J Patrick + Associates Blog

by Guest Writer Barbara Safani, Career Solvers 

Job search is tough and it’s certainly a lot of work; but it doesn’t have to be drudgery. Here are ten suggestions for things you can do to make job search more rewarding, more enlightening, and hopefully more fun.

Eat. No, I’m not talking about pity eating and downing a bag of chips and a pint of ice cream in front of the TV. But meeting a friend for coffee, a drink, or lunch is a great way to combine something pleasant and fun with some power networking.

Write. Journaling is a great way to record how you are feeling during your search and examine the trends that could be indicators of what is working in your search and what is not. Some even turn their journals into blogs to create a following and make new friends and contacts as they chronicle their unemployment experience.

Study. Did you know that The Department of Labor funds job training programs? You may qualify for training in a specific skill or funding to return to school to complete a degree program. Going back to school can be fun.

Volunteer. Find a cause you are passionate about and volunteer for a role that allows you to create visibility in front of the decision makers in this volunteer community. You never know who these people may know and what types of introductions they may be able to make for you. And volunteering helps you feel needed and reminds you of all you have to be grateful for.

Exercise. Aerobic conditioning and weight workouts can help you feel better and burn calories more efficiently during the day. Pilates can help reduce the muscle aches often associated with hours of sitting at a desk hunched over a computer, and many people find that a regular yoga practice is a great way to reduce stress.

Do Someone a Favor. When you were working you probably didn’t have the time to watch someone else’s kids or pet or help someone with a home improvement project. Now that you have some free time, offer to help make someone’s life easier. Your efforts will be remembered and that help may be reciprocated in the form of an important introduction or job lead.

Primp and Pamper. This is not an indulgence. The little details like your hair and nails count during a job search. And it can be rejuvenating to get a new hairstyle or experiment with a new nail color.

Shop. I’m not suggesting a totally new wardrobe. But a new scarf, tie, hair piece, or handkerchief can change up the interview suit you are tired of wearing and give you a renewed sense of confidence.

Read. Books by Harvey Mackay and Keith Ferrazi have provided inspiration for millions of job seekers over the years. Check out some of their titles at your local library.

Reconnect. Get over your concerns about reconnecting with past colleagues and friends. Social media tools like LinkedIn and Facebook have made it fun, easy (and less creepy) to get back in touch with people from your past. Rekindle past relationships and you are bound to find a friend or two that can help you with some aspect of your search.

Barbara Safani,
Author, Happy About My Resume: 50 Tips for Building a Better Document to Secure a Brighter Future

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By Mark F. Matejik, Guest Blogger

“People who don’t sell don’t sell for me.”  I got this great concept from my friend Dan Sullivan one day as we talked on the phone.  Dan is one of the best recruiters I know and got me into TANDBERG in 2007 which was one of my best trainer jobs for which I am eternally grateful.  

So I am giving him and you a gift today my sales executive and sales management friends, to boost your insight and awareness about how we as top people go about finding and hiring top sales talent who will sell!

There are four keys of selling excellence that you’ll find in those who sell.  And oh by the way, they form the acronym SELL. Find them to please your executives, board, and wallet. You may find your next #1 salesperson too!

The Four Keys of Selling Excellence-SELL:

1)    Serving with Skill!  “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men,”  Solomon is quoted as saying; And the way I say it today is that the skilled stand before the great.  You will if you work your skill.  How well does the sales candidate ask questions, play back what they heard, align with you and get agreement?  How well do they paint a picture of successes they’ve had that compel you to take them off the market?  

2)    Expecting the best with exceptional ethic! Top people cast vision for a brighter tomorrow and show up in that today to make that real.  When I was promoted to take over the Boston Branch for Information Builders, they were in the basement but I told them: “You can be #1!”  In one year they went from worst to first by saying and showing up in that.  Meeting people in blizzards by getting out the reps Range Rover and surprising everyone but my team as we took the prize.

Sales is not only about persuading others. It is about persuading yourself to do the best for yourself, your customer, your boss and your family.  Getting up earlier than most; calling more executives before they get started and showing up and following up even when it’s tough and others are going home or having fun.  Ask candidates about when it looked bleak and how you came from behind.  How did you message a better vision to your team and customer and what extraordinary things did you have to do as a leader to make it all come true?  What does their work ethic look like? Were you a paperboy before you grew up?!

3)    Loving sales and people at the same time!  Sales is an awesome gift and game and I enjoy playing it every day.  It’s a rare gift to play, get paid and enjoy it! Play it all the way!  Ask them what they love in life.  Love to make money? Love to lead?  They better love to sell and love people.  You go after what you love.  When you saw someone you loved you went after it didn’t you?  “I love showing up in pay time!” (In front of new customers between 9-5 every day!) Do you?

4)    Learning to Leverage: Covey said “Sharpen the Saw.”  At least that’s the first time I heard it!  But then I saw he got it from Abe Lincoln who said that if he had a job to do he’d rather spend 75% of the time sharpening his axe and the other 25% effectively cutting!  How does that work in sales?  Well first you commit to lifelong learning.  Prideful execs say I already know how to sell!  Really?  Remember Randy Moss?  He knows how to catch too but did not work out because he wasn’t humbly and continually learning to leverage his God given talent. Get good coaches and mentors into your life.  Ask them who their best mentors, coaches and partners are!  What is the best business book they just read?  Also find out about how eager they are to leverage new approaches and techniques.  When are the best times to call executives for you?  Did you know it is 6-8 in the mornings Tuesday through Friday (or Thursday and Friday 1-5)?  Do they get up that early?  Where are they Friday afternoon: Are they in the office late calling or playing golf? When and how are they reaching out to open up new relationships and are thy open to new more effective ways to reach the fish when and where they are biting?

Find the SELL in your hires and you will always sell well!  Enjoy these tips to the most rewarding sales hire yet!  It may give you the best hires of your life!

Stay hungry and SELL well my friends!

By Guest Blogger Jim Novy, President, IT Marketing World LLC

What J.Patrick & Associates is to IT recruiting, IT Marketing World is to marketing best practices.   As the first and most social-savvy online community of IT marketing professionals, IT Marketing World is seeking the best and brightest minds in the industry to establish and refine long-elusive industry best practices. 

Although nearly every industry relies on information technology to drive growth and innovation, IT marketing standards have woefully lagged behind other industries due to ill-defined, inefficient and ad hoc practices.  IT Marketing World fills the gap between tech-heavy IT trade publications and general B2B marketing resources, essentially picking up where blogs and LinkedIn Group discussions leave off.

“Marketing planning and implementation varies widely from company to company, and point pieces of information about successes and failures are spread around the industry,” said Marije Gould, vice president of marketing for Tandberg Data. “This new community gives IT marketing professionals a sorely-needed platform to share their experiences in order to fine-tune best practices and raise the bar throughout the industry.”

 “General marketing practices are well defined but IT marketing best practices are not,” said Holger Schulze, director of worldwide marketing for SafeNet and ubiquitous IT marketing blogger who manages the 18,000-member B2B Technology Marketing Community LinkedIn Group.  “The industry transition from old media to social media has been terribly inefficient and there has been a void in structure driving IT marketing standards.  IT Marketing World fills that void by harnessing the industry’s brightest marketing minds in an interactive community, essentially picking up where LinkedIn Group discussions leave off.”

Specifically, IT Marketing World members provide content, comments, survey insights and resource referrals based on their respective job functions, technology focus and sales channels.  From this data stream, advisory committee leaders develop best practice models for review and implementation by members, providing continuously improved and actionable industry standards.  Other services on the site include a job board and a referral-based directory of marketing services.  The community is currently seeking IT marketing subject matter experts to serve as advisory committee members to manage category topics, content and best practice models.

The community offers marketing vendors a palatable way to reach members through the directory and online advertising. IT Marketing World research shows 92.3% of IT marketing buyers solicit referrals from their peers when shopping for third-party service providers, and 65% of vendors’ new business comes from client referrals.  Therefore,IT Marketing World’s promotional vehicles are based on member (client) referrals to ensure integrity.  Additionally, vendors do not have access to the site’s interactive features, thus minimizing sales-oriented spam.

Community founders Jim Novy and Frank Berry, who have a combined 50+ years experience in technology marketing, developed the concept for IT Marketing World while collaborating on a model to measure IT marketing effectiveness.  They determined the best way to identify, validate and benchmark IT marketing best practices was to create a central clearinghouse and vetting process for the tremendous volume of IT marketing data found in industry blogs, company web sites, online discussion groups and other valuable resources.  IT Marketing World leverages social media techniques to begin the process of building IT best practice models for members to share and refine.

Jim Novy, president and chief editor of IT Marketing World, held senior marketing positions with several leading IT companies since 1987 including Quantum Corporation, NetApp and CA Technologies.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois.    

IT Marketing World is currently recruiting members, soliciting content and inviting category experts to serve as Advisory Committee members.  Membership is free, though IT marketing professionals must register on the site in order to participate in interactive features.  Members can register at www.itmarketingworld.com/account/register/.        

By Elissa Jane Mastel

As the technology industry continues to evolve, so do the requirements of the needs for Marketing Professionals in the field.  No longer relegated to just one task, marketing executives are expected to be integrated wizards with the hands in a host of activities moving skillfully like a quick moving jaguar who always lands on his feet.

Today’s hiring professionals are looking for candidates who can not only strategize, but can also implement all the tasks needed to propel their company forward.  The best way to exemplify your level of expertise is to present a strong portfolio.

Here are a few things to think about before crafting your portfolio for the hiring manager at the job of your dreams;

Brand Yourself

Branding is crucial in today’s market place.  Make sure you are well branded consistently throughout your portfolio.  Create a letterhead and put it on every document with contact information.  Use consistent fonts.  Pick a color scheme and stick with it.   Language is crucial, before crafting your portfolio and descriptions, sit down and do a little messaging workshop for yourself.  Identify keywords that represent you and utilize them strategically throughout the portfolio and your resume for punch.   

Quality not Quantity!

Chose each piece of collateral strategically.  Your portfolio will be stronger with a few key examples of your abilities.  Forcing the recipient to go through lots of pages of the same thing will dilute your presentation.  Pick a few examples of each category.  I like to pick pieces that garnered success, such as a press release that got a lot of pick up, or an email promo that generated a ton of buzz.  Be selective.   Show that you know how to get the job done skillfully with a few trophies. 

Key Ingredients – Use all the Food Groups

Variety is the spice of life.  Make sure you incorporate a pastiche of examples of your work that highlights your range and capabilities.  Make sure you save things as PDFs, that way they don’t get altered in the transfer.  Another solution is to create your portfolio using an online client such as Box.com, DropBox, Behance Network or Coroflot for example.  Make sure your portfolio is easy to access and send.  Try to use a client that doesn’t require a login by the human resources professional. 

“I’ve seen a growing trend of people using the Box.com platform on LinkedIn, and we really like it!  Candidates can post examples of work,” explains Dan Sullivan, President & CEO of J. Patrick + Associates, “I’ve seen multiple versions of resumes, writing samples, PowerPoint presentations and more.  The feature is free with LinkedIN, people should use it.”

Now, what on earth do you put in it?  They want to see what you can do, which includes writing.  Start with strong writing samples such as press releases, blog posts and media kit materials.  If you created a campaign, share key ingredients such as sales sheets and screen shots from the web site.  I recommend that you group your clips by campaign, showing you are a strong strategist who gets results.  Start with a short description of the campaign, and highlight the successes with your included pieces as evidences of your proven results. 

by special guest contributor John Care, Author of Mastering Technical Sales

I’m constantly amazed at how little time most Sales Engineers put into a debrief after the sales call. It’s strange when you compare it to the amount of preparation that actually goes in before the call.

There are two really good reasons why a structured debrief is worth your time. Firstly, you can determine if you hit the mark during the call, figure out next steps and make any necessary strategy changes – that’s all standard sales 101. Secondly, it’s the only way you can improve your professional skills – by obtaining and then acting on feedback. I’m going to focus on the feedback mechanism because a “the demo went great” really doesn’t help you get any better.

If you’ve ever attended one of my Mastering Technical Sales workshops you’ve been exposed to the T3-B3-N3 model of getting constructive feedback. I routinely use this both to give and receive feedback. So here it is..

It’s a non-threatening collection of positive reinforcement, constructive feedback and new ideas mixed in with a little “don’t do that”. Now you need to take notes, try to get specific examples (my example: “When you interrupt the customer before he finishes asking his question it shows a lack of respect and professionalism. Next time pause and count to two before you answer”) and if appropriate, put a plan in place to fix or to reinforce the behavior. Then follow-up with that person within a few weeks – that way they will give you some more feedback once they know you are listening to them.

Feedback is a gift, and together with learning more about your own solution, it’s the #1 way you have of improving. You may not always like what you hear, but it is still a gift.

So after the next sales call – if you want more than “you did good”, try the T3-B3-N3 approach and see what happens!

John Care (john@masteringtechnicalsales.com) is Managing Director of Mastering Technical Sales, a consulting company dedicated to improving the professional skills and capabilities of pre-sales organizations worldwide. For more information on this and other Sales Engineering topics, or to sign up for the newsletter visit the website at www.masteringtechnicalsales.com.

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