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Secrets to Getting the Sales Job You Want!

If you are in sales, pursuing a new job is much like pursuing a sales prospect. Your marketing tools have to present you in the most relevant light. This article tells you how to effectively use them.

The compensation plan changed again. The revolving door of company executives spins out of control. You look at the corporate direction and you'd like to give the CEO a compass so he can find his way. Concerned, you've decided that today is the day that you will peek your head over the cubicle wall and see what other opportunities are out there. After all, you've been successful. No need to go down with the ship.

In Defence of Salesmen, Part 2

(Audio version here)

Last week, I criticized a young, corporate recruiter for slandering salesmen on his blog. Well, he got in touch with me because he didn't like hearing me say his philosophy is well suited to cult members and cream puffs but not strong women and real men.

And you know what that means? That even after listening this little punk still didn't get it. So I'm going to have to teach him another lesson, today. And, I'm going to start by telling him -- and you -- about a conversation I had with Maureen Sharib at the end of last week's show. Maureen, as you might know, is the Queen Bee of Telephone Sourcing and she was telling me how a sourcer will call a stranger inside a company to ask for information.

Sometimes the person you're talking to won't know the exact information you're asking for but you know she does have some information that can help you so you have to coach her then and there on how to give you what you need. For instance, you might ask for the Director of Strategic Sourcing and she says, "Oh we don't have one of those". So you say, "Well, do you have a Director of Procurement?" And she says, "Gee, I don't know."

In Defence of Salesmen

(Audio version here)

Are recruiters salesmen? There are two schools of thought here. One says yes but there's a whole bunch of other guys who go around bragging that they're not into sales. I came across one of them last week on Fistful of Talent.com. His name is Jason Pankow and I want to take a look at how this little punk, I mean corporate recruiter, builds his case against sales.

First he sets up a straw man. Right off the bat he tells you that a salesman is a hustler, someone who doesn't give a hoot about anybody but himself. All he thinks about is how he can trick you into buying a lousy product for a lot of money.

And just in case we don't get the message -- because it's so original -- right beside his posting he put a picture of a greasy guy in a loud suit standing in a used car lot.

But, you know, I think that must be a picture of Jason himself because, really, what difference is there between a classic used car salesman and a guy who tries to sell you the kind of shoddy argument Jason Pankow is shopping around? The answer is not very much.

Pose as a Career Consultant to win Candidates Trust

Margaret Graziano says:
If you act like a career consultant, candidates will trust you.

So, forget about the job you are trying to fill for 45 minutes and get to know the candidate well. Just like a career consultant would. Then have a great sell.

Internet Makes Recruiters Wimps

The HR Capitalist claims that the internet has made recruiters into sissies.

Between 2004 and 2006 everyone had an email account and checked it regularly. All that you, as a recruiter, had to do was email a job description to potential candidates and you would hear back from them toot sweet.

Since 2007 everyone has more than one email address. And the email addresses on their old resumes are rarely checked so you have to track old candidates down by phone.

But after the internet has protected you from direct contact with the public for a few years, you find that you've been transformed into a shy and delicate little wimp. What should you do? Man up and get on the phone. Once you get a few cold calls under your belt, you won't feel so frightened.

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Sales and Window Dressing

Before the advent of department stores, small retailers used their front windows in a straightforward manner to put their goods on display. The big department store windows were different. They were used to put on a display meant to charm and amaze.

Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, was a window dressers and founded the National Association of Window Trimmers. "Even the male mind, naturally obtuse upon such matters, is forced to marvel at the beauty of the display," he said.

What's the lesson here? Sell the sizzle not the steak. The plain goods are not as emotionally compelling as the context in which they are presented.

That's why some recruiting firms rent fancy offices in downtown towers. But how can theatrics make a job seem magical when the person you are presenting it to understands it quite well? Doesn't familiarity with something that is probably not a dramatic change, rule out big dreams?

Reference: Froma Harrop

How to lie and how not to lie

Recently, I've been reading critiques of marketing successes in the political field.

Martin Kramer shows us how you can use an over-simplified interpretion of the facts to misrepresent them. Here's what he means.

If two percent of your survey sample says they would commit terrorist acts and twenty percent says they strongly agree with those acts, you announce that only a tiny fraction of the people surveyed are extremists.

And we all recently saw a shifty but powerful interpretation of Barack Obama's Jeremiah Wright problem, as well. The press reported that Obama had opened a much needed conversation about race when, in fact, he was merely forced into rationalizing his support for a lunatic mentor.

Hillary ran into problems, however, because in her creative marketing she didn't merely interpret facts, she invented facts about her visit to Bosnia that were very easy to check and, so, was immediately refuted with videos of the actual event .

The lesson: it's easier to lie when you are merely spinning the facts rather than out and out lying about them. And it's easier to lie when the truth about your facts cannot be easily discovered.

Hard Selling Sucks

The last time I was in Macy's to test-drive a sofa, four different sales gnats came buzzing around me in search of a commission. Fire the hard-sellers, lower the price of the sofa by $200 and you've got IKEA, where most items can simply be picked up and rolled out the door. At the entrance there is a sign: "No one will bother you." Kyle Smith via Matt Welch

Guarantees Are Powerful

Every purchase carries risk. Buyers don’t want to make a mistake. So you have to help them get over the fear. The best way is with a cash-back guarantee. The longer the better.

A "return premium” promises to give you back more than you paid if you are not pleased. That demonstrates confidence and it eases the buyer’s reservations by creating a risk free buying environment.

The guarantee was the key that made Domino Pizza irresistible. 30 minutes or less or your money back.

You will get some claims against the guarantee no matter how much value you deliver. But the guarantee will generate so much extra business that the loss won't be significant.

Source: Copyblogger

A Road Map For Writing

Source: Brian Clark

1. Your main goal is to get the first sentence read
2. Goal number two is to get the next sentence read.
3. Use simple writing for simple people.
4. Have a killer headline

5. Make an offer. Tell the reader what you are going to give her if she takes the time to read your piece. This is your promise to the reader. This is the hook you place in your reader's mind. And you have to be very explicit about it.

6. Each part of your piece should have a main idea that supports your promise. Stay focused. Don’t ramble.

7. Support your ideas with evidence or solid logic. If you tell someone there's a good fairy watching over him, you'd better prove it with statistics, expert statements and other interesting testimonies.

8. Restate your promise, your hook, your offer.