Every company that speaks with our team at IMPACT comes looking to solve a problem they have in their business. Whether it be lead generation, content marketing, attribution reporting, sales team effectiveness, developing a marketing strategy, among many others, there’s a.
The reality is, the solutions to these problems can look different depending on the industry, company size, or goals of the organization. Frankly, this means the conversations our team has with a company interested in working with us needs to be focused on understanding those problems, determining what success looks like, then building out the right solution, assuming our team is the right fit to help.
At IMPACT we have designed our sales process to be efficient, linear, and educational for our prospects, and we move forward only when they understand our unique approach to their success and believe in the philosophy of coaching and training. What does that mean?
We are a sales and marketing coaching company, we’re not an agency where we do things for you. We help you build the team and infrastructure so you never have to rely on an outsourced agency again. We train businesses how to take ownership of their marketing and optimize their sales process by implementing the principles of our business framework, Endless Customers.
Why businesses choose to partner with us
Businesses are drawn to partner with IMPACT for a variety of reasons:
- Proven Expertise and Outcomes: Many professionals first learn about IMPACT through our visible presence in the industry, whether by attending our events, engaging with our content online, or through our status as an Elite tier HubSpot partner. They see firsthand the insights and best practices we share across multiple platforms, including articles, videos, podcasts, and live presentations. This exposure not only showcases our expertise but also the tangible results we achieve, inspiring confidence in our ability to replicate similar successes for them.
- Tailored Solutions: As a leader in business transformation, our strength lies in empowering companies not only to adopt new technologies and methodologies but to truly integrate them into their operations to maximize outcomes. Unlike typical service providers who may simply set up tools, we focus on equipping your team with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use these technologies and methodologies themselves. This approach goes beyond adoption; it transforms business practices, making teams more effective and self-sufficient. Our strategic planning and hands-on training ensure that businesses are well-prepared to meet their goals, enhance productivity, and drive growth.
How We Help
At IMPACT, we focus on equipping your team with the skills and strategies needed for success.
We offer a comprehensive program that includes:
- Leadership Coaching: Our coaches bring extensive business leadership experience to every interaction, helping your team navigate complex challenges and achieve strategic goals.
- Strategic Planning Sessions: We guide you through detailed planning that aligns with your business objectives, ensuring that every marketing and sales activity is purpose-driven.
- Hands-On Training: Covering essential areas such as SEO, content strategy, and video production, our training empowers your team to execute with confidence and skill.
- HubSpot Mastery: Leveraging our HubSpot partnership, we teach you how to maximize these tools to enhance your sales and marketing effectiveness.
- Sales Process Integration: We show you how to strategically use content within your sales processes, educating prospects and closing deals more efficiently.
Our approach is designed to not just deliver information but to transform your team’s capabilities, making your business more dynamic and competitive in today's digital landscape.
No matter the path a prospect takes to get in touch with our team, anyone who wants to learn more about IMPACT’s service offerings follows the same sales process, which can take as short as two weeks or quite a bit longer, depending on how much education our sales team has to do.
In this article, we’re going to map out IMPACT’s sales process, defining the key steps every company takes when speaking with our sales team, what they can expect at each stage, and the requirements for success as you move forward.
The IMPACT Sales Process: Education First
When any prospect enters our sales pipeline, our primary goal is to educate them. What does education first mean?
It means that we don’t pressure sell you. We believe that in order for you to make the right purchasing decision, you must have a clear understanding of the problem(s) you’re looking to solve, how we help businesses like yours, who is successful and not successful with IMPACT, and what it will take to be successful. This guarantees that future clients are well-versed in IMPACT’s philosophy and ensures that only those who are genuinely a good fit proceed, sparing potential clients from committing to a partnership that doesn't align with their needs. Each stage of the process is carefully designed with the goal of educating prospects and keeping their best interests at the forefront. One thing to keep in mind is these steps can either happen with one call or up to three calls.
High-level expectations for the call
Who should be involved in the sales process:
Decision-makers from your team are crucial to the sales process. These are individuals who have the authority to make purchasing decisions and who understand your business's strategic needs. While an IMPACT advisor will guide the process, ensuring the right decision-makers are present is key to aligning your business needs with how IMPACT can help.
How long does it typically take:
Each call with IMPACT typically lasts between 45 to 60 minutes. However, the exact duration can vary. The pace of our conversations depends largely on how detailed and open the discussions are. Our goal is always to reach outcomes that best serve your needs, whether that takes less time or requires a bit more.
How does it work:
Our sales process is outcome-driven rather than being tied to a specific type of call. This flexibility allows us to adapt to the unique pace of each conversation. By focusing on outcomes, we ensure that the process moves at a pace that feels right for you and is aligned with achieving your desired results. We measure success by how well we meet your needs, not by the clock.
Step 1: Identify if you have a problem that needs to be solved
Your most valuable asset is your time. Nobody likes to waste their time in a conversation that isn’t going anywhere, so before you even talk to one of our advisors for the first time, you can expect a bit of homework.
We aim to ensure that we all have a shared foundation of expectations before we dive into a conversation. IMPACT is not a marketing agency. We’re teachers, coaches, and trainers. We’re not going to write your content and film your videos. We’re going to train your team how to create content at a world-class level and make sure those efforts fit into a larger business strategy.
Before the first call you can expect to receive a video from one of our advisors (like the one below), as well as 1-2 pieces of content to review.
While it should only take you 5-10 minutes to complete, reading and digesting these pieces of content is imperative, and our advisors will not move forward to have an actual call until you confirm that you have done so.
Marcus Sheridan, explains it this way: “We give you resources beforehand to address 90% of the top-level questions you have. That way, our conversations are going to be deeper, more personal, and more impactful on your business.”
Remember, our sales process is really an education process. We can’t want to move forward until we’re all aligned.
During this first step of understanding if you have a problem we can help you solve, our advisors will ask a lot of questions about your business goals, your current challenges, and the priority or importance of each challenge. This helps us determine if there truly is a problem that needs solving and if we can effectively help. We want to guarantee that both your team and ours know as much about your business and your needs as possible. That way, we can begin planning the right course of training for your needs.
Step 2: Determine if IMPACT is the right fit to help solve that problem
Once we have a clear understanding of your challenges and have identified them as critical areas for your business, the next step is to determine if IMPACT is the right partner to help you solve these problems. This step involves a deep dive into your specific needs and expectations.
This discussion can take place during the initial call or might extend into further conversations, depending on the complexity of your challenges and the clarity of the information shared initially. We want to ensure that there is a strong alignment between your needs and our capabilities before moving forward.
Specifically, you’ll have a conversation that sounds like this:
IMPACT Advisor: “We have dug into a lot and I believe we have a clear picture of the problem. Here’s how I’d describe it: [Insert description]. Does that sound right to you?”
Prospect: “Agreed. If we could solve that, life and our business would be a lot better.”
IMPACT Advisor: “Fantastic! Now that I know you’re committed to solving this problem, let’s talk about how our team helps companies like yours solve that problem, and what it’ll take to do so.”
That brings us to step 3 of our process.
Step 3: Learn how IMPACT will help solve your problem and who will be involved
Once it’s clear that we’re a good fit for each other, your advisor will schedule a call to introduce you to your coach, who will guide you throughout your journey with IMPACT. We have a team of coaches and trainers that have helped 1000s of businesses grow and achieve success.
In this initial meeting with your coach, the focus is on building a strong foundation. While your advisor may also be present, the coach will lead the discussion. This is essential for your coach to fully understand your business, which is vital for effectively planning and implementing the strategies you need.
During this stage, you can expect the coach to cover both strategic and logistical aspects of the program. They will validate some of what the advisor has shared with them to help explain how the IMPACT program works and how it’s tailored to tackle the specific challenges you face. The goal is for you to leave the meeting with a clear understanding of what to expect from IMPACT and who you’ll be working with.
This stage is not just about reinforcing the connection but also about setting the stage for targeted interventions to help your business grow. The coach will outline the next steps and ensure you are well-prepared to succeed in our program.
Step 4: Learn the details of the program we've created and agree IMPACT’s solution will solve your problem
This step will be a presentation, separate from previous discussions, where we thoroughly walk you through the customized plan crafted to meet your specific needs.
Once you reach this stage of the process, nothing should be a surprise or new information. This meeting occurs once we've all verbally agreed to move forward, you know your team is ready to engage fully to achieve desired results, and IMPACT is confident in our ability to guide you there.
During this call, your IMPACT coach (and/or advisor) will present a detailed overview of the tailored program, providing a clear walkthrough of each component and how it addresses your unique challenges. Alongside the presentation, we will review the agreement together.
By the end of this call, we aim for a complete alignment and agreement to proceed, marking the official start of our focused efforts to achieve your business goals through the IMPACT program. If that isn’t the case by the end of this call, it means we’ve missed something in our sales process and we need to backtrack to the earlier steps.
Step 5: Get started with IMPACT
Once the contract has been signed and your initial payment has been submitted, your Account Manager will contact you within 48 hours to schedule your kickoff with your coach along with instructions for our onboarding process. This ensures a smooth start to your engagement and helps button up other miscellaneous preparatory activities.
The process, start to finish
“A sales process is a lot like dating,” says Marcus. “No one is ready to get married on the first date.” Instead, there’s a good deal of getting to know you that happens first, where both parties have to figure out if the other is right for them.
IMPACT stands opposed to the typical relationship between inbound agency and client. We believe you should not be forever dependent on an agency to write your content, film your videos, organize your HubSpot portal, and schedule your emails. You can learn to do these things (and more!) at mastery-level, ensuring true marketing and sales freedom. As such, our sales process focuses heavily on education to make sure our clients are clear about what they’re getting into.
IMPACT believes in teaching you to take ownership. In our sales process, we’ll start you down that path towards independence and excellence. Each step forward represents an investment in the future of your business, so we build these steps deliberately to get you ready.
Ready to start the process? Schedule your first call!
Author: cdelaney@impactbnd.com (Connor DeLaney)
* This article was originally published here
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