Business Development
Employment Services &
Innovations
Training 2
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Lesson Objectives
Understand key components of the business world related to job development
Learn critical marketing ideas
Review customer service principles
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Individual Strategies• Cold Call• Beg, Place and Pray• Food, Flour/Flower, Filth
Group Strategies• Breakfasts• Business to Business/Referral• Networks
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Job Development: How do you do it?
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
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Effective Partnerships
1) Trust
2) Win/Win Nature
3) Long-Term Relationship
4) Service Competence
5) Customer Service Orientation
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Know the Business World
1) Business knowledge
2) Employer as individual vs. organization
3) Know your services & benefits
4) Recognize multiple sources of business contacts
5) Let employers know why you are contacting them
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Know the Business World, cont.
6) Who makes hiring decisions? Process?
7) Stay in touch
8) Analyze aspects of targeted jobs
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Marketing
Know what employers want
Know your package of services
Study the local business community
Marketing materials
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Marketing, cont.
Business cards
Conduct seminars
Market services, not disability
Use past partners as reference
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Marketing, cont.
Coordinate with other VR people
Track contacts
Adapt your style as needed
ASK FOR SALE
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Customer Service Orientation
Respond quickly Customize your services “Coffee Stains” “Silk ties” Outstanding performance Learn from other fields Listen (80/20)
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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
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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.
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Focus Business Model, cont.
A partnership between your organization and the business
A business for which YOU provide a service.
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True or False?
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There are nearly 153,000 people with
disabilities in the United States
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False. There are over 49.7 million—21.3 million
of working age!
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.
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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.”
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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
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
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Strategies for Building the Relationship
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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
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
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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…
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Ways to Learn More, cont.
Conduct job analyses of target
positions
Provide literature/information about
hiring people with disabilities
Conduct training(s) to staff
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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.
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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.
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Never forget to…
Be patient
Act as a consultant to the business
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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
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