Craft an Effective Elevator Pitch

Networking meetings can become stale and boring over time. When this happens attendance will decrease and the networking group risks becoming irrelevant. This point was on my mind as I planned our ITB Partners monthly Members meeting for Friday, October 19. We have an excellent speaker scheduled to talk about selling skills for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Her presentation is highly relevant to our members. So, I saw an opportunity to build on that theme and address one of my pet peeves. I decided to modify our standard agenda to accommodate a contest to reward the best elevator pitch. My thinking is two-fold; first to support salesmanship as the theme of the meeting, and secondly, to reinforce the importance of an effective elevator pitch.

Helping our members understand the importance of a well-crafted elevator pitch is important. Also, its an opportunity to have some fun at our meeting, while ensuring that it’s informative and productive. So what is an elevator pitch? The name itself is a metaphor for a short but highly effective positioning statement. The analogy is that if you’re sharing an elevator ride with someone, say for 30 seconds, how would you respond if asked: “what do you do?” An elevator pitch is similar to a positioning statement, also known as an Executive Summary at the beginning of a resume. It should be memorable, believable, and interesting enough to generate a follow-up discussion or meeting.

I’m a big believer in positioning statements; whether it’s for a brand, a resume, or especially as an elevator pitch. This goes back to my days in corporate planning where I learned the value of a coherent positioning statement. One should never underestimate the ability of a positioning statement to focus the organization on its strategic goals. It is difficult for me to get past a poorly constructed Executive Summary on a resume. I have my doubts that job seekers fully appreciate the importance of this paragraph. It’s the candidate’s personal positioning statement, indicating their career interest and unique selling proposition. If the Executive Summary is compelling, the reader will have a greater interest in a closer examination of the resume. If not, it may wind up in the circular file.

When I provide resume coaching advice, I always begin with the Executive Summary. My counsel is to define yourself in the first sentence by stating your career level, your functional discipline, and your principal industry experience. The follow-on sentences can provide additional detail to address one’s particular skill sets. For example, if you are proficient at bringing new products to market, or revitalizing legacy brands, those strengths would be important follow-on statements.

So, why is an elevator pitch so important? If you are engaged in networking as a means of landing a great job or to generate more sales, you need an effective sales pitch. When meeting strangers, your elevator pitch is an effective way to establish a connection. It is a tool to help you recruit evangelists for your brand. Evangelists become a force multiplier, leveraging your business development efforts. They can connect you with people looking for your services. It is meant to capture the imagination of a prospective client, and to establish you as a viable referral for people in your network. If your elevator pitch is memorable, you will be remembered! Your elevator pitch communicates a rationale to consider you as a potential employee or service provider. The quality of your sales pitch is a vital component closing the deal. It should be memorable, so the construction of your elevator pitch must be clear, easy to understand.

At the most fundamental level, an elevator pitch describes who you are, who you help, and why your services are needed. Your elevator pitch is your personal positioning statement. It is short and to the point, and hopefully interesting. In some respects, it is a conversation starter, intended to generate requests for more information. A good elevator pitch will identify your target market, the prospective client’s problem, and how your company solves those problems. Your elevator pitch is important, so make an effort to develop an effective pitch. Practice your pitch! Use it! Refine it!

Hello, I am Jim Weber. I connect good people with great job opportunities! My clients are leaders of mid-cap companies who need C-level professionals to achieve their goals.

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NEW CENTURY DYNAMICS EXECUTIVE SEARCH

Current Assignments

COO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed
CEO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed
VP Operations – Southeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – In-process.
Sr. Staff Accountant – Atlanta-based Not For Profit – New
Corporate R&D Chef, Atlanta-based Home Meal Replacement Company – Complete
Area Supervisor – Legacy Pizza Chain, Carolinas – New
Operating Partners – Legacy Pizza Chain – New
Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – Completed
Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: Complete

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

July 30, 2017

So, You Need A Marketing Budget!

Guest Blog Post By: Michael Sick, Partner, ITB Partners – San Diego

While every company is unique, a common question among business owners is “how much should I spend on marketing?” The correct answer is…it depends. There are many factors to be considered to establish the optimal spending level for marketing and advertising. Here are a few issues to consider:

Industry Norms – Most industries have a “success model” that defines line item spending ranges. Understanding this model is an important first step. Previous experience, feedback from other firms in the industry, or searches on the internet or trade publications are all good sources for this information.

According to a report in Ad Age, ad spending in the United States as a percent of GDP was 2.2%. That number is just for advertising and does not account for all marketing expenditures. Marketing services (trade shows, research, consulting, design, production, staff, etc.) can often comprise 25 to 50% of the total spending. McDonald’s (MCD) reports about 9% selling G&A with about half of that funding TV advertising. Boston Beer Company (SAM), maker of Sam Adams beer spends 25 to 30% of its revenues on advertising, promotional and selling expenses.

Spending ratios are influenced by the business model for the industry. Unlike lower margin business (consumer electronics or banking), high margin businesses (beverages and software) can afford to spend a greater amount of their revenue on advertising.

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“Fixed” Program– Some brands require a “minimum” level of marketing expenditures to be competitive. For example, a company may know that it needs to attend a given number of industry trade shows or regularly advertise in certain publications to maintain market share. In this case, their budget is driven by a “fixed” set of expenditures. As their business grows, these fixed costs will become a lower percentage of revenue.

Competitive Position – If Company “A” is in an industry where the norm is to dedicate 5% of sales to marketing, consideration needs to be given to the size of the competition. If the company does one million dollars in revenue, an advertising budget at 5% results in $50,000 of expense. If the other direct competitors have combined revenues of five million dollars and also spend 5%, they will spend five times the budget of Company “A”. To break through the noise, consideration should be given to increasing the spending percentage, focusing the budget on a specific vertical customer segment and/or limiting the geographic reach of the marketing plan.

Growth Goals – If a company has aggressive revenue goals, they should consider the additional cash flow available for marketing generated by achieving the higher revenue goal. Establishing the marketing budget as a ratio of the revenue goal is another approach. Growing quickly requires increased working capital for inventory, staffing, and accounts receivable. The prospect of increasing marketing spending can be challenging for high growth companies. Companies with plans to grow rapidly may need to spend a higher percentage of sales to achieve that goal.

Budgets in Recessions – Some companies find themselves losing customers and revenues during recessions. A natural tendency is to reduce marketing expenditures to keep them “in line”. If revenue is down 10%, should the marketing budget be reduced by 10%? Logic dictates that if you reduce your budget by 10%, your revenues should fall by the same percentage. Reducing marketing spending is likely to reduce the acquisition of new customers or jeopardize the company’s current share. Brands should resist the urge to reduce marketing budgets in a recession. Focus instead on improving the media mix, the creative or relevancy of the message. Recessions present an opportunity to gain market share, so look to reduce other expenditures first.

While marketing expenditures are recorded as expenses on the P&L, smart managers know that these expenditures are investments in the future. The “Chicken and the Egg” dilemma is confounding for some businesses. Which comes first, the revenue to support the marketing budget or the marketing budget to generate the revenue. Your CFO and CMO are likely to answer that question differently! They can probably agree, however, that revenues tomorrow are likely to be higher if you spend more on marketing and advertising today.

Setting a budget for marketing expenditures can be perplexing to business owners as the promised benefit is elusive. Every business has a slightly different situation that needs to be considered to establish a marketing budget. Prospects generally need to be exposed to a brand multiple times before they are willing to change providers or make a purchase. The Savvy marketing professional knows that it takes months, years even to nurture a prospect. [Tweet “Optimizing marketing expenditures by benchmarking and tracking metrics specific to the company’s situation is the foundation for success.”] Reviewing the approaches discussed in this article is a good first step. ITB Partners (www.itbpartners.com) has broad experience across many industries and domains, so we are capable of advising our clients on this subject and all other issues facing the enterprise.

Michael Sick, a nationally recognized, innovative management consultant specializing in strategic marketing, advertising, and business development. He spent 25 years in corporate marketing and was a Marketing Vice President for Jack In The Box, Pearle Vision, Arby’s and others. Currently, he serves as the part time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for some clients around the US. Learn more at: www.itbpartners.com/michael-sick.html

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – New

3. Director of Biz Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Completed

4. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete

5. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete

6. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New

7. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New

July 13, 2017

Social Media Is A Game Changer!

During my career working for major retail brands, I knew the value of advertising on radio and television. Also known as major media, we could see the results of our buys, almost in real time. However, I understood the cost and limitations of traditional media. Successful advertising was all about the message. A lot of money could be quickly wasted if the message was not relevant. Social media has changed the game, especially for small business. These tools allow smaller companies to leverage their marketing budget to compete on a larger stage. It gives them a voice they could not achieve through major media. They can dialog with customers and prospects in a cost effective way. It is akin to the difference between a rifle and a shotgun. I have found social media to be very helpful in building my business.

Executive search is an interesting business. I am hired by employers, my clients, to find people who want to become their employees. One could say that I am selling prospective employees, so I guess Job Seekers are my inventory. Often, candidates become clients and vice versa. Over time, I have become more productive as my industry knowledge and relationships have grown. These relationships serve to generate more contracts and to complete assignments faster. My business is not unlike any other service-sector business as success is all about building lasting relationships. I learned that building and managing a large network is a viable strategy to build my business.

Early on, I recognized the value of talking to my clients and prospects. I created a database of followers and invited people to sign up for my periodic updates. By today’s standards, it was fairly primitive. I used Microsoft Outlook to manage my list, and mail merge. It began as a collection of clients and prospects. In time, as I received more unsolicited resumes, I added job seekers to my outreach. Later, I added strategic partners. I would tell these folks about my new assignments as well as assignments I had completed. That activity generated new business and more followers. I was an early adopter of LinkedIn and became involved with Facebook and Twitter. I didn’t understand the full potential of those applications at first. However, now I am a believer. I even migrated my email marketing campaign to Constant Contact and Mail Chimp.

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I learned the importance of blogging to engage prospects who needed employees, and to professionals who are interested in career advancement. The focus of my blog is on career issues facing Baby Boomers, my prospective candidate base. This is an important target audience, as they represent my primary placements. When I began blogging, social media became even more important. I began using Twitter to generate interest and to direct readers to my website. I subscribed to Hootsuite to expand my message to my followers on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+. I believe my experience with executive search is relevant to all small businesses. It is an effective business practice to maintain contact with customers, prospects, and prospective employees.

Now that I am building a Consulting Company, I am using the same digital marketing techniques to promote this line of business. In fact, I have adopted the social media platform I built for my executive search business to present this opportunity to my network. The results of this effort have been remarkable. I use social media to speak to prospective clients and to freelancers who may be interested in joining our company.

As I have done with my business, small companies should consider for theirs. Build a community of prospective job seekers. Last week I talked about using the company website to generate interest in employment opportunities. In the same way that one would reach out and cultivate prospective customers, companies should be talking to prospective employees to build a following. Maintain their interest in your brand for future employment opportunities. Depending on the nature of the business, prospective employees could become current customers. Social Media is an excellent way to engage these people.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – New

3. Director of Biz Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Completed

4. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete

5. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete

6. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New

7. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New

July 2, 2017

Talent Acquisition: Put Out The Welcome Sign!

A week ago Thursday, my colleague David introduced me to the principals of a small design-build company. These folks have a bit of a conundrum. Last year they hired an individual to fill a key position, however that person is not performing to their standards. He requires too much supervision and follow-up. The principals are having to cover much of his workload. They've decided to replace him and wanted to talk to me about conducting a confidential search. These folks have never hired an executive recruiter so they are curious as to my background and method of operation. They also want to know the cost of my services.

During our meeting, they spent a lot of time talking about their expectations for successful job performance and the shortfalls of the incumbent. They talked about the process they used to recruit him, including compensation and qualifications. It was clear to me that there was a major disconnect between the strategic importance of the position, the experience and skill set required, and their compensation package. Frankly, this is not uncommon for a small company.

Note: Successful companies are always recruiting talent, even if it's nothing more than networking and cataloging potential hires.

The following Monday morning, David called to advise me that the prospective client had been presented with the employee's resignation. Now they are really in a pickle. This is a key position that needs to be filled immediately. Productivity will suffer along with customer satisfaction. Their P&L is sure to be affected. They are serious about a search engagement and wanted to schedule a phone call with me to finalize an agreement.

The fact that the incumbent offered his resignation came as no surprise to me. When the relationship between employer and employee becomes strained it is mutual. Surprisingly, many employers fail to grasp this fact. I am equally confident that if I was to do an exit interview with this employee, he would say the job wasn't what he expected either.

When we had our conversation later that day, I got a clearer picture as to their thinking and how they wanted to proceed. I learned that they want to pursue a parallel path evaluating the acquisition of a W-2, regular employee, or a 1099 contractor. They also gave me a sense as to their cash flow situation and budget parameters for the search. I told them that I would outline a proposal for their review before noon the next day.

The smaller the company, the more critical turnover becomes. They typically have little excess staff. They are totally focused on work at hand and business development to the exclusion of an active recruiting program. This is understandable, if not something of an extreme case. An active recruiting program is an effective insurance program.

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Larger, more stable companies have the same issues as my perspective client. Working on an engagement last year, I quickly learned that the client underutilized the talent acquisition value of their web-site. They did not feature a “careers” tab prominently on their main menu. In fact, it was inconspicuously buried as a sub menu item. This company has had difficulty with ongoing recruiting, yet failed to put out a welcome sign for prospective team members. This was easy to correct. The follow-on step was to add a plug-in that collected resumes and job applications from interested candidates.

Minimizing the risk of turnover should be a priority for all organizations. Putting out a welcome sign to attract prospective employees is the starting point. A prominent page on the company website and on social media is ideal.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – New

3. Director of Biz Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Completed

4. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete

5. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete

6. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New

7. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New

June 25, 2017

Talent Acquisition In The New Normal Requires A Social Media Strategy

It isn't easy managing human resources in the new normal!

In the past year, I've been involved in consulting engagements to help small to midsize companies improve their team building efforts. These folks are finding it difficult to attract talent, especially as the market has tightened. They need help, but they're reluctant to engage professional help.

In this connection, I had an interesting discussion with a senior executive for a major financial services company located in the northern suburbs of Atlanta. He is having difficulty attracting new agents and keeping existing employees engaged. I listened to his frustrations for ninety minutes. What I found most interesting was not what he said, but what he didn't say. He did not speak of a recruiting strategy using social media. As we were closing our discussion, I suggested that his company would be well served by treating employees and recruits as customers. His feedback to that comment was entirely nonverbal, a blank stare indicating total confusion. If I was to draw a cartoon image of the encounter the caption over his head would've read "tilt." He failed to make the connection.

Major companies have the resources to support their recruiting program and to understand the needs of their labor force. They actively manage their culture and invest in tools to achieve their recruiting and selection goals. They monitor the attitudes of their employees and respond to their needs. They treat their employees like customers.

I am reminded of a former employer before I started my recruiting business. It was a major consumer products company that placed a high value on manpower planning. In many respects, they set the standard for creating a highly productive, engaged workforce. One year they did a climate survey of the corporate office staff which generated some interesting results. The employees complained that they worked so many hours that they had little time for mundane personal tasks like banking or Dry Cleaning. This company, being highly responsive to the needs of their internal customers remodeled the corporate office adding a branch bank and laundry service. Clearly, their heart was in the right place, even if they missed the point of the feedback. The employees wanted their company to dial back the workload so they could choose how to improve their quality of life. Now I must admit that this is third-hand information so it could be erroneous, however, based on my time working for this company, this story rings true. I am confident that their response today is more on target.

Smaller companies have a more difficult time with recruiting, selection, onboarding, and retention. They're focused on client acquisition, but don't quite understand how to maintain a highly productive workforce while minimizing turnover. Most have had little training in the fundamentals of interviewing or making effective hiring decisions.

Much of the labor pool is composed of Millennials who Baby-Boomers find difficult to understand. They have a distinct set of values and expectations from employment. They must be recruited and managed differently. Social media can be a very powerful tool in this regard.

Many mid-caps are out of phase with the labor market in the new normal. They may be making a heroic effort toward consumer outreach, but they are old-school in the way they recruit new employees. In fact, many don't understand the new employment dynamic. They are using outdated strategies that just don't work.

Most companies are doing well with their digital marketing efforts to attract new customers. To be competitive at talent acquisition they must employ the same strategies. They should be developing communities of prospective employees and keep them interested in the opportunity for employment. The goal is to generate a continuous flow of job seekers, minimizing the need for outside recruiters. To support this strategy, training is recommended to become better interviewers and to improve candidate selection decisions. To minimize turnover and to keep employees engaged, customer loyalty programs should be developed for employees.

Treat job seekers as customers for successful talent acquisition in The New Normal.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com
Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments
1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New
2. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – New
3. Director of Biz Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Completed
4. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete
5. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete
6. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New
7. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New