 | 10 Things I Hate About Youposted by Scott Birkhead, Group AdministratorTuesday, December 29th 2009 @ 3:05 PM |
There's a wonderful selling site called "Rain Today" that I found out about after buying a sales training eBook years ago from Jill Konrath, who's one of the contributors to that site.
She's brilliant at teaching people how to sell to corporations in a consultative, 'truth focused' style. One eBook from this is called "10 Things I Hate About You.*" It's a series of articles based on their research about what prospects HATE about people who try to sell professional services to them.
You, Mr. and Ms. Job Seeker, are a seller of professional services. Whether you want to or not, you're now Chief Everything Officer of "You Inc." So you're in the 'selling you' business. These mistakes are pretty common for the average amateur sales person...and pretty tacky.
See if any ring a bell with you,
1. Did Not Listen to Me (just rattled on with your pitch but never really asked me the questions you need to understand my issues.)
2. Did Not Understand My Needs (so you think I'm just like other people who need the service, no different...You've got me all figured out.)
3. Did Not Respond to My Requests and Correspondences in a Timely Manner (you apply 2 weeks after I post, but are pissed when you're not in the line to interview).
4. Did Not Convince Me of the Value I Would Receive from Using His/Her Services (you expect me to read between the lines on your resume, but still can't state explicitly why I should hire you over someone else.)
5. Did Not Craft a Compelling Solution to My Needs (just data...no solutions...or something that's only a 50% solution rather than something creative and compelling.)
6. Talked Too Much (blah, blah, blah...no good questions, just rattling on with terms you picked up in some resume book.)
7. Had No Personal Chemistry with Me (and didn't even try...you were nervous, anxious and looked really pressured to do well!)
8. Was Overzealous in Trying to Win My Business (riding roughshod over my legitimate concerns and needs).
9. Seemed to Lack Enthusiasm for Winning My Business (remained aloof, like it was my job to come get you.)
10. Lacked Professionalism (expected me to do all the math and make all the connections.) Selling services is difficult mainly because it's not tangible. I know because I do it every day of my life.
I make a LOT of these mistakes...I'm not perfect. I can teach people how to do better because I'm working on it every day too! ######## It requires being a great questioner (something Jill Konrath teaches very well) and listener.
It requires knowing your stuff to the point where you can let go and be a consultant and friend to the prospect.
It's all learnable, and can be done comfortably without selling your soul to the devil of cheap sales tricks...you just have to learn how. Are you making any of these mistakes?
* You can download this great overview of selling mistakes at http://www.raintoday.com/pages/2938_10_things_i_hate_about_you.cfm
| Garage Door Mechanicposted by Scott Birkhead, Group AdministratorWednesday, December 16th 2009 @ 12:10 PM |
When winter gives you piles of snow every other week and hide-chappingtemperatures, you realize how much you love parking in the garage.
A few weeks ago my garage door started bucking and jerking around when I tried to open it...looked like it was going to tear itself apart. So for a few weeks (while I tried to find enought time to research and hire a garage door mechanic) Pearl and I parked in the driveway.
When we needed to park inside, I'd go out and physically lift the darned door, and then put it back back down so we could save ourselves the morning freeze. Not sure, but I think it's getting heavier than it used to be.
This weekend as I was lowering it by hand (Scott the human garage door opener), I just happened to hear a 'clunk' and looked down to the right as the door neared the ground. Something seemed wrong there, so I went over and grabbed the track at the bottom. The entire right-side track was loose. The nuts and bolts holding the bottom two brackets to the wall were just barely hanging on.
I am more or less mechanically declined, but I managed to get a wrench and a screwdriver and tighten them up. Behold, the garage door was fixed...opened up smooth as a whistle.
Is your job hunt bucking and jerking around?
You may not need a whole new job search strategy. Here's a few bolts you can tighten down that might make it go smoother.
1. Stop talking about yourself. I know, you think it's all about you. But the people who are hiring think it's all about them, and since they hold the decision in their hands, you lose. So you MUST focus on them, their problems and needs, and talk in ways that are easy to understand...on paper and in person.
2. Fix the top of your resume. Quit putting generalities and hot air up there. Use that space to bolt yourself to the job in specific, understandable terms. If you have more than two words a teenager won't understand, re-write it.
3. Manage what's in your head. You're a perfectly competent professional. Being out of work doesn't negate that fact, so stop beating yourself up. Employers don't want people with chips on their shoulder, sadness in their countenance or quit in their hearts. It's just as easy to hold a positive thought as a negative one, and you own what's in your own head. A negative thought launches less-than-optimal action...and gets less-than-optimal results.
4. Cover letters: keep 'em short. Enough said.
5. Be as different on paper as you are in real life. You're not a set of skills and buzz words, you're a real live human being. There are LOTS of reasons why a company should choose you instead of the guy in line next to you. But it's up to you to COMMUNICATE those reasons. No one is going to hook you up to a machine or hire a tarot reader to decipher your inner appeal, it's up to you. Stop looking and acting like everyone else.
Go on...you think you're mechanically declined, but it's just a few bolts. Get some tools and get to work!
Imagine how much fun it will be to hit the button, have the door go up, and be able to drive inside and park where it's warm :)
Scott
When winter gives you piles of snow every other week and hide-chappingtemperatures, you realize how much you love parking in the garage.
A few weeks ago my garage door started bucking and jerking around when I tried to open it...looked like it was going to tear itself apart. So for a few weeks (while I tried to find enought time to research and hire a garage door mechanic) Pearl and I parked in the driveway.
When we needed to park inside, I'd go out and physically lift the darned door, and then put it back back down so we could save ourselves the morning freeze. Not sure, but I think it's getting heavier than it used to be.
This weekend as I was lowering it by hand (Scott the human garage door opener), I just happened to hear a 'clunk' and looked down to the right as the door neared the ground. Something seemed wrong there, so I went over and grabbed the track at the bottom. The entire right-side track was loose. The nuts and bolts holding the bottom two brackets to the wall were just barely hanging on.
I am more or less mechanically declined, but I managed to get a wrench and a screwdriver and tighten them up. Behold, the garage door was fixed...opened up smooth as a whistle.
Is your job hunt bucking and jerking around?
You may not need a whole new job search strategy. Here's a few bolts you can tighten down that might make it go smoother.
1. Stop talking about yourself. I know, you think it's all about you. But the people who are hiring think it's all about them, and since they hold the decision in their hands, you lose. So you MUST focus on them, their problems and needs, and talk in ways that are easy to understand...on paper and in person.
2. Fix the top of your resume. Quit putting generalities and hot air up there. Use that space to bolt yourself to the job in specific, understandable terms. If you have more than two words a teenager won't understand, re-write it.
3. Manage what's in your head. You're a perfectly competent professional. Being out of work doesn't negate that fact, so stop beating yourself up. Employers don't want people with chips on their shoulder, sadness in their countenance or quit in their hearts. It's just as easy to hold a positive thought as a negative one, and you own what's in your own head. A negative thought launches less-than-optimal action...and gets less-than-optimal results.
4. Cover letters: keep 'em short. Enough said.
5. Be as different on paper as you are in real life. You're not a set of skills and buzz words, you're a real live human being. There are LOTS of reasons why a company should choose you instead of the guy in line next to you. But it's up to you to COMMUNICATE those reasons. No one is going to hook you up to a machine or hire a tarot reader to decipher your inner appeal, it's up to you. Stop looking and acting like everyone else.
Go on...you think you're mechanically declined, but it's just a few bolts. Get some tools and get to work!
Imagine how much fun it will be to hit the button, have the door go up, and be able to drive inside and park where it's warm :)
Scott
| Bad Marketingposted by Scott Birkhead, Group AdministratorWednesday, December 2nd 2009 @ 2:17 PM |
On the window sill in my office I've got a sales letter I wrote a long time ago.
As marketing goes, it's kind of pathetic. It's a 4-page letter that I mailed out in a 9 x 12 clear plastic baggie.
On one side are two pictures. One is of a dorky looking guy with his finger up his nose, and one is of a suave 007-looking guy in a dinner jacket holding a pistol.
The headline says, "Who will show up to work the first day, the secret agent you thought you hired, or the lazy nose-picker?" I was trying to market my services as a consultant that could help companies make better hires. Mailed out 600 of those at a cost of $.97 each. Got no results.
Except...For the learning process of getting the letter written, mail-merged, printed, stuffed into the baggies and mailed. And, two days after I mailed them, I went to a mastermind meeting where all the marketers in the group made incredible suggestions about how to improve it...So I also learned to get some help before I spent money to mail.
Tough lessons, but then everything I've learned as a marketer has come the hard way. But I am learning, and every week I get a little better. Some people are blessed with the ability to learn, apply and win immediately. I'm not. I usually have to bang my head a few times running into the walls before I learn enough of the lessons to get traction.
For me, it's the DOING that teaches me best. If you're a job seeker, you're probably facing the daunting task of learning to market yourself.
Many of my clients tell me this is the first time they've ever had to actually look for work. Well, let me set your mind at ease on a few points:
1. Very few people learn in a straight line...So if you're careening around and banging your head learning, that's OK. In fact, it may be the only way to succeed in the long run, so stick with it. Laugh at yourself a little. Enjoy. Even the 'failures' contain lessons.
2. You are probably sitting on a piece of marketing or an idea to get yourself out there, but not doing it because that little voice in your head is saying, "But what will people think?" Tell him to shut up and just do it. The kid on YouTube this year who sang his cover letter on a video couldn't carry a note in a bucket, but he's got a job now.
3. No one remembers. Not one of those companies I sent this horrible letter to called me to laugh at me over the phone. None of them remembered me when I sent a better letter out 3 weeks later.
Eventually two of them bought from me...not a great return, but those sales paid for the marketing and taught me even more.
Over time I learned how to talk in a more natural voice and still say things that are compelling to my target audience, and not embarrass myself with silly ideas. And I've learned: when you know how to market yourself, you can regain control of your life.
How's your marketing?
