Working for a large company or corporation as an employee has certain benefits. The pay is good and there’s usually room to change jobs (without having to update your resume or going for a job search). The same also goes for selling your training services to large companies and corporations. Once you’re in, there’s a steady stream of work.
These five recommended tactics that should be followed prior to approaching a big company:
Being yourself
If you’re a very small training company, you may be tempted to pretend you’re a big company. But don’t fool yourself, if you actually start working with a customer, they will find out your company’s size at some point.
Big corporations who are willing to cooperate with individual trainers or small training companies don’t care about a big image. So, be upfront about it and put your picture on your website. By introducing a human element, you’re actually turning a self-perceived weakness into a strength.
Building social proof
To gain the trust of bigger customers, who have the financial means to pick any trainer in the world, you need to build social proof first. It’s very unlikely that any unknown trainer marching into a big office building is going to gain a new customer right then and there.
Start small. It’s generally easier to get to talk to the right people in smaller companies. Go there first, do a few successful training sessions, then ask for references. Collect customer stories and work on a few case studies. Once you’ve got your act completely together you then present yourself to bigger companies, showing them the value that you can add.
Finding an intermediary
Consider working for training and consulting companies as a private contractor. Obviously you have to pick a training company that sends you out to a large company or corporation. Try to find out how the training company is able to land deals with corporations. If the training company is a small one, you may be able to learn from their marketing and sales tactics.
Establishing authority
To get your name out in a positive way, it helps tremendously to establish yourself as an authority in your field. You can do this by seeking to speak at training conferences. Also, utilize social media (LinkedIn). If you know which LinkedIn groups your potential customers are visiting, get involved there.
One effective way to become an authority is writing a book. If the book is even slightly successful, you’ll find previously closed corporate doors open up for you.
Identifying decision makers
Based on your specialty, create a list of suitable corporate companies where you can add the most value. Visit their websites to see if they publish the names of decision makers. For training they might be hr managers. If you’ve got a few names, it’s time to put on your private investigator hat. Try to find them online. See if they have published their email address anywhere.
Once you’ve got their contact data, send them a message and try to get on the phone with them. At this stage, you must have your customer stories and case studies at hand.
Not working for free
Don’t fall for glamorous companies asking for freebies.. If they think your training adds value, they’ll be willing to pay for it, too. Otherwise, why would they waste their employees’ time with your training?
Accountability is extremely important
The people who are hiring you are taking a risk on you. Make sure that you don’t disappoint them. What’s more, provide them with evidence that you have solved their problem.
Ideally, you start with a pre-test to measure current skills and knowledge. During the training sessions, keep accurate attendance records. After the training, test the trainees’ skills and knowledge again. If you don’t see enough of an improvement, try to pinpoint the problem and discuss it openly. This is something you should do for all types of customers, but corporate managers will want to see detailed reports from you. So, make sure that you can provide those reports.
