What’s happenin’ in IMPACT+ in under 5 minutes! (August 2020)

For those of you in the IMPACT community, you’ve likely heard of and enjoyed the progressive rollout of IMPACT+, our new online learning and team alignment platform.

For those of you who haven’t yet heard of IMPACT+, brace yourselves.

I have the unique opportunity to give you a really exciting update on all of the new online training courses designed for business leaders, sales professionals, marketers, content creators, and, of course, their entire teams.

Why am I excited about this update?

Well, besides the staggering number of new lessons and videos we’ve published for you over the past few months (totaling 380 new videos), we’ve focused on areas of training that are sorely needed in the digital sales and marketing space.

Frankly speaking, the marketing space overall has done a good job of diagnosing a serious problem with sales and marketing alignment and prescribing potential solutions.

However, even if you create camaraderie between these teams, you need a unified, guiding methodology and a shared understanding of what’s going to keep the alignment strong.

As IMPACT coach Chris Marr, says, “Buy-in is not binary - it's not something you either have or don't have. Rather, there is a scale of maturity, and if we're doing the right things, enrollment should be increasing and maturing over time.”

That was the focus of the brand-new online training courses: Aligning and bringing teams together to do the right things over time.

We knew we couldn’t just focus on training for marketers. So, we hunkered down and sought to identify the largest gaps and missed opportunities in regards to sales and leadership training as well.

What kind of training was missing for them? What problems are they confronted with, especially in a new COVID-19 environment?

Thus, we created the following 18 courses, which I’ll tell you a little bit about as we go.

Table of Contents

New IMPACT+ Courses Everyone Should Take:

• Digital Sales & Marketing Framework for Today's Modern Buyer by Marcus Sheridan (Free)
• Fundamentals of The Visual Sale by Zach Basner (Free)
• Self-Selection and a Touchless Buying Experience by Chris Duprey (Free)

New IMPACT+ Courses Business and Organizational Leaders Should Take:

• Investing in Incredible Digital Sales & Marketing Results by Chris Duprey (Free)
• Scaling up Your Digital Sales & Marketing by Chris Duprey (Free)

New IMPACT+ Courses Sales Professionals Should Take:

• Assignment Selling: Content is Your Greatest Sales Tool by Marcus Sheridan (Free)
• Getting Started with Sales Technology by Carina Duffy  (Free)
• How to Role Play Virtual Selling with Your Team by Chris Duprey (Pro)
• Digital Communication Techniques for 1:1 Sales by Myriah Anderson (Pro)
• The Subject Matter Experts Guide to Content by Liz Moorehead (Pro)
• 6 Topics Subject Matter Experts Need to Address by Kevin Phillips (Free)
• Virtual Sales Appointment Strategies That Close Deals Faster by Myriah Anderson (Pro)
• Fundamentals of Highly Effective Sales Communication by Chris Duprey (Pro)

New IMPACT+ Courses Marketers and Content Creators Should Take:

• Crafting "Selling Seven" Videos That Convert by Will Schultz (Pro)
• Marketing Automation Mastery (with HubSpot) by Carina Duffy (Free)
• How To Optimize Your Google Business Listing by Kevin Phillips (Free)
• Inbound Lead Generation & Conversion Optimization by Carina Duffy (Free)
• Mastering the Google Suite Tools by Kevin Phillips (Pro)

For this update, I’ve broken down the new courses by who should take them. However, I would encourage you to also take a look at courses that might inform you on the strategies and best practices for other roles in the organization as well.

With each course, I’ll give you a quick overview, whether it’s a free or pro-level course, and how long it is in its entirety.

New IMPACT+ courses everyone should take

Digital Sales & Marketing Framework for Today's Modern Buyer by Marcus Sheridan (Free)

This course is one of the flagships of IMPACT+. Instructed by the one and only Marcus Sheridan, it will take you through a journey of uncovering the major ways today’s buyer has changed, how to compete in the digital marketplace, and ultimately the base strategy for driving major results with traffic, leads, sales, and revenue.

This is the content marketing strategy that everyone in your organization needs to know about, embrace, and work on together.

Total duration: 2 hours

Fundamentals of The Visual Sale by Zach Basner (Free)

Yes, I’m biased, but hear me out. In this course, I wanted to give anybody involved with prospect and buyer communication the most important video strategies to focus on.

Specifically, I wanted to give teams the opportunity to learn the what, why, and how of video communication and remove the ambiguity that persists with this very important tool.

You’ll learn why video is important for all of us, what types of videos to make, and how to structure any video you create.

Total duration: 1 hour 20 minutes

Self-Selection and a Touchless Buying Experience by Chris Duprey (Free)

First of all, if you’re not super familiar with what self-selection is, you need this course, but even if you do, this is a course everyone should take.

If there’s one thing we’ve seen with buyer behavior over the last 10 years, buyers want to be in control of the buying process (aka your sales process.) Yet, many organizations haven’t adapted in a way that lets buyers do this. They can’t easily navigate a website, self-discover their purchase criteria, and make a sound buying decision.

But they need to and that’s what’s known as “The Touchless Sale.”

This course will get you familiar with the strategy of self-selection, and give you an overview of the types of tools organizations like yours should use, and where to get started.

Total duration: 30 minutes

New IMPACT+ courses business and organizational leaders should take

Investing in Incredible Digital Sales & Marketing Results by Chris Duprey (Free)

If you’re a leader who wants to make more informed decisions when it comes to digital sales and marketing success, this will be your guide.

A common question we address at IMPACT is “how much does it cost to do this content marketing thing right?” If I’m being honest, it’s not an easy answer, but Chris Duprey breaks it down plain-as-day.

This course includes what typical marketing retainers look like versus investing in internal hires, how much it costs to buy the proper tools and technology, and even how paid advertising should and shouldn’t play into your budget.

Total duration: 1 hour

Scaling up Your Digital Sales & Marketing by Chris Duprey (Free)

(As you can tell, Chris has been busy!)

Here’s the thing, this digital sales and marketing journey is never over. One problem we aimed to solve with this course is getting to a point where you might think you’re done OR you’re hungry to step it up.

In this course, Chris identifies where you should focus your time and efforts once you start to see all the positive results of your They Ask, You Answer journey.

Total duration: 30 minutes

New IMPACT+ courses sales professionals should take

Assignment Selling: Content is Your Greatest Sales Tool by Marcus Sheridan (Free)

Every. Single. Sales pro. Needs to take this course.

Especially if you like shorter sales cycles and working with more educated prospects.

Led by Marcus Sheridan, you’ll discover the importance of leveraging content in the sales process, spending less time educating in sales meetings, and ensuring you’re always working with qualified prospects.

You’ll see how assignment selling works, what’s possible when it’s done correctly, and how to start implementing it tomorrow.

Total duration: 45 minutes

Getting Started with Sales Technology by Carina Duffy (Free)

To be honest with you, it’s still surprising for me to hear that sales teams aren’t integrating time-tested digital tools into their processes. But, as long as the problem exists, we’ll continue to address it.

In this course instructed by master trainer Carina Duffy, you’ll learn how sales technology can improve efficiency, sales enablement, and data optimization.

It’s a great fit for both sales managers and sales reps who either have not adopted a CRM platform or are in the process of vetting platforms.

Total duration: 30 minutes

How to Role Play Virtual Selling with Your Team by Chris Duprey (Pro)

We didn’t want it to, but it happened. Sales teams have lost the art of conducting effective role-plays (especially for virtual appointments) and it’s a problem.

Virtual sales role-playing lets your team work out the kinks in the virtual sales meeting, become better communicators, and ultimately move more buyers to action.

So, if your team generally regards role-playing as “cheesy” and “a waste of time,” this will be your guide into the Communication Promised Land.

Total duration: 50 minutes

Digital Communication Techniques for 1:1 Sales by Myriah Anderson (Pro)

While you’re mastering the art of role-playing, why not also improve the quality of communication through email and video in the sales process?

This, again, is an area of improvement for every salesperson and team.

In this course, our resident business development expert, Myriah Anderson, walks you through how to improve the quantity and quality and inbound sales appointments, how to increase your effectiveness with email, and how to build trust quicker with video.

Total duration: 50 minutes

The Subject Matter Experts Guide to Content by Liz Moorehead (Pro)

If you don’t yet know Liz, you’re in for a treat. I honestly had so much fun taking this course. So much, in fact, that I watched it twice.

When you’ve started your content marketing and They Ask, You Answer journey, one of the largest hurdles is actually creating great content. Furthermore, getting your whole team producing content versus just your content manager is a bear.

Well, Liz is here to save your butts.

This course is a great fit for sales professionals and subject matter experts who want to create content that is guaranteed to drive traffic, leads, and sales without creating a massive headache for themselves.

Total duration: 1 hour and 20 minutes

6 Topics Subject Matter Experts Need to Address by Kevin Phillips (Free)

As you can guess by the title of this course, there are six topics your marketing team needs your help in creating. But why do you need to help? Why can’t marketing just do this on their own?

That’s exactly what you’ll learn in this course from Kevin Phillips, our resident search engine nerd and master content trainer.

By the end of this course, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of the most critical pieces of content any business can create for their prospects, and how and why you, the SME needs to help create an amazing piece of content.

Total duration: 1 hour

Virtual Sales Appointment Strategies That Close Deals Faster (Pro)

Many, many sales teams are having to quickly navigate this new virtual environment, and let’s be honest — that’s not an easy transition.

But, just because a virtual sales appointment is different doesn’t mean it has to stink.

In this course from Myriah, you’ll learn how to run more effective (and likely shorter) virtual appointments, how to properly prepare your virtual attendees, and how to move more of them to action afterward.

Total duration: 20 minutes

Fundamentals of Highly Effective Sales Communication by Chris Duprey (Pro)

Let’s get real here for a second: How many sales pros would give themselves an honest 10 out of 10 if they were rating their communication abilities with prospects?

Not many. In fact, even the most seasoned salespeople know there is always room for improvement.

That’s where Chris comes in with the good stuff.

This course focuses on a series of communication principles that give you the tools to avoid playing defense, lead your buyer to self-discovery, and ultimately, increase your closing rates.

Specifically, you’ll know how to get ahead of objections, develop the tools to get a commitment and send effective follow-up communication to your buyer.

Total duration: 40 minutes

New IMPACT+ Courses Marketers and Content Creators Should Take

Crafting "Selling Seven" Videos That Convert by Will Schultz (Pro)

You may have heard of “The Selling 7” before, but we’ve never gone this deep into how to bring this revenue-generating strategy to life.

My main man and video strategy extraordinaire, Will Schultz, explains thoroughly how to make each type of video in “The Selling 7,” how to create a visual-first journey through your website, and the common mistakes creators make when they first create these videos.

It’s fun. Will’s a video strategy extraordinaire and you’re going to enjoy this course, guaranteed.

Total duration: 1 hour

Marketing Automation Mastery (with HubSpot) by Carina Duffy (Free)

What’s a marketing strategy without the right tools? And what’s a tool without a great marketing strategy? Well, I’m glad you asked.

In this course, Carina gives one of the best introductions into marketing automation and HubSpot that I’ve seen. It’s a great balance of explaining what the tools can and cannot do, and what you need to do to get the most out of automation.

So, if you’re looking for ways to automate the mundane digital sales and marketing tasks that need to get done (especially with HubSpot), this course is for you.

Total duration: 1 hour

How To Optimize Your Google Business Listing by Kevin Phillips (Free)

It’s been reported that 86% of consumers rely on the internet to find a local business and almost a third (29%) search for local businesses at least once a week.

So, if you’re a local business how important is Google My Business (GMB)? Well, very important.

If you want to get all the juice you can out of Google’s free tool, then this course is for you. Kevin discusses how to navigate the tool, where to focus your time optimizing, and even how to make sense of the analytics available in GMB.

Total duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Inbound Lead Generation & Conversion Optimization by Carina Duffy (Free)

Just hired a new content manager? Not seeing traction on your website? Ready to stop paying for billboard space?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need to learn the basics of inbound marketing and how to generate leads online. Further, you need to learn how to optimize every touchpoint on your website to ensure you’re generating the right leads.

This course is a great fit for any marketing professional new to inbound marketing who is looking to learn how to bring in more prospects through their website, and ultimately provide new sales opportunities for their company.

Total duration: 1 hour

Inbounder's Guide to Google Suite Tools by Kevin Phillips (Pro)

If you’re anything like me, I don’t like to spend too much time aimlessly wandering around analytics and dashboards with endless amounts of data. I’d rather know exactly what I should be looking for, and easily find it without needing a manual.

In this course, Kevin gives you the lowdown on two incredibly valuable tools in the Google Suite, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console.

Together these tools give you insights into who’s visiting your website, where they come from, what they search for, and many other important data points that will help solidify your content marketing strategy.

Total duration: 2 hours

Where do I start and do I even need Pro, bro?

As you can see, your options of new courses in IMPACT+ are very high. So, here’s what I would recommend.

First, if you haven’t yet signed up for a free IMPACT+ account, what are you waiting for? You literally have nothing to lose.

Second, choose courses that align with your job role, or the role of someone you work closely with so you understand their role and how to help.

Lastly, if you haven’t signed up for a Pro account in IMPACT+, let me make a quick case to you.

We carefully choose which courses are available to a Pro user, and they generally contain more advanced knowledge and strategies. They go beyond the fundamentals and basics to give you the tools to start becoming a “world-class” sales pro, content manager, videographer, etc.

Not only will you get all those advanced courses, but you’ll have access to incredibly valuable peer groups, early-access to business tools, and more.

So, get signed up and start learning!! I’ll see you next month with a brand new set of courses for your viewing pleasure.

Until then, keep learning!