Business Development

1. Employment Services & Innovations Training 2 Business Development Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

2. Lesson Objectives • Understand key components of the business world related to job development • Learn critical marketing ideas • Review customer service principles Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

3. Job Development: How do you do it? • Individual Strategies • Cold Call • Beg, Place and Pray • Food, Flour/Flower, Filth • Group Strategies • Breakfasts • Business to Business/Referral • Networks Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

4. Experience Talks • How you address job development • Tools/Assessments you use • Strategies for contacting potential employers • Experiences you had that you weren’t prepared for Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

5. Effective Partnerships • Trust • Win/Win Nature • Long-Term Relationship • Service Competence • Customer Service Orientation Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

6. Know the Business World • Business knowledge • Employer as individual vs. organization • Know your services & benefits • Recognize multiple sources of business contacts • Let employers know why you are contacting them Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

7. Know the Business World, cont. • Who makes hiring decisions? Process? 7) Stay in touch 8) Analyze aspects of targeted jobs Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

8. Marketing • Know what employers want • Know your package of services • Study the local business community • Marketing materials Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

9. Marketing, cont. • Business cards • Conduct seminars • Market services, not disability • Use past partners as reference Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

10. Marketing, cont. • Coordinate with other VR people • Track contacts • Adapt your style as needed • ASK FOR SALE Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

11. Customer Service Orientation • Respond quickly • Customize your services • “Coffee Stains” • “Silk ties” • Outstanding performance • Learn from other fields • Listen (80/20) Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

12. The EmployAlliance Concept • Job Developer Network • Present one unified force to business • Share leads • Mentor each other • “Focus Business” • 1 per person • Business you know well/screener • 2 hours/month Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

13. Focus Business Model • A business that you would like to know more about. • A business you feel may someday benefit from services you can offer. Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

14. Focus Business Model, cont. • A partnership between your organization and the business • A business for which YOU provide a service. Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

15. True or False? There are nearly 153,000 people with disabilities in the United States Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

16. False. There are over 49.7 million—21.3 million of working age! Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

17. What a Focus Business Is Not • A business you choose only because you have a candidate who needs a job, and “any job will do.” • A business you must “preach to” about why they should hire your candidate. Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

18. What a Focus Business Is Not A business about which you know very little, or that you choose to assume you know about, just because you’re familiar with the “industry.” Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

19. Don’t… • Get on your soap box and start preaching about hiring people with disabilities and how “businesses never understand.” • Tell them all the things they do wrong or should do/not do. FIRST you must learn before making any recommendations. Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

20. Assumptions About Businesses • Businesses know their own hiring needs best • Many businesses are inexperienced in hiring people with disabilities • Stereotypes exist • Turnover in entry level positions is often high Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

21. Strategies for Building the Relationship Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

22. Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services • Put yourself in the shoes of the employer and attempt to truly understand their position. • Learn as much as you can about the business and their goals & motivations • Act and dress professionally

23. Before the first meeting… • Do your research about the company before you meet in person. • Approach the situation with a long-term relationship/partnership as a goal. Do NOT focus on immediate placements, but rather build a trusting relationship Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

24. Ways to Learn More • Do your research on the internet • Go shopping there if appropriate • Take a tour • “Interview” relevant staff: hiring professionals, managers, workers, etc… Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

25. Ways to Learn More,cont. • Conduct job analyses of target positions • Provide literature/information about hiring people with disabilities • Conduct training(s) to staff Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

26. Mitigating Resistance • Try to understand the employer’s reservations and why they may have them. • Educate the employer about the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

27. Some Examples • The business had a bad experience • They don’t have time to train a person with a disability • The candidate won’t fit in with the culture in that workplace/department. Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

28. Never forget to… • Be patient • Act as a consultant to the business Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

29. The Win-Win for Your Focus Businesses &Your Organization • Provides one point of contact for referring job candidates • One “expert” developer for each focus business Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services

30. Focus Business Activity • What does the business do? • Products/Services? • Company goals? • Positions they hire for? • Required skills for those positions? • What makes a good employee? • How can WE help? Employment Services & Innovations Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services