Workpump Events

Sales Workshop: “Sales Strategy & Execution”

April 6, 2006

AeA

AeA is proud to present our members with the unique opportunity to learn from a team of nationally recognized and highly sought-after Sales and Marketing professionals.

No need to “fork-out” the dollars to hire a sales coach for your team. We've “hired” top-notch instructors to save your company thousands of dollars as an AeA membership benefit. Send your Executive team, your Sales team, your Sales Strategists and Sales Visionaries to this upcoming knowledge and action-packed day where they will hear from two top sales experts discuss Sales Strategies and Execution.

Register for “Sales Strategy & Execution” via the AeA's website.

Sales Excellence Series: Session 2: “Successful Sales Strategies”

March 2, 2006

AeA

Sales can stall when companies try to hammer a “square-peg” sales strategy into a round hole of a market. In this hands-on workshop you will learn how to:

• Create the sales strategy that will work for YOUR products and services.
• Know when to sell direct or indirect; decide when, where and how to utilize indirect channels; balance multiple channels to achieve sales objectives.
• Select, recruit and retain the right sales team for your strategy. Create a sales focused culture through your entire organization.
• Train, compensate, and motivate the sales team, whether inside or partners.
• Make sure the strategy is working, correct as needed, and run multiple strategies.

Register today for this exciting event!

“The Secrets of the Early-Stage Investment Forum—Revealed!” (Moderator)

February 28, 2006

NWEN [http://www.nwen.org]

Do you wonder how good ideas get funded? Or how successful entrepreneurs attract investment dollars — even for their first venture? Join us to learn the secrets of pitching your idea, attracting investors, and making the transition from idea to growth.

This seminar will provide an introduction to the Early-Stage Investment Forum (ESIF), which will be hosted by the Northwest Entrepreneur Network in April. We are featuring a panel of previous ESIF winners, all of whom are seasoned entrepreneurs. This is a rare opportunity to get an inside perspective on how to prepare yourself, how to pitch your idea, and how to make the contacts you will need to be a successful entrepreneur. The lessons will be broadly applicable and you do not need to be an ESIF participant to attend and benefit from this event.

Get more information about “The Secrets of the Early-Stage Investment Forum—Revealed!” from the NWEN website, or register online through NWEN.

Sales Excellence Series: Session 1: “Preparing for Sales”

February 14, 2006

AeA [http://www.aeanet.org]

Many small to mid-size businesses today are suffering from an overdose of brand-focused, content-free marketing mumbo-jumbo from ad agencies and creative firms who emphasize mindshare over market share and form over content. This strategy, which grew out of mass-media campaigns by big Madison Avenue agencies, works well for consumer commodities such as beer or cigarettes, but is far too expensive and inefficient for most businesses. This workshop shows people a simple, more affordable approach to marketing that lets them cut the cost of lead acquisition and shorten the time to close.

In this workshop you'll learn how to:

• create a compelling value proposition
• develop niche targeting strategies to revolutionize lead generation
• develop messaging that will self-select qualified prospects
• leverage your marketing resources through one-to-many programs
• create collateral that sells
• free up your valuable sales team from one-to-one prospecting

Register today for this exciting event!

“4th and Goal”

November 17, 2005

It's fourth and goal: fourth quarter and your company's year-end sales goals may seem a little tough. And 2006 will be a whole new ball game. Fortunately, Workpump and Score More Sales have teamed up to throw you a Hail Mary pass you can score on: a lunch seminar with seven things you can do to make your '05 number and boost sales in 2006.

This isn't some woo-woo, right-brain, psycho-babble marketing junk about stuff you can't measure like brand equity and mindshare. And it's not a rah-rah you-can-do-it sales rally, either. You'll come away with clear, actionable steps to turn your revenue picture around.

Learn more about 4th and Goal, the exciting event put on by Workpump.

“Accelerating Sales through Niche Marketing”

October 4, 2005

Services businesses are often characterized by lack of focus; inappropriate or no market segmentation and passive sales and marketing approaches. John Browne, former Microsoft executive and founder of Workpump, will talk about niche marketing as applied to service-based companies. You will learn practical ideas you can apply right away to create powerful advantages in generating leads and winning new business.

“Go to Market Strategies”

June 9, 2005

MITEF Venture Lab

There is nothing more critical to the success of a venture than effectively taking your product or service to market. It is how the business makes money. A Go-To-Market strategy is not just about sales it also includes marketing, channels, partners, advertising, branding and product development. A good strategy will also consider the competition, positioning and of course the customer. Your Go-To-Market strategy may change over time but it should be formed early on and help to focus your efforts along the way.

Join the MIT Enterprise Forum's Venture Lab Speakers John Browne of Workpump and Kamyar Moinzadeh of Airbiquity as they share their knowledge and experience regarding effectively taking products and services to market.

This seminar will:

• Identify the major components of an effective go-to-market plan/strategy and explain how they work/fit together.
• Drill down into the components and explain the elements/options within each so you can work towards piecing together a plan that is right for your unique situation.
• Present case studies of companies that have planned, implemented, revised and re-implemented their Go-To-Market Strategies.

“Selling to Business”

June 8, 2005

Columbia Tower Club

If you've ever wanted to take the mystery out of B2B marketing, this is the session you've been waiting for.

Most marketing theory and practice is geared toward selling consumer products. Selling to business requires a different approach, using the right marketing strategy and flawless execution. This talk will show you how to identify the people who will buy what you have today, create a powerful value proposition and unique messaging, develop collateral that will get prospects to say the five most important words in the sales cycle, and generate qualified leads for your sales force to close.

John, who worked at Microsoft for more than a decade, founded Workpump Corporation with the goal of helping little companies turn into bigger ones.

“Secrets of Killer Marketing”

May 17, 2005

with the WSA

Sales is not witchcraft.

Selling products and services is a process that begins with effective marketing and drives through to generating demand and closing sales.

Effective marketing begins with mapping your customer’s needs hierarchy. All living organisms are driven to satisfy their needs, and to get people’s attention you need to connect your value proposition to a need that is urgent, compelling, and unsolved. Once you've done that, you just have to find the needy and create belief with your message.

After that, closing is easy.

A workshop that will make a real difference.

Now you can learn how to apply the techniques of solutions marketing to your B2B product or services. Techniques proven to get you more leads and close more business.

This workshop will show you how to map your customer's needs hierarchy; create a value proposition that addresses their most urgent, compelling, and unsolved need; create a message that gets people to ask “How do you do that?” instead of “So what?”; and build outreach campaigns that will fill your pipeline with qualified leads.

Why you need to come.

Most business marketing today is ineffective because it's based on what agencies and marketing firms know best: brand-focused consumer marketing. Consumer marketing techniques work great for sunglasses and soda pop, but not for selling industrial grade products to hard-nosed business people.

“Marketing Professional Services”

April 26, 2005

TEC

Early-Stage Investment Forum

April 20, 2005

NWEN

More than 200 people attended our Sixth Annual Early-Stage Investment Forum on Wednesday, April 20 at Bell Harbor in downtown Seattle. Twenty companies made their pitches, demonstrated their products, and networked with the audience of investors, sponsors, and ESIF committee members. Keynote speaker Pete Higgins (Second Avenue Partners) talked about “best practices” for entrepreneurs and investors, as well as the certain “kisses of death” for early-stage companies.

At the evening reception, John Browne, the chair of the ESIF 2005 Steering Committee, and Susan Preston, of Davis Wright Tremaine and the Kauffman Foundation, announced the four winners of the “Investors’ Choice” and “Sponsors’ Choice” awards. Each attendee used his or her Venture Bucks to “invest” in one morning company and one afternoon company. The winners were:

• The Morning Investors’ Choice was Novinium (cable rejuvenation for electric and telecommunications utilities).
• The Morning Sponsors’ Choice was Tenacious Games (tournament card game publisher)
• The Afternoon: Investors’ Choice was Max-Viz (enhanced visibility for aviation).
• The Afternoon Sponsors’ Choice was NanoString Technologies (molecule identification)

“Using Service Providers”

April 8, 2005

Washington Technology Summit

“Getting Ready for Sales”

Jan 18, 2005

AeA Sales Excellence Series

Provocative discussion and real conversations about the solutions and issues facing leaders responsible for growing their business in this intensive, hands-on, 3-part series designed for sales managers and higher level leaders who play key roles in business development.

PART I: Preparing for Sales

Selling technology products and services today is a lot harder than it was in the 90s. Many tech companies struggle with sales because they don't understand the secrets that successful companies like Microsoft use every day. The key to tech sales is creating strong demand for your product with the right marketing strategy and flawless execution. In this session you will learn how to build a product that will sell, create a powerful value proposition, identify people who will buy what you have today, develop killer messaging, and generate leads for your sales force. If you've ever wanted to take the mystery out of technology marketing, this is the session you've been waiting for.

“Selling IT Services in the US”

Dec 2, 2004

Presentation to Bulgarian trade mission

“Selling Software and Services in Today's Market”

Nov 9, 2004

WSA Marketing SIG

Selling technology products in today's market requires a new approach to design, marketing and sales. Most companies are functioning with existing technologies and will only make changes if the product or service has real value: “it either makes money or saves money.”

Speaker John Browne will discuss why high-tech products are hard to sell; how to map technology to a customer's needs hierarchy; and how business ecosystems create new revenue opportunities. Attendees will get a self-assessment worksheet to help guide them through the process.

“Selling through Channels”

May 6, 2004

MITEF Venture Lab

“The Mousetrap Myth”

Dec 9, 2003

WSA Marketing SIG

Many technology products with cool, powerful features don't sell well. Customers are impressed with the demo and features, but don't reach for their checkbooks. Today, selling software and other technology products requires a new approach to design, marketing, and sales.

Speaker John Browne will discuss why high-tech products are hard to sell, how to map products to a customer's “needs hierarchy” and finally, how to understand business ecosystems to create new revenue opportunities. A worksheet will be provided after the session to help guide companies through a product-assessment process.