The value of an M.B.A. by Tony Green

I have been reading in various publications recently about whether the value of having an MBA was not what it used to be. In the past the conventional thought was that getting an MBA was the surest route to higher management. From what I have read in magazines the degree is becoming dime a dozen and not the rite of passage that it was.


Part of the reason is that graduate school enrollment has decreased with the strong job market and universities are offering watered down programs in attempt to encourage enrollment. The value of getting an MBA, in my view, depends on what a person was seeking to get out of the earning the degree.

In my case, I had a technical background and wanted to complement my background with business knowledge. At the time I had lost my job and wanted to do something positive in the event it was a long time before I found employment.


As a veteran the GI Bill could finance the $18,000 price tag. It seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and as I was the sole earner for my family I could not afford to take two years off to go back to school and make my mortgage payment.
After 22 months of classes of evenings (and papers during the weekends) I completed the requirements for my MBA. During my classes I leaned a ton of useful information which proved most helpful in position eventually landed after a three month job search. As it turned out it was my first management position.


In the end I am unsure whether I am on the road to path to success that people earn MBA to achieve but ultimately I feel that I am a better professional/person as of the experience. In my estimation the value of that is much more than dimes or dollars.

Selling this Pen by Tony Green

I was in an interview for a technical sales position at a company a few months back. I have never been a salesman and was trying to earn my first opportunity to enter the world of professional selling.

After the interview I was optimistic about hearing when a second interview could be scheduled.
I followed up with the recruiter I was working with to try and get some feedback. I never heard anything from her or the company so I assumed that they decided to not go any further. I was slightly curious as to why.

Later I was reviewing Martin Yate’s book “Hiring the Best” in preparation for another sales interview and when I read the following passage I discovered why my interview was a failure. In his words,”At the root of a successful sale is the sales person’s ability to identify a need and subsequently demonstrate how the product will fill that need. This is commonly known a feature/benefit selling. Here is the feature, and this is what it can do for you. This questions test your candidate’s awareness of an essential sales skill and his or her quick thinking. A salesperson is no good if he or she gives up after your first objection.”

I flashed back to the interview and remembered when I was asked by the interviewer to sell the pen that was on his desk. I was surprised by the question and caught totally off guard. My scattered nature of my response must have reflected that. I rambled about the pen and about its features, how well it writes the color of its case, etc. and failed to mention the benefits that he got out of using the pen.

It was then not surprising why I never got a call back. As I am still looking to enter the world selling this was available lesson that I am sure I will not forget anytime soon. The key is to not make same error again……

A view on the Professional Certified Marketer certification by Tony Green

I have been reading various takes on the American Marketing Association’s Professional Certified Marketer’s examination. Here is mine.

I agree with the questioning of the value of paying for the examination and the benefits of the certification. I made my own Google search when I was debating of whether I should take the examination and was unable to find much information. It is the only marketing certification that I have heard of that only requires taking a test to get the certification. The prerequisites to take the exam are either a bachelor’s degree with four years of relevant experience or an M.B.A. and two years. The P.C.M. folks assess whether you have enough relevant experience to take the exam once they review your application.

With that said, whether it is in someone’s interest to take the exam depends on your perspective.

Currently, I am the Vice President of workshops in the Silicon Valley’s chapter of the American Marketing Association (SVAMA) and most of my fellow board members either have degrees in marketing or at least 10 years of marketing experience. In their view getting the P.C.M. certification would seem like overkill and would not provide any additional value.

In my case, I have an engineering background and decided I wanted to get into technical sales and marketing after completing an M.B.A. With no direct experience to market I thought that completing the certification would prove to any prospective employer that I was serious about entering the profession due to the fact that I would make the effort to become certified. In preparing for the exam, which I passed earlier this year, I was able to learn a lot which I am sure will help me in the future. While becoming a P.C.M. does not provide benefit to everyone, I feel that in my case it will be worth it down the road.

Gallup Sales Personality Test Part 2 by Tony Green

I have now completed the Gallup test but did not earn myself an interview. It is something you can not prepare for but not for the reason I had originally thought. The difficulty is not that you do not know the questions. (I got coached by my recruiter) The problem is that you do not know the correct interpretation of your answers. Case in point one of the questions was,” Are you a perfectionist?” Depending on what answer you are looking for the correct response could be “No” if they are looking a realistic person who realizes that no one is perfect or a “Yes” if they are looking for someone who strives to do the best they can. Lots of people could go both ways on that one, including me. After more thought, if you read Part 1 of this blog the idea of using this test to identify candidates seem even sillier.

Marketing Thought by Tony Green

A few weeks ago, I attended the SVAMA’s first annual Marketing Thought Conference. The conference was created to promote the ground breaking thought in the field of marketing. The keynote speakers were Guy Kawasaki (Art of the Start) and Andy Sernovitz (Word of mouth).
During a break in my duties as a volunteer I spoke to a gentleman who worked the semiconductor industry who remarked that the Chinese in high-tech based in China did not understand marketing.

It caused me to begin to think how that could marketing not be understood because in my opinion provided the backdrop for the large upswings in high tech. Did the technology provide the fuel for that growth? No, it was the benefits that the technology could provide the parties who were using the technology. In short, the adoption of these benefits is made by consumers like you and I. Furthermore, technology that is not available to provide a benefit will have no growth. Or revenue.

Marketing in its simplest form is providing a demand for a product or a service. High tech defined by innovative products and services being sold with rapid product life cycles. Since adoption of the benefits provides the growth how can one function without the other?

After the conference one of the attendees contacted our president and requested a workshop on this topic. I debated whether to go forward, however, I thought about the SVAMA’s motto “Stay Connected, Stay Informed”. How else could we better advance our motto by promoting and conducting a workshop on this topic?