving you any info) A POUND why? What the heck is a pound

MAKE IT FREE 100% FREE and make it short!
Get yourself 100 happy bunnies who can say, SHIT that was awesome, I got it free and I can give you and 2 others a code to get it for only 10 dollars and trust me it is totally worth it.
ASK the Everyone who gets it free to leave a testimonial (Loads of people have fake ones, you can in one half hour get many)

One issue though, what is to stop someone just recording it, have you covered this?

Anyway, in my opinion, it will only work if you make it free to begin advertise the first 50 only but accept as many as apply for the free thing.

Give THEM a deal for 1 hour only after your show lets call it where they can sign up guys with a link *Hide it from the public so it cannot be found and get them to send it to their contacts

Get them to leave legit testomonials too

You only need do that once and you can pull together some evidence in your ability

I could go on and help you further, but that would be 201 or more...

 

[3trades]

Then moving forwards, I have the testimonials and 100 happy affiliates to make referrals for me.

How much would you pay (should I charge) for the second show? 201+ through PayPal? The affiliates will be motivated and even happier if I give them 50%.

 

[NickGrogan]

Thanks for your feedback.

In your opinion, how long should a sales training webinar be? Most sales training seminars I have attended lasted about a day, usually two.

A webinar is not a seminar.

At the end of the 2 days, how much did you remember? How much did you apply? Generally the answer to these questions is very little and none - in that order.

There is an ideal learning period, and it's not 3 hours.

Looking at what you want to offer, there is a lot of waffle - where's the value?

 

[3trades]

The value is in what the training will produce if the material is applied. The value comes from improving the individuals performance, by being a more effective sales person, by building better client relationships, by closing more sales, by making more in commissions.

It could be shorter, say one hour, but then depth of content is sacrificed and lets be realistic, what can you cover in an hour?

I teach sales evening classes at a local college, a similar course outline as above takes 6 hours, which includes student engagement and simulations.

 

[Kay]

This doesn't seem like a good way "to build a following". Even the top names give loads of stuff away for free online to build theirs. You can only charge for talks and seminars (and webinars?) once you're well-known. With all the free stuff around from the big names, it seems like a non-starter for an unknown to try to compete with a webinar that has to be paid for.

I recently attended a three hour event to hear Doug Richard speak. That cost £49. How do you compare to Doug?

Seriously, I'd forget trying to charge people to hear you speak until you've already built a following. As already mentioned in this thread, you'd probably be better off creating a course.

 

[NickGrogan]

The value is in what the training will produce if the material is applied. The value comes from improving the individuals performance, by being a more effective sales person, by building better client relationships, by closing more sales, by making more in commissions.

It could be shorter, say one hour, but then depth of content is sacrificed and lets be realistic, what can you cover in an hour?

I teach sales evening classes at a local college, a similar course outline as above takes 6 hours, which includes student engagement and simulations.

I know the concept of where the value is coming from. I also know that the vast majority will be forgotten and not applied.

I'm sure you can train someone for 3 hours, or 6 hours, but how much of that time is sent usefully?

Looking at your description in the first post, how much is waffle, how much is here is something new that will help you?

 

[3trades]

I agree with you all.

The only valid way to go about it seems to put the course together on Udemy.com and price it accordingly and compared to the other courses there.

 

[Banksbroo]

3trades, well done. Less than 24 hours from initial pitch through to clarification, discussion, taking suggestions on the chin, and moving to resolution and fresh action. Mature and professional.

Honestly, great attitude. The ability to float an idea, then take on board constructive feedback will stand you in good stead. Good luck with your business.

 

[garyk]

3 hours?

Not a chance, not unless you are someone very well known, with a proven background. And even then, 3 hours is a long webinar.

I'd agree 100% with Nick. Its all about your *credibility* and track record. Build this with case studies and testimonials. If you're good then you should be able to charge easily over £200.

 

[skippydo.co.uk]

It kind of answers my question. If I understand you correctly Beasty, you would not be willing to pay anything because you are concerned about my credibility and what value I would bring to you in the webinar.

What if I was to offer it for free or even at 1 pound for registration to reserve you a spot with the rest being billed 30 days afterwards. If your not happy you could cancel and request a full refund.

Just to get started and to build my following.

This is just it. You may as well ask about selling your services as an after dinner speaker or some such. What you are considering is something proven veterans in a field do. You need to be a champion in your field first and then consider this afterwards. It's not a field in itself. It's so hard to achieve anything online, even getting people to follow a simple instruction on mass can can prove problematic. For instance our website requires the visitor to enter a partial post code, eg the SW19 bit. We have an animated gif that explains this, written it in red text, have an error message that displays when entered incorrectly, yet 25% of visitors still put in their full post code and then leave. You are fighting for a split second of someone's concentration. To get any more than that you need to stand out. If Richard Branson posted a video people would watch it looking for advice they can use because they know what the man has done. A serious question, why should I watch a video by you?

 

[3trades]

A serious question, why should I watch a video by you?

I generated just over $17m in revenue over 5 years for my previous employer. Sure, its not a lot by some peoples standards but it is for many.

I was thinking of scanning my pay slips to show my commissions and put screen shots of my sales summary from the company's system on the sales page as proof, then add the testimonials when I get them.

Honestly, there's nothing in my course that is not already out there, if you know where to look. I just brought the concepts together from various sources to teach sales in a way that is different from the way most trainers do.

 

[Excel Expert]

For me showing wage slips etc is borderline tacky (that is just in my opinion, not everyones).

As an alternative would it be possible to get some sort of testimonial from your old employer mentioning the amount of sales you generated. If possible get them to give you your sales breakdown so you can put it in some sort of graphic on your website.

 

[3trades]

This is the thing with wage slips and testimonials. Some people will think its borderline tacky vs borderline fraudulent. You never know if the wage slip has been doctored and you never know if the testimonial is honest and legit.

I have a screen shot from the company's system which shows sales revenues, conversion ratio etc.

 

[Excel Expert]

My thinking is, if it comes as an official testimonial from the business, carrying the business logo etc, it would seem a lot more plausible and believable. When we see these sites showing bank statements and wage slips - I would suspect just about everyone thinks "Photoshop" and dismiss it as proof.

Again this is just my personal opinion of them. I suspect it is one of those things where you cant please everyone. Some people will lap it up and some will think so waht

 

[skippydo.co.uk]

It's a nice achievement but you are up against people who have generated 17m for themselves. And not just T/O. Although i'm not down playing your skill in closing those sales, the question remains, why not generate that for yourself? You've stood on the shoulder of a giant and had all the benefits laid on for you to enable you to do your job effectively. A whole team has set the foundation for you to score those goals. People want to hear from the guy who built the team. I'm not saying you don't have a lot to teach people, I'm saying it's not enough to make you a star in your field. Anybody is going to nod their head and think, "nice work" on hearing your figures. But they are then going to spend their money on the book by Alan Sugar. I'm absolutely sure Alan Sugar had great reps working for him, but none of them are selling books.

 

[skippydo.co.uk]

My thinking is, if it comes as an official testimonial from the business, carrying the business logo etc, it would seem a lot more plausible and believable. When we see these sites showing bank statements and wage slips - I would suspect just about everyone thinks "Photoshop" and dismiss it as proof.

Again this is just my personal opinion of them. I suspect it is one of those things where you cant please everyone. Some people will lap it up and some will think so waht

Well, yeah. He'll join the masses of get quick rich ebooks and infomercials. And standing out in that market up against self made millionaires is going to be tough. It's already got the whiff of con about it. He'd be better building himself a consultancy in the real world. The route in here is to work with the enterprise agencies who offer business advice to start-ups. You offer the advice, you collect the signature and then draw the money from some pot of EU money or another.

 

[Excel Expert]

Well, yeah. He'll join the masses of get quick rich ebooks and infomercials. And standing out in that market up against self made millionaires is going to be tough. It's already got the whiff of con about it. He'd be better building himself a consultancy in the real world. The route in here is to work with the enterprise agencies who offer business advice to start-ups. You offer the advice, you collect the signature and then draw the money from some pot of EU money or another.

I seem to be missing a piece of the jigsaw here.

Are you saying the OP has a whiff of a con of the quick rich book market has a whiff of a con?

I'm seeing nothing in the OP's comments to suggest a con. All I see is someone trying to find the right way to package their skills in a busy market. Some of the marketing methods he looked at bring him close (in appearance only) to some of the con merchants out there. I also don't see any sort of "get rich quick" schemes here, if I have read it right the OP is packaging a sales course

 

[skippydo.co.uk]

The market itself. As far as I can tell he seems legit and there is no reason whatsoever to believe he's not. The reference to the "whiff a con" is more about the noise he'd have to cut through to be seen. The low end of the market that has tainted it. I was making the point that the only people who rise above that noise are genuine self made millionaires. Household names (in their field), not some guy who's shifted a few units for somebody else.

 

[Excel Expert]

Thanks Skippydo - with you now.

I don't think he is offering a get rich quick scheme though. In which case the whiff would be genuine. To me it sounds like a straight forward sales course which is a genuine business need. However the OP is facing the same problem as most of us had when we set up - establishing our credentials in the eyes of potential clients when we have no clients of our own.

Showing wage slips / bank statements takes him close to the whiff, hence my comments about getting a testimonial instead

 

[skippydo.co.uk]

Agreed. I'm not in any way suggesting that he is offering a get rich quick scheme but he is hoping to sell his videos online. If he's planning to operate in the real world and do so locally then he has as good as chance as any if he works hard. If he refers his clients to the website they may well buy his videos etc. He could well become a known authority in his locality and then build from there. All very, very legit and as you say a service that is needed. But setting out with a website and zero reputation pretty much hoping to strike it lucky online puts him up against a million con artists on one side, and genuine self made men on the other. He's more likely to get dragged down and associated (unfairly) with the low end of the market than he is likely to be able to compete with the stars. He pretty much asked if he thought anyone would rock up to his website and pay for his videos. And in my experience of the web I don't think people will because A) the vast majority of people who use the internet want info for free. B) People are very suspicious of internet "experts" C) They look for a real world recognisable expert to be associated with the service. D) The only people who tend to pay for "advice" from a non real world expert are those who believe in get rich quick schemes and are dazzled by the over promise and the desire for there to be a secret behind it all (Not application and hard work). His market is B2B not web-footfall and he needs to do the footwork himself.

 

[3trades]

The service is still training, whether its B2B or B2C but I'm still in the same position whichever direction it goes.

With reference to credibility and how this will help me convert, what has changed?

 

[skippydo.co.uk]

Well businesses (some) will have a budget for this kind of thing, may already have a training provider (they may or may not be happy with) and they are visible targets. Certain parts of the country (Wales for one) get a big pot of money from the EU to allocate to businesses for training. If you are a salesman you can sell yourself in person, and that's really hard to do on the internet. If you are working with clients face to face you can ask them to endorse you online. Everything online needs so much volume to work, take adsense, you'll earn a few pence from 1000 visits.

Your client base should drive your online presence. Your p*****g in the wind unless you think you can get 100,000 visitors a month through your site without a personal connection.

 

[busybob]

the secret is... to sell the dream. find a niche audience who are desperate to sell stuff and who are so desperate enough to buy.

 

[Kay]

Plus it's much easier to sell pixie dust and unicorns than it is to sell stuff that actually works. The market is tainted on both sides, A) the con merchants who sell stuff and B) the buyers who don't want to hear the truth. It's kinda hard to be heard above the noise and to sell anything into that market unless you also start trying to sell the dream.