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The Future of LBM Training (and the future is now): PART II

Oswalt listened intently. He then shared with me how, at 21 Handshake, he helps his clients create unique digital content to drive the sales process, and—wait for it—creates a system to deliver digital content, like audio, video, and articles, consistently to several thousand people at a time.

The platform Oswalt recommended is Infusionsoft. It’s software that automates sales and marketing efforts. That’s what 21 Handshake uses it for. I use it (primarily) for training. There are many other competitors in this space and other than being a happy customer, I have no affiliation.

Here’s the details, starting with the investment. I pay $230 a month to use their software. There was an additional $1,500 for five on-boarding “Kickstarter” sessions. I thought this was a scam and told them so. I was wrong. When I completed my 1:1 Kickstarter sessions with a coach, one of my training courses was live. It was well-worth the money.

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How I’m Using the Platform Now
I often receive compliments on my “Behind Your Back” book, which drives the content in my monthly column in these pages. Yet, one of the criticisms is that it’s a book—and it’s a short read. Many readers rip through it over a weekend and then it sits on a shelf.

After some testing of new “Behind Your Back” videos applying the B.R.I.E.F. framework, I realized there were 52 lessons in the book—one for each week of the year, ideal for my clients looking for engaging and insightful content continuously throughout the year.

After creating the videos, I scheduled Infusionsoft to deliver the small, bite-size chunks of sales training every Wednesday throughout the year. When we launch in August, I’ll simply add in a customer’s email address and tag them with the Behind Your Back Bulletin product. Done.

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That customer will receive my weekly videos for the next 52 weeks. I then schedule a weekly report to track customer engagement. How many customers opened my email? When did they open it? When did they watch the video? How much of it did they watch? All good questions. I’ll have data on all of it—down to a specific individual.

The key is automation. You can easily add reminders to the delivery, so when so-so salesman Sam ignores the training he so desperately needs to improve, reminders automatically generate to nudge him to a better place.

How Your Investment Doubles in Value
A little over 300 words ago, I mentioned the automation software was designed for sales and marketing, yet works phenomenally for continuous training purposes as well. Your investment in your digital library can double immediately. How? When you capture your expertise, insights, and solutions, that content is just as useful to your employees as it is to your customers and prospects. This is critical, so let’s revisit that statement again: When you capture your expertise, insights, and solutions, that content is just as useful to your employees as it is to your customers and prospects.

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“The very things that exist in training, the unique experiences that your team has participated in, is EXACTLY the material that could catch a prospect’s eye,” Oswalt says. “For example, remember that remodeling job that required custom everything? You went through a dozen steps to arrive at a final solution…what did you learn? Did you capture it and share it with your team? That would be helpful for employees in the future. At the same time—you could capture that experience, step-by-step, and share it with prospects who are struggling just like the previous customer!”

Exactly. The content (a brief video or a two-page case study sharing the story of the custom everything remodel) can increase the collective IQ of your team internally (training) while also driving awareness for prospects that are facing the same challenges (sales & marketing).

22 Ford Ads in One Day
“There were all these different campaigns that relied not upon storyboards, but real people. All I did was get out of the way and just have conversations with people….go figure.”

The recipe isn’t complicated. Whether it’s Mike Rowe, Ford, or your company—consumers all want the same things. We want to partner with people and brands that are candid, smart, funny, and authentic. People like this solve problems. You can use existing tools and a few new ones to do the same. Start small, but start. This is the Future of LBM training—and sales & marketing—and the future is now.

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