Strategy, Brand, and Go-to-Market

Why treating a job search like a product launch makes sense.
by Steven Brown

You probably opened this blog entry thinking you'd find some discussion about business planning processes for launching a product. Well, I'm not here to trick you, but there is a growing need to approach job search like a product launch. In this tough economy more and more people in my professional and social network are searching. As a product launch person I see lessons in strategy, brand, and go-to-market planning that could help them be more efficient and successful.

There are lots of job search sites on the web with materials, guides, etc. Just a few are Monster, About, and Jobstar. There are so many websites, so many books, so much data, so much advice. It's overload, and I can easily see how people spend time on less-productive activities.

I've invested time helping many people look for work. Here is an overview of the approach I use, which you can see comes from my approach to launching products.

Strategy

The most important thing to do when formulating a job search plan is to identify your goals, the strategy you're using, and the measures of success. I always begin every project with a single slide (I use PowerPoint for everything!) containing these dimensions of a plan. Without alignment on the goals, strategy, and measures, I can't hope to develop a successful project. The same applies for a job search. The candidate needs to have a clear understanding of what they're trying to accomplish, how they're going about it, and how to measure to see if they got there. This sounds so trite. But without this structure several problems arise. First, the candidate can't judge between options of how to spend their time. If you don't know what you're doing, how can you know how to go about doing it? Second, the candidate can't communicate clearly with others they meet when they ask for help. There is nothing more frustrating than a job search candidate who asks for help, but doesn't know what they want help accomplishing. This alone eliminates well over 90% of the job search candidates that approach me.

Brand

The next dimension of a successful search is the brand of the person. Given their goals and background, it is relatively simple to create a brand description of the person. This is important for those chance encounters, networking conversations, and application emails and resume's. The brand captures the essense of the person, and the right selection of words are critical. One rule to remember: hiring managers look at candidates with an eye towards eliminating them. Poor branding gives them a reason in the first 5 seconds.

Go-to-Market

I use this category title a bit tongue in cheek. Really this might be best titled Networking. More than 90% of the high paying jobs are found through people. Not applying online. A business Go-to-Market plan identifies the target customer, the value proposition, the media/communication mechanisms, etc. These same dimensions must be purposefully addressed when searching for a job. Most people that approach me for help are using the spray-and-pray technique. Yes, networking and even Go-to-Market is somewhat unpredictable because you must create and pursue opportunities that unexpectantly arise. However, you are still dealing with your scarce time and a limited number of people to network with. If you aren't thoughtful about that you will at best miss opportunities, and in the worst case create a negative impression that will inhibit success.

Conclusion

The Effetti website provides tools for you to self-evaluate your goals, strategy, and go-to-market. There are also tools for branding, developing messaging, and more. Job search, even in a tough economy, can be made easier with thoughtful planning. Hopefully this blog has provided some useful suggestions.

Polishing up the old CV...

Successfully taking "your Self" to market.
by David Bookout

In preparation for Steve's upcoming post , which focuses on developing and marketing your own personal brand, I thought I would offer these suggestions to help you polish up your resume / curriculum vitae ( CV ):

First, what is the goal, or action you want the CV to generate? Most often I find that people say "to get a job", but this isn't really a helpful posture in terms of an effective design strategy that needs to be behind the CV itself. So, be more specific, for example:

Receive "W" job offers, at "X" company, for "Y" role, at "Z" salary & benefit level.

Second, be specific and don't be too general in respect to what you've done. Your experience is actually the "reason to believe" that you can do the job your seeking. Also, remember that it is ok to list everything you've ever done in a DRAFT, but this needs to be filtered out and focused for the role specific versions that will actually be sent.

Third, be focused. Each role specific version needs to be:
a) 1 page ( you can always bring the 3 - 4 page "leave behinds", or send them as a follow up )
b) Compelling and different. What "promises" can you make that better address what the hiring manager cares about?

Fourth, do some research on the company, or companies that you want to approach. How are they structured, what do they value, what is the culture?

In closing, it is also helpful to remember that these four points are not stand alone, but interrelated and interdependent.

Profits - Even in a Tough Economy

One of my favorite clients is a Veterinarian in a small Oregon town. Besides liking him as a person, I'm extremely pleased that he has not only incorporated my advice, but has profited from it as well. Both financially and in peace of mind.

The story begins when we first met through friends at a social gathering. The normal "what do you do" information was exchanged, and we quickly began discussing the tough economy and how that was slowing business at the practice. Being a sole proprietor, he was also the book keeper, payroll clerk, CEO, CMO, and night janitor. It was hard work, long hours, and being on call for midnight pet emergencies was no picnic. There was genuine concern about his ability to stay in business.

My favorite topic is strategy around targeting customers. And I believe that the customer defines the business - the concept is surprising to some clients I've worked with. So I asked "tell me about your best customer. Who do you make the most profit from? Who is most satisfied with your services?"

It didn't surprise me at all to learn that his best clients were those that view their pets as members of their family. They take proper care of their pets. They are proactive in the care of their pets. And the financial costs for this care is not as important as the fact that their pet is comfortable, healthy, and a happy part of the family. Of course there are limits to their abundance, but the opportunity to work with such clients produces profits and happiness for all involved.

As counter examples, there are no end to the number of potential clients who ask for free pet care. As if the typical care for animals that most Veterinarian's share should lead them to be willing to forego all financial concerns to help any animal that comes along. Or those people who expect normal charges for weekend service, because that is when they are available to bring their pet in.

This leads to a tremendously easy business strategy: pay lots of attention to those clients that treat their pets as members of their family. And minimize or eliminate time spent on actual or potential clients who don't. His employees all of sudden are happier. Why? When a pet owner calls to explore becoming a client, every employee can easily identify whether to pay lots of attention, or whether to not. It makes employees happy to know what to do. In this case, it also helps that they deal with a more pleasant client. This takes a lot of pressure off of the owner.

We then brainstormed how to keep existing profitable clients happy, and find new ones. He created a "pet wellness program" and was amazed at how easy it was to upsell these clients. He even gives his cell phone to these clients, telling them they are special.

I then asked "how much do you want your business to grow? How much profit, how much revenue? How many clients do you have? What are your fixed costs?" And a few other pertinent questions. The primary business goal was to achieve 7% growth in profit each year.

From this basic financial information I assembled an estimated balance sheet and income statement. I added variables to the spreadsheet so I could use the estimated incremental cost and income information to explore the performance of his business. From this simple calculation I was able to demonstrate that 2 new clients a month would easily grow profits 7%. That simple spreadsheet brought a lot of peace of mind to my friend. "Only 2 new clients a month? That's easy!"

The moral of this story is to focus on profitable customers. Train your team to identify them. Set your business goals and processes to focus on them.

Peace of mind and profit.

What is a Brand: part 6 of 6

From Brand to Growth

"What is a Brand?" by Steven Brown

In conclusion, a brand is a message to send, targeted at the customer that you prefer to serve repeatedly and profitably. You want them to decide on their own they are exactly your best customer. That you provide value they need and want. And you know that your team is able to execute the business processes, including marketing and sales, that keep the profits growing.

You want other curious customers to decide they aren’t best served by your service or product. So your team doesn’t get distracted. So you don’t have to spend your valuable time managing customer situations that are outside the profit zone.

You can always expand your business to serve their needs. But you have to focus on the profit zone for now. Get your team to improve their efficiency serving those ideal customers. Economically generating leads that fit the profile more often. Efficiently marketing your value and products to those leads. Close the sales opportunity early and often. And fulfill the customer order to their satisfaction every time. That is the formula for growth. And that is how you build a Brand Sales Person that works for you.

Relationship Selling ( I )...

Why developing "relationships" is the key to sales success
by David Bookout

Many of the small to medium enterprise ( SME ) owners and executives I've worked with over the years have one thing in common relative to sales and selling.

They either don't like to sell, or they just don't consider themselves sales people.

However, at the end of the day, somebody has to buy something from someone else to make the world go round. So, I would offer that this orientation, and the narratives that go with them are a big mistake for three reasons.

First, the identity component. Clients want to know that they are dealing with decision makers, people that they assess to really have the power to make things happen should the need arise. This is particularly true in more expensive, or more complicated offers, which may include business process changes. In these situations relegating sales, specifically the closing part of the sales process, to sales people often doesn't produce the client confidence necessary to close the deal. This is often why we see a drop in sales, instead of sustained growth, when SME owners and executives bring in sales people to manage the sales process. In these instances prospects and even existing clients can feel betrayed when these transitions aren't handled in a way that meets, or exceeds their expectations.

Second up, narratives are equally important, and these new sales people often struggle to embody these narratives fast enough, or effectively enought to sustain satisfactory growth rates. Also, to often, these new sales people find the need to materially change these stories, or personalize them in a way that no longer resonates well the desired audience. This can form a double disbelief, including the identity component, and effectively short-circuiting the sale.

Third, and perhaps most important, is the relationship component. SME owners and executives that are trying their hardest to get out of the sales role seem to forget the simple fact that he, or she that has the relationship with a client has the power. How many times have you heard of sales people who get disenchanted with their employer, leave the company, and take a significant number of customers with them to cash flow their new venture. Forget the fact that this is illegal unless there is a significant amount of money at stake, which wouldn't even be an SME situation in the first place, and your certain you can win.

In conclusion, these three rules will help SME owners and executives effectively transition sales roles and facilitate growth:

1) Keep the closing role. Owners and executives that maintain their client relationships by staying involved in the sales cycle tend to have steadier growth charts.

2) Monitor narratives for effectiveness and migration. Continue to go on sales calls, and maintain a commitment to help new sales people establish effective story telling skills.

3) Maintain relationship. By focusing on number 1 and 2 above, it is much easier to not become a stranger to your hard earned customers.

Our next installment in this series will focus on relationship building skills and practices.

What is a Brand: part 5 of 6

From Customer to Brand

"What is a Brand?" by Steven Brown

Your brand then is every word and picture in every business card, sign, brochure, contract, voice mail greeting, and product look and feel. Every marketing and sales conversation. Every support response. And the relationships you form with customers. They all need to convey and reinforce who the right customer is.

There are several aspects to a brand: brand equity, brand identity, brand positioning, the logo, and more. It can be overwhelming to a small business owner to try to address everything at once. The task can be simplified by looking at how your sales and operations send “we want you” messages to good current and prospective customers. An approach that is synergistic with executing your day to day business.

From the BSP (Brand Sales Person) metaphore, here are some core next steps in building the right BSP:

1. Does your sales process target the right decision maker?

2. Does the value message match with that decision makers care abouts?

3. Does the product or service deliver on all the care abouts?

4. Does the support and customer relationship follow-up meet expectations?

Next entry: From Brand to Growth

Chaotic Structures and Success ( III )...

by David Bookout

To follow up on our last installment of Chaotic Structures and Success ( II ) and our original post Chaotic Structures and Success we promised to focus this installment on Scenario E.

Our situation is identical. Strategic alignment is off. The company has a business strategy, no market strategy, no brand strategy, and a chaotic communication strategy. Overall awareness in the community is weak. Interest in the company's offers are low, and management doesn't have a clear vision of the next essential steps needed to increase sales on a broad scale.

A 7 step plan is developed to produce strategic alignment and implementation begins. The company secures a multi million dollar order that had been in the works for some time, and begins hiring.

Part of the strategic implementation plan calls for elevating the company's web presence and beginning to take online orders for products and services. A new site is built.

New hires, experienced in and accountable for other sectors of the business, don't understand the companies market strategy and move to understand the strategy by building a relationship with the Marketing V.P. Together they discuss the market strategy and speculate about how the website might develop in the future.

The C.E.O., intent on increasing recent success, while mindful of the size of the gap by which he missed his revenue projection promise to the board enlists the help of everyone to design the future. In ensuing conversations he encourages his team to stick to commitments they can make within their own domains, while also encouraging them to share their experiences, speculate and make offers of help to others.

Our next installment will focus on the effects of these behaviors.