Nobody shows up for graduate education because they have too much time on their hands or too much money in their pocket. When you are looking at a graduate degree, you have some goals in mind. For most, that goal is increasing their income.
So how can a degree increase your income? The truth is, it cannot. The only way to increase your income is to add more value to those you serve. No degree or certificate alone can do that – no matter what they promise.
So the real question is, “How can a degree help you increase your value?” This question is where IEM thrives.
To have more value, you first must understand those who pay you. The person who pays you is your customer (you will hear a lot about this in the “Company of One” concept).
In IEM, we spend a considerable amount of time teaching and coaching our clients to understand what their customers need. What do they value? What are their most significant needs? When you first understand, you can then deliver.
Unfortunately, most of us think we know what our customer wants. We may talk to our boss daily and feel as if we understand each other completely. But, having spent years working with professionals, we can say for certain – you can never be too sure.
Think about it. Large companies like Apple, Coke, Disney, etc., spend millions on market research every year to better understand their customers. With such powerful brands, you would think they would not need to do that. But they never take the customer for granted.
Your secret weapon – and one we will help you develop in IEM – is seeing what others you work with do not see—finding those opportunities right in front of you—finding places where you can add more value.
We take YOUR ROI seriously in IEM
While we cannot promise you a result, we can say we are serious about helping you get a result. When you talk to a current client or alumni, ask them about the $30,000 challenge. What is the $30,000 challenge? The program costs about $30,000. So our challenge to each incoming client is that they increase their household income by $30,000 by the time they complete the program. Do all do it? No. But each semester, we find that many have met and exceeded the challenge. They do it in different ways – getting promoted, taking new jobs, starting side businesses, or perhaps combining these and other ideas.
Here are a few examples. Each term, we have new examples of clients and alumni increasing their income.
- Dan was doing the Company of One work as assigned in the program. He was working with his employer to learn more about adding value and showing the value he had been adding. Dan ended up with a promotion which significantly increased his pay.
- Dianna used the concepts taught in the program to add more value at work resulting in a pay increase. She also started doing side work with an organization she hopes will become her ideal employer. Her income was up 49% by the end of IEM.
- Adam started the program looking for a new path. Bored with the job he was doing, he felt like he was at a dead end. Using the assignments in IEM to have better communication with his employers, he found himself a new and exciting role and an area that he had never considered. The new role used all of his previous skills mixed with stretching him into new areas with a much higher level of visibility. He also used the concepts in the program to help his wife grow her side business. The result was not only an increase in income but also a feeling of more control.
It is not all about money
While we measure ROI in dollars, alumni continually tell us that the biggest wins they got were a sense of confidence and control. Once you realize you have options and you can take control, the money becomes the easy part.