How to create and sell additional products
Although most seminars and workshops come with free outline notes or a mandated manual that the attendee is required to purchase, you can enhance and reinforce the attendee’s learning experience by offering a line of related products and services to support their learning experience.
Remember that you’re only going to be in front of your audience for a short period of time and what you’re bringing to them is the accumulated wisdom gained over a long period of time.
Consequently, there is no way that you’re going to be able to share everything you know about the topic during the presentation.
The up selling of related reinforcement products in services in seminars and workshops is a great way to support your attendee’s overall needs while generating additional income for you and your organization.
The key to being successful, and not alienating the audience, is to NOT make the sales pitch an infomercial.
Remember that the primary reason that the people are attending the program is to learn how to do something so the additional materials and services you offer them must:
• Be an optional rather than a mandatory acquisition
• Be related to what they came to learn
• Described as a useful addition to reinforce their learning experience
• Provide additional material and learning beyond what the seminar or workshop is capable of providing due to time or volume constraints
• Have a perceived value that exceeds the selling price
• Have a uniqueness that says you can’t get them anywhere else
• Be described on a printed order sheet with an order blank
• Have a special ‘in class discounted price’ to encourage their purchase now rather than later
• Have a discounted package price if they acquire the entire set or series
• Be available for immediate purchase with a credit card.
• Be available at a later time at full retail price
• Be available on-site for the attendees to physically review
• Come with a money back guarantee if the purchaser is dissatisfied
The best time and way to ‘pitch’ your products is:
1. Before the program. Some presenters who are charging a materials fee provide the attendees with the option of purchasing the minimum materials, as required for the course, or to purchase the deluxe package of materials before the class starts
2. Throughout the program. By referring to or using a process, product, or something that is available as an option without trying to overtly pitch it, you’re actually demonstrating its value and creating the awareness that it’s necessary for success and since you’re using it, the audience assumes that you’ll either make it available or will tell them how to get it
3. Just before the 1st break. This allows the presenter to explain and possibly demonstrate the validity of the reinforcement materials to greater success on the topic and allows the attendees to make the purchase during the break.
4. At the end of the program. By this time you’ve explained and demonstrated your topic completely and those who are serious about achieving success will generally perceive the values in obtaining the additional materials.
Now let’s look at the different ways to package your products for maximum impact.
Remember:
• Every packaging method described is relatively inexpensive to create and reproduce so the profit margins when you sell them are all good – some are just better than others.
• The objective of the material and the packaging is for the benefit of the purchaser/user – not to expand your ego.
• Visual material including on-screen computer viewed materials –
This has become very popular but if your message doesn’t have a high visual content, the medium is wasted plus video, for all its glitz and glamour, is cumbersome for the user because they have to dedicate equipment, facilities and they can’t multi-task while viewing it.
• Printed materials – these are traditional, popular, and self-contained and include books, workbooks, manuals, tips booklets, and tips sheets.
They do not allow multi-tasking since the user must focus their attention on the material.
• Audio recordings – This is the most user-friendly because it allows multi-tasking. If you can get your message across on an audio medium, you’ll make the learning experience easier because it can be listened to on the purchaser’s MP3 player or in the car.
• Combination Audio/PDF printed materials – CDs have a lot of space available and if you combine an hour of conventional audio (or several hours of compressed MP3 audio) with a printable book, manual or workbook in PDF format, you’ll make a lot of material available in a single disk that is inexpensive, user friendly, and very valuable.
• Combination Video/PDF printed materials and/or software – Like the audio/PDF described above, this process allows you to combine a variety of mediums to deliver a complete package of reinforcement materials to the purchaser.
• Narrated slide shows – Current technology allows you to combine your PowerPoint™ Slides with your audio narration and make your entire presentation available on a CD or as a down loadable program from the web
• On-screen computer demonstrations – reinforcement or training materials that are used to operate computer software programs or to fill out specific types of forms and agreements can be best supported by using a program that allows you to demonstrate the process on the computer screen while providing an audio narration of what you’re doing and why.
• Down Loadable Materials – Everything from books and workbooks through software and video training programs can be converted, compressed, and made available as pay-per- download products that require no inventory or reproduction charges on your part and are available for instant purchase and download by the attendees when it’s convenient for them
Take a few minutes and think about what it is that you want the attendee to have or learn in addition to what you’re providing in the live training environment.
Then look objectively at what method will best deliver this material to them so that they’ll get the maximum perceived benefit for it.