YouMap® Sales Outreach

For the month of May 2021, I’m on a mission to create a micro-coaching program at Discover Praxis using YouMap®, a holistic self-discovery tool that uncovers people’s strengths, values, preferred skills, and career interests. YouMap® equipped me with self-awareness and clarity to take charge of my career journey, so much so that I became a Certified YouMap® Coach in November 2020. So, when I saw that my peers at Praxis were feeling demotivated, struggling to put into words what they feel, how they think, and why they behave the way they do, I felt compelled to do something. My goal is to use YouMap® to help participants build confidence, describe their natural talents, and authentically map out their value proposition for a company. This blog covers the sales portion of the project. Keep reading to find out more!

To begin, I knew that YouMap® was a relatively new tool for people at Praxis. I knew it would take more time to get participants on board. So, I got an early start to gauge interest and leads as quickly as possible. First, I reached out to my cohort members on a one-on-one basis. My number one concern was asking for participants to pitch in the $60 needed for the YouMap assessments. So I crafted a personalized pitch and sent it via voice message on WhatsApp. Below are the communication strategies that I used:

Default outreach message:

This is the script I used to start the conversation with each participant in my cohort.

“Hey [participate name]! How’s it going? So on the call the other night, I kept bringing up coaching and YouMap®. As I’m putting together my final proposal for the project, in trying to create a vision of what this could look like for the Praxis, and for you individually because [insert personal connection].

If there were some costs associated with the assessment, let’s say $60. Would you be in the financial position to be able to pay for it? Yes or no?

I want to be able to gauge that so I can know what to do moving forward, whether I can step in and help you subsidize. So please let me know if you’re able to pay for those assessments, and then we’ll pick it up from there.

[attach YouMap® Profile sample]”

After sending the message, one of the first responses I got was:

“what do I get with the assessments?”

I realized then and there that I put the participant in a position where they had to ask me for the goods, which added unnecessary friction in their decision-making process. So, I quickly followed up with a YouMap® sample, not just this once but also for the rest of the initial outreach.

The updated strategy with the YouMap® sample made a positive difference for the remainder of the outreach for several reasons:

• I sent out personalized intros via voice message to each person of interest
• I proposed an invitation to an original coaching project
• I gave a price, provided a product sample, and then asked for a response — a called to action

Here is a screenshot example of an actual conversation that I had

In case people had doubts over the YouMap® Process…

I knew going into this that there were some people that would be hesitant for various reasons so I created this template on the fly for responding to objections

“Hi [participate name]! So I totally understand your concern [acknowledge specific concern]. There are multiple different things that factor into who we are and how we make decisions. One of those is values the other is strength. Then motivated skills and interests. Using those four pillars, YouMap® works to reveal your unique contribution, and nobody else shows up like you. YouMap® can set you up to put into words the thing you already feel. It affirms who you are and helps you maximize yourself.”

Like the default outreach message, this template performed very well because…

I acknowledged the person’s concern via voice note, clarified the distinct advantage of YouMap® over other assessments (ie: Myers Briggs), and provided them with words of affirmation.

This is how the conversation unfolded:

Participant: “I just think that knowing “who I am” is something I struggle with. I think it has a lot to do with some anxiety that I have that doesn’t let me display my true self sometimes. Not sure, but I don’t think I have any concerns [with YouMap] other than maybe not being able to answer some of the questions due to my lack of self-awareness.”

I asked them the following question to flush out any remaining pain points:

Me: “Ok, I get it. Just so I am sure, money is not the issue right? If so, then what would it take for you to give YouMap® a shot?”

To which they responded:

Participant: “I don’t think money would be an issue. How much is it?”

I used this opportunity to close the sale by clarifying that the coaching session is cheaper than buying an individual assessment:

Me: “$60 for the assessments + 0 coaching fee from me. Keep in mind that if you were to purchase it via the YouMap site it would be $129. see for yourself: [inserted said link]”

And then I followed up by adding a voice note for further emphasis to make sales closure bulletproof and it worked!

Below is a screenshot example of the actual conversation mentioned above.

In case people had concerns about cost…

Besides YouMap® being new to the cohort, I also had this template prepared to respond to participants’ financial barriers…

“Hey Name! Appreciate your [insert summary of concerns over costs] and I totally get it. If you’re really interested in participating, would it make a difference if I were to subsidize $40 while you pay $20?”

Relative to the previous templates, this outreach performed moderately well because…

• First, I acknowledged their financial situation
• Second, though I offered to subsidize 65% ($40) of cost, I soon modified my approach on two occasions where I offered to cover the costs of the assessments fee saying, “if money wasn’t an issue, would you still be interested in participating?”
• I knew that I was asking my peers to take a gamble with me on this project, and I was ready to pitch in when needed a) as a show of confidence in the YouMap® — so zero cost to them and b) because I was committed to people’s personal development.

Here is a screenshot of an actual conversation for the scenario I just mentioned:

What I learned so far…

So far, I’ve reached out to 11 people and had 6 people agree. Being so excited, I had an unrealistic expectation to get everyone in my cohort included in the YouMap® project. But I quickly realized that having a smaller group works much better to focus my attention and energy accordingly and not overcompensate myself. I also learned to collect payment immediately and not drag it out no matter how excited or convinced the participant seemed to be. At the same time, I also learned that Paypal collected fees that I hadn’t accounted for, so I went over the $120 budget I had put aside to cover for 1 or 2 participants 🤦🏾‍♀️

Most importantly, I learned the most from the ones who told me “no” or left me on “read”. For example, my initial default outreach did not include a YouMap® sample. I put the participant in a position where they had to ask me which added an extra step in the decision-making process. After sending the participant a sample YouMap® and a brief back and forth with said participant, I got ghosted. 😂 And it was at that moment, I knew to quickly follow up with a YouMap® sample for the other voice notes I had already sent out 😉

Next steps:

I’ll have the 6 participants take four assessments for YouMap®. Using their reports, I’ll do two group coaching sessions to clarify their YouMap® and apply it in real-time through individual and group activities. Then, they’ll engage in one-on-one sessions with me to dig deeper and identify compelling short stories that best illustrate their unique characteristics. Through the process, I’ll help my peers come up with strategies to best leverage their stories through YouMap® during job placement!

Stay tuned for the YouMap® process breakdown!