HouseKeeping Items

Some Housekeeping

• Flexx-Phone  In order for your preferred phone numbers to be picked up at bottom of your email template, you need to update your personal profile info (work and mobile phone fields.)  These numbers will be automatically grabbed.
  
• Database Creation:  Remember, you can farm this out if you wish.  It will cost you 2% of 1st yr's sales.  If not, here's a quick review of how you should be maximizing your data entry into zoho new leads.  I would methodically work state-by state, using the state's hockey website (you can find from the USAH pdf in dropbox) as your source. Start at top and work your way down.  Use split screens/ double windows.   When you encounter a site that has all the data we are looking for cut/paste the 1st/last name, org name, email address and phone number for the title that most closely fits Coaching Coord / Hockey Director.  There is a role called ACECoordinator/Director that also should be entered.  YOu can learn more about this role here.   While you are there I suggest you set up a separate new lead for the president.  Each new person you enter should be a new lead.  As you complete your data entry for a given org, pop back to your state directory for the next org.  When you are done with one state, move on to the next (for those of you in multi-state territories.  This way we will not miss any orgs (that are part of USAHockey at least).
  
• About 20-30% of the time you will encounter programs that have sites that do not offer email addresses or that make you use their own email engine to send a message.  Here's what I recommend:  Note:  6/22:  Much of the process below has been updated in a flexxflash today.
• No email:  enter into a Zoho new lead the org name.  For the contact name type "no email".   Move on.
• Email engine:  enter into a Zoho new lead the org name.  For the contact name type "email engine".   Move on.
• After you have banged out emails for every org that provides them in your territory you can move to the "email engine" orgs where you will have to resort to a manual cut/paste of our graphic email and manually updating the "to", "org name", and your contact info at bottom.
• The "no emails" we will leave for last.  Hopefully by then, word of mouth will be bringing them our way.
• eMail and Phone (when possible)-- not just once!  Think of your own inbox--- sometimes you blow off an email that interests you because you are too busy and then forget about it.  This is why outreach only starts with the 1st email and your outreach efforts (over time) will be a careful, controlled combination of new 1st emails and periodic re-emails and phone follow up.  You must use ZOHO to record all outreach so you can later understand your volume and frequency.  You dont want to overdo it nor underdo it.
  
• It is very important that, after sending that first email, you convert the lead to a contact/account (one button) and update it to a stage 2.
• It is also important that you assign yourself a new activity for a week out to follow up with a call (when numbers are listed).  YOu will be automatically reminded when this activity is due.  I would resend the email if your call goes to VM-- even state you will be doing so.  Have your elevator pitch ready when you make that call.  Should be able to deliver it in 10-15 seconds.  Use the opening paragraph of the email and perhaps some info from closing paragraph. Reference that the email has a link to a short, highly instructive video.
  
• If no phone number, set up an activity to re-email in a week's time.
• I am thinking 3 emails 1per week for 3 weeks.   Use Zoho to assign yourself email and/or phone follow up tasks out over 3 wks. 
  
• New PDF summarizing our TeamSolutions offering is now in dropbox.  This is a good doc for you to send as follow-up after your demo where you have a candidate who is interested in evangelizing our deal to his/her peers.
• Drill Designer in my travels both selling and crashing coaches clinics, I am finding that flexxCOACH's drill designer is a valued and important tool for many of our customers.  I want to underscore the importance of your investing the time to create your own drills using drill designer (which you must download to your desktop).  You must also upload your drill designer drills to flexxcoach and be ready/able to demonstrate creating a drill from scratch and selecting from your custom library when building a practice plan.  Additionally,  Within a month or so we will be offering a new version of drill designer with dramatic enhancements.  Among them:
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  Newly designed players & child players
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  New symbols for players and - x & o / circles & triangles
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  Numbering & naming of players
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  New drop & drag features - ease of use / rotating players
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  New smoother lines & drawing
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  New "gear"
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  Rink templates for stations & labeling of stations
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  Off - ice field of play & corresponding drawing capabilty for off ice practice
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  The sizing of the rink can be scaled

Food for Thought

• Garth and I crashed the level 4 clinic here in Boston.  Over 300 attendees and hockey mania.  Our own Mike Sullivan spoke on day 3 and he was amazing.  I will forward his prezo when I get it.  You guys should try to network with the heads of coaching clinics in the areas you cover.  Keith Blase can help you.   Dan Esdale, MassHockey's head CAME TO ME and stated how happy he was that flexxCOACH has a local presence.  He wants to work proactively to integrate flexxcoach more cohesively at the clinics.   You can probably achieve similar success!  Of course, clinics dont start up again til next Fall... but they start planning in the next few weeks.
• Ditto Summer Tourneys.   You may be able to set up shop at high-traffic tourneys in your area.  Do some homework.  Let me know if there are any oppty's. We can set you up with the basics.
• College programs:   Tim Army (Providence) spoke at our level 4.   Based on a college coaches conference in FLA where he saw a flexxCOACH based presentation, he told me at the level 4 he needed to buy flexxcoach.  While selling to college programs will not make you rich,  bringing them on board and making them reference accounts will go a long way to helping you close big deals. Consider doing outreach to the big programs in your territory.   The email we are currently sending is not optimal for this.  We can/should brainstorm.  At very least, pls let me know where you have personal relationships... even if not in your territory!  
  

All for now-- my back is cramping up!