Desire is created when you

• Show why the employer needs you.
• Show how you can satisfy the need.
• Prove your superiority in fulfilling the need.

When your effort to create desire is persuasive, the buyer (your boss-to-be) will want to “own” the product (your services).

Why You Buy

Your decision to buy a product is driven by different needs and wants, such as the following:

• Prestige
• Security
• Convenience
• Comfort
• Fun
• Health
• Greed
• Guilt
• Vanity

It’s interesting to stop and really think about what motivates us to spend. Take out your checkbook and look over your recent purchases. In the chart that follows, list in the left column a few items that you have bought in the past month or so. Review the preceding list of buying motivators (prestige, security, convenience, and so on) and identify what prompted you to buy. You might have buying motivators that aren’t on the list. And, just as I found, you might have more than one buying motivator per purchase.

Why Employers Buy

Employers also have motivations to “buy.” Among them are the following:

• Make money.
• Save money.
• Save time.
• Make work easier.
• Solve a specific problem.
• Be more competitive.
• Build relationships/an image.
• Expand business.
• Attract new customers.
• Retain existing customers.

Finding your boss-to-be’s “buying motivators” might take some digging. Research the Internet, industry publications, company newsletters, and annual reports. Call friends in the industry. Network online. Interview company employees, customers, or competitors. In short, develop a list of specific needs and interests the company has; then address those needs in your résumé or cover letter. When researching, categorize your findings according to these TOP issues:

• Trends-the company’s five-year financial trends, strategic direction, and industry trends
• Opportunities-new ideas on the drawing board and company priorities
• Problems/Projects-competition or challenges that are keeping the organization from being as productive or profitable as possible-projects the company needs help implementing.

This information will be critical in your networking and interviewing.

Tip: Don’t overlook chemistry when it comes to buying motivators. Hiring managers (or their computer systems) may screen initially on competencies, but final decisions will factor heavily on chemistry. Include character traits or other personal branding elements that hint of positive chemistry and a good organizational cultural fit.

Use the next chart to begin thinking of the specific needs employers have that you can meet. Jot these down in the left column. In the right column, select a corresponding buying motivator from the preceding list. This exercise can help you get into an employer-focused mindset.

Both sides win when you address buying motivators in your résumé. Your boss-to-be will get the company’s needs met: problems solved and profits realized. And you’ll get your needs met: You’ll be employed, appreciated, and paid more!

Addressing Buying Motivators Worked for Mario

Mario heard that DataSafe Company was growing by leaps and bounds. The company specialized in data security and disaster recovery. He’d read about the company in the Business section of the newspaper. (This is a great source of job leads. If you’re on the prowl for a new job and haven’t been reading the Wall Street Journal or local business paper, get to the library today and check out back issues.) A star salesman, Mario wanted to be part of the action with this local company that had made Fortune’s list of fastest-growing companies.

Mario made three calls: one to an employee in the company, one to a customer, and one to a competitor of the company. Asking a few pointed questions, he found out what the hot buttons were for DataSafe: territory expansion and product launches. Although he had extensive experience in both areas, his résumé didn’t show it. The following section shows how rewriting just a few of his accomplishments homed in on his boss-to-be’s needs.

Notice how Mario introduces his accomplishments with words that specifically address his target company’s needs. He also uses check boxes instead of more traditional bullets. They give the reader the subconscious impression that “yes, this candidate has everything I need.”

Prove Your Superiority

Remember that every candidate must answer the employer’s question of “Why hire you over someone else?” You must prove your superiority! This is most easily done through the use of comparison-with others on your team, with other regions or districts in your company, with your company’s competitors, or with the industry standard.

Caution: When comparing yourself with others on your team or within your company, be careful! You don’t want to sound like a narcissistic Lone Ranger in a climate that worships the consummate team player. Use phrases like “contributed to company successes in revenue growth, profit enhancement” or “member of team that delivered threefold growth in sales.”

Asserting Superiority Without Put-Downs

Liz had interviewed for a sales position in the DME (durable medical equipment) industry. During the battery of interview questions from the interviewer, she was asked, “Where do you rank among your sales team?” Liz’s response was, “Well, I don’t have a ranking, since I’m the company’s only full-time sales associate.”

After the interview, Liz reviewed her handwritten notes. She realized her response to the “where do you rank” question could have been stronger. So, in her thank-you-for-the-interview, follow-up letter, she redeemed this weak response by writing the following:

During our conversation, you inquired about my sales ranking. As I mentioned, the present structure at Dantron does not lend itself to ranking since I am the branch’s only full-time sales associate. However, I did some research and found a few numbers that will confirm my performance as a top producer.

The average sales production for the two sales associates who preceded me was $27,000 per month. As of January, my monthly average was $39,000-a 44% increase in sales activity and a record for the branch.

Branch performance is, of course, a team effort. At the same time, it is driven by individual sales. Again, because I was the branch’s sole full-time sales associate, my contributions were critical in improving performance scores across the board last year. For instance

• Irvine tied for first place in the gross profit percentage category.
• The branch generated 100% of sales to budget in a year when the figures for promotions and other expense categories more than tripled.
• Most important, we finished first among eight offices for pretax income to budget.

Notice how Liz demonstrates her superiority through comparison with former sales associates and with other branches without stepping on anyone’s toes. She dispels any unvoiced thoughts of the Lone Ranger syndrome by weaving in the sentence, “Branch performance is, of course, a team effort.” She also addresses another of the interviewer’s buying motivators. The interviewer told Liz her DME company was “driven by sales.” Liz had taken good notes in the interview, so she “fed” this point back to the interviewer with the sentence “At the same time, it is driven by sales.”

Tip: If you’re like most of us, you’ll walk out of the interview wishing you had phrased something differently. Or, two hours later, you’ll remember a great example that would have perfectly illustrated your skills. The followup letter is a great place to polish responses that might have been rough or lacking during the interview.

• A great impression makes an immediate connection and compels your reader to go on reading…right now.
• An average impression may win a read-through…later…maybe.
• A bad impression will halt the process; your résumé (and your aspirations) could be destined for the same place you toss your junk mail.

Every year, American companies spend in excess of $52 billion (that’s nine zeros!) on direct-mail advertising, $46 billion on newspaper advertising, and $16 billion on ads in consumer magazine and business publications. Another $88 billion is spent on annual television and radio advertising, with Internet advertising at nearly $7 billion, but fast increasing with double-digit annual growth (Source: 2006 Fact Pack: 4th Annual Guide to Advertising Marketing, Crain Communications). Like it or not, the advertising gurus are pretty persuasive at getting us to spend part of our hard-earned paychecks.

Because they are so good at their craft, it makes sense to capitalize on some of their “trade secrets.” In this chapter, we’ll touch on personal branding, as well as explain how adopting and adapting bits and pieces of successful “advertising formulas” to the résumé-writing process has brought great success to people from all walks of life, from entry level to executive.

Personal or career branding is all about image (what you want to be known for) and connection or attraction (what kind of employer you want to connect with or attract). A compelling career brand can

• Make you more attractive to employers, even when there are no formal job openings
• Control what networking contacts and interviewers remember most about you
• Lower the barriers to hiring by creating trust and conveying value
• Elevate you from the status of commonplace commodity to one-of-a-kind service
• Differentiate you from the competition
• Guide you in your decisions about which interviews to pursue
• Create employer desire to buy (hire)

Many of the same dynamics behind why a consumer chooses Crest over Colgate also apply in hiring. That’s why it’s important to have a clear brand and communicate it consistently. Creating your brand is not a five-minute exercise, but there are some key points that will fast-forward the process.