Beginning this month, small business owners have an opportunity to learn how to deepen customer engagement and relationships through KARE for your Customers Workshop Series. The WBC EmPWR Program at The NIIC is offering the workshop series at no charge to small business owners. Participants will learn how to sharpen their sales processes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kelly Ambriole, Associate Partner, Sandler Sales, will lead established businesses of all sizes, with a priority to woman business owners, through the four-week workshop series beginning virtually in August and in-person in January. “KARE is an account planning tool at a 30,000-foot level. The four letters of K-A-R-E stand for Keep, Attain, Recapture and Expand,” said Ambriole. “Putting accounts into those four categories simplifies all the complexities you have when trying to balance it all and an entrepreneur.

The workshop series includes four cohorts, two virtual and two at The NIIC, and is broken into two groups based on a company’s previous annual sales.

  • Virtual Cohort for Businesses with less than $100,000 in Sales, Tuesdays, 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., August 25, September 8, September 22, and December 6
  • Virtual Cohort for Businesses with $100,000 or More in Sales, Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., August 25, September 8, September 22, and December 6
  • In-Person at The NIIC Cohort for Businesses with less than $100,000 in Sales, Mondays from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., January 11, January 25, February 8, and February 22
  • In-Person at The NIIC Cohort for Businesses with $100,000 or More in Sales—Mondays, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., January 11, January 25, February 8, and February 22

Topics of discovery will include KARE, ideal client profiles, the behavior cookbook, and immersive worksheets. Ambriole said the program is ideal for anyone responsible for lead generation, sales, and account management.

“This is a high-quality opportunity for small businesses to rethink and re-engage their customer base in a new way,” said Sarah Lance, WBC EmPWR Program Manager. “Kelly Ambriole’ s expertise is tremendously valuable as a key leader at Sandler Sales.”

This workshop series is funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO), and there is no cost to participate. This program is specifically for women; however, it is also open to everyone with businesses and organizations in 83 Indiana communities served by the WBC EmPWR Program. “COVID 19 is forcing all of us to take a hard look at how we’ve done business in the past, what is working now, and how we will do business in the future,” said SBA Indiana District Director Stacey Poynter. “We’re proud that SBA funding is able to support innovative programs like EmPWR, which inspire, teach, and support Indiana small business owners.”

To register for the KARE Workshop Series, visit the events page of The NIIC website. https://theniic.org/our-events/