Archive for October, 2008

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It’s the last ProLango Career Mixer of 2009! Be there or be square!

Join ProLango and our venue sponsor, Maggiano’s Little Italy, at our last ProLango Career Mixer of 2009 as we explore how to reach the so called “unapproachable”.

Whether you’re a job seeker looking to break into a company or an account executive looking to build your portfolio of clients, it’s a must to know how to reach the decision makers. In this short presentation we’ll cover Social Media strategies (LinkedIn, Twitter) that will allow you to connect to almost anyone.

Career Mixer: Presented by ProLango Consulting Inc & Maggiano’s Little Italy
Date: Monday, November 2, 2009
Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Location: Maggiano’s Little Italy, Lincoln Center, 10455 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98004
Cost: Free (optional donations greatly welcomed)
Topic: How to reach the “unapproachable” via Social Media Tools (LinkedIn, Twitter)
Register Here
Other Details: In addition to a no-host bar, Maggiano’s will put out an appetizer buffet (see details below).

Many have found employment as the result of attending these mixers. Read Diane or Dorothy’s story.

Our last mixer had 465+ registrations including 77 attending companies. Company representatives at our mixers included: Cardiac Science, BECU, Boeing, PACCAR, Vertafore, EMC, Starbucks, Expedia, Sound Transit, Microsoft, and T-Mobile.

Here is a video from one of our previous mixers covered by Q13 FOX News:

Venue Details:

Once again we will be at Maggiano’s Little Italy in their spacious banquet facility which includes: 2 no-host bars (dedicated), private access, and validated parking. In addition a buffet of popular appetizers will be available for $ 5.50 (tax included).

Special thanks to our venue sponsor:

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Interested in sponsoring these events?

ProLango Career Mixers is the perfect chance to feature your business in front of hundreds of potential customers. Contact Christine Szekeres at christine@prolango.com or 425.444.0267 for more information.

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Dorothy’s Story (from September’s Mixer):

I was invited to attend the Prolango Career Mixer on Sept 21st and I signed up to go.

That evening I debated about 2-3 hours before making a decision.

I thought, ”What did I have to lose?”, I could stay home any night and watch TV and I remembered in a Worksource (PNG) Professional Networking Meeting that you have to “step out of your box” and get out there and meet people.

It felt like I was in a bar looking for a date again, but even introduced myself to a few strangers.

Right after I first arrived, I was standing at the bar waiting to a glass of water, when Debra Kay Lowell from Kelly Services introduced herself and asked what I did, I told her Configuration Management Analyst and she handed me her business card.

The next day I was able to send an email with my resume and with a phone call I was working two weeks later at contract job again.

Diane’s Story (from August’s Mixer):

I was at the Prolango Mixer Monday evening, Power Connecting.  I was standing near the bar and turned to face a female.  We began to talk.  A gentleman, James, came up to us and said “I’m sorry but I want to talk to you.”  Meaning the girl I was talking to.  He said he was a recruiter and was interested in Developers and noticed her name tag was labeled just that.  So I hang out as a third-wheel.  Then he asks me what I am looking for.  I tell him I’m a Marketing Professional.  He says, “Oh then you need to talk to this person.”  He points to a co-worker standing nearby.  He, Casey, comes over and we all begin to talk.  I share a little about myself and he tells me he has some positions available that would be a good fit.  We exchange business cards and I tell him I will email him in the morning (Tuesday).  I do so, he responds, provides the job descriptions, etc.  He submits me for two jobs.

In the mean time I drive down to Oregon to visit my parents and have some car work completed.  I get a call from Casey saying he received a request for a phone interview for one of the positions.  I take the interview from my parents house Wednesday afternoon.  At the end of the phone interview the hiring manager tells me she will be making a decision Friday off the phone interviews.  She will not be calling anyone in for in-person interviews.  She also said I was one of her top candidates because she liked my ideas and what I had to say.  She said she was interested in talking further and hearing more of my ideas.

Friday afternoon I get a call from Casey offering me the job.  He said, Karen, the hiring manager was very impressed with my problem solving skills in the interview and that’s what made her decision.  I haven’t met her in person yet.  I was hired sight unseen (I think this is a first).

Casey said I made his time at the Mixer worth it.

Typical sales trainers say the following:

• Features don’t sell
• Benefits do

As I’m trained in Business Psychology and how the mind works, I’m here to take that statement to the next level:

• Benefits don’t sell
• Benefits the customer cares about sell!

Think about it for a second. Do you typically buy something because it provides you with a benefit or because it provides you with a benefit you actually care about?

I’m sure we’ve all bought something that we didn’t need because we thought it was cool or fell for the marketing hype; however that’s not how we always make our buying decision. At least I hope not!

We typically buy something because it provides benefits we care about, benefits that solve our actual needs, wants, desires, or pains.

Most salespeople talk about features and benefits they think the customer might care about; it’s mostly features and benefits important to the salesperson not necessarily the customer’s needs and wants. They then spend time explaining those features and benefits leading to customer confusion and talking themselves out of a sale. They actually overload the customer with TOO MUCH INFORMATION; therefore resulting in not selling the product/service.

Instead they must focus on the features and benefits the customer cares about and spend less time (if any at all) on the features and benefits that are NOT of interest to the customer.

I’ve recently become an iPhone user. I bought the iPhone for three reasons:

• To check email on the go and in real-time
  • It has to have HTML capability
  • It has to be able to download and view various attachments

• To have an up-to-date calendar
  • Sync up over-the-air with my Work Calendar (non-Exchange)
  • Sync up with Gmail Calendar

• To be able to browse the internet with a real browser
  • I don’t like the limited browsers Microsoft or Blackberry phones provide

These reasons were so vital to me that I prematurely canceled my T-Mobile contract paying a $150+ cancellation charge, changing over to a new network AT&T, and having to get use to a new phone platform. I went through that much trouble because iPhone provided benefits that were really important to my business – staying in touch with my customers in real-time.

Now the iPhone does provide other goodies as well. It has iTunes, iPod, Photos, Games, etc; however I purchased it because it has the “benefits I care about”. If I had been in the Apple store and they talked about the cool touch pad, iPod/iTunes features, and the ability to take notes, I might have found all those features and associated benefits interesting but not really compelled to switch over my contract and go with a new phone. I did however choose the iPhone because the sales person took the time to understand my needs (email, calendar, internet), and spent time talking about those benefits. Everything else was gravy.

Take Away: Before any sale, make sure you understand the customer’s needs, wants, and desires. Make sure you also understand their pain as well. Then focus your conversation on those benefits alone; the benefits the customer cares about.

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Learn more about the author Paul Anderson.