- What are my particular skills and abilities that bring added value?
- What distinguishes me from other suppliers (job seekers)?
- Why should they buy my services (hire me)?
It's not your 8 years of experience in sports marketing or your MBA certificate. You're selling your ability to satisfy their needs and wants through your services. To benefit the individual decision maker, and the organization.
What value or satisfaction can you add? Essentially, these are bottom-line considerations? Can you:
- Increase good things: profits, prestige, image, safety, efficiency, quality, well-being, security, comfort, convenience?
- Decrease or avoid distasteful things: costs, time, loss, pain, anxiety, hassles, and competition?
That's the way you buy, isn't it? You buy a new suit because it makes you look good and feel good, not because it provides simple protection from the elements or is the cheapest suit you can find. Some car buyers claim that all they want is basic transportation, but they choose red or black cars because they're "in." The added comfort - and prestige - of the luxury sedan justify the higher cost for certain drivers because they add value.
When an employer hires an experienced supervisor rather than a novice who would work for much less, he might say he's paying for 11 years of experience. But he's really buying comfort and security, believing that she'll do the job right and not mess up. By paying more, he's getting more. He's buying "insurance."
Keep this in mind when you have a job offer and prepare for salary negotiations. Like everybody else, employers want to get the most for their money. But the lowest price is not necessarily the best action for them.
They may be able to hire another production controller or head of nursing for less money. But will they feel as secure about that decision as when they offer that job to you? Not if you've translated facts about yourself into benefits for them!
If you're young and don't have much experience, what you're selling, essentially, is your potential - your youth, your energy, your train ability. And you're cheap! You're always selling what you honestly have.
Develop a "Them" Orientation
Wouldn't it be great if your skills and abilities were in such demand that employers lined up to get your autograph? The superstars who are in that enviable position are there because they are much attuned to their audiences (customers or clients). Their success depends on providing what others want and value.
To understand precisely what you're selling means understanding exactly what they're willing to buy, and why?. No one sells in a vacuum, you know your goal and what you have to offer. But it may not be exactly what they want to buy right now. Negotiating the difference is the art of finding employment.
Sometimes, the gap is minimal. That was Jennifer's situation. She was discouraged when her fresh university degree in interior design and her impressive portfolio were not generating any job offers. Hiring authorities were insisting that their entry-level people have CAD-CAM training. It was a small but significant lack in Jennifer's education. She heard what the marketplace was telling her and enrolled in a CAD-CAM course at a local community college. Within weeks, she was hired by a well-respected architecture firm.
Listen to the Marketplace
The gap between what you're selling and what they'll buy may be larger, requiring you to be more flexible and creative. Fortunately, you have the capacity to adapt what you are selling. To emphasize certain skills and abilities and to learn new ones. That's why; selling your services is different from selling other products. They can't change. Your sofa can be used in different ways, but it can't become a refrigerator.
What is the marketplace telling you? Whether you're a washing machine repair person or an aerospace engineer, you can transfer your abilities to diagnose, fix, and design many more things than washing machines and planes.
Make Them Feel Comfortable with You
You must realize that your next employer, like everyone else who buys something - especially a major purchase - has a lot of doubt. She needs to be reassured. You must help her overcome her fear of high pressure, uncertainty about you and your motives (are you merely interested in yourself?), and doubt about her decision to employ you. What will her associates think of her decision? Will they approve? Could she get someone else for less? Would it be better to wait?
