3. Mentor Intelligence Consulting
Communications Plan 2
Background
ALtuitive Holdings, LLC, was created in 2013 by Alan Landry, who sought to provide a
surplus of services including Mentor Intelligence consultationsi. Of the various business
aspirations, Mentor Intelligence has become the most successful with ample room for
growth. Upon the publication of his book, “Growing Mentor Intelligence,” Alan had the
platform to spread his views on the growing concept of developing sustained
mentorship practices in the corporate world. The first two years resulted in zero clients,
but then personal contacts at Raytheon reached out to Alan through his Linkedin
account and requested a quote for a seminar. Alan had worked for Raytheon prior to
the founding of ALtuitive and responded providing a catered program built around four
quarterly seminars. The first began with approximately 170 volunteer attendees, the
second had around 30, and the third a little bit less. On September 22nd of this year he’ll
give his final seminar from the initial contract without any conversation of follow-on
services.
The market for consultations is generally crowded, but not in this field of study. Alan’s
approach is towards long-term services with mechanisms built to facilitate consistent
support. His model is centered on teaching a company’s
employees how to mentor their subordinates for sustained
growth beyond the typical job description. This is significant
because he focuses on all the intangible institutional knowledge
that is earned through experience and how those with it should
share it. His seminars further distinguish themselves by their
volunteer basis and consistent follow-up engagement practices. Additionally, Alan’s
books serve to both compliment his seminars and encourage the attendees to
continually adapt its principles in the way the best fits their company, resulting in
organic practices.
Problem/Opportunity
ALtuitive Holdings is still at the early stages of development within the mentor
intelligence consultation business. Three years into it the list of clients remains minimal
and their renewals are in jeopardy. Despite having two published books on the subject,
Alan Landry has still not separated himself from the pack of
traditional consultants. However, Alan does have a steadily
growing contact list he’s built of the years and has yet to leverage
his most valuable brand to its capacity, himself. This new brand
will do two things. First it will establish itself as the authority
within Mentor Consulting. Second it will provide a human credentialed face, thereby
asserting him as the leading authority on the subject. These will work as the base to
streamline current touches, allowing for greater accessibility of products or services in a
cohesive manner.
The
company is
at a
crossroads
The brand
itself is not
clear
4. Mentor Intelligence Consulting
Communications Plan 3
Strategic Insight
There are enough testimonials saying great things about the products being offered by
ALtuitive Holdings, but these are getting lost in the shuffle and not shared. There is also
a lack of sufficient marketing to paint Alan Landry as an expert in
this field. The brand itself is not clear to anybody looking for a
mentorship consultation and what is currently used doesn’t lead
to a well-defined call to action. Furthermore, the brand will live or
die with the reputation of the company’s only employee, Alan Landry. He gives
credibility to both the consulting services and the books. Building his credibility is
essential to both growing the brand and sustained attraction of current or future clients.
Goal
Develop Mentor Intelligence Consulting, of ALtuitive Holdings,’ into it’s own brand by
credentialing Alan Landry as a leading voice within the mentor intelligence consultation
industry.
Objectives
A. Develop Mentor Intelligence Consulting brand to increase potential customer
interactions by 10% and an additional 5% each quarter thereafter throughout
2016.
B. Increase the number of interactions among decision makers within Raytheon by
10% by the end of the 4th quarter of 2015.
C. Increase the current potential client pool by 30% by the end of the 2nd quarter
of 2016.
Key Publics
Current Contactsii
Demographic Diverse, Male & Female, Ages 35-55, $50-120k/yr,
College Graduates, Some Post Graduate Educated
Psychographic This might be a good idea for my company
Self-Interest Credit for Helping Their Company
Relationship to Issue Good/Bad/No Mentor Example
Influencers/Interveners Supervisors, Contracting Department Leads
Objective A & C
Credibility
is the key
5. Mentor Intelligence Consulting
Communications Plan 4
Raytheon Executivesiii
Demographic White, Male & Female, Ages 45-65, $300-500k/yr,
Post Graduate Educated
Psychographic The Bottom Line
Self-Interest Credit for Growth, Innovations & Becoming
Employer of Choice
Relationship to Issue More Personal Experience of good or bad
examples of mentorship
Influencers/Interveners Raytheon Directors, Raytheon Senior Executives
Objectives A & B
Messaging
1. Mentor Intelligence Consulting is more than your traditional consulting firm and
can grow your future.
a. I created the Mentor Intelligence field of study because I saw a need.
b. Mentor Intelligence Consulting is a long-term investment in your
company’s ability to grow from within.
c. My seminars give your company the tools to allow for organic
development of your richest commodity, your employees.
2. Your employees are craving some level of mentorship.
a. Mentoring your employees is not a luxury, but a necessity for long-term
growth.
b. Telling your leaders to mentor their subordinates will not yield consistent
results unless you train them on the art of mentorship and that’s the
Mentor Intelligence Consulting difference.
c. Mentor Intelligence Consulting has trained over 200 Raytheon employees
who have now taken that knowledge and built their own forums to share
best practices and aid each other as they invest in their future.
3. Replacing Employees is more expensive than developing them.
a. According to a study conducted by the Center for American Progress the
cost of employee turnover is about 1/5th of the worker’s salary that is
replacediv.
b. You can’t afford not to invest in teaching your employees how to mentor.
6. Mentor Intelligence Consulting
Communications Plan 5
c. According to a study released by Cornell University, turnover is caused
primarily by poor supervision, or a poor work environment, but teaching
your employees how to mentor each other will help prevent it, saving
your bottom linev.
d. Some managers don’t understand the relationship between employee
retention and company profitability, but the reality is it affects your
bottom linevi.
e. Turnover is more expensive the higher up the corporate ladder it occurs
as it follows the salary demands and Mentor Intelligence Consulting
offers catered executive level servicesvii.
Strategy 1: Develop a simplified brand centered on the credibility of Alan Landry and
the benefits of Mentor Intelligence consultation services.
Tactic 1: Leverage company history, current brand and image of Alan Landry to
create a redefined brand by September 1, 2015.
Tactic 2: Incorporate the redefined brand across all forms of customer
communication contact to include business cards, websites, emails, social media
and all official products by the end of the 3rd quarter of 2015.
Tactic 3: Launch redefined brand simultaneously with the final consultation date
with Raytheon, September 22, 2015.
Tactic 4: Invite business publication reporters to the seminar by offering insight
to how Mentor Intelligence could benefit them. Any replies are followed with a
personal phone call.
Strategy 2: Increase interaction access among current and prospective business
contacts with clear call to action opportunities.
Tactic 1: Create bimonthly blog type email that provides current contacts with a
taste of mentor intelligence lessons learned and application with clearly defined
calls to action to allow them easy access to further internet presence,
consultation requests or book purchases. This will demonstrate Reciprocity.
Tactic 2: Develop blog with comment sections cataloging each blog type email
sent to facilitate interaction afterwards. It will also act as further solidifying Alan
Landry as the authority on Mentor Intelligenceviii.
Tactic 3: Send follow-up emails to any replies to formally invite to join the
conversations on the blog.
Tactic 4: Create and invite select contacts to join a “Leaders in Mentor
Intelligence” group for conference call sessions and private discussion forums.
Discuss this group’s insights in later blog entries to further build interest in
services.
Tactic 5: Use Facebook presence to share articles on the benefits of mentoring in
the corporate world with invitations to join discussions on the blog.
7. Mentor Intelligence Consulting
Communications Plan 6
Strategy 3: Communicate measurable results and successes to decision maker
publicsix.
Tactic 1: Update current clients and their leadership with email or physical
brochure with current analytical data from current employees receiving
consultation. This will also include quotes from corporate leaders to promote
linking. This should be done biannually and in a presentable format they can
forward on to their supervisors, senior executive ready.
Tactic 2: Configure website to focus on both the success of Alan Landry and
results from both the books and consultations. Showing consensus of success.
Tactic 3: Incorporate success stories and ideas created by seminar attendees as
follow-ups to replied emails, with credit given to clients to demonstrate the
growing applications while demonstrating Alan Landry is the facilitator of this
type of innovation. The purpose of this is to highlight the scarcity of this type of
effects following a consultation.
Tactic 4: Provide current client executives with a list of identified talent
originated from seminar attendees to demonstrate further commitment towards
their growth, the new kind of consultation.
Tactic 5: Provide cost analysis of comparing what Mentor Intelligence Consulting
charges against the cost of replacing employees. This will highlight scarcity as
well.
Tactic 6: Utilize Twitter to tweet company announcements and successes with a
focus on earning business journalists and corporate leaders as followers.
Budget
This communications plan does not require the purchase of any advertising space, nor
does it require a complete overhaul of current practices. The major costs, at a price of
approximately $2,000, will come from the redesigning of the company’s logo and
associated costs with synchronizing it across all communication mediums. The
remaining tasks are organic to the company’s current assets.
Calendar
The majority of tactics will require a startup completion by September 22, 2015, which
coincides with the conclusion of the completion of the 3rd quarter. However, many of
them will become sustainable practices of communications that will inevitably aid the
bottom line of the business. These include the blog entries, discussion forums, phone
calls, conference calls and emailing, or any other client contact action.
8. Mentor Intelligence Consulting
Communications Plan 7
Evaluation
The main form of evaluation is focused on three things. First is the amount of increased
interaction from current contacts. Second is the amount of increased interaction from
newly generated contacts. This interaction can simply be a reply to a tactic or the joining
of discussions in blog chats. However, the most important metric is on an increase in
seminar contracts and book purchases. This bottom line will demonstrate its overall
effectiveness.
Conclusion
ALtuitive Holdings is at a self identity crossroads. Its mentor consultation services and
corresponding books have been the most successful endeavors to date, but the future
remains uncertain despite signs of success. All the groundwork for creating potential
clients has been done, one introduction at a time, and has given Alan Landry the ability
to initiate a tailored communications plan. However, this plan all hinges on building the
credibility of Alan Landry himself. His credibility is the center of gravity for the success of
both the consultation service and the books. This proposal seeks to do exactly that while
enabling him to streamline his brand into a cohesive presentation that clearly leads
potential clients to his doorstep for sustained, yet controlled, growth.
i Landry, Alan. 2015. ALtuitive Holdings & Mentor Intelligence John Landry
Interview 1 by. In person. Video Conference.
ii Landry, Alan. 2015. ALtuitive Holdings & Mentor Intelligence John Landry
Interview 2 by. In person. Video Conference.
iii Ibid.
iv Boushey, Heather, and Sarah Jane Glynn. 2015. 'There Are Significant Business
Costs To Replacing Employees'. Center For American Progress.
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/CostofTurnover.pdf.
v Hinkin, Timothy R., and J. Bruce Tracey. 2015. 'The Cost Of Turnover: Putting A
Price On The Learning Curve'. Scholarship.Sha.Cornell.Edu.
http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1446&context=artic
les.
vi Ibid. 17
vii Ibid. 18
viii YouTube,. 2015. 'Science Of Persuasion'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw.
ix Inc.com,. 2015. http://www.inc.com/scott-steinberg/how-to-build-a-consulting-
business.html.
