Creative tips and tricks

How to sell more than 100 seats in your online course to one corporate customer

Sep 26, 2024

The next year will see more than $8 billion has been authorized for the purchase of training, coaching and consultation in small to large size organizations, non-profits, as well as associations.

  56% of that training is provided by facilitators or instructors who are not from the outside (experts exactly like you).  

And, here's what's really interesting: more than 50% of the training that's being offered is delivered via the internet.

  What I learned from being the decision maker for a 7-Figure Training Budget  

In my former life, I was the Chief Learning Officer at an enormous company. My annual spending budget exceeded 7-figures.

I have purchased all kinds of classes that ranged from NLP to our sales staff to alkaline diets for our executive retreat to drummer circles for our corporate event, plus all the standard stuff like leadership, productivity, sales, etc.

What I've learned is: If you can link what you do with the outcome a business wants, companies want to deal with you.

  Why Selling Your Online Courses to Corporate Customers is a Great Idea  

Since launching my personal business instructing experts and business how to create courses that have attracted thousands of dollars of dollars in coaching, online courses and consulting sales from both entrepreneurs and larger corporate clients. There are several strategies to achieve the same:

1. It is possible to sell several "seats" within your class for one customer. I've had corporate customers purchase 10, 20 50, 100 or even 250 seats in my courses for prices that range from $179 to $1997.

2. It is possible to combine the online courses you offer with up-sell offers like online group coaching or on-site customized or virtual sessions for implementation.

3. You can easily customize an existing online course for corporate customers. You can add more access for your customers by having the option of a private call for implementation to everyone in the hosting company. Also, you could make an application in line with the ongoing initiatives, based on the information you teach in your course. There are endless options.

4. Corporate clients may help you get even more individual clients. Making it clear that you are working with corporate customers can give your business an instant boost of credibility when advertising your services to private clients.

  The process of selling an online course to a Corporate Client Before You Create The Course  

What if you don't have an online course created for sale? The idea of selling a corporation an online course prior to creating it is a great approach to clarify what you should include in your course, and to help fund your course's development.

It's much easier than it sounds. Meetings with corporate customers, I will lead clients through a discovery process, and then ask them to tell me the things they'd like to have as an online training course.

You can then turn around and promote the content to other corporate clients or offer it to private clients.

  What to Look For If Corporate Clients Buy Your Products  

There are two questions you could ask yourself to determine the likelihood that corporate clients will take your products.

  Question 1: Is the class topic one that companies would be interested in?  

Here are just a few examples of the types of training corporations spend time and money on every year:

  • Accounting and Finance
  • Administrative Training
  • Customer Service
  • Health and Wellness
  • Human Resources
  • Industry Specific Instruction
  • Information Technology
  • Leadership and Management
  • Marketing
  • Personal development
  • Efficiency and Organization
  • Sales Training
  • Software
  • Strategies, Creativity and Innovation
  • Team Development
  • Training and Facilitation

  Question 2: What does the topic I chose for my class relate to the outcome a company would invest in?  

One easy way to get corporate clients to recognize the value of your program is to link the outcomes your course generates to profit.

It's easy to see how profitable it is to take advantage of courses on topics such as the art of selling or social media marketing, right?

But, what if you're teaching about a subject which has no obvious relationship like sleep therapy?

Ask these two questions:

What will the outcome my proposal will bring?

How does this result connect to profit?

Here are some topics my clients have offered to the corporate client market:

Class Topic What is the result that you're delivering? What does this outcome connect to profitability?
Sleep Therapy Inducing babies to sleep
  • Employees with infants and young children have difficulty sleeping.
  • Sleep deprivation results in lower productivity
  • The lack of sleep could lead to a new parent rethinking their decision to return back to work
Boundaries What can you do to avoid having conversations that hold your team back
  • Employees procrastinate on having tough conversations
  • A lack of difficult conversations can hold the team back in meeting deadlines or achieving goals
Writing How do you create persuasive copy?
  • Marketing copy that is more effective improves sales
  • The well-written content on the internet through blogs, emails, or technical guides increase customer satisfaction.
Storytelling How to share the "Hero's Journey" story
  • Storytelling creates emotional connection
  • Brands that customers invest in are ones they feel emotional connection to
  • Emotional attachment to the brand boosts the sales

If you are an expert, coach, consultant as a freelancer, public speaker, author or small business you can find a huge opportunity for you in serving small businesses, big businesses as well as non-profits and associations.

The upcoming webinar is free for the community I'll walk you through the ways to get corporate clients. This includes:

  • Who purchases who, what are they purchasing, what they spend on, and the best way to determine if they buy what YOU offer
  • The one thing you should not say during a meeting with a potential corporate client (this will send you into the black hole of "We'll return to you later" ..." which almost never results in an actual sales)
  • How to move from selling your online courses, programs and other offers only one enrollment at a go to selling packages comprising 50, 100, or even more to a single business
  • What you must to do before you pick up the phone or email so that your clients can see the that there is value to what you provide and invest in your programs (most experts miss this and never get to first base)
  • An extremely powerful four-part conversation Frame for leading a conversation with a client to get to the sale

  Are you wondering if medium, small or even large companies will invest in your knowledge? Download the "How to Know whether Corporate Clients will Pay for Expertise 100 Training Topics that Corporate Clients are likely to purchase in the coming year" Guide.

Jeanine Blackwell is creator of Create 6-Figure Courses(r) as well as The Launch Lab. She has helped thousands experts create and launch profitable online courses and designed global online course learning models for brands like Estee Lauder, Aveda, 3M, Disney, Samsung, Princess Cruises, Boeing, Sotheby's, and Smithsonian Institute. Jeanine speaks on the strategy of online learning and digital marketing and has performed on stages with numerous prominent influencers like Marianne Williamson, Daniel Pink, Marcus Buckingham, and Deepak Chopra.