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How to Improve Your Job Search if You're a Top Sales and Marketing Executive
We talk to dozens of sales and marketing candidates every month as we perform executive searches for top technology manufacturing companies in the Pacific Northwest. As we talk to these individuals there are a few things that we see that candidates can do to improve their chances as they’re out networking and interviewing for job opportunities.The first idea I’m going to talk about is “knowing what you’re looking for”. Everybody wants to help a potential candidate with their networking and to improve their job search possibilities. But frequently, when people come to me looking for a job, they aren’t able to clearly articulate what it is they love to do and what it is they’re looking to do. In other words, they really haven’t developed a clear understanding and profile of what it is that they’re looking for in their next job, and as a result of that, it’s more difficult for people like me to help them, to get them what they want.So, if you’re a top sales and marketing candidate and you’re looking for a new position, before you even start to talk to people who you think might be able to help you, take some time to focus on developing a clear profile of the exact job that you would like to have, or the exact types of jobs that you would like to consider. You will find that your networking will become a lot more productive, because people who you meet will have a clear sense of how to help you.It’s real easy to do this. Take out a clean sheet of paper and write out a clear set of parameters about the kind of job that you’d like to have. What sort of position should it be? Is it a VP or Director level? An individual contributor position? Do you want to manage people or do you want to work as a lead salesperson? Which industries are you interested in, and how do they m

ook Bubba - when you send somebody your quote all you are really doing is sending them a price to look at. If you don't like that approach get out of the quotation business. Do sales proposals. Load them with value. Make your sales proposal scream value and always include a benefits page. Your benefits page should be positioned ahead of your pricing page.

Action-step. If you don't know anything about sales proposals I strongly suggest you do a search on Google.com and Amazon.com using the keywords "sales proposals." This is too important to be flying by the seat-of-your-ants!

Hire Winners: Avoid These 10 Interview No-No's
Have you ever hired someone who did not live up to expectations? I’m sure many of us have at one time. The purpose of the interview is to obtain good information about an applicant to make a wise selection decision. It may sound simple but then why are there so many poor hires? The reason is that many hiring managers make 10 key interviewing errors that prevent them from hiring the best people. Beginning an interview saying, “I haven’t had time to really review your resume…so tell me about yourself.”Before every interview, study the person’s resume to zero in on qualifications, to decide on what questions to ask and to make efficient us of the allotted time.Asking for information you already have.You ask, "Let's see, how long have you been in your current position?" This is a wasted question because you should know the answer from the application. The interview should be used to obtain new information and hone in on the applicant’s capabilities.Being afraid to ask tough questions.If you uncover anything during the reference checking or employment history review that raises red flags, ask about it during the interview. It is important that you clear up any concerns before you reject or hire the applicant.Overselling your company.Many interviewers brag about how things are booming in order to lure an applicant on board. Do not paint an unrealistic picture of your company. Rather lay out the strengths and weaknesses putting them in perspective.Allowing non-emergency interruptions.Your office door should be closed. Put calls and messages on hold. Remember, the key purpose of an interview is to determine if this person is a good fit for the pos

We all make mistakes and some salespeople seem to make a lot of them. What scares the vinegar out of me is that most salespeople keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Now in my book - that's just plain STUPID!

Maybe this list will serve as a helpful reminder. Maybe it won't. But at least you're curious to learn what these blunders are or why would you keep reading this?

In any case here's my list of the 12 Dumbest Things Salespeople Do:

1. Relying on one relationship to protect your account. Why in theworld would you put all your eggs in one basket? Excuse me - with one person. It doesn't make any sense and the bigger the account is the more vulnerable you become. There are five reasons why you should develop more than one relationship in all your accounts, especially the major ones:

First retirement - people do retire. Second is death - yep some people actually die at their desk. Sure it's not common, but it does happen. Third is resignation - people do leave for better opportunities and that happens more than you might imagine. Fourth is termination - some people actually get fired. Finally - and sure this is a long shot -some people win the Lottery.

Action-step. Build and cultivate a network within every major account you have. The biggest Rolodex usually WINS! This is a rock-solid sales tip.

2. Putting your fate with mid-level managers instead of starting with the top gun. The worst thing you can do is to follow your instincts on this one. Your instincts tell you to start at the easiest point of entry in any organization. Why - because it's easy! Once you gain access at this point your instincts continue to give you bad advice. Soon you'll be thinking you can't go over the head of the person you currently have the relationship with.

Here's my advice and it works. Your first call should be to the CEO or president of the organization. Simply ask them, or their assistants, for their help in directing you to the right person. If you're doing this over the phone you should also ask them to transfer you to this key decision maker.

Action-step. Make your first call to the CEO. It's easier to let him you down the organizational chart then to have some mid-level manager try to take you up the same organizational chart. This is more than a sales technique - it's an idea that really works.

3. Telling prospects/customers that you’re NEW. I know this is a big one because I hear it all the time. Sad to say many years ago I even used this same mindless introduction. Imagine walking into an account and telling your prospect/customer that you are the new sales REP for your company. For a moment let's switch gears.

Imagine boarding an airplane scheduled to fly from Chicago to San Francisco. Imagine also hearing the pilot welcome everybody on board and announcing that he is new at flying the 757 you are seated on. Also imagine your dentist refers you to a specialist for your very first root canal. And imagine that the specialist lets you know he's a recent Dental School graduate and you're his first patient. Now, how does that make you feel? That's how everyone feels when they're working with somebody who announces they are "NEW."

Action-step. If you're new to sales or are an experienced sales REP just getting started with a NEW company give some thought how you will introduce yourself. Just don't say that you're "NEW."

4. Doing price-driven quotes instead of value-structured proposals. If you're in sales you're likely to get requests on a daily basis for product quotes. Somebody wants you to quote on a particular product or a particular service. So, like someone following the Pied Piper you do exactly what they ask, namely you send them a quotation. Then you go ballistic when you lose the deal because you did not have the lowest price.

Look Bubba - when you send somebody your quote all you are really doing is sending them a price to look at. If you don't like that approach get out of the quotation business. Do sales proposals. Load them with value. Make your sales proposal scream value and always include a benefits page. Your benefits page should be positioned ahead of your pricing page.

Selling, a Great Career Choice, Part 8 of 8, Virtual Selling for Multiple Income Streams
Selling takes place everywhere, not just in stores or on the telephone. By far, the area of fastest growth in selling is 'virtual' selling or internet selling. Make no mistake about it, if you want to sell anything on the internet you will need to possess virtually all the same skills that are needed to sell successfully in a regular brick and mortar outlet.In fact, I suggest that in some cases, selling online successfully requires master salespeople. Consumers shop online for two main reasons. They are searching for a product or service that is not readily available in their local marketplace or they are so fed up with dealing with 'average' or 'poor' salespeople that they choose to bypass them altogether.Complete well rounded sales training will give the online marketer the edge and tools to avoid many of the mistakes that plague undertrained salespeople in the physical marketplace.If you master selling in a regular business, you can develop multiple streams of income easily and inexpensively by selling online in addition to your regular job. What you offer may be completely different from how you earn your living day to day.It might be information or a product that you create or have access to. It might relate to something that is of special interest to you or something that you are passionate about. You might even simply sell as an affiliate without your own product at all. The possibilities are endless, but one thing is certain virtual selling can be set up to pay you 24/7 because the internet never sleeps.Selling as a career can unlock so many doors and so much potential for you if you simply choose to explore it, get yourself properly trained, prepared and take necessary action to make things happen. Yes, you can succeed!This is

n. Third is resignation - people do leave for better opportunities and that happens more than you might imagine. Fourth is termination - some people actually get fired. Finally - and sure this is a long shot -some people win the Lottery.

Action-step. Build and cultivate a network within every major account you have. The biggest Rolodex usually WINS! This is a rock-solid sales tip.

Action-step. If you're new to sales or are an experienced sales REP just getting started with a NEW company give some thought how you will introduce yourself. Just don't say that you're "NEW."

Commercial Energy Conservation
Many factories and warehouses today are utilizing old technology lighting in order to illuminate the warehouse or work environment. Factories are primarily using HID Lighting, which consumes 460 watts of energy per fixture. Example: A factory using 100 fixtures that are on 24/7 will spend $22,314.00 in electrical charges per year. By removing the HID fixtures and replacing them 1 for 1 with a fluorescent high bay the company would save $11,448.00 per year in electrical charges, typically with a payback from 12-24 months.Budget Lighting’s main goal is to reduce electrical demand while increasing ambient light levels. Demand is the maximum amount of energy that a company requires to run their equipment/ machines/lighting/air conditioning etc. By reducing demand the kilowatt-hour charges are significantly reduced saving energy and money!By reducing demand, the environmental impacts will be pollution reduction and natural resource savings. These projects have cut the production of harmful emissions and reduced the amount of natural resources used in the production of the electricity saves. According to the Environmental Protection Agency each kilowatt-hour usage of lighting translates to the production of approximately 1.6 pounds of carbon dioxide, 5.3 grams of sulfur dioxide and 2.8 grams of nitrous oxide. Lighting retrofit projects completed by BLI within the last 3 years total 59,746,704 kwh’s saved, and 6820.40 kilowatts saved.Pollution reduction:Global Warming (Carbon Dioxide, CO2) 95,594,726 lbs Acid Rain (Sulfur Dioxide, SO2) 7,169,604 lbs Smog (Nitrous Oxide, NOx) 3,584,802 lbsNatural Resource Savings: Coal 561,619,018 lbs Oil 45,407,495 gallons Natural Gas 5,974,670,400 cu. Ft

or their assistants, for their help in directing you to the right person. If you're doing this over the phone you should also ask them to transfer you to this key decision maker.

Action-step. If you're new to sales or are an experienced sales REP just getting started with a NEW company give some thought how you will introduce yourself. Just don't say that you're "NEW."

Management Qualifications - An Overview
The article is about management courses, in a specific way that explains the different levels of such courses, what each type of course contains, how each different type and level of course should help you, how it should change you, and also this is about how each type of course is regarded in the world of business and management.This article is designed to set the scene, by outlining the range of courses that are available to managers at the different stages of their development.Let’s start with the foundation, introductory, courses, suitable for those who are taking a first step into the world of management, whether it is as an employee in an organisation, or as a budding entrepreneur.In this band there is a large number of options, ranging from individual short courses, focusing on skills needed in areas such as teamwork, basic budgeting, decision making, quality, etcMany organisations run in-house courses in these areas, but it there are also many providers who offer them full qualifications that are stand-alone but also the first step on the management ladder, include the Higher National Certificate and then the Diploma, the HNC and HND, highly regarded national and internationally recognised qualifications, usually taking 2 academic years if studied at college, or 18 months if by distance learning.These (relative to management) include the HNC / HND in Business & Management / Finance / Marketing / Law and others.Alongside these are:Professional Development Certificates in Management, part of the “national framework” of qualifications, offered again in colleges and by distance learning providers, with content that introduces the learner to areas such as teamwork, supervisory activity, finance, decision making.NVQs ~ national vocatio

seated on. Also imagine your dentist refers you to a specialist for your very first root canal. And imagine that the specialist lets you know he's a recent Dental School graduate and you're his first patient. Now, how does that make you feel? That's how everyone feels when they're working with somebody who announces they are "NEW."

Action-step. If you're new to sales or are an experienced sales REP just getting started with a NEW company give some thought how you will introduce yourself. Just don't say that you're "NEW."

Selling is About Sales, First and Foremost
During the last 10 years, a serious trend has emerged within the business world. Those involved in the ancient art of selling, and yes it is an art, are no longer called salesmen or saleswomen, but business development agents or representatives.I believe the rationale for this change was two fold: If we called it that being selling by a different name people who can’t sell will feel better about selling.The desire to remove the slick image of the used car salesman or the pushy salesman. And, as in physics for every action there is an opposite reaction, the reaction has been that finding competent sales professionals is still very difficult. A recent survey by Manpower revealed that the most difficult position to fill is a sales representative. Also, sales training continues to be a highly searched Internet term and probably a real need for small business to large Fortune 1000 companies.After coaching sales professionals and working with small businesses that are trying to build a sales force to increase their business growth, the term business development is not helping to develop sales professionals. Why, because the term does not deal directly with the desired end result – a closed sale.Words have a lot to do with how we perceive the world and ourselves. A job title of Business Development means that you believe that you could be involved in anything from holding the door open for a customer to speaking with the local government or chamber about economic development. However, a job title of sales representative means that you are directly involved and connected to selling a specific good or service. There i

5. Making sales calls like a tourist. Anytime you show up on a prospect's/customer's doorstep without written sales call objectives you are nothing more than a well paid tourist. I think you'll agree most people most of the time are too busy to waste their valuable time. When you show up planning to touch base, catch up, check up, and see what's going on - that's called "Wasting time." To get you started in the right direction, here's an example of a written sales call objective for an account you're calling on for the very first time. Simply stated your sales call objective could be written as follows:

"My objective for this sales call is to establish rapport, build some credibility, ask 3-5 open-ended questions, attempt to identify one common interest we have, and if the person is qualified to secure a confirmed follow-up appointment. Note how numbers make this objective even "More specific."

Action-step. Never leave home without written sales call objectives. The key word is "Never!"

6. Getting mugged by your own mouth. This is a very easy trap for a salesperson to collapse into especially if you're extroverted and talkative. If you're not careful with the language you use, you run the risk of sounding like the "Mediocre majority." For example, you should avoid using these phrases: I think, can I be honest, can I ask you a question, I know you're busy so I won't take up much of your time, how soon do you need it, I agree with you - But, what do I have to do to earn your business today, so - what do you think, I was wondering etc. I hope you get the picture and recognize that these phrases aren't inherently sinister. They are however over-used by the salespeople who are in the "Mediocre majority" category. Avoid them like the Plague!

Action-step. The more you prepare what you'll say and how you'll say it during a sales call the less likely you'll end up getting mugged by your own mouth.

7. Making the sales call a virtual "Improvisation." The way my twisted mind works is there are only two types of sales calls. One is prepared and the other is a total improvisation. Let me concede right out of the chute, it's inconceivable to totally prepare for a sales call - the way I define the word prepare. It should also be inconceivable to you from this point on, that your sales calls should be a 100% improvisation. In this example, when I use the word prepare, I mean in writing.

Here's a short list of what I recommend you thoroughly prepare -in writing: Prepare how you call for appointments. Prepare your elevator speech. Prepare at least 12 open-ended questions. Prepare how you will segue into your presentation. Prepare how you will deal with the price objection. Also prepare how you will ask for the customer's commitment to order your product/service.

Action-step. Prepare in writing the words you will use in each of these key steps in your selling process. Preparation always sounds better than improvisation. Always!

8. Forgetting to develop the "Brand Called You." One of the cardinal sins I observe salespeople making is your complete reliance on the branding of your products and your company. Please remember this. Most people don't buy the product. Most people don't buy the company. Most people buy - because they buy the relationship with the sales professional working with them.

I just ordered the autobiography written by PT Barnum. I can't wait to get my hands on this book. If you want to be remembered you have to be memorable and PT Barnum wrote the book on this topic. Marketing will win more sales than selling ever can. To be a success today, and in almost any business, you have to be an extraordinary marketer! You might want to buy Peter Montoya's book, "The Brand Called You."

Action-step. I believe everybody is unique. Discover your uniqueness parade it around your sales territory. Forget about being boring, bland, and benign. Blending in is out! Standing out is in! Do everything you can to be different in a memorable way!

9. Playing the win-lose instead of the win-win game. This point is easy to say and hard to do because it involves a dramatic change in your thinking. In some cases, it may involve a lobotomy! Never

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With only a few seconds to make a first impression, The Oing Model spices things up!

Asking good questions can save money and trouble. Here's an example that could help your business.

Your comfort zone barriers—the fear of looking foolish, the fear of criticism, the fear of being successful and the fear of failure—are quite simply attitudes.

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