Abandon the idea that, in order to be a good networker, you must learn to approach strangers with a sales pitch that convinces the listener to introduce you to their boss or best clients in 3 minutes or less. While this “speed dating” strategy is featured in some professional associations where everyone has agreed to it before the meeting, it doesn’t work as well as other methods. In fact, studies show this kind of “cold call” networking works for only 1-2% of the people who try it outside of the pre-approved environment. The same studies indicate that even 80-90% of professional sales people fail at it.

The best results occur from networking structured as “permission marketing.” What is permission marketing? Amazon.com is an example. You invite Amazon.com (give them permission) to share book descriptions and recommendations with you. Over time, they show you more books, learning your preferences, and you develop trust for their recommendations. Eventually, you are likely to purchase 35-70% of the books they recommend without hesitation.

Good business networking results from a similar, mutually beneficial, informed relationship. For that relationship to bear fruit, the other person needs to:

• Know you in some detail to know how you are relevant to him/her and what you might need
• Understand your differentiation from others with similar titles
• Trust you – which is strengthened by repeated and frequent encounters over time

The most effective currency of exchange is business information in the form of leads, advice, trade articles, cutting-edge news, compliance updates, and editorials from industry thought leaders (whitepapers, blogs, etc…) Studies show a business contact is most interested in information that helps him/her to make money, save money, or be more efficient, in that order. Doing them a personal favor like finding sports tickets ranks a distant 4^th.

You need to offer to help someone 3-4 times before they are generally willing to offer anything they consider high value in exchange. Hence, giving is more effective than asking in a networking relationship. Quality of relationship is more important than quantity of contacts. A great first question by you to a new contact is “If I could help you find a solution or solve a problem, what would it be?”  You want to uncover VOC (voice of customer) as soon as possible in the relationship. The more distant the contact initially (a friend of a friend), the more nurturing will be required before they share back.

So treat networking like any other business strategy. Devise a carefully constructed “marketing plan” with stratified target audiences and messages or articles selected to provide maximum business or social impact with a particular audience. Track your results and test market new approaches. Don’t let networking be an accidental or infrequent event when you have nothing better to do. Like any other business investment, for it to deliver the most interest, networking needs to be carefully allocated and deposited well before you need to withdraw the assets.

Topics: branding + positioning, communications, getting ahead, hidden job market, networking, selling skills, solving problems, visibility | 1 Comment »

Back around 1870, automation shifted the production of most goods consumed in the US to centralized factories. Factory owners needed workers who would contentedly stand in an assembly line for hours on end at low pay. Schools bred workers who were compliant and not trained well enough to have higher aspirations. The paternalistic employer offered workers life-long stability and benefits to keep them content. Unions guaranteed minimum working conditions. Detroit auto workers are an example of this co-dependent culture.

This education model continued through the 1970s when high tech innovation, and the increasing shift of low level manufacturing overseas required that most US workers needed a college education to succeed. Simultaneously, workers began to have higher aspirations for themselves in their relationship with employers. An engineering degree was a ticket to success and long-term approbation.

Fast forward to 2011. Innovation and globalization are well-known phenomena. I think we all understand that the rate of both is accelerating. The average permanent job is lasting 2-3 years as business owners must constantly re-group to meet competitive threats. Yet, workers have become increasingly less engaged, crabby that the employer is not taking care of them, threatening to move on at the first opportunity.

•  69% of employees describe themselves as under-engaged or un-engaged.
• 30% of executives describe themselves as under-engaged or un-engaged.
• 47% of engaged high potentials say they will leave “at the first opportunity.”  (#)

I don’t understand the disconnect. I talk to folks every day who proudly threaten they will move on within the next 12 months to a “nicer” employer.

Why do you think the next employer will be radically better? The phenomenon we are caught in is happening to all of us, employer and employee alike. Yes, the employers could be nicer in many instances. CEOs should not make so much more than the rest of us. However, the bigger trend is that employers will have less and less choice to nurture the relationship with employees in the way you are all accustomed to. Companies are being pushed into decisions that will make the relationship with employees more and more transient.

So what are you doing about it? Showing disengagement to your current employer or a hiring manager is likely to put you high on the first-to-be-fired list. Feeling disengaged is counter-productive, a dead end. It won’t get you promoted.

Instead, you need to learn how to succeed and shine versus other employees in the future or work for yourself.

(#) http://www.workforce.com/section/hr-management/feature/special-report-employee-engagement-losing-lifeblood/

Topics: career strategy, solving problems | 2 Comments »

I recently started coaching someone who has been out of work for 2 years and has been in denial because she has won 12 marketing communication awards. Although her positioning rhetoric got more “sales-y” at 18 months, Mary’s search and networking activities were otherwise generic. The campaign did not offset prejudice about her age (a matronly 52) and being out a long time. Did you know 70% of hiring managers avoid candidates who are out of work? (a)

Long before she panicked, she should have been test-marketing alternative strategies to see which offered her the best ROI (Return On Investment.)

I asked her what she has been doing in her spare time. She admitted that she loves travel and gardening. Has won 5 awards for gardening. Would love a marketing job in travel or gardening but has no paid experience in either.

Here are strategies she is now exploring in order to create more options for herself:

• Create kick-ass “whitepapers” to demonstrate her marketing knowledge in depth in formats that will additionally showcase her award-winning publication design abilities.  Find ways to circulate them to hiring managers including those she has already met.
• Produce B2B or B2C publications on gardening or travel to be used to demonstrate that, although she has never been paid by those industries, she has lots to offer.
• She is going to quietly shadow a salesperson selling to resorts to learn more about VOC (Voice of the Customer) for the hospitality industry.

If what you have been doing is not working, have you considered something new?

(a) http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/16/news/economy/unemployed_need_not_apply/index.htm

Topics: career strategy, hidden job market, solving problems | No Comments »

I have noticed that among the women execs I know there are “feminine” traits that sometimes get in the way of success in the corporate world. I value that women and men frequently process information and decision-making differently. The business world (and society) will benefit when 50% (or more) of the executives in the C-Suite and on the Board are female. The best answer for a company will always result from looking at a situation from many diverse perspectives.

However, if I look at the collection of women I know in executive roles, many of them have put up their own roadblocks to rising up the ranks even more quickly by expecting a higher standard of emotional synchronization in the office than most men require or know how to interact with. Several of these women have passed on $200+K jobs because the cultural fit wasn’t perfect, when a man would have taken on the same business challenge not caring if he was a very different style from the other people around. No culture is perfect. Focus on the question: “Can I make a this business better?”

It is true that a strong corporate woman is frequently called a “bitch” when a man using the same style might have been praised. Nevertheless, top management will promote the person who can “separate the wheat from the chaff“ and make the right business decision for the situation. Consideration of culture and feelings may be a luxury not affordable here.

Will you be called a bitch more often? Maybe. Probably! Once you have arrived in the C-Suite you won’t care so much.

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy, solving problems | No Comments »

Pursuing “what you really want to do” sounds totally impractical in the buyer’s market we are in. I just wrote several blogs on what you need to do to get ahead based on what the corporation and industry responds to. But consider this. You will perform best in the role and everyday activities that you excel at most and with the products you love. The right job is the one you would do for free if you could afford to. Your customers will be happier and respond to your sales pitch more often and with more fervor.

Some folks who are not finding jobs or promotions have set goals for years based on what they think they should be doing. But many do not want those results enough to remain fully committed to the goal. Hence they do not perform as well as those at top of the band. Or they may not know how they measure up against the most successful people in their band because they were promoted regularly in better economic times and didn’t spend much time thinking about emotional alignment as long as bigger paychecks continued to arrive. Men have been taught for hundreds of years that they are only successful if they can buy the family successively larger houses, cars, and boats. I can name a COO who is convinced he must be CEO to be deemed successful. (His co-workers all think CEO is entirely the wrong move.)

So however you got to the position you are in, if you are not being promoted and hired as often as you were, it is time to re-consider if your goals are in alignment with your priorities in life and your actual skill set. Maybe you would be MUCH happier as the owner of a Bread and Breakfast or as a woodcarver or at a non-profit. And much more successful.

Topics: career strategy, solving problems | No Comments »