A reminder that generating a job offer is not different from closing a sales deal.

1. You can’t expect to be the preferred resource when applying for a job at a particular company if you don’t know what product to offer. You must listen/do research to learn VOC (voice of customer) and then address the relevance and value of your product and services. Client will be looking to solve a specific problem like fix products now flat or in decline. Grow profit. Even if your resume has a track record of success, it has little value if it has questionable relevance.
2. Providing facts and features about you does not move the relationship forward by itself. Trust and relationship are crucial to the selling process. The client will prefer someone with lesser credentials on a superficial level if that person comes highly recommended by someone the client trusts. Resumes offer too little depth or proof of connection of you to the results claimed to offset that. Single interviews don’t often solve the problem because clients are not usually trained interviewers.
3. Network with several people at a company first, send resume later. Listen 2/3, talk 1/3.
4. “Consulting” with a client you would like to work for permanently without a designated selling process may distract and pre-empt closing a deal. Similarly, offering too much information during consulting, networking, and interviewing without closing the deal encourages the client to ask for more free advice/details without committing. A gift of gab does not equal selling.
5. A direct mail piece gets a .5-2% return at best. A superficial resume sent to a portal generates similar results.
6. You are highly unlikely to get what you want from a sales meeting or interview if you don’t ask for it and specify exactly what you want and provide specific rationale for deserving it. “I want $200K salary base and $200K is justified for these reasons…” “I want the open Business Development Manager role, and I am the best candidate over other Biz Dev Mgrs with the same amount of industry experience and sales success because of these reasons…” The sales trainer John Baker says 3 reasons establishes a pattern and builds just enough intrigue to consumate the deal.

If you want more in depth training on closing deals in person whether or not you are a professional sales person, read The Asking Formula, by John Baker. He is a fun trainer for any audience.

Topics: communications, getting ahead, hidden job market, interviews, negotiating, networking, resume + cover letter, salary, selling skills, technical skills | No 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 »

What do you say when your boss or a hiring manager asks “What are your goals for the future?”

In a world where the average job tenure is 2-3 years, the most valued employee/potential employee is one who is constantly sensitive to the company’s evolving needs in order to remain the preferred resource. This does not mean you should do this without any concern for your own agenda. Here are some ways to balance the two objectives:

Make your own objectives deliberately (and pragmatically) broad:

• My goal is simply to be an excellent marketer. I realize that the company needs may evolve, so I want to do what I can to be seen as one of your most valuable resources. Where do you see the greatest future needs at the company?

Emphasize the projects where you can bring the most value (and reward):

• As you know, I love projects looking for immediate change in mission critical processes and profitability.
• I enjoy the challenge of working with very difficult customers where numerous others have failed.
• I will be seeking ways to interface more often with other departments in the company.

Reinforce that you will be monitoring your own progress and have achievable but time-sensitive objectives yourself:

• Please provide me with feedback on current or past projects. It is important to me (and you) to know if there are business considerations I was not aware of that would have made the deliverable stronger.
• I will be asking you every 3 months or so for your evaluation of my performance against goals.
• Expect I will be volunteering for the projects that provide me with greater visibility and a chance to grow within the organization.

Topics: career strategy | No Comments »

Most importantly, top executives can not only perform more effectively than many of their peers, but they can communicate their ideas and impact to the rest of the organization and industry. The CEO needs to be able to influence the world outside of the company such as VCs (Venture Capitalists), Wall Street stock analysts, and the industry at large. Most competencies of a successful CEO are about soft skills. The CEO must be able to advocate a vision and future success. Promote the potential of a company not yet delivering that service/product. Demonstrate presence, gravitas, and panache.

Regardless of how far down the path to CEO you are now, getting ahead in the work world is increasingly about soft skills and demonstrating your ability to lead ideas, influence others, and be a rainmaker. Are you building those skills? Are you having the conversation with your communities to demonstrate your prowess in these areas? Is your story as convincing as it could be?

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy, interviews, negotiating, networking | No Comments »

Someone usually gets promoted to Sales Manager based on his/her track record as a solo Account Executive rather than on his/her potential as a leader and sales coach. Most often the AE received limited training, but not enough to explain the good sales numbers. Ranking is more the result of personality (relationship building) and persistence. When that AE is promoted to the supervise others, the team’s numbers are most heavily dependent on the innate skills that came with the team.

An exceptional Sales Manager can identify and nurture the competencies that are needed for every team member’s success. The Manager can articulate the processes and benchmarks required to win most sales opportunities regardless of customer issues. Like an effective Product Manager, a top Sales Manager will probe more deeply into root causes and unarticulated problems with team members and customers than other Managers. Delivering a better ROI (return on investment) for the entire team is not an accident, it is part of that Manager’s toolkit. He can predict and deliver the team’s revenue within a very small percentage.

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy, interviews, negotiating, networking, resume + cover letter | No Comments »