Tuesday, July 31, 2007

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……

Thursday, July 5, 2007

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.