How To Use Direct Marketing Techniques To Get The Marketing Job You Want - A Guide For College Students

By Karl G. Dentino

CLOSING THE SALE

Follow-Up Communications:
The secret to closing the sale is keeping things open

After you've completed a job interview, there can be one of three outcomes:

• You will get the job offer.
• You won't get the job offer.
• You'll be told that you're a contender and you may be asked back for additional interviews.

Chances are that your interviewer has already determined which of these three possible fates awaits you before you even walk out the door. So what should you do next? You have three alternatives: (1) Do nothing. (2) Send a thank-you note. (3) Send a concise, persuasive follow-up communication that resells the benefits of hiring you.

The right choice? Number 3, every time. No matter how you think things went, if you want the position, an immediate, persuasive follow-up is always the right thing to do.

The great thing about the follow-up is that it gives you another chance to prove your value. Unless you're told flat-out that you won't be hired for the job (which rarely happens during an interview), you should always view the immediate follow-up as another marketing opportunity.

If you approach the follow-up communication from a marketing perspective, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The worst that can happen is that you won't get hired (and if that happens after you've written a persuasive follow-up communication, you probably weren't going to get the job anyway). What's to gain? Everything.

• If you were already going to get hired, you'll be helping your prospect reinforce her or his decision and confirm the person's beliefs about you.
• If two or more equally appealing candidates are in contention and only one of them takes the time to resell him/herself in a creative, persuasive follow-up letter, who do you think stands a better chance of getting the job?
• If you weren't going to get hired, your persuasive follow-up might get the prospect to reconsider.

Become A Marketing Consultant

The follow-up communication is as close to your first real-life marketing assignment as you can get. Why? Because it gives you one more opportunity to show how you think; to demonstrate your creative and analytical abilities in a written communication.

Think of yourself as a marketing consultant: You've just met with a prospective client. You've learned about the person's problems, needs, and related issues. You've gained some insight into who they are and what kind of company they work for. Now, you have a golden opportunity to prepare a written recommendation that:

• Shows how well you understand the marketing problem, the person, and the company.
• Shows how well you can solve the problem. (The solution revolves around you, of course.)

In addition, writing persuasively and effectively is an invaluable, often required skill in business. Undeniably, interpersonal skills are critical, but nothing shows how you think as clearly as your writing does.

Your Follow-Up Communication Should Include:

1. Acknowledgement of your interviewer's time.

2. A brief summary of your assessment of the person's (and the company's) needs.

3. Three distinct reasons why (or three ways how) you could help solve their problems. Here is where you ask for the sale. A golden rule of direct marketing copywriting is: If you tell people exactly what you want them to do, you dramatically increase the chances they'll do it.

4. A clearly stated next step. Be proactive: Tell the prospect you'll be calling and when.

The most common follow-up communication format is a standard business letter typed on 8½" x 11" letterhead. This is how your prospect would receive a follow-up communication from a professional salesperson or marketing consultant. Brevity is important for all the same reasons it's critical to the resume communication.

There is nothing to prevent you from using a less conventional format, but in this communication, substance (i.e., what you say) is the most important thing.

What To Do If You're Getting Strung Along

Phone and politely ask for an answer. If you can't seem to get to the individual after several calls and the person doesn't return your call, you should think about placing your energies elsewhere. If you want to make sure, however, call before 9:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m., when people are much more likely to pick up their own phones.

If a job offer materializes that you want less than one that hasn't, politely give your first choice a decision deadline date. Tell the person you've received an offer elsewhere, but that you really want to work for them and you must have their answer before you can make a decision. If it doesn't happen, it wasn't meant to be for now.

A Note About Your Prospect Database

Every interview, phone conversation, and rejection letter is a contact, and should be noted in your database. The marketing community isn't as vast as it might at first appear, and everybody moves around--so you never know when your path with a particular prospect will cross again.

It's a good idea to send a short note to everyone you interviewed with once you've accepted a job. It signals them that you cared enough to keep them updated on your whereabouts, and it subtly invites them to contact you down the road if an opportunity arises that they think might be right for you.

Some Final Words ...

If you do everything this guide suggests, you'll become quite a well-rounded marketing manager. You'll uncover your strategic, creative, and analytic abilities; you'll discover how to be persuasive on paper, in person, and over the phone; and you'll learn the importance of planning, persistence, and patience -- a pretty tall order, especially for someone just stepping out of college.

To be successful at getting the right job, you don't need to be the best there is at anyone of these things. You do need to do your best at all of them. Apply yourself in all of these areas and you'll dramatically increase your chances of getting where you want to go. And you'll have quite a time along the way.

Enjoy the journey!

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