Month: February 2018

Listening and the Persuasive Power of Asking Questions

Listening: What is the role of asking questions and listening in creating cooperation?  Here are examples of how great questions lead you to getting what you want when you understand what other people need.

The most effective people know how to ask great questions and how to learn from listening. ~ www.jaywren.com

In the Workplace, Listening Creates Cooperation

Listening and asking questions helps leaders and the people they lead create greater communications.  Furthermore, this understanding creates greater cooperation in the workplace.

Great Questions Create Great Responses

Learning to ask questions, especially great questions, leads to better understanding.  The most effective people have the patience to ask thoughtful questions about what other people need.

Retail Example

In a retail-selling situation, retail clerks create sales when they help customers find what they want. Using the following example, you can develop these skills into creating cooperation in most situations.

The opening question in retail is “How may I help you?”

The shopper says, “I would like to try on a pair of shoes.”

“Do you have a particular style in mind?”

“Yes, I would like to try this brand of walking shoes?”

“What size would you like to try?”

“Size 8.”

The clerk brings out four pairs.

You try them on and select a pair.

The clerk asks, “May I show you some other shoes?”

“No.”

“Would you like to try some inserts or socks with those shoes.  Our socks are on sale today for $3.00 a pair.”

“I am not interested in the inserts, but I will take four pairs of the socks that are on sale.”

The clerk asks you if you would like to put your payment on the store credit card.

You say, “I don’t have one.”

The clerk asks, “May I sign you up today?  You save 20% on all your purchases.”

Now, you accept the offer and pay for the shoes and socks on the store credit card.

The Result of Great Listening.

You went to the store to buy a pair of shoes and feel as though you just got the bargains of your life. With the help of the clerk, you got the socks on sale and saved an extra 20% on all your purchases.

So, how did the clerk’s listening skills help you as the customer and the retailer?

  1. The store sold you the shoes that you needed.
  2. Additionally, you spent $12.00 on socks.
  3. The store increased the amount you spent during your visit.
  4. When you signed up for the credit card, the store collected marketing data about you and your shopping patterns.
  5. Furthermore, the store sold you on establishing a line of credit for which they may make more money in interest charges.

Listening and Managers

Great managers use the same process for finding solutions.  These managers ask questions and learn from their employees.  At the beginning of a meeting, a manager might ask the team members, “how might we cut our costs.”

The team members begin to answer the question.

Perhaps on a flip chart or a marking board, a manager or an assistant records the responses.

As the meeting proceeds, enough information goes on the list of ideas to start a process.

The manager says, “Today, we have made a good start.  I will send you an email with a list of the things that we discussed today.  When you receive the email, you can begin to prepare for the meeting tomorrow.  You write your answers to these questions.

  1. Which of these ideas is practical for what we do as a company?
  2. On what schedule can we carry out each of these ideas?
  3. What are the risks to our business if we carry out these changes?
  4. What are the gains to our business if we carry out these changes?”

So, begins the process through which great managers direct teams.  The same process would work for any department: selling, marketing, product design, finance, human resources, and so on across a company and so on throughout all of its functions.  The process is simply a series of questions that lead to solutions.

4 Essential Steps to a Highly Successful Career Change

Career Change:  Below are powerful tools and suggestions others have found helpful in making an effective career move.

4 Essential Steps to a Highly Successful Career Change

  • Resume
  • Resume Cover Letter
  • Interview Preparation
  • Thank You Letter

You don’t have to do everything for success. But you do have to do the right things. ~ www.jaywren.com

First, a Resume is Basic to a Career Change

Here is what you put into a resume and the order in which you put this information.  If you replace this information with your information, you will have written a resume.

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Rule 1: Never refer to yourself in the third person in the body of the resume.
Rule 2: Use factual accomplishments and not subjective opinions of yourself.

  • Example of a fact:  exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%
  • Examples of opinion; goal-oriented, creative, tenacious, strategic, honest, loyal:  For a person to
    use adjectives about themselves puts human resource people to sleep

Objective:  This is optional and often redundant.  Your resume has the objective of getting you interviews with an employer who sees a match in your location, your compensation, and your experience and that employer’s needs.  It is conventional to state an objective here but you can probably find a better use for the space.

Employment History (Most recent job first)

Company Name, Location, and Period of Employment (From to)
Most recent title:

  • Use bullet format.
  • List things you have accomplished.
  • Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
  • List things that showed you made a difference.
  • Include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity,
    etc.
  • Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
  • List successes with specific industry words or functions.
  • Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e. g, Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Next List Previous Titles at this company and again bullets on successes:

  • List your accomplishments.
  • Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
  • List things that showed you made a difference.
  • Things you have accomplished include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity, etc.
  • Companies and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
  • Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

Education goes next after you have listed the first job you held after college or in your career:  Part-time or vacation jobs held while in school are sometimes not listed except as a bullet to the education experience.

Do not put references or salary information on your resume.

Second, Resume Cover Letter

Suggestions on writing a cover letter

Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip
Phone Number
Email Address

Date

Name of person receiving your letter
Company Name
Street Address
City, State Zip

Dear First Name:

(If you come recommended by someone, list that person’s name here).  Name of person referred me to you.  I am writing to apply for as position as a (fill in name of position) with your company.  My resume is attached.

In my resume, you will find a record of success in (list competencies)

When may I interview with you?

Best regards,
Your Name

Third, Interview preparation

Here is what you can do to have a better interview.

1) Prepare an agenda for the interview, things you want to cover.
2) Research the company.  Find articles on the company and use information from these articles in your interview presentation.
3) Research the job and be prepared to talk about how your skills fit the job.
4) Review your skills and the information in your resume.
5) Be upbeat and positive about the world, the way you might be on a Friday afternoon.
6) Take with you extra copies of your resume, a typed list of questions, and paper and pen for notes.
7) Bring examples of your work that show your skills and successes.
8) Be factual about the work you did and the work others did to make you a success.
9) In the interview, listen to the questions you are asked and be sure that you understand the question before answering.  If the question is too broad to enable you to give a good answer, ask the interviewing to help you understand better what he or she is trying to learn.
10) Be positive when you talk about your current company, your boss, and your job.  Emphasize that you are looking to make a change to get more of what the company interviewing you has to offer.
11) Write stories of your successes as preparation to discuss how you can contribute to a company’s business.

Outline for an Interview Agenda

Candidates have found that the following outline is effective in getting the job.

In using this type of outline to prepare for an interview, a person will have anticipated and practiced how
to handle many of the questions and contingencies that may arise in a job interview.

WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY

WHAT I BRING TO A COMPANY IN YOUR INDUSTRY

MY PLANS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR BUSINESS

WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS

WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY

  •        The reputation of the company
  •        The long history of success of the company
  •        The appeal of the industry
  •        The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use my skills
  •        The company commitment to respecting and honoring their employees with programs
  •        The opportunity to work in the field of my choice

WHAT I BRING TO A THIS INDUSTRY

  •        Creatively and enthusiastically use the knowledge I gained in college to make the organization
    more successful
  •        Have a range of appropriate skills
  •        Have developed marketing strategies to include customer service, pricing, and product selection

Fourth, Thank You Letter

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Date

Mr. /Ms. Interviewer
Name of company
Street address, City, State Zip

Dear Mr. /Ms. Interviewer:

Thank the person for meeting with you.

Express your impression of the company.

Express your interest in the job.

Best regards,

Your name

Extra Tools and Tips Summary

  1. Reference material
  2.  Work your network by making a list of every possible contact you have ever made in business and contact these people for ideas and opportunities.
  3. Ask for referrals of every person you contact.
  4. Lay out your goals as specifically as you can, but be aware that the more flexible you are in terms of money, location, and opportunity the more opportunities you will have available to you.
  5. Contingency recruiter or retained recruiter?  In practice, how a recruiter is compensated is not nearly as important as what contacts the recruiter has.  Typically, retained recruiters are conducting searches where the salary is above $750,000 and involve “C” level managers.
  6. Be organized.  Make a list daily of your contacts, what you discussed what action you have taken and what action needs to be taken.
  7. Read the want ads in the local newspaper, national publications, and especially trade journals. Become an expert on what is in the job market.
  8. Before approaching a company directly, research it thoroughly.  How is it structured?  Bottler, distributor, direct, or broker sales?  Public or private?  Do you have a referral to get your foot in the door, etc.?  Who are the key managers for the job you are seeking? To whom do these people report?
  9. Prepare for an interview the same way you would prepare for a major sales call, business review, or planning session where you are the key presenter.
  10. Follow up on contacts you have made.

Quit Struggling to Get Jobs Below Your Qualifications

Qualifications: Quit Struggling to Get Jobs Below Your Qualifications. Are you frustrated, because hiring companies will not see you for jobs you can do easily?  Are you overqualified for these jobs.  There risks to you and the employer in hiring people who are overqualified.

Risks to Employers

Speaking as a recruiter, I can tell you that my clients focus on specific skills.  These clients want to hire qualified candidates. However, they avoid overqualified applicants.

Why? Overqualified people are a risk of leaving as soon as they find a job at their skill level.   Vacancies are a burden.  They damage morale and productivity.  Filling vacancies takes time away from other company efforts. Furthermore, staffing fees are costly, especially when searching for highly qualified candidates.

The Risks to You for Interviewing Job Below You Qualifications

Taking a job below your qualifications damages your career.  You risk creating a picture of yourself as backslider.  You raise questions about your ability to continue to grow.  Furthermore, you may raise questions about what happened to push you back in your career.

How to Get Great Interviews with Companies Who Need Your Experience

Case Study:

Bob (not the real name): “How I should format my resume for the greatest success?”

Me: “As a person with advanced degrees and advanced qualifications, you should consider two formats for you resume: A Curriculum Vitae (CV) format or a resume format. Here are two articles that may help.

Bob: ”How should I list my skills in a resume?”

Me: “Be specific. For example, I once had a search for a company that sold perishable products (products types are different from this example). I had a resume for a general manager who was perfect for the job. His resume showed that he had canned goods experience.  However, his resume did not show is that he also had the required perishable foods experience at the same company.

After I filled the job, I learned that he was qualified for the job.

Bob: “How do I select companies?”

Me: “My recommendation is that you target specific jobs, not just every job opening. Identify roles that match your skills and get to know people who work at places that hire people for those roles.

Use your current close professional and personal network more frequently than you use a broad network of people on LinkedIn.

When introducing yourself via a referral, first ask for permission to use the person as a reference.

Where you have friends, who want to help you, ask them to forward your resume to a professional at a place where you want to work. Additionally, ask them to copy you on the resume.  Then you follow up directly with the new contact.”

Impact Writing: 4 Ways to Engage Your Reader

Impact writing: In a digital world, everyone is a writer. However, not everyone entered the digital world with the same writing skills. How can you engage your readers for action and interest?

4 Ways to Engage Your Reader with Impact Writing

  • Don’t Add the Word, “Very.”
  • Don’t write “Is, Was, and By.”
  • Use Words that Show Commitment.
  • Verify Your Quotes.

Don’t Add the Word, “Very.”

Adding the word “very” to a sentence makes it weaker.

There are three options to more impactful writing.

  1. Just cut the word “very.”
  2. Create a comparison for impact.
  3. Use stronger wording.

For example:

Weak: “Susan is very intelligent.”
Comparison: “Susan is more intelligent than her friends.”
A stronger statement: “Susan is brilliant.”

A second example:

Weak: “Bill ran very quickly across the yard.”
Better: Bill ran quickly across the yard.
Stronger wording: “Bill sprinted across the yard.”

Don’t Write “Is, Was, and By”

These three words create longer, weaker sentences.

Weak: “This play was written by Shakespeare. ”
Stronger: “Shakespeare wrote this play.”

Notice that the first sentence is longer.  It has two more words than the second sentence.  The extra words weaken the sentence.  Additionally, effective sentences show action.  They start with the person, place, or thing that acted.

Weak: “The city was flooded by the storm.”
Stronger: “The storm flooded the city.”

Use Words that Show Commitment

Weak: “When I get to it”
Stronger: “I will finish it and have it back to you at 3:00PM.”

Weak: “Maybe I’ll work on it later.”
Better: “I will start on this project at 8:00AM and have it back to you by 11:00AM.”

Verify Your Quotes.

For example, Mark Twain didn’t say,

“If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.”

Winston Churchill didn’t say,

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Abraham Lincoln didn’t say,

“You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

You can do a web search to verify quotes. I start with sentence like this, “Benjamin Franklin didn’t say…”

For example, you can search the Internet for “Benjamin Franklin didn’t say a penny saved is a penny earned.”

error: Content is protected !!