The IMS SNAP System

1
The Following is a compilation of ideas from my
own experience as IMS San Francisco Chair for 18
years and the lessons learned there,
experiments in other regions, as well as
numerous ideas borrowed from other successful
Chairs.
You are free to use or not use any or all of this
suggestions, but there is something to be said
for not re-inventing the wheel.
2
1. You have a backlog of Member Applications on
file. 2. The person youre calling always
answers the phone. 3. You are exceeding your
personal attendance goals. 4. Every session is at
least a 6.1 and 5.8. 5. A no-show rate of
zero. 6. All your member contacts are terrific
and 7. You have had the same ones for years. 8.
Etc. 9. Etc.
3
What prevents this perfect IMS day from happening?

1. Finding the right person
2. Attitude toward external providers
3. Who pays the 3,600
4. Lack of budget
5. Competition
6. Lack of decision makers
7. Time restrictions
8. Etc.

4
Now what can you do to minimize these objections?

• Research the organization FIRST.
  http//finance.yahoo.com/ is a good source of
  data. We can provide DB data to you.
• Know who you are calling on before you call on
  them. Is this person THE decision maker.
• If not, find out who is, or at the very least ask
  how decisions get made in that organization on
  the first visit.
• Do they see the need? Do they want to do
  something about it? Do they have the money to do
  something about it?
• Avoid entanglements with training staff. These
  are typically not the people that have power in
  the organization.
• You will waste your time unless you KNOW that you
  are talking to someone who can make it happen,
  not just the membership but the partnership.

5
Here are some results from last years Chairs
survey

• Almost 50 of contacts are training managers.
• In four regions 100 are training managers.
• Less than 10 are vice presidents.
• In almost half of the regions there are no V.P.
  contacts.
• Almost half the regions have never had an
  informal breakfast with
  participants and the faculty.
• The average time spent with the least active
  members is 21, ranging from 40 to 10.
• Almost half of the Chairs have never set up a
  SNAP.
• Participation and member retention are positively
  correlated.

6
So how do you get the attention (and involvement)
of the more senior HR professional?

• Im glad you asked that question.
• First Do your homework research, research,
  research.
• Second Send the materials that make IMS
  different. Not those that make IMS look the
  same
• A The Many Facets of Leadership
• B The IMS Sounding Board
• C The Membership list
• D Your cover letter saying you will call
• E DO NOT send the schedule
• F DO NOT mention price
• Third Send it to a senior executive

7
Why not the schedule?
A quick story when I took on the job of
overhauling all the administrative functions
(sales, accounting, production, distribution,
marketing, operations research, etc.) for a large
corporation I was asked by the President what
Vice President title did I want? I replied that I
did not want to be a Vice President. He thought
that strange and asked why not? I said if you
make me a Vice President no matter what you put
after that people will know what I am not
supposed to do they will put me in a box. If
people knew what Im not supposed to do it would
hinder my chances for success.
When you get the appointment to meet with them
that is the time to bring the schedule. The
important thing is not that the schedule exists
that is like all the others. The critical and
differentiating point with IMS is why these
particular subjects and faculty appear on the
schedule. It is not humanly possible to divine
that from simply looking at the schedule it needs
to be talked through. Yes, the faculty are a
powerful sales tool, but you can simply mention
some of the key players (present and past) in
your cover letter.
Otherwise they will put you in a box that you may
never get out of.
But why not mention the costs?
Because, if you are talking to the right person,
the costs are trivial!
8
Now off to have your meeting
Remember no one buys ¼ drills, they buy ¼
holes!
Before you get there put yourself in the
prospects chair. What would you be looking
for? What are his/her objectives? How can they
ensure buy in by their managers? Will people
actually take advantage of IMS? How can IMS be
leveraged for improved performance? Why IMS vs.
the Aba Daba Institute? They are already
overloaded, who is going to do this? Above all
else let THEM talk!
9
Dont leave the meeting without knowing what the
next step is.

• (In this case prayer alone is not your best
  option)

And the other equally weak next step is the try
it, youll like it option inviting them to
attend a session as your guest. They dont give
out free samples, why should you? It only delays
(sometimes for months and months!) the decision.
Remember you are not selling them something, you
are offering them a truly unique learning
opportunity.
10
Yes, but what about the involvement part?
Keep separate your principal contact (the senior
HR professional you just met with) from the
coordinator. In some few instances they may be
the same but most often not. Unless, of course,
your principal contact is the Manager of Training
in which case you probably have a more serious
problem.
Communicate on a regular basis with the Steering
Committee members i.e. your senior HR
professional.
Try to get at least some of them together once in
awhile.
Dont hesitate to use them as your Sounding
Board. See if they wont help you meet other
senior HR professionals. After all, as the saying
goes just ask the man who owns one.
11
and above all else
think about how you institutionalize IMS
It should not surprise anyone to know that IMS is
not a top priority for members, and bear in mind
even your very best contact may not be there
tomorrow so whether it is SNAP or some other
device, protect your flank.
12
A Final Note on Recruitment
The fact that one person isnt interested in IMS
does NOT mean than no one in the organization is
interested. Try another point of entry!
13
Now that you have all the members you want what
strategies might help achieve your attendance
goals?
When all else is said and done, IMS attendance is
a essentially a function of direct mailing.
Unsolicited direct mail has a hit rate of about
0.5. The hit rate for solicited (IMS) direct
mail is closer to 2.0.
Simply put that means for every 1,000 who receive
IMS notices (of one sort or another) you can
expect 20 participants.
Said another way, if no one is aware of IMS,
chances are good that you will not have any
attendance.
14
It is well established that it is easier (and
cheaper) to keep present clients happy than to
recruit new ones.
Recognize that their mission (and yours) is to
educate their managers. You share mutual
objectives and remember, as David Berlo said,
they must believe that you mean them no harm.
The first thing is to establish, as fact, that
the organization is serious about professional
development and learning that it really does
value its human assets. Ask how they communicate
that and I don't mean the statement in their
annual report. What do they do to demonstrate
their commitment and I dont mean establishing a
corporate university.
Find out what would make them happy and see if
you can make that happen.
Find out what prevents them from disseminating
the IMS information.
Start with the list of present members who send
single digits a year.
According to last years Chair survey time spent
on the least active members is about 20 of the
Chairs time, half that spent on the most active.
More interesting is that half of that 20 is
spent with the training manager!
15
What to do what to do?
Each organization faces different issues with
regard to management development. Ask what they
see as their impediments to success. When I did
this in Europe one of the members said that we
cant get people to go. Sound familiar?
So what I suggested is the possibility that in
addition to time pressures, managers sometimes
view development as akin to admitting a
weakness. Something no one wants to admit in this
day and age.
So the proposal was to create a Performance Award
Program. Performance certificate (entitling the
bearer to attend any IMS session of their choice)
which would be distributed among the senior
managers.
So now lets take a look at how this
fundamentally changes the attendance proposition.
16
In this way development is seen as a reward for
superior performance (when and as it happens) and
not a remedial undertaking. Think of the
potential impact on performance. Managers might
even vie for these awards as concrete and visible
recognition for a job well done and, in the
meantime, the organization doubles its return on
investment.
It gets improved motivation and increased
performance. I cant imagine senior managers not
buying into this program. And for those who deal
with contacts who want to retain control this
strategy allows them to manage the number of
people who can go (i.e., the budget) while the
senior managers (rather than the training
manager) make the decisions of how best to
improve their departments performance for which
they alone are accountable.
17
What to do what to do?
but IMS is already on our Training website.
Websites are largely passive and not likely to be
used by our target audience. Basically they offer
visible proof that HR is doing something. If all
else fails at least get their site linked to an
IMS portal page we will create it for them.
However, bear in mind that directors and vice
presidents are not likely to use these websites.
but our managers dont want any more e-mail.
There is the story of the farmer who loaned his
best donkey to his neighbor to help plow his
fields. When the farmer returned a week later his
neighbor said he couldn't get the donkey to pull
the plow at which point the farmer picked up a
2x4 and hit the donkey over the head. His
neighbor gasped and asked why he did that to
which the farmer replied, First you have to get
his attention. The point being that if you dont
first get their attention you cant expect to get
much to happen. A laissez-faire approach does not
produce increased attendance.
18
What to do what to do?
and I never get senior managers at my sessions
so my attendance is always low at those sessions.
It gets back to they dont always know what they
dont know. If you have limited visibility at
these senior levels you can expect not only
limited attendance from them but, worse yet,
limited support and their support is critical to
member retention!
but I have great coordinators and they tell me
that they cant get senior (or non-senior)
managers to go to seminars.
There is a maxim (mine) that it is almost
impossible to sell development upstream. Senior
managers are not going to pay much attention, or
give much credence, to IMS sessions designed for
them when it is the Training department offering
them. Training departments simply dont have the
reach. Yet almost 50 of the IMS contacts are
training managers, and in four regions they
represent 100 of the contacts. Less than 10 are
VPs and almost half the regions have no VPs at
all as contacts.
19
What to do what to do?
and I want people to go but they just don't.
You may need to create champions in the
organization that is often NOT the coordinator.
Ask them to make a short list (6 or 8) of the
up-and-comers, known to and respected by the
organization. Ask the coordinator to take the
schedule to them and ask them to pick one session
and make certain they get there. Be sure that it
is the right session for them!
but I cant get by the gatekeeper without
offending them.
Send a copy of the Many Facets of Leadership and
the Sounding Board to a senior HR person. Chances
are they are unaware of IMS. Ask if you can spend
15 minutes with them sometime to introduce
yourself and IMS. Who is getting the
book-of-the-month? Maybe you could redirect it,
or even invest in an extra one for the senior HR
person. Maybe you have a wine and cheese event
after a high level session and try to get a few
of these senior HR managers to join you, assuming
the faculty is willing to stay on. But, whatever
you do, dont invite them for a freebee. They
wont take you up on it and it cheapens IMS. If
they want to go, they will be happy to pay.
20
What to do what to do?
do those things that can make a difference.
One Chair told me that he couldnt understand why
sending more e-mail correspondence never produced
any additional registrations. In this instance
the Chair knew that the individuals to whom he
was sending the materials did NOT distribute the
information to anyone! Doing more wont make any
difference.
use all your resources and use them to make a
difference
More than half of all regions have never bothered
to have an informal breakfast with the faculty
and some of the senior participants. This simple
and inexpensive P/R does several things for you.
Call the coordinator (not the participant)
because it gives the coordinator something
special to offer these managers. Faculty can be
one of your best salespeople. It gives the
participants the opportunity to give the faculty
some local perspective and they may refer to
these breakfast conversations during the session
which adds creditability. It keeps you and IMS
visible to the very people you want to reach.
21
Remember there is no secret to it, just get all
your ducks in line.
You need to find some way to ensure that the
information gets distributed on a consistent
basis, month after month.
Today it is increasingly risky to rely on your
coordinator to meet your needs.
Consider asking them to use a small pilot group
of key managers - the rising stars of the
organization.
Can you (and do you) collect e-mail address at
the sessions?
Show them how SNAP can virtually eliminate all
their administration.
22
Remember there is no big secret here or as the TV
ad says it is not rocket surgery. You can have
a terrific day every day and you are the one that
gets to decide.

• Start with the assumption that no organization
  joins IMS that does not expect to use and benefit
  from participation. Your job is to help them find
  a way to accomplish your mutual objectives.

• Start with your attendance distribution lists in
  your materials. What percentage of your
  attendance is accounted for by the four most
  active?

• What is the total annual attendance of your
  least active four?

• Set your objective to have no member with less
  than 36 attendees a year. Then create your plan
  to accomplish it and remember as Dale McConkey
  said You cant do a goal.

• Consider a buddy system such as that used by
  Chicago and Toronto.

Above all else focus on the opportunities!
23
The plain fact is that recruiting new members is
all about the numbers
Its about making calls on prospective members. We
can provide you with a DB list if that would be
helpful. Whatever that list produces, you should
be in touch with at least 25 of those
organizations at all times. Its a passing parade
and the players (i.e., contacts) are constantly
changing.
Some Chairs pay special attention to those
coordinators who, for one reason or another,
leave and they are good candidates for another
membership
The fact that an organization, or that one person
in the organization, says no one year doesnt
mean the answer will be no the next year -
persistence is the watchword here
24
The plain fact is that it is ALL about the numbers
If you were to devote enough time with existing
members so that none had less than 36 attendees
annually, your additional attendance results
would look like this
Atlanta Boston Brussels Chicago Columbus
Dallas Detroit Hartford Houston
70 186 132 289 90 60 88 97 13
Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis San
Francisco Scotland Seattle Stamford Toronto Washin
gton
244 82 289 67 153 40 143 289 219
137 446 153 161 105 140 307 39 205
Kansas City London Los Angeles Manchester Minneapo
lis Netherlands New Jersey New Orleans New York
and it probably takes 36 or more per year to
have some chance of retaining the member. What if
you concentrated on your least active members
more than 20 of the time?
25
But it is not just about attendance
95 of members drop because they do not get
enough participation to justify their membership.
If each Chair were to develop a working
definition of success for each of the single
digit members I would expect the number of
members who drop to be (at the very least) cut in
half in 2005
Imagine what a difference it would make if you
knew how the member would make the decision to
drop or not. More important, imagine the
difference it would make if you knew that in time
to influence the decision.
Make the time to define success while you can
still do something to make it happen.
26
As the famous 18th century poet Goethe said
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the
chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative and creation,
there is one elementary truth the ignorance of
which kills countless ideas and splendid plans
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then providence moves too Whatever you can do..,
begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in
it. Begin it now.
27
One final thing to remember
A MEMBER IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE!