Most of my clients are small – medium sized businesses, although I have had some larger business clients too.
But what can I offer the larger businesses when it comes to my services / products?
ME!!
Yes, that’s right you and I (small business owners) offer ourselves, our experience, our expertise, our knowledge and our time!
Here’s a example of how I was pushed aside for a series of training sessions for a large corporate…
I was approached by a large corporate as a referral to undertake a series of training workshops for the admin and marketing teams for a large corporate in London. I was stoked that (a) someone had referred me for my training, and that (b) someone from a large corporate was contacting me for a quote.
I put together a proposal (10 pages in all) about how I could assist them, the timings, dates etc plus what his staff would walk away with at the end. I then provided a quote at the end of the proposal and emailed it to him.
After a week of not hearing anything (I knew this was an urgent requirement for the company!), I telephoned the gentleman in HR who advised me that he was sorry he hadn’t come back to me but unfortunately they were going with a large training company who could offer them more of what they needed and wanted. He didn’t elaborate.
I moved on! OR did I?
After this incident, I was a bit disheartened but decided that I should see why I hadn’t been considered. I found someone through LinkedIn who miraculously worked in the same organisation and we had known each other for a few years, but I hadn’t realised she worked there. She did a little digging for me and all it came back to was that I was a small business and they didn’t think I would cope!!!
So, I took it upon myself to contact similar corporate entities in London and offered my services to the admin and marketing departments, but this time I provided all of the reasons why, as a small business owner, I could offer exactly what they needed and more. I mentioned the personal approach, the flexibility I could afford their company, that my fees would be substantially cheaper (although I did up them a bit given that the other corporate had obviously spent considerably more for a large training company). I showed examples and reviews of my workshops and training sessions and send these proposals off.
I really didn’t expect to hear back, it was more to do a study for myself. But, everyone of these 5 businesses responded to me and thanked me and one even asked me for a meeting and I did the training for them.
So, even if you are a small business – you have YOU to offer and you have to use what the big businesses offer and outshine them. Create packages and proposals and be confident that you can offer exactly what the large businesses do and more!
Be proactive, be YOU.
I love what I do and it shines through when I speak to business owners (large and small), but it is the added incentives and the way that I work which will help when approaching the corporate entities.
What do you offer? What is your next call to action for your business?
If you need help or guidance, please contact me.
© Hazel Theocharous, Learn Grow Transform
Recent Comments