making more revenue from your certification program

©2006 – 2016 ITPG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Making More Revenue from Your Certification Program

Marc G. [email protected]

www.ITPG.org

What we already know about the benefits of credentials…


• Encourages standardization of practice• Promotes continuous improvement of credential holder• Provides sense of achievement• Provides justification for investment in professional development

activities• Encourages sharing of innovations among credential holders• Fosters a sense of identity, community and belonging among credential

holders

What we already know about the benefits of credentials…


• Can help employers as a recruitment or retention tool• Distinguishes people, differentiating those with different levels of

proficiency • Acknowledges or rewards those who consistently perform to a

standard• Can enhance a person’s reputation• Helps to qualify people, confirming they have the required KSAs

Financial ”attribution” of programs - myopic


• Typically only exam fees and recertification fees count as program revenue

• Hard to measure - increase in member retention/acquisition, event/education “belongs somewhere else”

• Non-financial, intangible” benefits can be even harder to pin down - yet everyone agrees they exist

• YET – the accountants are quick to add up all the COSTS – including BoKdevelopment, Scope of Practice documentation, Job Task Analysis and other byproducts of certification well beyond creating exams

Certification drives member revenue


• Might be your members, your sponsoring association members, or your strategic alliance’s members

• New member recruitment – certification programs can easily be credited for the capture of new members and associated recurring revenue

• Member retention – certified members are more likely to renew membership

Certification programs drive other revenue sources


Certification Preparation• Text books• Seminars• Self Assessments• Online training• Study kits

Continuing Education• Webinars• Symposia• E-learning• Conferences

Do certifications sell themselves?


• The “human buying” psychology• Procrastination is the #1 obstacle• Creating urgency and utility is a key

strategy

Certification Sales Funnel


TheGoldenFunnel

TargetConversionRates

“Certificants”

Micro-Campaigns

Potential“Hand Raisers”

“Hand Raisers”

“Applicants”

“Registrants”• Hand Raisers” – leads (i.e., shown interest)• “Applicants” – completed application process• “Registrants” – registered for examination• “Certificants” – completed certification process

MemberListsWeb

Traffic

Co-MarketingActivities

?????

SubscribersChapter

Initiatives

AdjacentProfessions Advertising

EventAttendeesMarketing

Campaigns

Capture hand raisers


• First step – Is the database in place?

• Capturing “Web visitor” information

• Finding hand raisers quickly – you may not know you already have them

Feeding the funnel


• Building up the “house file”

• Leave no “source” unturned

• Maximize “allocable inventory”

• “Leverage” partners

MemberListsWeb

Traffic

Co-Marketin

gActivities

?????

SubscribersChapter

Initiatives


EventAttendee

sMarketingCampaigns

“Hand Raisers”

“Applicants”

“Registrants”

“Certificants”

Potential

“Hand Raisers”

Target

Conversion

Rates

2%

20%

40%

80%

Micro-

Campaigns

Converting hand raisers to applicants


MemberListsWeb

Traffic

Co-Marketin

gActivities

?????

SubscribersChapter

Initiatives


EventAttendee

sMarketingCampaigns

“Hand Raisers”

“Applicants”

“Registrants”

“Certificants”


TargetConversion

Rates

2%

20%

40%

80%

Micro-Campaigns

• Creating urgency• Micro-campaigning• Funnel “shaping”• Funnel

conversion rates

Converting hand raisers to applicants


MemberListsWeb

Traffic

Co-Marketin

gActivities

?????

SubscribersChapter

Initiatives


EventAttendee

sMarketingCampaigns

“Hand Raisers”

“Applicants”

“Registrants”

“Certificants”


TargetConversion

Rates

2%

20%

40%

80%

Micro-Campaigns

• Need a regular, frequent, and “personal” human touch

• Certificant Consultant “hand holding”

• Education “bundling techniques”

• Influencing candidate behavior

Removing barriers and streamlining the process


MemberListsWeb

Traffic

Co-Marketin

gActivities

?????

SubscribersChapter

Initiatives


EventAttendee

sMarketingCampaigns

“Hand Raisers”

“Applicants”

“Registrants”

“Certificants”


TargetConversion

Rates

2%

20%

40%

80%

Micro-Campaigns

• Website “ease of use”• Unclog the funnel• Remove

psychological obstacles

• Fear of failure and/or denial

Exam preparation adds to program revenue


• “Church and State” –accreditation guidelines

• OK not to do training – but, still need to leverage demand

• A full suite of products should be explored

Build on sales


• Increase overall awareness and demand

• Business development at high levels

• Selling to “employers versus employees”

Phase I (3 months)- Decide what needs to be done

Phase II (6-12 months) - Put tools and processes in place

Phase III – Let the system “work”- Ongoing assessment and minor

adjustments

Questions ?


Contact

Marc Thompson, EVP [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]