What is a Grant Funding Assistance Strategy? Why is it important that my business have a Grant Funding Assistance Strategy for my customers? Why is it essential that I have a Grant Funding Assistance Strategy for my Agency’s needs? These are questions I have been asked hundreds of times for almost 20 years.
I created the Grant Funding Assistance Strategy in 2002 because I never worked as a police officer, firefighter, or EMT. I never walked in their shoes. I never used the equipment they needed. I never went through the training they have. As a sales representative for a tactical gear distributor, I couldn’t sell on my experience of using the equipment to create rapport and credibility. I didn’t have any experience. My approach had to be different. I had to learn about the product, specifically the features, advantages, and benefits, and allow the end-users to use the equipment and understand what was most important. This approach created the rapport I needed to get some sales. However, a majority of my sales opportunities did not close. I then asked the sales closing questions learned from working in other industries.
Do you like the equipment I showed you?
Is the price right?
When do you plan on purchasing?
The last question revealed a consistent problem I still see today. The answer to that question was always the same.
Every end-user would say, I do not know.
This answer confused me. I enter this industry on 9/25/01, two weeks after 9/11. By the spring/summer of 2002, the Federal Government formed the Department of Homeland Security and made over 4 billion dollars of funding available for state and local government agencies. This funding was for agencies to upgrade their equipment and training and better prepare to respond to terrorism. Understanding this information led me to ask a question that changed my life. The question was:
If I show you how to get the grant money, would you buy the equipment you need from me?
The answer was yes.
So what is the Grant Funding Assistance Strategy? The Grant Funding Assistance Strategy helps State and Local Government end-users that need solutions, and due to funding issues, they cannot afford to buy.
Problem: State and Local Government End Users need and want equipment, software, and training. Businesses educate end-users on these solutions. Due to budgetary challenges, the end-users commit to buying solutions but do not have the money to make these purchases.
End Result: End-users do not know how and where to find the money and must continue to perform their duties and responsibilities without the best equipment that:
- Save Time
- Save Money
- Reduce Liability
- Save Lives
End Result: For Businesses, their sales pipeline fills up quickly and easily and closes extremely slow because end-users do not know how and where to find the money.
In the coming days and weeks, I will dive into the Grant Funding Assistance Strategy in detail and teach you, the businesses, and end-users how to play the grant funding game. My outcome is simple:
To solve the funding problem in the 911, Coroner, Emergency Management, EMS, Fire Service, Law Enforcement, Public Health markets.