BRIDGE Marketing Program
- Price: 9,750 + GST (62 direct hours of teaching and training)
- Location: At participant’s business location – Lower Mainland
- Program Content: 12 – 90 minute live interactive presentations over approx. 3 months at participant’s pace
- Project Tutorial Time – 44 hours of tutorial
- Participants should expect to invest an additional 80 to 100 hours to complete the projects.
- Textbook: ROCK SOLID – How to Strengthen Your Company
- E-Learning: Manuals, examples, articles, videos.
- Travel to and from the Participant’s Place of Business – Depends, range: 10 to 40 hours
A Certificate of Completion will be generated by Rock Solid Business Development Inc. and presented when participants complete the program requirements.
Program Overview
The BRIDGE Marketing Program is designed for owners and/or managers of companies. Expect a direct application of relevant training. (DART) It’s much more than an academic approach: participants first gain knowledge and then develop their business skills & abilities as they work on projects that directly involve their own marketing plan. Many entrepreneurs don’t do well in classrooms. They learn best when working with relevant material in their own business environment.
A word of caution – participants must learn and do – or they will fail.
The program’s methodology is to introduce new knowledge using a presentation/lecture approach and then blend the knowledge into relevant projects that the participants are responsible for completing. This parallel learn and do approach maximizes the participant’s skill development. The more relevant the projects are the better and with this program the projects address the current marketing challenges the participants face as they grow their business.
Participants must have access to a computer with Word and Excel available. Skype is optional.
High-Level Core Competencies developed by the BRIDGE Marketing Program
- The overall core competency developed is how to develop and implement a marketing plan that effectively builds the business.
- How to target ideal customers for the company.
- Understanding the changing nature of marketing and the growing & evolving spectrum of marketing channels available. Also knowing when to use Hunting, Fishing and/or Farming strategies.
- Developing and implement a Company Promise that each and every company representative is expected to deliver on with each and every customer – each and every time.
Grading and Certification
There are 9 projects of equal weight. Each will be graded for both quality and implementation.
30% of the total course mark for project quality and 35% of the total course mark for project implementation. They will be graded as they are submitted.
BRIDGE Marketing Challenges
BRIDGE is a metaphor & an acronym for developing an effective marketing plan. To grow companies need to develop solid ‘bridges’ to their target markets. BRIDGE Marketing is a proven approach that is a very effective program for companies who are already in business.
When all six challenges are completed then it’s straightforward to create an effective marketing plan. Participants will also be evaluated on the marketing program as a whole and the ability of the marketing pieces to attract customers.
The ability to connect with and do business with the ideal customers for the company takes training to develop. The difficulty is that it takes groundwork to be in position to write an effective marketing plan. Shortcuts only work for the precious few: The BRIDGE approach trains business-people how to use a step by step process that delivers a much higher degree of certainty.
Learning Objectives & Projects
- Read chapter 33 on the BRIDGE Marketing Challenges
- Develop an ideal client profile – there could be multiple centres. – PROJECT
- Understanding your prospects Buyers’ Cycle
- Inventory of Benefits with Buy-in for each Profit Centre (Hot buttons) – PROJECT
- Detail prospects’ resistance
- Inventory of ways to initiate contact with prospects – PROJECT
- When to use Hunting, Fishing and/or Farming strategies for marketing.
- Developing your Sales Cycle to effectively match the prospects’ Buyers’ Cycle
- Draft a Marketing Plan – PROJECT
- Understand the difference between customer service and customer satisfaction
Company Promise
The Company Promise is the missing piece of the Mission, Vision triangle. A Visions Statement describes where you would like the company to be a point in the distant future. A Mission Statement describes what needs to be done to get there. A Company Promise is who the company needs to ‘be’ and how it needs to perform for each-and-every customer – or the first two statements are just pipe dreams.
A Company Promise succinctly describes the value the company wants to deliver and commits everyone on the team to delivering it – every customer, every single time. Participants will be evaluated on the quality of their promise and the implementation of it.
Implementing a new Company Promise into an existing organization is difficult. It involves sustained effort and many face-to-face conversations. The concept is easier with new hires.
When a Company Promise is aimed at a profitable business opportunity the rest of the business development process can be solved with a mechanical approach. Often a slight adjustment can make a world of difference. People who develop a keen ability to discern profitable business opportunities can build impressive companies even in crowded markets. This is the Keystone Element of the Company Strength Program and the concept was actually developed by the trainer. Nowadays it’s often copied but rarely duplicated.
Learning Objectives & Projects
- Reading chapter 10
- Understanding Direct Value
- Understanding Collateral Value
- Develop and implement a Company Promise – PROJECT
Company Accountability Matrix (CA³M)
The CA³M is a roadmap for organizing and systemizing companies for smooth operations and growth. There are a surprising amount of ‘moving parts’ in any company and the CA³M delivers a proven methodology for monitoring and improving them. It also flags missing pieces that may be required for the company to achieve solid profitable growth – the trainer has developed significant expertise in this area over a 30-year career in business.
The BRIDGE Marketing projects related to the CA³M and the company’s systems will be graded for both level of completion and overall quality.
Implementing the CA³M also involves a step-by-step process for effectively delegating accountability and responsibility into the appropriate levels for the company. Typically the largest expense for most companies is human resources: otherwise known as your people. Building a strong, engaged marketing team is a project with valuable returns. Participants will be evaluated on effective delegation and employee performance planning.
Learning Objectives & Projects
- Read chapters 25 through 30
- Understand how a Company Accountability Matrix works and why they’re beneficial
- Developing an ‘inventory’ of all of the company’s marketing functions – PROJECT
- Determining the Frequency of the functions
- Evaluating the ongoing performance of the functions – PROJECT
- Assess if a function needs a system and or policy
- Delegating accountability and responsibility – PROJECT
- Following through on delegating accountability and responsibility
- Detailing the effective communications required for the marketing functions – PROJECT