How IMPACT+ Helps Small Businesses Implement They Ask, You Answer

They Ask, You Answer came out of the need for small business owner Marcus Sheridan to speed up his sales process and get more time back in his day through content that answered all the questions from his customers and prospects. 

Some of us will read that, or read the book of the same title, and say, “Wow, I wish I could do that.” 

That’s what I thought when I read the book for the first time. And anyone who has a small business knows well the demands it takes each and every day. 

Because you never do the same job every day. 

Your team is required to adapt to the needs of the business, regularly pushing individuals, perhaps even you, to learn on the fly to push a project across the finish line, close a sale, make a critical product update, and the list goes on. 

More to the point, you have to wear a lot of hats to be successful when working for a small business. 

So when you stumble on new ideas and methodologies such as They Ask, You Answer, they excite you but can be hard to make a reality because the everyday demands of your company take so much time and effort. 

We've got some tips on how to make sure that doesn't happen.

Benefits of IMPACT+ for a small business

Although we provide coaching and training to help you implement it successfully, They Ask, You Answer can be done on your own with the right investment from your team and the right resources in your toolkit. 

This is where IMPACT+ comes in. IMPACT+ is the only community platform specifically created for applying They Ask, You Answer to businesses. 

IMPACT+ takes what you have read in the book or heard when Marcus spoke, and makes it a more tactical, actionable solution through courses, events, communities, and more tools and features to fuel your company’s growth with They Ask, You Answer. 

Sounds like a slice of heaven. Is this the real deal? Can I actually afford this? Does it work?

Yes! 

So how is IMPACT+ valuable to small businesses? 

I’ll discuss it in four main parts. 

1. Budget
2. Hands-on training
3. Flexibility
4. Connection

1. Budget: Invest without breaking the bank

Money/budget is typically the first thing that comes to mind for many of us when looking at investing in personal and team growth and development – and for good reason. 

For small businesses, it’s rare we’re rolling in leftover cash to spend. However, there’s a difference between spending and investing. 

So, you may be wondering, How much should our small business be investing in professional development for our team?

According to an article published in April by Annika Reinhardt on LinkedIn Pulse, professional development budgets typically range from $500 - $2,000 annually per employee, depending on the size of the organization. 

How does IMPACT+ stack up? 

You can get started for free! We have a number of courses and forums available specifically for free members so you can get started, explore IMPACT+, and see the value it can bring to your small business. 

However, I’ll warn you, like any offering with a free option, you’ll only get so far before you start missing out on the benefits of a Pro membership in IMPACT+.

🔎 Related: IMPACT+ Free vs IMPACT+ Pro

The cost breaks down like this: Per Pro membership, you will spend $699/year or $79/month, which, looking at that figure from Annika’s article referenced above, is right in the range of what we should be investing in our team.

Are you sold already and eager to get started? If so, I left a small gift at the end of this article. 😉

And remember, when you put that money in, you are investing in your team’s success and what they’ll be able to do for the business. 

What goes into that price? Read on to learn how the platform can help your small business grow and succeed with They Ask, You Answer. 

2. Training and resources your team can implement on their own

I’ve taken a lot of courses and attended a lot of events, and I can tell you that the most frustrating thing I run into is when a course is so fluffy that I roll my eyes, thinking, You’ve said that four times already, just get to the meat of it, please — and it doesn't happen. 

That’s unacceptable for anyone who wants to apply what they learn to their role because it’s too broad and too general. 

Plus, as a small businessperson, you don’t have time to sit around and watch content that isn’t actually going to get what you want!

That’s why our content in IMPACT+, whether it be courses, lessons, events, or even our communities and mastermind groups, are specific to you and your team, ready for you to implement into what you’re already working on.

To keep us focused on They Ask, You Answer, here’s an example of how our course content can help guide you from start to finish in the hiring and onboarding of a content manager in IMPACT+, from the perspective of key roles in the business. 

If you’re the business owner

If you’ve read They Ask, You Answer, you know you should hire a content manager as part of your in-house content management strategy. 

I’d recommend checking out our course by Liz Moorehead titled How to hire a content manager. In the course, you’ll learn where to find content managers, what a job description should look like, and what to look for during the interview.

After that, it’ll be important to look at how your team should be structured when introducing a content manager (a.k.a., the revenue team), so the next step would be to watch the course The revenue team approach to sales enablement content. This will guide you and your team on how you will all contribute to the content creation process, but there’s still more to be done. 

If you’re on the sales team

To help the sales team get started with They Ask, You Answer, I recommend starting with the course They Ask, You Answer Fundamentals with Marcus Sheridan. 

This is a great way to see the big picture. What’s next? 

A logical next step for sales teams is to watch 6 Topics Subject Matter Experts Need to Address with Kevin Phillips, which focuses on exactly how to prepare to write content with your content manager. 

If you’re the new content manager

BOOM! The content manager is on board and ready to get started. 

Where do they start? 

Hop into IMPACT+ and the first course they should take is Your role as a content manager, which is a course about what the role is, what its day-to-day activities look like, and what success means in the role. 

To further implement They Ask, You Answer, several more content-specific courses are worth checking out. Some recommendations:

• How to Write "The Big 5"
• Creating memorable, money-making content for beginners
• Creating pillar content your buyers and search engines will love

Each role now has the tools and resources they need to move quickly and effectively

And the best part? As a business owner, you don’t have to hand-hold your team to get it done or block off a half (or even full day) to watch them together. With all of this course content available to you on-demand at any time, you can set a deadline and let your team manage their time. 

You can take the time you need to run your business and the many functions that come with it while still being able to block as little as 10 minutes a day to watch a section and collect takeaways that you can act upon the next day through the resources, guides, and toolkits our courses come with. 

🔎 Related: 9 ways to get the most out of IMPACT+ in 10 minutes a day

3. Flexibility as your team changes and grows

Life can move pretty fast when you run a small business, which means faces and names change too. 

That’s why we created team functionality to allow you to manage the members of your team and track their progress and results. 

Team functionality comes in two parts: 

Team management and billing

When it comes to managing your team, you have the ability to invite, promote, demote, and shift around your team all in one place. That way, when your team is coming on board or you hire someone new, you can get them set up quickly and easily without having to stop the train to let them get on. 

The same thing goes for billing. With each member of your business on the same team in IMPACT+, you also don’t have to worry about each person whipping out a credit card and paying for things themselves. Instead, you can manage the payments all at once for your whole team and then assign those you want to have additional paid Pro seats! 

To show you exactly what this looks like, I thought it’d be best to throw together a quick tutorial: 

Goals and reporting

Being able to set and track goals for your team is every business owner's dream, and something many businesses pay a lot of money to be able to do. Now, it’s all available directly here in IMPACT+.

Using our Business Tools, you can track your team’s progress against a proven They Ask, You Answer scorecard, as well as set weekly, monthly, or quarterly priorities to ensure you are making the right moves. 

As a reminder, that’s all in one platform for that one price point. Sure, it’s not incredibly robust but, if you ask me, it cuts out the clutter. 

You can also set priorities for your team to complete trainings, attend events, hit sales quotas, increase traffic numbers, and everything else your team needs to be tracking, and have public visibility across your entire team to ensure they all know where they stand. 

4. Connecting with others who are implementing They Ask, You Answer

Being an owner or part of a small business can be lonely. Whether you are a one-person army or have a few people behind you, running a small business can feel like you’re living on an island. 

Here’s how IMPACT+ changes that feeling and welcomes you to the They Ask, You Answer community. 

Perhaps my favorite aspect of our entire community is our mastermind groups. These groups are role-specific and led by a member of the IMPACT team each month. Masterminds are designed to bring a group of experts on a specific topic (e.g., video content), and work through complex problems that they are all facing each month. (And to share wins — we all deserve a cheer squad sometimes.) 

Next up are our communities. Each of our communities is focused on a specific aspect of your business. From leadership to content to sales, we have a community built to help you and your team succeed 24/7. These are great places to share learning and insights, ask questions about how you or your team can grow, and simply meet those who are in the same boat (or were and know what comes next). 

On top of this, you also have both live and on-demand event recordings across all areas of your business, from sales to your website to video to leadership through our Event library, available anytime, anywhere for your team to explore. Rather than having to spend tons of money to pay for travel, hotel, food, etc., for every event your team wants to attend, you can get access to almost every event IMPACT has hosted right here in IMPACT+. 

IMPACT+ can help your small business grow with They Ask, You Answer

Running a small business is hard. A lot of your time, money, and energy goes toward making it successful. As you grow, you will be investing in different tools, technologies, and opportunities that can help scale your business. 

IMPACT+ is a great opportunity for you to take what you are reading and hearing about and turn it into action. Plus, as your business grows and scales, IMPACT+ is prepared to scale with you. 

Oh! I almost forgot your special gift. I want to make sure we see you and your team in IMPACT+ Pro because I know what a difference it makes. You can upgrade to Pro for $59/month or $590/year by clicking here, plus get the first 14 days free.

See you in IMPACT+!