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How To Use Direct Marketing Techniques To Get The Marketing Job You Want - A Guide For College Students By Karl G. Dentino ROLLING UP YOUR SLEEVES Lead Generation: Up to this point you have spent quite a bit of time figuring out the who, what, where, when, and why of your job search. Now it's time to concentrate on the how: specifically, how to persuade your target prospects to grant you an interview. Unless you have lots of contacts or your family owns the company, you will probably have to generate your own leads through a direct mail program. This is where your perspective as a job-hunting marketing manager can be most useful. Remember, the objective of your resume mailing is to generate leads. So, think of it as a professional business-to-business direct mail lead-generation program. Essential Resume Guidelines: 1. Think before you write. Put your pen to paper only after you have a good handle on what you want to do, where you want to do it, and preferably how you could benefit a particular organization. 2. Keep it brief. One of the paradoxes of business-to-business lead-generation direct marketing is that the more you tell the prospect about the product, the lower the response you're likely to get. That's because your objective in a lead-generating campaign is to generate requests for more information and/or a personal sales call. If you tell your prospect every minute detail about your product, you actually are giving that person the opportunity to find reasons to say "no" to your information offer. It's better just to pique the prospect's interest with major benefits, and leave all the details for the face-to-face sales meeting (interview). Resist the temptation to add extraneous details about yourself. Here's a good rule of thumb: Ask yourself if what you want to add will increase your chances of obtaining an interview. If the answer is yes, put it in. If the answer is no, leave it out. When in doubt, leave it out. 3. Make it flexible. Years ago, it was advisable to have your resume professionally typeset and printed. This was expensive but expected. And the result was final. Because of the costs associated with professional typesetting and printing, it was impractical to have more than one version of your resume. But today, things are different. The personal computer or word-processor makes it possible for you to prepare professional-looking documents far less expensively, and with endless variety. By all means, take advantage of this ability to tailor your resume and your cover letter for different job opportunities and different companies. You'll be able to emphasize different skills, experience, and accomplishments based on their relevance to a particular job, and demonstrate your knowledge of the company and its needs. 4. Visualize your prospect. Another direct marketing paradox is that the best way to construct a direct mail package is to assume it will not be carefully read. It's extremely important to try to visualize your prospects as you create your direct mail package. Because of time pressures and the many different stimuli competing for their attention, your prospects will most likely scan all mail--including yours--in a low-attention manner rather than reading it intently, as they would a book. That's why it's important to design your communication to be visually inviting, and to make it easy for your busy prospects to assimilate key points just by scanning. Here are some techniques that can help you accomplish this objective:
A word of caution when using direct mail creative techniques: Don't allow form to obfuscate substance. In other words, don't use direct mail techniques just for effect. To illustrate the importance of this point, consider the outer envelope: A time-tested direct mail creative technique is to place a teaser message on the face of the mailing envelope. Whether you choose to do that is really a matter of personal preference. But if you do choose to use envelope copy, make sure that message content, not form, drives your decision. And, bearing in mind the needs of your busy prospect, make the message explicit. An envelope message that's vague and clever is more likely to irritate than intrigue. An example of explicit envelope copy:
An example of vague, clever envelope copy:
The first example is likely to command attention because it delivers a clear, specific benefit. Your prospects are likely to begin assimilating your story even before the envelope is opened. The second example sacrifices clarity and specificity trying to be clever. Your readers are likely to feel manipulated and deceived when they open the envelope only to find a resume inside. 5. Avoid controversy. Never put in anything that could cause your resume to be eliminated from the competition, e.g., political or religious affiliations, personal information. 6. Stress accomplishments. Accomplishments are your product benefits. Responsibilities are your product features. Benefits are much more persuasive than features. Use action verbs, e.g., developed, managed, created. Use statistics, e.g., helped boost sales 30% over previous summer; earned 20% of college tuition through part-time employment. 7. Be proactive. It's a good idea to tell your prospects when you will call to arrange an interview, rather than wait for them to call you. In fact, professional salespeople use lead-generation mailings as a reason to call (i.e., "I'm calling to see if you received my letter, and to see if we might be able to arrange a meeting..."). 8. Be original. Never adapt someone else's resume. Remember you are marketing your product, not the competition's. 9. Sweat the details. Proof-read everything very carefully. Don't rely on spell-check in your word processor. Have at least two other people read your communication. Pay particular attention to the accuracy of your prospect's name, title, company, and address. A miscue here is a signal that you are not attentive to detail, and could disqualify you on the spot. 10. Strive for relevance. The best way to command attention is by being relevant. In the resume communication, your objective is to present information in such a way that it's easy for your prospects to make connections between your skills and experience and their needs. There is no magic formula for being relevant other than gaining information and using it intelligently. Sometimes the least obvious connections can be the most relevant. Here's an example: A New Jersey students who took no marketing courses in college turned five summers of volunteer work in a nursing home intow extremely relevant experience in landing a job in the marketing department of a major financial services company. Her resume boasted "a keen insight into the needs and concerns of adults with aging parents" -- a market segment she knew the company was targeting for a long-term care insurance product launch. 10. Balance form with substance. As you work through the entire lead-generation process, you are sure to be confronted with questions like these:
Many people resort to unusual resume presentations in an attempt to stand out from the crowd, but that creates the dilemma mentioned in the introduction to this book: Dare to be different and you risk being perceived as a bad fit; do the conventional thing and you may not get noticed. Unfortunately, there are no black and white answers. How imaginative or creative you choose to be really comes down to a matter of personal preference. But if you do choose a creative presentation, be certain that you're not being clever simply for the sake of cleverness--form should never be given priority over substance. Instead, use your creative presentation as a means of demonstrating your understanding of marketing principles and the needs of your prospect. What To Do If The Phone Doesn't Ring The unfortunate reality is that most of the people who receive your resume will never contact you. That's why you should always follow up with anyone who hasn't responded. It's the only way you can expect to increase your number of interviews.
If the person you call tells you point-blank that the company isn't hiring now, there are three things you should do:
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