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Sales Plan Project: Leah’s Cartooning Parties, Inc.

Leah Lopez

MAR 4413

St. Petersburg College

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Executive/Need Summary

Customer pain point(s):

Customers want affordable entertainment for children for after-school programs, events, and

parties. They also want their children to be exposed to art as less priority is given to the art in

schools.

Target market:

Children are our main market, but we find teenagers and senior citizens have just as much fun as

the kids do, thus there is demand for these groups as well.

Why we’re here:

Leah’s Cartooning Parties, Inc. exists to bring back art in people’s lives and uncover previously

undiscovered artistic talent. We think art is important as a brain exercise, motor skill

development (in children), teaching a balance of following instructions and expressing creative

freedoms, and therapy and fun (for teens and seniors). We can accomplish this by traveling to

local public and private facilities and homes to host in-person cartooning workshops. We can

also reach the country by our future merchandise such as how-to-draw DVDs and activity books.

Our site can also host web-conferenced live workshops so people all around the country and

world can have the “workshop” experience.

Customer (top 5):

1. Parents

2. Librarians

3. Senior citizen facility managers

4. Teen group/anime club leaders

5. Daycares

Call-to-action:

Visit www.cartooningparties.com and/or e-mail cartoonparty@hotmail.com for more info and to

book an affordable, interactive, artistic program!

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary- pg. 2

Table of Contents- pg. 3

Customer- pg. 4

Where We’ve Been- pg. 4-5

Relationship Strategy- pg. 5

Developing Personal Selling Philosophy- pg. 6

Developing Product Strategy- pg. 7

Total Product Concept- pg. 7

Top Customer Prospects- pg. 8

Developing Customer Strategy- pg. 9

Presentation Strategy- pg. 9-10

Customer Needs, Discovery, and Negotiation- pg. 10-14

Conclusion- pg. 14

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Customer

Customer Pain Point Story

Carol heads programs for latchkey kids at a church. She has a limited budget, but knows children

need productive activities (particularly art) to keep them entertained and the “creative side” of

their brains exercised- especially since schools are doing away with art.

Customer pain points in niche target

Customer

Interview

(Name/Date)

Major Pain

Points/Needs

Other Customer

Comments/Ideas/ Suggestions

Interviewer

Comment

Janean Cheap workshops

for week-long

church camp

Loves workshop; got to add up

(pricey) for week-long

Maybe I can offer

merchandise or we

can reduce # of

workshops instead of

all or nothing

Jane

Merchandise

(DVD)

Keep senior citizens in mind by

making products

available/marketed to us as

well.

Sounds great. Need

to start working on it

soon

Jen

Library Thinks workshop is super

quality and first-rate, thinks this

business can go further.

We are working hard

to grow

Amile Likes art for kids

and is interested in

future web-

conferenced

workshops

Had a workshop at home for a

girls softball team. This was the

person who originally came up

with the idea of web-conference

workshops

Sounds awesome!

Total #: 4 4 4

Customer profile story

The niche target market for our standard in-person cartooning workshop is the parents of

children of both genders from ages 5-12 from middle-low income to high income families. Our

secondary target market is senior citizens that are part of a “senior’s club”, living in assisted

living community, or part of a senior center in a library.

Where We’ve Been

Leah’s Cartooning Parties, Inc. was founded in 2006 to teach children, teens, and seniors how to

draw and color cartoons and/or anime characters. We have traveled to libraries, parks & rec.

centers, daycares, schools, and churches in several Florida counties to teach cartooning. We are

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currently working on evolving our business to reach more people (nationally and possibly

internationally).

A. In 2005, Leah gave her very first cartooning workshop at her local library. When it

was such a success (150 participants showed up!) Leah thought this would be a great

business idea and felt that other libraries and parents would be interested in cartooning

workshops for their children. In 2006, Leah and her family incorporated this business and

traveled to many libraries, events, and houses to teach though these workshops. They

came to realize the potential of magnitude that this business could reach and the benefits

of art: such as motor skill development, following instructions, creative freedom, and

therapeutic benefits.

B. We can provide: a quality cartooning workshop by a qualified instructor at a low price.

This workshop is very entertaining and interactive.

C. Our mission is providing quality, entertaining cartooning services and products to

people who want to learn how to draw and color cartoons.

Our vision is to get people all over the country (and world) interested in art in a fun and

entertaining way with Leah’s Cartooning Parties.

Our strategy is reach the country in the world by means of modern technology (shipping,

internet, etc.)

Our values is to put our participants first and give them the most quality workshop or

product that we can and also tailor it to their needs.

Relationship Strategy

Before workshops (if possible), we will find the needs of the participants- what do they want to

draw and learn? We try to cater as much as possible to those who draw with us. Our quality

resides in the talent of the instructor, the interactivity/friendliness of the instructor and staff, and

the tailoring of the experience to the participants as much as possible. We are friendly,

entertaining, and approachable when we are face-to-face with people; we also want our

customers to feel those same feelings about us when visiting our website or calling us. We keep

our website youthful-looking and inviting, which has a positive psychological effect. We also

want to hear back from our participants about what they liked and what we can do to improve

ourselves. Though feedback must ALWAYS continue, gathering feedback is most important at

the beginning as we get our bearings and start to focus on a general type of customer(s) and settle

more into the way we do things.

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Developing a Personal Selling Philosophy/Solution to Customer Pain Point

The customers want quality, artsy entertainment for kids. Teens and seniors are also like variants

of this workshop. We are unique in that we can offer a low cost and quality without any

compromising of one or the other! Our dilemma has been whether to focus more on in-person

live workshops or online live workshops. We have discovered our best opportunity for growth is

online. We can offer even lower costs by doing web-conferenced workshops (we don’t have to

supply materials, incur travel costs, or do set-up and travel time). We can reach a whole nation

(even countries) this way; I don't think it is possible to reach such a large amount of people and

grow large by only traveling to the several Florida counties that we are capable of

accommodating. By doing both face to face and online workshops (with a larger focus online),

we can provide cartooning and anime workshops and merchandise to basically everyone of every

age group- including special needs people, people who are unable to leave their homes, and long-

distance participants. We want to grow big so that our mission- keeping the arts alive and

exposing people to the benefits of drawing- is better fulfilled.

ASSESSMENT FORM 1

Salesperson: Leah Lopez

Assessment Item Score [10-excellent to 0-did not do]

1. Conducted good verbal instructions 9

2. Made good nonverbal introduction 8

3. Communicated call objectives 8

4. Verbalized effective comments and compliments 10

5. Kept conversation focused on customer topics 10

6. Took effective non-distractive notes 9

7. Attractively showed material on convention center 10

8. Made specific benefit statement 8

9. Effectively inquired about convention needs 9

10. Effectively thanked customer 9

Relationship presentation: 90 total points

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Developing a Product Strategy

Our products are as follows:

Face-to-face workshop- Is an hour-long quality cartooning workshop where participants follow

Leah’s step-by-step instruction to create cartoons (example: if Leah draws a circle and a line, the

participants copy). Leah has a large easel and pad of paper at the head of the class that she uses

for instruction. All of the participants have paper, pencils, and crayons to follow along. After a

cartoon drawing is finished, it is then colored. Participants take creative liberties after the

coloring and add their own details and flair to their cartoons. Throughout the workshop Leah is

entertaining and exchanges light-hearted dialogue with the audience and answers questions.

Merchandise (future product)- This will be coloring/activity books as well as a series of how-to-

draw DVDs. Each DVD will be about 45 minutes. Long and will have a theme (safari, pets, etc.)

Online workshop (future service)- Our online workshop is almost the same as our face-to-face

workshop only it done through the internet (anyone around the world can participate) so

participants must have their own supplies.

The Total Product Concept

Product (Generic): Cartooning workshops and how-to-draw merchandise

Expected Product (Customer’s Perception): Fun, slightly educational, interactive art workshop

Value-added product (Salesperson’s knowledge): We will provide an interactive, high-quality

art program that gets kids and seniors inspired to be artistic outside the classroom.

Potential Product (mutually discovered possibilities): We ask for feedback to continue adapting

to what customers want.

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Top Customer Prospects

Sales

Contact

Name

Job

Description Their Need

Value

Proposition/USP

Means of

communication

Date

start

Date

end

Project

status -

green,

yellow,

red.

Nancy M.

Leadership

Training

face-to-face

wkshp or

online

wkshp Fun and quality

phone, e-mail,

in-person 2012

Long-

term yellow

Pat Z.

Church

senior

group

leader

face to face

workshop

Low price, fun,

entertainment phone 2013 2013 green

Amile

Softball

coach

online

workshops Fun e-mail, phone 2010 2010 yellow

Janean

Chuch

youth camp

leader

face-to-face

workshops Fun e-mail 2007 2012 red

Jane retired merchandise Learning art in person 2008 2010 yellow

Jaspreet

Indian

community

event

organizer

face-to-face

workshops Quality e-mail 2012 2012 green

Manoogians Family

online

workshops Fun phone 2012

Long-

term yellow

Wilfingers Family

online

workshops Fun e-mail 2014

Long-

term yellow

Martha

senior

assisted

living

facility

all we have

to offer Fun phone 2008 2008 yellow

ASSESMENT FORM 2

Assessment

Item

Excellent Average Poor Did not Do

Effectively

reestablished

relationship

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Communicated

positive body

language

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

9

Communicated

positive verbal

language

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Used

customer’s

name

effectively

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Asked general

survey

questions to

secure facts

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Verified

customer needs

with good

confirmation

questions

10 9 8 7 6 5 6

Asked specific

questions to

discover special

problems

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Appeared to

take effective

notes

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Effectively set

up next

appointment

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Discovering

Customer

Needs

Presentation

Score:

78

Developing a Customer Strategy

People book our workshops and are interested in our merchandise because they think it is a

constructive way for their kids to be entertained and to learn about art. Seniors are motivated by

the fun and therapeutic part of art. We need to reach out to those who already have their hand

out; meaning, we should search for discover people, through social media and word of mouth,

that seem to be interested in artistic entertainment (for themselves or their kids) because these

will be the most likely customers.

Presentation Strategy

For too long we have focused on the mindset of a 1 time event (for workshops out of the

library/parks realm) instead of following up with customers and trying to maintain a good

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relationship with them. Once we “pitch” our workshops and get the job, the marketing manager

should follow up afterwards. If the event was a birthday, we should send out an e-mail or

promotional card every year around the birthday month to remind the parents that we are an

option. We should send out a “what’s new” e-mail once in awhile to our customers to show them

things they may be interested in and to remind them of our existence. After most workshops, we

should call (if contact is reached, 1 call is sufficient; attempt to call 2 times and leave voice

message if contact is not reached) either 6 months or 1 year later to see if they are interested in

booking again.

Business Contract Worksheet

Method of Approach What I Will Say

1.) Agenda 1.) Thanks for taking a few minutes to

speak with me. I want to share how Leah’s

Cartooning Parties can fulfill your needs.

2.) Product 2.) We offer high quality, very reasonably

priced cartooning workshops face-to-face

and online. We also offer how-to-draw

merchandise.

3.) Customer Benefit 3.) In our program, everyone gets to

participate in a fun, entertaining, art

workshop.

4.) Referral 4.) (insert person’s name) told me that you

might be interested in what we have to

offer

5.) Question 5.) Do your kids have art class in school?

Do you want your kids to have a fun,

artistic experience?

Does your seniors group want to

experience the fun and therapeutic benefits

of art?

6.) Survey 6.) How many participants do you think

you could get together for a cartooning

workshop?

7.) Premium 7.) I would like to give you a flyer and

business card with our information and

what we offer.

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Customer Need Discovery

Preplanned Questions Customer Response

Do you need a fun, interactive,

entertaining, art-based program for you

or your child’s next birthday or for an

event?

Do you or your children enjoy

interactive entertainment?

Do you enjoy quality art instruction for

you or your children?

Would you be interested in trying Leah’s

Cartooning Parties, Inc. for your next

birthday, event, etc.?

Strategic Planning for

Approach

Actions During Approach

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Demonstration Worksheet

Feature to be

Demonstrated

Proof Device to be

Used

What I Will Say What I or the

Customer Will Do

Quality of our

products

Video and feedback on

website

Check out our videos

and what people are

saying about our

products

Customer will check it

out

Strategic Planning for Presentation

Actions During Presentation

1. Review prospect

information

2. Review buying

motives

3. Review product

selection

4. Select need-

satisfaction

presentation strategy

5. Develop consultative

presentation plan

that adds value

6. Rehearse

presentation

1. Re-establish

relationship

2. Confirm buying

conditions

3. Present specific

benefits

4. Conduct appropriate

demonstrations

5. Confirm customer

understanding

6. Negotiate concerns,

close and service the

sale

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ASSESMENT FORM 3

Assessment

Item

Excellent Average Poor Did not Do

Reestablished

good

relationship

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Confirmed

needs from

previous

meeting

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Made solution

sound

appealing

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Used proof

devices to

prove sales

appeals

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Verified

customer’s

understanding

of solution

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Negotiated

price objection 10 9 8 7 6 5 6

Negotiated time

objection 10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Negotiated

source

objection

10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Serviced the

sale 10 9 8 7 6 5 0

Discovering

Customer

Needs

Presentation

Score:

85

Negotiations Worksheet

Customers Concern Type of Concern Possible Response

If only we had a little

more money….

Price Participants can pitch in

to lighten the cost for each

person.

We like our cheaper Source Would there be a

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entertainment from

(competitor)

circumstance where you

might want to try

something different?

Hints of closing the sale can be the customer asking how much the workshops are. They might

also think about who they would get together for a workshop. Interest can be seen as a sign that

we may be approaching a closing.

Conclusion

Check out our Website, YouTube, and Facebook pages to learn more about what we have to

offer. Contact us at (813) 885-7941 or by E-mail: cartoonparty@hotmail.com to discuss

bookings, etc.