Selling Hopes and Dreams: Effectively marketing yourself in the age of persuasion

DrupalCamp Toronto 2011. There is a global financial crisis, and yet some small businesses are having their best year ever. Some Drupal shops are seeing their client base dry up as competitors race to the lowest possible price to win new contracts. Other Drupal shops are expanding--with more business than they can possibly handle. Get a rare glimpse behind the scenes at the success story of one of Drupal's most prolific trainers, Emma Jane Hogbin. In this presentation she will show you how she turned low registrations for skills-based Drupal training into sellout workshops. Cue the music because the lessons she's learned are valuable to anyone trying to sell their ideas in the age of persuasion. [With credit to Terry O'Reilly for 'age of persuasion.']

Transcript

1. Selling Hopes and Dreams Emma Jane Hogbin www.designtotheme.com @emmajanedotnet
2. drupal.org • emmajane • uid: 1773 • First look at the Drupal code base: 2003ish. I stole the i18n table structure. • First Drupal site “for pay”: 2006ish. • First Drupal socks: 2007. • First DrupalCon conference: Szeged in 2008. • First Drupal book: 2009. • First Drupal core patch: 2010. Removed the “welcome” screen.
3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortendk/1439332466/
5. Drupal Trainer www.designtotheme.com/responsive-workshop Register now. Class starts December 1.
6. process I am a process junkie.
7. selling For years I sold process to process- loving companies.
8. pivot Times changed.
9. empowerment Then I sold empowerment and control to woman-led businesses.
10. pivot Times changed.
11. dreams Now I sell hopes and dreams to entrepreneurs.
12. sell skills Most open source companies I know sell skills.
13. don’t buy In a recession, people don’t buy skills.
14. buy outcomes In a recession, people buy outcomes.
15. value A recession forces you to build and sell valuable outcomes not a grocery list of skills.
16. outcome The value of the outcome you build matters.
17. focus If you are focused on task-based skills, you are not selling outcomes to clients.
18. selling training “I need to learn Drupal right away.” “Take this workshop. It’s about theming for Drupal.” “I don’t have time. I told you I need to learn Drupal.” “Okay, what about this workshop on Panels and Views?” “Look. I don’t have time. I need to learn Drupal.”
19. real story “I’m about to lose my house. Please help me pay the mortgage.”
20. features New buyers are not qualified to have an opinion on features.
21. not an expert Note: if your client can’t install Drupal, they are a “new buyer.”
22. benefits Buyers know what outcomes will save their job or house or reputation.
23. outcome Right product for the right market.
24. pivot Change the product or the market until you find a pair that clicks.
25. outcomes To new markets: sell outcomes and benefits, not features.
26. I care. Answer the question: who cares?
27. process But most companies still sell process and skills.
28. pay Your process might pay your mortgage, but does it pay your client’s?
29. mismatch Clients who don’t want to plan, haven’t bought your process.
30. luxury Process-based sales is a luxury. It is not for recessions.
31. marketing A recession forces you to get really good at marketing.
32. excel To excel at marketing, you must know the value of what you’re offering.
33. pain You must know what pain you will take away from your prospects.
34. features In the open source world we tend to sell features.
35. experts Experts buy features. Proprietary software users aren’t experts at open source.
36. investment An IT team who’s invested in their certification doesn’t want your features.
37. problems Newbies buy solutions to problems.
38. benefits Converting someone to open source requires “benefit” language.
39. transition My transition to selling benefits was rocky.
40. target market I asked my target market questions.
41. people lie When you ask people questions. They lie.
42. truth To learn the truth, ask people about their fears, hopes and dreams.
43. questions You need to ask the right questions.
44. wrong “What training do you need?”
45. better “How does Drupal make you feel?”
46. winner “What is preventing you from building exceptional Drupal sites?”
47. id pain “What are you doing when you wish you were having a root canal instead?”
48. 3 workshops Build Your Dream Web Site Site Building Extravaganza Responsive Web Design
49. Selling Hopes and Dreams Emma Jane Hogbin Drupal Trainer and Author www.designtotheme.com @emmajanedotnet