Dear Friend,
First, let me thank you for your interest in potentially becoming a Gentle Rain Sales Training Licensee. What I want to accomplish in the next few minutes is to give you an overview of the program, its potential, investment requirements and who it's a good fit for. After you've read this over, I encourage you to complete the form at the bottom of the page. We will then send you a short questionnaire and schedule a conversation between the two of us to answer all the questions you have.
Before we begin, let me encourage you to print this out so you can take notes as we go along. |
Just Who Am I And Why Should You Consider Becoming A
Gentle Rain Sales Training Licensee? |
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For those of you who are not subscribers to my Gentle Rain Marketing newsletter (which you can do by visiting GentleRainMarketing.com), and are unfamiliar with me, let me take a moment to share with you a bit about who I am.
Before I started Gentle Rain in 1992, I was a senior person at two of the best marketing companies in the world (Pepsi & Kraft Foods). I started my career as an advertising copywriter and along the way I've written 7 books and have been fortunate to win a number of awards. All false modesty aside, you should know that I've helped clients grow their businesses by $2 million+, I've mentored start-ups to quickly grow to the $200,000+ level and everything in between. No matter the size stage my clients want to play on, I can show them how to get there.
Gentle Rain Marketing Inc. has two primary areas of focus:
1) Providing marketing consulting services to high-value services firms.
2) Sales skills-building training programs, most notably our Unique Sales Stories Sales Seminar.
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The opportunity I want to discuss with you today is becoming
involved with the sales training side of our business. |
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Over the 18+ years since I started Gentle Rain, I've been involved in many different aspects of marketing and sales: copywriting, marketing strategy, website design, social media, direct mail and many others. However, in all candor, I would say that sales training has given me the greatest amount of personal fulfillment and financial reward.
There are a number of great things about sales training and there are some challenges. Let's talk about both, starting with the positives.
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Sales Training is a huge business. Estimates are that over $4 billion is spent just in the USA each year on training sales professionals. Virtually every industry invests in sales training. A great feature of the Unique Sales Stories training program is that it's applicable to all industries. That means as a licensee, you can focus on the niche markets you are most interested in serving.
Sales Training is budgeted for each year. It's not viewed as a "nice to have" expenditure that gets cut when the economy or business falters. It's a mission critical investment companies know they need to make.
Sales Training is bought by multiple individuals within a company. It's common that local, regional, division and senior sales leaders all have a budget for sales training-not to mention the corporate training budget that is managed by the training director.That's a lot of opportunities for us to get a foot in the door and run a successful pilot program.
Sales Training impacts the bottom line. Unlike other types of training,such as leadership or change management, there is a direct ROI that successful sales training programs can point to.
Sales Training leads to sales coaching and consulting engagements. Not only is sales training a great business in and of itself, but it offers exceptional opportunities to introduce additional services. As such it is often the "sharp tip of the spear" that is only the beginning of a multi-year engagement within a single company.
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Now the challenges...
Sales Training is competitive. There are lots of training companies trying to promote their programs.We have a distinct advantage since Unique Sales Stories is heavily promoted through my book of the same title. It's the driving force behind the marketing of this program. The book is aggressively promoted through PR, media campaigns, direct mail and advertising. As a licensee you will offer this book on the website we build for you to attract brand new prospects and motivate them to learn more about the benefits of the program.
Sales Training has its skeptics. Sales training has its naysayers about the long term value of sales training. This is a valid concern, especially when a one-day training class attempts to serve as a quick fix to change the attitudes, mindsets or motivation of the sales team.
However, we're in the Sales Skills building business. That's an important distinction and it's summed up in our simple value-added guarantee.
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Give us one day and we'll not only teach participants an
easy-to-master system for creating great sales stories around any topic, but every participant will leave the program with a minimum of two sales stories-fully developed, rehearsed & critiqued-ready to be put into action the very next day. |
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What Participants Learn Remains With Them Throughout Their Sales Career.
So as you can tell, sales training is a very good business to be in and the Gentle Rain sales seminar, Unique Sales Stories is positioned very favorably |
Let's talk more about the licensing program...
As a Gentle Rain Sales Training Licensee you will complete a 3-day intensive training program here in our corporate offices in Atlanta. The goal in the initial training is twofold:
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To enable you to deliver the Unique Sales Stories Training Program. |
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To familiarize you with the proven Gentle Rain marketing system so that you can attract consistent streams of brand new clients. |
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In preparation for the Licensing Training Program you will be provided with materials, workbooks, DVDs and CDs that are designed to assist you in hitting the ground running once your training is completed. |
Here's just some of what you will receive immediately
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The Gentle Rain Blueprint DVD program: Our most comprehensive self-study program for how to attract consistent streams of new business with no cold calling or hard selling. More information about this program is here |
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The Gentle Rain Boot Camp in a Box Toolkit: This is the live recording of our two day Gentle Rain seminar conducted in Atlanta. More information is here |
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Secrets of Selling To The C-Level: What senior level buyers of high-value services and training programs say you need to do to get on their radar screen. More information is here |
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Directory of Sales & Marketing Letters: Jump start your marketing campaign with our battle tested copyright free letters. Create compelling communication that stimulates interest in who you are and what you do. More information is here |
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What the C-Level Says About Staying In Touch: Based on interviews with 179 C-level executives in 12 industries, these are the most effective methods for converting prospects into paying clients. More information is here |
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The Difference Between Licensing and a Franchise
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The Gentle Rain Sales Training License offers you a more cost effective method for building and sustaining your sales training business. |
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There are no mandatory marketing fund fees. |
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There are no administrative fees. |
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There are no sales or financial reporting requirements. |
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There are no financial audits. |
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You have the flexibility to charge what you wish for the sales training program. |
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You have the flexibility to offer the program in the length you desire. |
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You are not required to purchase minimum amounts of materials. |
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The Benefits Of The Gentle Rain
Sales Training Licensing Model. |
Learning how to present the Unique Sales Story sales training program is only part of the equation for running a successful sales training business. Not surprisingly, it's equally important to attract consistent streams of new clients. As a licensee we provide you with a wealth of training, materials and support to accomplish that goal. Here's what you can expect: |
| We will develop and host a customized micro-website for you. It will include your company name and promotional information about the Unique Sales Story sales training program. Additionally it will have an "opt-in" button that offers visitors a PDF version of the book Unique Sales Stories. This free offer captures leads and enables you to personally follow up with each prospect. |
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The reality is that the majority of visitors to your site won't immediately sign up for sales training. Thus it's important we capture information about who they are so can you stay in touch with them. To assist you in this area we will send you a series of email messages that you can load into your personal autoresponder service to stay in touch and "Gently Rain" on your prospects. These messages are specifically designed to build trust & credibility and motivate prospects to engage your services. (Naturally you'll receive complete training on how to use the autoresponder so you can include customized messages of your own.) |
We supply you with all the training material templates that you'll need to conduct your programs so you can arrange for local printing. This is a huge immediate savings that goes directly to your bottom line by avoiding the expense of UPS shipping materials.
We do not restrict you from holding other licenses for other programs or products.
There are no territory restrictions. This enables you to offer your training services wherever your clients have operations.
You can purchase any Gentle Rain products at a 50% discount, which enables you to add them as benefits to your training programs or sell them individually as a separate revenue stream. |
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Additional Benefit! |
As A Sales Training Licensee You’ll Also Have The Opportunity To Present
The ENTIRE Suite Of Gentle Rain Training Programs
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How To Gain Access To Key Decision Makers: Based On Mark’s Best Selling Book, Power Prospecting |
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Marketing & Selling To The Affluent. How To Build Relationships Of Trust & Credibility With The Affluent and Their Inner Circle |
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Sales Letters & Email Marketing.Learn How To Write Sales Letters And Emails That Get Opened, Get Read And Compel Prospects To Take ACTION! |
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Sales Prospecting Made Simple:How To Fill Your Pipeline With Eager Prospects. |
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How To Become The Recognized Expert In Your Field: How Anyone Can Become The “Go-To” Expert In Any Niche In 90 Days Or Less. |
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How Long Will It Take To Get Clients?
Upon completion of the training program you will be qualified to both deliver the Unique Sales Stories program and market it. Our expectation is that within 4-8 weeks you will be working with your first client and that within 6 months you will be very active.
As you complete year 1, your marketing system should be working largely on autopilot, continuing to attract brand new prospects who request the Unique Sales Story book, and are then "nurtured" through the automated stay-in-touch Gentle Rain ongoing messaging sequence. For the clients you have engaged with during year 1, it is likely that you are now considered a value-added business advisor and your programs are adopted company-wide,
By year 2 you may decide to expand your business and hire contract trainers to deliver programs that you are unable to conduct yourself. With the marketing foundation in place, it really is up to you how large your company becomes. |
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| Income Potential |
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Naturally everyone's results will vary and there is no guarantee that this will be a financial home run. Like most things in life, your success will be largely determined by the amount of effort you put in, the markets you approach and your overall desire for success. That said, sales training can be extremely lucrative and offers a residual income component not available in many other business models.
Selling and delivering a single sales program to a company can be extremely profitable. We will provide you with some ideas on pricing your training but ultimately that decision is up to you. However, where the opportunity to earn substantial income lies is when a company with a medium sized sales force adopts the Unique Sales Stories training program into their corporate sales curriculum. |
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Let's look at a scenario. |
For example, we price the one-day program at $4500 for up to 20 participants. (Travel is billed separately, which is a standard practice.) That's not bad for one day of work.
However, suppose the company has 500 sales reps (which would be considered a mid-market client). After a successful pilot program, Unique Sales Stories could be adopted as part of the core sales training curriculum. Using 20 participants as a typical class size, this means that a single client could engage you for 25 sessions, or $112,500 in fees. And that doesn't include any additional coaching or consulting you might offer. |
$112,500 From Just One Client. |
Here's another market for sales training.
Up till now I've been discussing delivering sales training seminars in-house at the client's location. But there's another extremely lucrative market in what's referred to as Public or Open Enrollment Programs.
These programs are typically offered in a hotel meeting room. You may have between 50 to 500 people in attendance. Smaller companies rely on Open Enrollment programs because they do not have the number of sales reps to justify bringing you in-house to conduct the training. Thus in a typically audience you may have one or two participants from 20-30-50 different companies.
When they are done right, Open Enrollment programs can be extremely lucrative. At a modest enrollment fee of $250 per person, a mid-sized program with 100 people would gross $25,000. Granted you have to pay your meeting room rental fee and marketing costs from the gross amount, but many trainers focus and specialize in this one type of seminar.
An added benefit to Open Enrollment programs is that not only do smaller companies send their sales teams for training, but larger companies will enroll one or two sales reps to test out your program. It's not uncommon that large scale in-house programs come about as a result.
As a part of your training we will show you all the "ins and outs" about marketing, staging and conducting a highly successful Open Enrollment program.
There are many other methods for delivering sales training including webinars and teleseminars. We cover all of these during your training program. |
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Are you a good "fit" for this program? |
Although it is difficult to precisely pinpoint the exact type of person who is best suited for becoming a Gentle Rain Sales Training Licensee, it's likely that the person has at least one of these experiences in their background: |
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Sales Experience: If you've been successful in sales, it's likely that you have an ideal background to be successful as a licensee. As a former sales professional you'll have an innate understanding about how to both present a sales training seminar and the business acumen to successfully attract clients. |
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Consulting Experience: As a consultant you understand how to relate to senior level decision makers which is crucial when marketing a program such as Unique Sales Stories. Plus it's likely that you have the presence and credibility to be highly effective facilitating the sales training seminar. |
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Entrepreneurs: Becoming a licensee is ideal for the entrepreneur who wants to operate his/her own business with support and assistance, rather than under the rigid rules and regulations of a franchise. Entrepreneurs are well suited to this opportunity because they instinctively understand the challenges and rewards that running your own business can offer. |
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Training Professionals: Because this is a license and not a franchise, there are no restrictions on other programs you offer your clients. For the experienced training professional, becoming a Gentle Rain Sales Training licensee enables you to add a unique program and additional products to your existing mix of services. |
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Former Corporate Executives: It's no secret that many former corporate executives have neither the desire nor the inclination to retire. You want to stay in the game and continue being relevant. Your breadth of experience is ideally suited for this opportunity, since you not only have enormous credibility before a group, but also the appropriate stature when introducing the Unique Sales Stories program to prospective clients. |
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| Why We're Different |
There is no shortage of licensing opportunities you might consider, and multiple opportunities within the field of sales training. Thus, why should you consider this? |
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Unique Sales Stories provides a practical skill that sales professionals will use every single day of their professional career. The biggest complaint about sales training is that what is taught in the classroom doesn't have long lasting benefit without the expense and time commitment of ongoing reinforcement. As mentioned before, we're in the sales skills development business and offer asimple value-added guarantee. |
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Give us one day and we'll not only teach participants an easy-to-master system for creating great sales stories around any topic, but every participant will leave the program with a minimum of two sales stories-fully developed, rehearsed & critiqued-ready to be put into action the very next day. |
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This program provides immediate value and at an extremely modest level of investment. (Although pricing is ultimately left up to you, we adopt the model of $250 per attendee with a 20-person minimum enrollment commitment.) Many of our competitors attempt to charge over $2000 per person to attend their open enrollment programs. |
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The biggest complaint licensee's have is that they weren't taught how to get clients. As the saying goes, the most important part of chicken soup is the chicken. In order to have a successful and sustainable business you need to know both how to deliver a great seminar, but also how to get new clients. |
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From the website we develop for you, to the extensive library of marketing materials we send you upon enrollment, to the comprehensive 3-day training retreat here in Atlanta, to the ongoing support and coaching, you will have everything you need to make your business as successful as you desire. |
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| Next Steps: |
| We are looking for only a select number of Gentle Rain Sales Training Licensees. You'll be working closely with us since our licensees are very important players in the growth of our sales training business. Thus a good "fit" is extremely important to us.
Naturally at this point we don't expect that you are ready to commit to us, anymore than we are ready to commit to you. But if what you've read thus far resonates positively with you, then I encourage you to enter your name, email, phone number, and best time to reach you, into the box below. We will send you a short questionnaire and schedule a one-on-one conversation between the two of us to answer all the questions you have. |
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Yes I Would Like To Receive An Application & Schedule A Telephone Conversation With Mark. |
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Here's What Others Say About Unique Sales Stories
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"We all know that sales stories are powerful tools for accelerating the sales process. The problem is that we don't use them enough. Mark's Unique Sales Stories provides a practical structure and process that's quick and easy to apply to any sales situation. Highly recommended!" - Sheri McConnell
"Lean how to end the constant sales jargon we tend to use whenever someone asks us what we do. I was able to use Mark's "Three Key Elements" right away to create an outlined draft of my own sales story in about twenty minutes. Very practical reading."
- Frank Whitcomb
"Mark Satterfield nailed it! He really showed the importance of stories so you can be remembered and get more clients."
- Linda P.Jones
"Mark Satterfield's, Unique Sales Stories finally helped me to understand how to communicate to my clients in a way THEY will understand. He breaks down the process on how to create your authentic voice in a way that's interesting and informative. I give this the highest praise!" - Marian Massie
"In "Unique Sales Stories," Mark Satterfield delivers. I immediately had the sense that the author is genuine, has found and fairly mastered his unique voice, and has paid his dues; and thereby has positioned himself to truly be helpful. Effectively using the very techniques he advocates, the power and veracity of his message is conveyed by example.
Satterfield makes the case that many of us already know, which is that "facts tell, but stories sell." Thankfully, he doesn't stop there. He actually goes on to explain the process and then gives several real life examples. He explains that the most effective sales stories have three key elements: a problem; a character or characters to whom prospects can personally relate; and a context, within which the other elements are placed. The use of emotion and dialogue is noted as important.
Satterfield rightly emphasizes how essential it is to understand and engage in relationship-building; and he has some superb observations about the essential elements that make for effective websites."
-Linda Compton
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