Marketing Action Plans and Coaching

IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, ALL ROADS WILL LEAD YOU THERE

Our disciplined, dynamic Marketing Action Plan and Coaching programs will guide you to your desired career destination quickly and effectively.

For most job seekers, the plan they have for their job search involves applying to online classifieds, contacting some recruiters, networking with their friends and seeing if they know anyone on LinkedIn.  This isn’t a plan. It’s a delusion … people doing this are deluding themselves into thinking they are mounting an effective search.

We regard a job search as bringing a new product to market — YOU! We have been doing new product launches for companies for decades (see the Bios section of our Home page). We bring the same marketing discipline and techniques to the job search process.

We will work with you do develop a personal Marketing Action Plan, or MAP. The MAP process involves three virtual meetings, plus we do research for you on ways to connect with employers in your targeted industry or area.

You will receive a two-part written plan. The first part is Strategic, and is developed in collaboration with you. The second part is Tactical, and contains the specific action steps we have developed for you to execute your campaign. Both sections are highly customized. The tactical section is based, in part on how much time you have available each week for your campaign. Most of our clients are employed professionals, and do not have 30 hours per week to spend on their job searches. We will develop a plan for you that contains the most effective things you can do in the time you have available each week.

The MAP’s strategic portion will identify your “buyer’s profile,” the industries you are targeting, the companies you are targeting and even the decision-makers you should target. We will identify the most likely buyers of what it is you are selling — your services! We will also develop your 30-second introduction, or elevator speech, and identify resources you can use to get into the so-called Hidden Job Market,

An important part of the MAP is how to best handle the questions you don’t want them to ask … about age, being over qualified, being out of work, lacking industry or function experience. We will identify the problem areas in your campaign and turn lemons into lemonade.

The purpose of the Marketing Action Plan is to set a blueprint, or MAP, for your campaign. Just follow the MAP to your new job destination, For more details on the MAP process, click here: https://careerstrategiesgroup.com/services/marketing-plans/

A new feature in the Standard Marketing Action Plan involves Getting Started Sessions 1 and 2 — We have learned through many years of experience that despite having a written Marketing Action Plan, many clients would have a hard time actually getting their campaigns launched. It was difficult for them to set priorities and to get into gear. We solved this problem very successfully by including two “Getting Started” sessions with our Standard MAP process. It has been one of the best program improvements we have ever made.

During Getting Started Session 1, we will review the strategies and tactics set forth in the MAP, and give you a short list of very specific items that are critically important but easy to accomplish. We will brief you on how to get them done. We will also set a mutually agreed deadline. In Getting Started Session 2, we will review your first action steps, discuss any issues relating thereto, and give you a second short set of very specific tasks to accomplish, along with a date by which they should be done.

What happens with clients is that they see they can actually do this! They can see how our approach works, and they can ease into actually doing the innovative steps in their respective marketing plans. They become good hunters.

With the MAP process, we make sure the basic foundation for your campaign is properly set; you will have a written plan describing exactly what you are supposed to do and exactly how you are supposed to do it. You also will have been guided in taking those first critical steps. Thereafter, all you need to do is just follow the MAP to your career destination. At this point, you can choose to run your own campaign, or to follow what we feel is the wiser path, and take advantage of our resources and job search expertise.

You know what they say: a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer… and a client. Don’t be foolish about your job search. Our founder has been studying the job search process for more than 30 years, and even the most junior member of our team has been coaching clients and companies on marketing and business development strategies for two decades or more. Put this expertise to work for you.

We love the job search process. But it is more fun on our side of the desk than on your side.  We know. We have been there.  Research studies of executive job search campaign length in the post-recession era are inconsistent, but generally have shown that a high level job search can easily take a year or two.

That’s ridiculous! We feel that a properly structured campaign should almost never take that long. The goal of our Coaching process is to get you into your next position as quickly as possible. To that task we bring knowledge, experience, resources and unique insights born of decades of study and experience.

We know what works and doesn’t work. We know all of the tricks of the trade. We are marketing and advertising people who know how to create strategies that sell products. In our approach, you are the product, and we use the same innovative thinking and creative approaches that we used for companies like GE, IBM, MGM, 3M and Gannett when they were developing new products or trying to revitalize existing ones.

In this phase, we use our expertise to guide you through the challenges of your campaign as your coach, partner and mentor. Our job is to help you get maximum productivity from your search efforts. We provide advice and counsel, “brainstorm” and answer any questions that arise as your search progresses. We also help you prepare for actual interviews (we have one- and two-hour modules available as separate standalone services) and help you handle offer evaluation and salary negotiation issues.

Typically in the Coaching stage, you and your consultant will interact on a scheduled basis by telephone twice per month for a three-month period, and will have email exchanges in between.  During these sessions, your consultant will review your campaign progress and will assign you specific tasks to perform before your next session. Your consultant will also be available to answer questions as they arise.

Create-a-Job

Included in this Phase is our unique “Create-a-Job” strategy. After a developing opportunity has been identified, we have a carefully structured program that fully orchestrates the “Create-a-Job” process. It is both systematic and creative. We will show you how to design your own job, with the duties and responsibilities you want, in the industry of your choice, and at the best salary you can command.

Interviewing

Our work is designed to win interviews for you. Therefore, we want to make sure you win at the interviews. We will work with you on targeting your presentation so it stays focused on those areas which will be most effective in securing the job. We will also handle dealing with potential objections and other sources of concern that an employer may have about your candidacy.

At your level it is reasonable to assume that there will be several interviews with several different people … each with their own separate agendas. We will also do de-briefs, and develop a follow-up strategy as the interview process unfolds. You will be thoroughly prepared, and that will maximize your chances of winning.

Offer Evaluation, Negotiation and “Settling In”

As you go through the interview rounds, an offer should materialize. Indeed, several offers may be forthcoming. We’ll help you determine which offer gives you the best total reward … not just in salary, but in other areas that are important to you, like job satisfaction, growth, and challenge.

We will then help you with salary negotiation. We have a solid foundation of knowledge about compensation, and can help you determine the value of the contribution you will be making to your next company. The objective at this point is to negotiate for as substantial a compensation package as can be obtained, without pushing too far.  After you have accepted a new position, we can assist you in the process of “settling into” the new job, and will use our experience to help ensure that you are successful. For more information about our coaching program, click here: https://careerstrategiesgroup.com/services/coaching/

Our Standard 3-month Coaching package is for 6 hours of service. This is designed as two sessions per month, plus assorted email exchanges. If the six hours are used up before the three months, you may purchase additional time. Since we want you to take advantage of our expertise so we can keep your campaign on track, this is a “use it or lose it” program; you own the time purchased and it is not refundable. If the time is not all used during the three months, you may continue for another month, but the time must be utilized within 4 months.

The Masters level package is for 9-hours of service over the same three months. This means more involvement with your coach, and more hands-on assistance from us. The same terms as above apply.

For the budget-minded, we also offer a Budget Plan that involves 3 hours of coaching over a 1.5 month period. This allows you to get your campaign properly launched and moving forward, then carry the ball on your own.

For all programs, once your retained time is fully utilized, we offer both By-the-Month and By-the-Hour coaching packages so you can use our services however you need to.

As your Campaign Manager and Mentor, we are an on-going resource providing proven expertise in all aspects of your campaign.

As an alternative to purchasing a block of time, or as a way to provide continuing support after a retainer has expired, we offer Ongoing support on a month-by-month schedule. Additional time is charged on a pro rata basis. Months may be skipped and unused time can be carried over, but for one month only. This is a slightly more costly program per hour, but does provide greater flexibility and less up front commitment than the retainer programs.