The WIIFM Factor: A Powerful Approach to Marketing People with Disabilities by Lisa Jordan
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A common mistake among service providers is spending 90% of their pitch time talking about themselves, or about social causes, rather than what difference they can make for their employers. Consider this pitch:
��We��re an organization that helps match persons with disabilities with employment opportunities. We sincerely believe disabilities should never be a barrier in obtaining meaningful work. We��re looking for partner industries for this cause. ��
Informative? Sure. But will it catch the attention of a potential employer? Probably not.
One of marketing b
asics is putting yourself in the shoes of your target audience. This is called the WIIFM factor or the What��s In It For Me Factor. More than knowing about you and your organization, employers want to know how you can benefit their bottom line. Will you give them what they��re looking for? Will your proposal address what needs to be done? Can you help them solve a problem? What��s the value that you can provide? Unless you can address these things, your employers might feel that their time with you is not being used productively.
Consider this:
The Institute for Community Inclusion and the Boston College Center for Work and Family held focus group discussions to find out what makes employers knowingly hire people with disabilities. Three broad categories surfaced and two of the categories included concrete benefits for the company.
The first benefits were those directly related to business objectives (e. g. hiring people with disabilities meets the organization��s personnel needs by filling vacancies). Then,
women nike air max, there were benefits indirectly related to business objectives (e. g. hiring individuals with disabilities benefits a company��s long-term viability and profitability by enhancing the corporate image and demonstrating a commitment to the community).
Social corporate responsibility was the third category; employers hire persons with disabilities because it��s ��the right thing to do. �� But, of these three reasons, this seemed the least powerful in moving upper management. In fact, by leading with ��it��s the right thing to do, �� you may be sending a message to an employer that they are currently doing things the wrong way!
What then is a concrete WIIFM strategy that you can use when marketing persons with disabilities? Businesses understand profits and markets, so let��s start there.
Consider the following example:
What��s in it for you? A significant chunk of the consumer market with spending power and market influence.
? Persons with disabilities (PWD) comprise over 19% of the general population! This doesn��t even include their families. Across the country, they exceed the next largest minority group (Hispanics) by 5%. When you ignore persons with disabilities, you ignore a huge potential market!
? This significant chunk of the population has spending power! Here are the facts: 73% of PWD are head of households,
saint yves laurent, 53% own their homes, and 48% are principal shoppers. Combined, they have over $200 billion in discretionary spending!
? Hiring PWDs translates to positive market influence. Caregivers or persons with disabilities make decisions on services or goods based upon how businesses accommodate the family member. If they know you hire PWDs,
discount manolo blahnik shoes, you already have 19% of the population at least looking favourably at you!
How about the other 79% of the population? A recent consumer survey showed that 92% of the general population favour businesses that hire PWDs, with 87% preferring to do business with them!
And if that��s not significant enough, consider this: there��s an extensive word of mouth presence within the disability community, with products and services commonly referred between individuals. Once someone sees the value of your services, it��s like marketing to three more!
Becoming the supplier of choice can equate to positive business results. PWDs have a significant ability to affect a business��s bottom line. Your approach matters a great deal. If you observe the WIIFM factor when working with your employers, you��ll likely cut back on the red tape you would traditionally have to go through. Plus, you��ll be better equipped, saving you a significant amount of time and energy.
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