Chapter Forty
Four - Networking ideas and other stuff
The following Tips are compiled from a series of notes
and e-mails a few years ago. Rob is rock solid business
leader and family man. He’s my younger brother – but until this point in
time I have had almost no opportunity to offer him any kind of advice.
My relentless pursuit of a career in advertising and marketing gives me
all the credentials I need to claim expertise in launching a campaign
during a career transition. Rob doesn’t really need my help – but I’m
proud to be a cheerleader on the sidelines. He’s the best!
Elevator Speech - We’ve
got to have an elevator speech (something we can tell someone in 3 minutes about who we are
and what we’re looking for
that can leave a lasting impression and maybe even spark action). It may feel awkward but you
NEED to practice this speech.
Stay on message.
Flyer/Leave Behind - Think
of this as an elevator speech cheat sheet. If you got hit by a bus tomorrow – you’d be lucky
to get two inches of 10 point type in the obituary column. What do you want people to know about you. What will it take
to intrigue someone to contact
you or refer you?
Dirty jobs vs. Clarity of Vision - You have character. You are driven. Don’t get too caught up
in thinking certain tasks are a “waste of time” for a big shot like yourself.
You are the same guy who unquestionably got down on hands and knees to clean a
drain pipe for Al Sutton. (By the way – Dad – As I recall, liked to meet Al for
lunch from time to time. His friendship involved listening to a variety of
elephant jokes. Many of which Dad repeated at the breakfast table over
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes in the morning. But that genuine friendship turned
into summer employment for ROBO.)
LOOK FOR THE TRUTH - Examine highlights of your career and turn it into
messages. Example: Door is locked to late comers to Rob’s sales training. That
locked door meeting to emphasize punctuality is a classic for me. The dilemma
for me is a kind of painful reality. The people who come to my meetings, almost
throughout my entire career, outrank me. So locking the conference room door
could be a career ending ploy for me, instead of brilliant illustration.
Facebook - I said it and I meant it. It’s posted on your Facebook
wallpaper for all to see. You are a great man, Rob.
See and be seen - Press the flesh. Make a note of how much easier this is to
do when you are on Top. I believe this experience will humble you. (You are
much more tolerable when you are humbled a bit.)
Get culture - Read a book. Visit a Museum. Smell the flowers. With any
luck this will take some pressure off of elevator speeches, awkward networking
and howdy calls. Read Kurt Vonnegutt Slaughterhouse
Five and/or Joseph Heller Catch 22. Next
time
you talk to your daughter Megan bring it up in the
conversation. Stand in front of a Van Gogh or a Matisse at the Dallas Museum of
Fine Art. (Don’t try to see everything. Just see something.)
Keep the Cards and Letters Coming - Write the perfect cover letter. Write a great letter of
introduction (using some of that snappy elevator speech you are fine tuning).
Explore the fine art of notes. Be a class act. Practice writing with a fountain
pen on nice writing stock. If you prefer – develop a format for short letters that
will serve you just as well. Maybe get an engraved stationary on Monarch size
letterhead. (On this kind of letterhead you can do handwritten notes or run
through a printer.)
Howdy Calls - Wes walks into HBE and earns a $200 employee referral bonus
for a guy he doesn’t even know. Wes on Madison Avenue between real interviews
actually gets a listen. Even in big bad NYC people have heart. Wes hires a
swing band to meet about swing sets. Ya gotta know the territory. Site Visits.
When he first started Morgan Studio, Dad used to make 16 calls a day. Running
around town with nickels in his pocket so he could call in advance. Now you can
call from the parking lot on your cell phone.
Small space ads - Buy
space in an association newsletter or church bulletin. It only takes one person to see and/or
remember such an ad to make
a difference. Both will appreciate your token donation toward the continued publication of
the newsletter/bulletin.
ANNUAL REPORTS –face the music and turn it into business. -Do something outrageous or maybe even a little out of line. Dad’s implied annual report work for
Northern Telecom started a dialog that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. (I’m not
sure it
was Northern Telecom – but it was a company with a nice annual report.)
Closure is the object of the game - Don’t worry or anticipate how the game ends. Right now it’s about closure. Explore as many avenues
as you can. You will wish
you had done more when you are again buried in minutia of some corporate
responsibility.
Get Names - Most
people can’t help you. At least they don’t think they can. It saves face if they can offer up a
name or two. Follow up. See where it leads. Then send a thank you note to the person
who suggested
you make the contact.
Mnemonic device - Find
ways to be remembered. Make a speech at a dinner. Drop off some flowers at your
gas station. Over tip your waiter. Pay the toll for the car behind you. Include
a pair of shoelaces in a ice-breaker card with the note “I can help you run
this business on a shoestring budget.”
Headhunters are carnivores - Feed the beasts. They don’t want to help you. They want to help themselves. But if you help
them they will not forget about you. A headhunter may be a good guy who can’t help you directly. So be patient with the
carnivores. Every once in a while they have a big fish on the hook that only a player
like you can
reel in for them. It’s a win-win.
Dig your well before you’re Thirsty - Harvey MacKay is right about this. (It’s the title of one
of many books he’s written.) Networking is an art form. It is something you need in place whether or not you are in the
midst of a career crisis.
Hit the library - Knowledge
is power and, God Bless America. In the public
library the information is FREE. Go
get some. If you are like me, you can only hold so much in your brain at a time. Go get a nugget or two at a time and
think about how you might leverage that new data.
Manage significant others’ expectations - Maybe the most important bit of advice I have to offer. A lot of people have come to depend on
old-reliable rock-solid Rob. You still have a board of directors and you still
need to be accountable. Besides, you don’t want Joy mad at you now.
Do Lunch - I
know lunch is not your style. Me either. But check this out: Make a plan to eat
lunch in a particular spot on a particular day. Invite someone to lunch as if
you were headed there anyway. “If you can’t make it, don’t worry about it. I
just like to go there once in a while. I’ll be there around 11:45. If you can
make it, great.”
On line – Monster, Career Builders and others - The information dirt road is now a super highway. It’s no secret you can spend hours setting up
accounts and posting resumes.
The truth is the world wide web is more likely to exclude you than it is to help someone
select you. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying don’t sit and wait for it
work.
References - The
former CEO won’t write a generic letter of reference. He likes to
holds the cards huh? Yup. Move on. It doesn’t make any sense to burn that
bridge. But someday, somewhere, when you least expect it he’ll be on the other
side of the conference room table and you may have an opportunity…
Who do you know? - I
have never been a fan of the idea that “It’s not what you
know, but who you know, that counts.” The truth is that
what you know is most important but sometimes you have to “shop it around” a
bit. Bob Greenberg is one in a million. It takes all kinds to make the world go
around. He’s cynical and at times even silly. But he has a heart of gold. If
he introduces you to the right person, at the right point in time, Bob’s stock goes up by
association. (And I believe Bob knows a lot of the right persons.) Pat Morin is
an ad guys and has a law degree from Ohio State University. He is has been a
senior champion in racquetball more than once. Pat has had to reinvent himself. But he’s
still wheeling
and dealing. Guys like Pat get around. They need new business to survive. You could learn a
great deal from a guy like
him. A good word at the right time from Pat could mean a meeting that could change your career.
Answering the question “So, what are you doing now?” - Projects. Advice. Charities. Association involvement. A lot of this will lead to bupkis.* But you
need to find answers with which you can feel comfortable. (For the record – I still
hate it when a stranger on a golf course in the middle of a
relaxing round turns to me on the tee box and says “So what do you do for a
living Wes?” ) * bupkis means nothing, nadda, zip, zilch…it’s a great Yiddish
word.
Call for Phillip Morris* This is a stunt. I saw it happen once
and I was convinced (cynical guy that I am) that is was orchestrated. At a
large gathering (I think it was a golf banquet after a tournament), the MC stopped
to make an announcement. “Your attention please, I have an urgent call for Marc
Wyse. Is Marc Wyse here?” I have no proof but I was certain at the time that
the Cleveland Ad guy got his name mentioned in front of that group with the
implied message that he was important enough to be paged in such a way.
Guerilla marketing. *Phillip Morris used to have an ad campaign with a hotel
bell hop calling for Phillip Morris (old campaign...but the principle is the
same...name recognition).
Right this way Mr. Morgan - This
is a trick Harvey Mackay talks about in one of his books. The idea is to invite an
important person to lunch...with a little advance work...and maybe a tip...the restaurant
seats you
immediately. Taken a step further, You order and pay in advance so there is no interruption in
your agenda for that meal. (The risk of course is that your guest doesn’t get a chance
to consider
different entres ....but maybe you invite the person for a specific meal (i.e. Can you meet me
for lunch at Café Bistro, I’d really like you to try the Pork Tenderloin...Let
me make arrangements.)
Thank You and Enjoy a movie on me - Another inexpensive surprise thank you gift is a pair of
movie passes.
AMC and other big chains have ‘em. A little extra in your Thank You note. Chances are your
movie passes get used and
the guy is talking to his spouse about Rob Morgan. “What a nice guy...met him recently in an
interview situation....pretty thoughtful thank you note along with movie passes....hmmmm. This works especially well if part of
the interview conversation was about “How do you spend your free time?” - a pretty
typical interview
question to which you respond “My wife an I enjoy the usual stuff...This past week we
say the Dark Knight...the New Batman Movie...”
Lobby Rat - A
lot of people travel on business. A lot of people have semi private meetings in Hotels. Scope out
a few places. You might be surprised how many people you can bump into in the
lobby of a great hotel...meeting clients, customers etc. Airports too.
Conference Room - Meeting Venue - Go to an association board meeting. (Often non-board members are allowed to sit in on such
a meeting If you have expressed
an interest in membership.) If they do not have a regular monthly meeting spot...or a
comittee needs a place to meet. Offer your righteous conference room in your
Grapevine corporate
office. It’s will be a unique change of venue and you’ll be a bit of a hero.
Hang out your own shingle (or not) - You will, no doubt, run in to people who suggest you start your own business. You might even be
entertaining this notion. This is a critical fork in the road. You are certainly
capable of such a career move. BUT do it for the right reasons. If you choose
this road you will still need: 1. an elevator speech 2. A brief description of
what you intend to offer the marketplace and 3. a boatload of support. I am so impressed with my
father’s ability to start up a business and keep it going for so many years. I
think you will find, however, that many entrepreneurs - almost feel like there
is no other choice. My father mentioned (more than once) that “no-one ever
offered me a job.” A college professor at the University of Miami MBA program
said in class something that it also probably true: When you study to earn an
MBA, you learn so much about business risk you might very well become to averse
to it. Too risk averse to become an entrepreneur.
VIDEO introduction- Set
yourself apart from the crowd. Develop a short video that acts as an introduction and quickly
gives a bit of an insight. It may feel a little risky. (Like it’s too desperate a thing
to do – but it
is not if the tone and content are right.) Videotape a short introduction and maybe a limited
number of graphics and presto - you have an electronic version of your elevator speech
Intro Slide: Rob Morgan “Hello, I’m Rob Morgan. My
background includes X, X and X. Most recently I served as President at ....I’m
currently in the market for my next challenge... I’m happy to provide a
traditional (and more detailed) resume which outlines my experiences...
Graphic: Rob Morgan/phone/e-mail Closing Graphic: References on Request. Maybe
a humorous touch (Given it’s an election year) “I’m Rob Morgan and I approved
this message.This idea is even more impressive, if in fact you have a target
audience of one (1) and you address the person by name. It’s a closer’s move.
You have work to do. You need a plan of attack for Monday
morning. Something like:
A. Howdy Call on XYZ company (unannounced - but armed with a letter of introduction and maybe a resume neatly
placed in a manila envelope with Mr. Big’s name handwritten on the outside of
it). Ask to see Mr. Big but be fully prepared to simply leave the envelope for
him.
B. Crash XYZ company’s cafeteria. If they are open in the
morning they won’t have too much business. Have a cup of coffee and have a few
manila envelops prepared for chance encounter. Introduce yourself to people. “I
just stopped by to drop something off for Mr. Big.”
C. Clip an article or two from the morning paper and think of
a pithy note you might send to people in your network, someone you would like
in your network or someone at one of your prospective employers. Consider
Saturday, Sunday and Monday papers for such articles. “I noticed you are
expanding ... Congratulations on your appointment. I saw your picture in the
business section and just wanted to....Enjoyed reading about your recent
success. I’d welcome an opportunity to share some related experiences that
might help you make a go of this new venture.”
D. Make 10 phone calls at unlikely hours. (Before 7 am and
after 6 pm) - before the “attack dawgs” come in and after they’ve gone home. If
you catch Mr. Big in he’ll be compelled to pick up his own phone (maybe) - If
not you can be ready with the voice mail version of your “elevator speech.”
E. Cold Calls - on the phone or live (or both). Talk to
reception and win ‘em over. Ask harmless questions like: “Who’s the big cheese
here in charge of ...Will he be in today?... Can I get the correct spelling of
his name?” (Remarkable trick via cell phone - is if you ask a few questions on
the phone from the parking lot and drop by right after you’ve talked briefly
with reception with your manila envelop or hand written card...she’ be more
receptive to you...because you have already assured her that you aren’t trying
to bust the line - just hoping to drop something off for Mr. Big…She feels like
she knows you afterall. (Receptionist doesn’t really need to know the gorie
details of your mission - she’s suspects you’re trying to sell something...and
in a way you are...but you are a polite intruder on her day.)
New Year’s Card Go to Barnes & Noble or the Art Museum and buy a couple
of boxes of generic art cards. Send a note to your database of advisors and
leading prospects. Carefully address the envelopes. Take some time to hand
write notes to these people. The message can be simple and timeless. (Maybe
even a quote.) Don’t ask for anything. Include you business card. Example:
Mike -
I appreciate your assistance this past year in helping me negotiate
my career transition. Your advice has been most useful and encouraging. I would
like to also take this opportunity to wish you and your family a Happy New
Year.
ROB
