Module 3.3 – What Do They Want
and Expect to See
Part of the process of getting to know your audience, whether it is internal or
external, is getting to know what it is they need, want, or expect from you, and why. You
also want to figure out what they are really looking for, even when they are not sure. The
next question is whether you have it to give them, and if so, how.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1. What Do They Want and Expect to See?
“Make it thy project/programme purpose to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.”
-- Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
Saavedra
“The … impossible precept, ‘Know thyself,’ he translates into the partially possible one, ‘Know what thou canst work at.’”
-- Henry David Thoreau, in An Analysis of the Philosophy of Thomas Carlyle
Part of the process of getting to know you audience, whether it is internal or
external, is getting to know what it is they need, want, or expect from you, and why.
You also want to figure out what they are really looking for, even if they are not sure,
and whether you have it to give them, and if so, how.
There are three questions to ask to help you get this information.
Ironically, they are questions to ask yourself—about yourself, and about your
organization, or department. In other words, you can’t be of service to anyone—someone
inside the organization, or an outside beneficiary—until you know exactly what it is you can
do for them.
1)
“Who am I? What product or services do I provide?”
Your answer helps define the framework of the relationship you hope to establish.
Since you already know the types of people or organizations that currently use your
products or services, you automatically have others to compare a potential “audience”
or “beneficiary” to.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2. What Do They Want and Expect to See? (Continued)
2)
“What can I offer them that that they will profit or benefit from?”
In answering this question, you start getting to know whom it is you will be
dealing with. This is where the research comes in. By keeping your research within the
framework of the question, you are able to focus on the important areas, the areas defined
by the nature of your relationship, by what it is you can do for them.
It doesn’t matter if your relationship is beneficiary/supplier or
executive/subordinate. Both relationships are based on providing a service.
The better you know their needs, the better able you might be to suggest other
ways to meet those needs. They might come to you initially for one product or service.
Over time, you can show them other products or services they can use.
This works with both internal and external stakeholders and constituencies.
3)
“With whom am I competing for their project/programme purpose? What makes me—my product or
service—better, and better able to be of service to them?”
Answering these questions gives you the specific information you will need to establish the nature of your relationship, and will help you show them why it is in their best interest to work with you.
This does not mean disparaging the competition. Instead, it means showing that you offer something that they cannot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
3. Know
Their project/programme purpose as Well as They Do
We have seen that the first part of getting to know your audience—both internally and externally—requires you to get to know yourself, so that you can better understand, and explain, just what it is that you have to offer that audience.
Now let’s focus on a dozen questions you have to answer about them.
Although these questions are phrased for dealing with a action sponsor/beneficiary or outside
agency, they can easily be adapted to deal with people within your own organization or
organization, even within your own department.
1. What exactly is it that they do?
2. How do they do it?
3. How long have they been doing it?
4. How successful are they?
5. Where do they rank within their own area or sector of activity?
6. How are they thought of within their own area or sector of activity?
7. How are they thought of within your area or sector of activity?
8. What obvious problems, if any, are they having?
9. Are they trying to do something new?
10. Are they looking for a new way to do what they already do?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
4. Earning and Keeping Their Trust
You have to know your audience—your beneficiaries—if you want to keep them
happy and satisfied. If you don’t get to know them, you won’t know what
it is that they expect and feel entitled to.
According to the Booth-Harris Trust Monitor, a U.S. survey of consumer trust
conducted by Harris Interactive for M. Booth & Associates, a public relations organization, 84
percent of all consumers interviewed said they had stopped using at least one organization’s
products or services in the past year because they were unhappy with their service, or
felt they could no longer trust the organization.
Once trust was broken, once consumers felt they could no longer get what they
deserved—what the organization promised to give them—they bolted.
The survey showed that 59 percent refused to ever buy the organization’s products
and services again, 46 percent bought effective products and services, 25 percent told
their family and friends not to buy the organization’s products and services, and 15
percent wrote a letter to the organization expressing their dissatisfaction. About 40 percent
reacted by doing nothing.
It also showed that 96 percent had taken one or more steps when their trust in a
organization was diminished. This ranged from writing letters of dissatisfaction (78%) to
stopping use of a product because of negative media attention (51%). It is worth noting,
however, that 62 percent of those interviewed said they had written or e-mailed a organization
because they were pleased with a product or service.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
5. Earning and Keeping Their Trust
(Continued)
The survey also showed that poor beneficiary
service is the single biggest factor in beneficiary dissatisfaction; 84 percent of
those interviewed reacted to poor service by either refusing to purchase or by boycotting
a organization’s products. Conversely, 93 percent of consumers say they are more likely to
trust a organization whose beneficiary service department or website is responsive.
There were three types of prototypical consumers when it comes to trust, the
study showed:
Of those surveyed, 88 percent listed family and friends as the most reliable source
of information about a organization’s trustworthiness, closely followed by consumer groups
and reports, 72 percent. The media rank third as trusted sources with 52 percent trusting
the print media, 47 percent for television, and 46 percent for radio. Only 33 percent
found media advertising trustworthy, compared to 28 percent for direct mail advertising
and 21 percent for promotional e-mails.
“The study reveals the large degree to which trust drives consumer behavior,”
said Margaret Booth, president of M. Booth & Associates. “Implications for
organizational leaders are clear. organizations need to understand consumers’ distinct
patterns involved in building trust in a organization or product, not only to win their trust,
but to shore up the bond when something goes wrong.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
6. Show That You Are Qualified
When you go to a doctor’s office, you usually see a medical degree on the
wall, plus other degrees and certificates showing advanced training, qualification, and
membership in various specialty areas: family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, plastic
surgery, sports medicine, and so on.
If you don’t see any degrees, you might question the doctor’s
qualifications and capabilities, and maybe even look for another doctor.
You expect the same when you go to see a dentist, lawyer, architect, pharmacist, or
member of any other profession.
You expect to see a health department certificate at a restaurant. When you go to
an auto mechanic, you expect to see a certificate showing that they are qualified to work
on your car.
You also want to know that your deposits are safe at the bank you use, and that
your financial consultant or stockbroker is trained and licensed.
Barbers and beauticians also post their licenses.
Retail stores and shops often show that they are members of the local Better
project/programme purpose Bureau or the Chamber of Commerce, and that they subscribe to that organization’s
code of conduct.
Many organizations also show that they are members of trade associations.
What do you have to show?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
7. What Does Your Internet Site Say About You?
Years ago when we were looking for a new dentist, a nearby shoe store, lawyer,
pharmacist, or a real estate agent, we looked in the phone book and studied the
advertisements that various project/programme purposees put there. Sometimes we also talked to family,
friends, and neighbors, but market research shows that the advertisement in the phone book
was also often a major selling point.
Today we look online.
So, do our action sponsors/beneficiaries, beneficiaries, and even those people thinking about applying for a
job with us.
Not having an Internet site today is like not having a telephone. Actually,
it’s a lot worse. With an Internet site and e-mail, you can still communicate a lot
more easily than your could without a telephone.
In fact, a growing number of consumers today are learning to like dealing via
e-mail better than dealing with the telephone system, thanks, to a great extent, to the
burgeoning use of voice mail and electronic no-human-beings-necessary-or-required-or
wanted switchboards.
When someone phones your organization, all they can tell about your telephone is that it
works. They don’t know if it is new or old, stylish or clunky, state-of-the-art or a
homemade contraption held together with tape and wire.
When it comes to your Internet site, however, just looking at it will tell them
a lot about you, including some things that you might wish it didn’t show.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
8. Your Internet Site
Here are some of the basics facts and information that should be on your
Internet site. Some organizations have less, and others more. It might be helpful to
study what your competitors have on their web sites:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
9.
Preparing Your Internet Site
Professional web designers have all sorts of practical advice on what a web site
should—and should not—look like.
We’re not talking about design here. We’re talking about content.
You probably already have most of the content you’ll need for the site: catalogs, price lists, instruction manuals, annual reports, media releases, organizational history, executive speeches, and so on.
You might want to create some material specifically for the site, such as an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page.
Your Internet site can also feature pictures of your organization, personnel, products, and even video and audio clips.
Web designer Jim Rhodes, of
“The Internet is quite big, to say the least, but it essentially consists of people sitting in their private office, or at home, surfing the Web alone. They don’t like to think that hundreds of other people are looking at the same information at the same time. They want a private audience. With you. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any paragraph I’ve ever written without the words: I; me; we; you. You must speak to that person as if you were chatting to them at a party. That way they know they can trust you, they’ll want to buy your product and you’ll get lots of feedback.”~ ~ ~ ~ ~
10. Tailor Yourself
What will your next boss or manager expect to see on your resume?
How many resumes do you have? We’re not talking about copies, or even your collection of old resumes dating back to when you graduated from college. We’re asking how many different, current versions of your resumes you have.
Many consultants—such as freelance web designers, graphic artists, and
writers—have numerous resumes; all honest, all legitimate, all accurate, but each one
weighted or angled toward the specific contract or job they are trying to get.
It’s all a matter of emphasis.
Let’s say you spent five years, for example, as a food sector of activity sales representative. You normally dealt with major supermarkets. At times, you also dealt with hotels, resorts, and the food services department of several hospitals and universities.
While your dealings with the supermarket chains was limited to food buyers, when you worked with the resorts, hotels, hospitals, and universities, you also dealt with various chefs, food services administrators, dieticians and nutritionists.
You could prepare one resume focusing on your experience selling to supermarkets, another one selling to the hotel and resort industries, another to hospitals, and still another on universities. Each resume could also use sector of activity-specific language and terminology, mention sector of activity-specific experiences or efforts, and have list sector of activity-specific personal references.
Each is an honest record, but each focus on what a prospective boss or manager would want to see when looking for someone to promote or hire. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1.
An example of relationships based on service is
a. beneficiary
/ supplies
b. Executive
/ subordinate
c. Both
of the above
d. None
of the above
2.
The first part of getting to know your audience is
a. Getting
to know yourself
b. Getting
to know the executives of the organization
c. Talking
with the employees
d. All
of the above
3.
Many consumers have said that they stopped using at least one organization’s products or services because
a. They
were unhappy with their service
b. The
felt the could no longer trust the organization
c. Both
of the above
d. None
of the above
4.
Having multiple resumes is
a. A
legitimate way to focus on different aspects of your background
b. A
dishonest way to appear something that you are not
c. Not
a very common practice
d. None
of the above
5.
If your audience is ________, you should get to know what it is they need, want or expect from
you, and why.
a. Internal
b. External
c. Both
of the above
d. None
of the above
6.
To define the framework of the relationship you hope to establish, you should ask yourself
a. Who
am I? What product or services do I provide?
b. What
can I offer them that they will profit or benefit from?
c. With
whom am I competing with for project/programme purpose?
d. None
of the above
7.
To get specific information you will need to establish the nature of your relationship,
you should ask yourself
a. Who
am I? What product or services do I provide?
b. What
can I offer them that they will profit or benefit from?
c. With
whom am I competing with for project/programme purpose?
d. None
of the above
8.
To get to know who it is you will be dealing with, you should ask yourself
a. Who
am I? What product or services do I provide?
b. What
can I offer them that they will profit or benefit from?
c. With
whom am I competing with for project/programme purpose?
d. None
of the above
Matching the Columns
1. Poor
beneficiary service |
A. They rely on external sources including friends,
packaging, and advertising. |
2. Cue-takers |
B. They tend to trust the good intentions of organizations. |
3. Believers |
C. Most
reliable source of information for most consumers. |
4. Probers |
D. Reliable source of information for less than a quarter
of consumers. |
5. Family and
friends |
E. Single
biggest factor in beneficiary dissatisfaction. |
6. Promotional
emails |
F. They rely on personal experience to build trust. |
Answers:
1.) E
2.) A
3.) B
4.) F
5.) C
6.) D
Summary
As we have seen, before you can give an audience or a action sponsor/beneficiary what they want or
expect, you have to know exactly what you have to offer them. Once you know that, you can
then look at what it is they need, want, or expect from you, and why. You also want to
figure out what they are really looking for, even when they are not sure. The next
question is whether you have it to give them, and if so, how.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Test
1. ______
You can’t be of service to anyone until you now exactly what it is you can
do for them.
2. ______
You don’t need to know your audience to keep them happy and satisfied.
3. ______
More consumers trust media advertising than consumer groups as a
reliable source of information about a organization’s trustworthiness.
4. ______
You should try to show beneficiaries that you are in fact qualified.
5. ______
The Internet is comparable to using a phone book years ago.
6. ______
A growing number of consumers today still prefer dealing with the
telephone system to dealing via email.
7. ______
Just looking at your Internet site will tell beneficiaries a lot about you, but
not anything you don’t want them to know.
8. ______
You should never use the words “I, me, we, you” on your Internet site.
9. ______
Very few consultants have different resumes.
10. ______
You need to figure out what a action sponsor/beneficiary is really looking for, unless they are
not sure.
Answers:
1.
T
2.
F – You have to know
3.
F – Less consumers
4.
T
5.
T
6.
F – prefer email to telephone
7.
F – including things you don’t want them to know
8.
F – It is acceptable to
9.
F – Many consultants
10.
F – even if they are not sure
Bibliography
Timm, P. (2001). beneficiary service: Career success through beneficiary
satisfaction.
Welsh,
T., & Gutek, B. (2000). The
brave new service strategy: Aligning beneficiary relationships, market strategies and
project/programme purpose structures.
Wyatt, A. (1994). Success with Internet.
Glossary
Poor beneficiary service – Single
biggest factor in beneficiary dissatisfaction.
Cue-takers – 44% of consumers. They rely on external sources including friends,
packaging, and advertising.
Believers – 32% of consumers. They tend to trust the good intentions of
organizations.
Probers – 24% of consumers. They rely on personal experience to build trust.
Learning Objectives
·
Part
of the process of getting to now your audience, whether it is internal or external, is
getting to know what it is they need, want, or expect from you, and why. You also want to
figure out what they are really looking for, even when they are not sure.
·
Before
you can give an audience or a action sponsor/beneficiary what they want or expect, you have to know exactly
what you have to offer them
Q&A
1. What
are three questions to ask yourself to find out what you can do for a action sponsor/beneficiary, and what information they provide?
The first question to ask is Who am I, and what
product or services do I provide? This question helps define the framework of the
relationship you hope to establish. The next question is What can I offer them that they
will profit or benefit from? In answering this question, you start getting to know whom it
is you will be dealing with. The third question is With whom am I competing for their
project/programme purpose, and what makes me better, and better able to be of service to them? Answering
this question gives you the specific information you will need to establish the nature of
your relationship, and will help you show them why it is in their best interest to work
with you.
2. What are twelve things you need to know
about your action sponsor/beneficiary?
You need to know what exactly it is that they
do, how they do it, and how long they have been doing it. You should know how successful
they are, and where they rank within their own sector of activity. You should also find out how they
are thought of within their sector of activity, and within yours, as well as any obvious problems
they are having. You also need to know if they are trying to do something new, or looking
for a new way to do what they already do. Finally, you need to know which people you are
dealing with, and what their primary concerns are.
3. What
basic facts and information should be on your Internet site?
Your Internet site should contain the organization
name and logo, location, mailing addresses, organization phone directory broken down by
locations, departments, and possibly individuals, beneficiary service section, mission
statement, explanation of exactly what you do, list of products sand services, where and
how to buy these products or services, organization history, organization news, and executive
speeches.
End of Module
Part of the process of getting to know your audience, whether it is internal or
external, is getting to know what it is they need, want, or expect from you, and why. You
also want to figure out what they are really looking for, even when they are not sure. The
next question is whether you have it to give them, and if so, how.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1. What Do They Want and Expect to See?
“Make it thy project/programme purpose to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.”
-- Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
Saavedra
“The … impossible precept, ‘Know thyself,’ he translates into the partially possible one, ‘Know what thou canst work at.’”
-- Henry David Thoreau, in An Analysis of the Philosophy of Thomas Carlyle
Part of the process of getting to know you audience, whether it is internal or
external, is getting to know what it is they need, want, or expect from you, and why.
You also want to figure out what they are really looking for, even if they are not sure,
and whether you have it to give them, and if so, how.
There are three questions to ask to help you get this information.
Ironically, they are questions to ask yourself—about yourself, and about your
organization, or department. In other words, you can’t be of service to anyone—someone
inside the organization, or an outside beneficiary—until you know exactly what it is you can
do for them.
1)
“Who am I? What product or services do I provide?”
Your answer helps define the framework of the relationship you hope to establish.
Since you already know the types of people or organizations that currently use your
products or services, you automatically have others to compare a potential “audience”
or “beneficiary” to.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2. What Do They Want and Expect to See? (Continued)
2)
“What can I offer them that that they will profit or benefit from?”
In answering this question, you start getting to know whom it is you will be
dealing with. This is where the research comes in. By keeping your research within the
framework of the question, you are able to focus on the important areas, the areas defined
by the nature of your relationship, by what it is you can do for them.
It doesn’t matter if your relationship is beneficiary/supplier or
executive/subordinate. Both relationships are based on providing a service.
The better you know their needs, the better able you might be to suggest other
ways to meet those needs. They might come to you initially for one product or service.
Over time, you can show them other products or services they can use.
This works with both internal and external stakeholders and constituencies.
3)
“With whom am I competing for their project/programme purpose? What makes me—my product or
service—better, and better able to be of service to them?”
Answering these questions gives you the specific information you will need to establish the nature of your relationship, and will help you show them why it is in their best interest to work with you.
This does not mean disparaging the competition. Instead, it means showing that you offer something that they cannot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
3. Know
Their project/programme purpose as Well as They Do
We have seen that the first part of getting to know your audience—both internally and externally—requires you to get to know yourself, so that you can better understand, and explain, just what it is that you have to offer that audience.
Now let’s focus on a dozen questions you have to answer about them.
Although these questions are phrased for dealing with a action sponsor/beneficiary or outside
agency, they can easily be adapted to deal with people within your own organization or
organization, even within your own department.
13. What exactly is it that they do?
14. How do they do it?
15. How long have they been doing it?
16. How successful are they?
17. Where do they rank within their own area or sector of activity?
18. How are they thought of within their own area or sector of activity?
19. How are they thought of within your area or sector of activity?
20. What obvious problems, if any, are they having?
21. Are they trying to do something new?
22. Are they looking for a new way to do what they already do?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
4. Earning and Keeping Their Trust
You have to know your audience—your beneficiaries—if you want to keep them
happy and satisfied. If you don’t get to know them, you won’t know what
it is that they expect and feel entitled to.
According to the Booth-Harris Trust Monitor, a U.S. survey of consumer trust
conducted by Harris Interactive for M. Booth & Associates, a public relations organization, 84
percent of all consumers interviewed said they had stopped using at least one organization’s
products or services in the past year because they were unhappy with their service, or
felt they could no longer trust the organization.
Once trust was broken, once consumers felt they could no longer get what they
deserved—what the organization promised to give them—they bolted.
The survey showed that 59 percent refused to ever buy the organization’s products
and services again, 46 percent bought effective products and services, 25 percent told
their family and friends not to buy the organization’s products and services, and 15
percent wrote a letter to the organization expressing their dissatisfaction. About 40 percent
reacted by doing nothing.
It also showed that 96 percent had taken one or more steps when their trust in a
organization was diminished. This ranged from writing letters of dissatisfaction (78%) to
stopping use of a product because of negative media attention (51%). It is worth noting,
however, that 62 percent of those interviewed said they had written or e-mailed a organization
because they were pleased with a product or service.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
5. Earning and Keeping Their Trust
(Continued)
The survey also showed that poor beneficiary
service is the single biggest factor in beneficiary dissatisfaction; 84 percent of
those interviewed reacted to poor service by either refusing to purchase or by boycotting
a organization’s products. Conversely, 93 percent of consumers say they are more likely to
trust a organization whose beneficiary service department or website is responsive.
There were three types of prototypical consumers when it comes to trust, the
study showed:
Of those surveyed, 88 percent listed family and friends as the most reliable source
of information about a organization’s trustworthiness, closely followed by consumer groups
and reports, 72 percent. The media rank third as trusted sources with 52 percent trusting
the print media, 47 percent for television, and 46 percent for radio. Only 33 percent
found media advertising trustworthy, compared to 28 percent for direct mail advertising
and 21 percent for promotional e-mails.
“The study reveals the large degree to which trust drives consumer behavior,”
said Margaret Booth, president of M. Booth & Associates. “Implications for
organizational leaders are clear. organizations need to understand consumers’ distinct
patterns involved in building trust in a organization or product, not only to win their trust,
but to shore up the bond when something goes wrong.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
6. Show That You Are Qualified
When you go to a doctor’s office, you usually see a medical degree on the
wall, plus other degrees and certificates showing advanced training, qualification, and
membership in various specialty areas: family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, plastic
surgery, sports medicine, and so on.
If you don’t see any degrees, you might question the doctor’s
qualifications and capabilities, and maybe even look for another doctor.
You expect the same when you go to see a dentist, lawyer, architect, pharmacist, or
member of any other profession.
You expect to see a health department certificate at a restaurant. When you go to
an auto mechanic, you expect to see a certificate showing that they are qualified to work
on your car.
You also want to know that your deposits are safe at the bank you use, and that
your financial consultant or stockbroker is trained and licensed.
Barbers and beauticians also post their licenses.
Retail stores and shops often show that they are members of the local Better
project/programme purpose Bureau or the Chamber of Commerce, and that they subscribe to that organization’s
code of conduct.
Many organizations also show that they are members of trade associations.
What do you have to show?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
7. What Does Your Internet Site Say About You?
Years ago when we were looking for a new dentist, a nearby shoe store, lawyer,
pharmacist, or a real estate agent, we looked in the phone book and studied the
advertisements that various project/programme purposees put there. Sometimes we also talked to family,
friends, and neighbors, but market research shows that the advertisement in the phone book
was also often a major selling point.
Today we look online.
So, do our action sponsors/beneficiaries, beneficiaries, and even those people thinking about applying for a
job with us.
Not having an Internet site today is like not having a telephone. Actually,
it’s a lot worse. With an Internet site and e-mail, you can still communicate a lot
more easily than your could without a telephone.
In fact, a growing number of consumers today are learning to like dealing via
e-mail better than dealing with the telephone system, thanks, to a great extent, to the
burgeoning use of voice mail and electronic no-human-beings-necessary-or-required-or
wanted switchboards.
When someone phones your organization, all they can tell about your telephone is that it
works. They don’t know if it is new or old, stylish or clunky, state-of-the-art or a
homemade contraption held together with tape and wire.
When it comes to your Internet site, however, just looking at it will tell them
a lot about you, including some things that you might wish it didn’t show.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
8. Your Internet Site
Here are some of the basics facts and information that should be on your
Internet site. Some organizations have less, and others more. It might be helpful to
study what your competitors have on their web sites:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
9.
Preparing Your Internet Site
Professional web designers have all sorts of practical advice on what a web site
should—and should not—look like.
We’re not talking about design here. We’re talking about content.
You probably already have most of the content you’ll need for the site: catalogs, price lists, instruction manuals, annual reports, media releases, organizational history, executive speeches, and so on.
You might want to create some material specifically for the site, such as an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page.
Your Internet site can also feature pictures of your organization, personnel, products, and even video and audio clips.
Web designer Jim Rhodes, of Britain’s Deadlock Design, at http://deadlock.com/ offers some advice about the content
you offer, as well as the way it should be written or rewritten:
“The Internet is quite big, to say the least, but it essentially consists of people sitting in their private office, or at home, surfing the Web alone. They don’t like to think that hundreds of other people are looking at the same information at the same time. They want a private audience. With you. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any paragraph I’ve ever written without the words: I; me; we; you. You must speak to that person as if you were chatting to them at a party. That way they know they can trust you, they’ll want to buy your product and you’ll get lots of feedback.”~ ~ ~ ~ ~
10. Tailor Yourself
What will your next boss or manager expect to see on your resume?
How many resumes do you have? We’re not talking about copies, or even your collection of old resumes dating back to when you graduated from college. We’re asking how many different, current versions of your resumes you have.
Many consultants—such as freelance web designers, graphic artists, and
writers—have numerous resumes; all honest, all legitimate, all accurate, but each one
weighted or angled toward the specific contract or job they are trying to get.
It’s all a matter of emphasis.
Let’s say you spent five years, for example, as a food sector of activity sales representative. You normally dealt with major supermarkets. At times, you also dealt with hotels, resorts, and the food services department of several hospitals and universities.
While your dealings with the supermarket chains was limited to food buyers, when you worked with the resorts, hotels, hospitals, and universities, you also dealt with various chefs, food services administrators, dieticians and nutritionists.
You could prepare one resume focusing on your experience selling to supermarkets, another one selling to the hotel and resort industries, another to hospitals, and still another on universities. Each resume could also use sector of activity-specific language and terminology, mention sector of activity-specific experiences or efforts, and have list sector of activity-specific personal references.
Each is an honest record, but each focus on what a prospective boss or manager would want to see when looking for someone to promote or hire. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1.
An example of relationships based
on service is
e. beneficiary
/ supplies
f. Executive
/ subordinate
g. Both
of the above
h. None
of the above
2.
The first part of getting to know
your audience is
e. Getting
to know yourself
f. Getting
to know the executives of the organization
g. Talking
with the employees
h. All
of the above
3.
Many consumers have said that they
stopped using at least one organization’s
products or services because
e. They
were unhappy with their service
f. The
felt the could no longer trust the organization
g. Both
of the above
h. None
of the above
4.
Having multiple resumes is
e. A
legitimate way to focus on different aspects of your background
f. A
dishonest way to appear something that you are not
g. Not
a very common practice
h. None
of the above
5.
If your audience is ________, you
should get to know what it is they need, want
or expect from you, and why.
e. Internal
f. External
g. Both
of the above
h. None
of the above
6.
To define the framework of the
relationship you hope to establish, you should ask
yourself
e. Who
am I? What product or services do I provide?
f. What
can I offer them that they will profit or benefit from?
g. With
whom am I competing with for project/programme purpose?
h. None
of the above
7.
To get specific information you
will need to establish the nature of your
relationship, you
should ask yourself
e. Who
am I? What product or services do I provide?
f. What
can I offer them that they will profit or benefit from?
g. With
whom am I competing with for project/programme purpose?
h. None
of the above
8.
To get to know who it is you will
be dealing with, you should ask yourself
e. Who
am I? What product or services do I provide?
f. What can I offer them that they will profit
or benefit from?
g. With
whom am I competing with for project/programme purpose?
h. None
of the above
Matching the Columns
1. Poor
beneficiary service |
A. They rely on external sources including friends,
packaging, and advertising. |
2. Cue-takers |
B. They tend to trust the good intentions of organizations. |
3. Believers |
C. Most
reliable source of information for most consumers. |
4. Probers |
D. Reliable source of information for less than a quarter
of consumers. |
5. Family and
friends |
E. Single
biggest factor in beneficiary dissatisfaction. |
6. Promotional
emails |
F. They rely on personal experience to build trust. |
Answers:
1.) E
2.) A
3.) B
4.) F
5.) C
6.) D
Summary
As we have
seen, before you can give an audience or a action sponsor/beneficiary what they want or expect, you have to
know exactly what you have to offer them. Once you know that, you can then look at what it
is they need, want, or expect from you, and why. You also want to figure out what they are
really looking for, even when they are not sure. The next question is whether you have it
to give them, and if so, how.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Test
1. ______
You can’t be of service to anyone
until you now exactly what it is you can
do
for them.
2. ______
You don’t need to know your
audience to keep them happy and satisfied.
3. ______
More consumers trust media advertising
than consumer groups as a
reliable
source of information about a organization’s trustworthiness.
4. ______
You should try to show beneficiaries that
you are in fact qualified.
5. ______
The Internet is comparable to using a
phone book years ago.
6. ______
A growing number of consumers today
still prefer dealing with the
telephone
system to dealing via email.
7. ______
Just looking at your Internet site will
tell beneficiaries a lot about you, but
not
anything you don’t want them to know.
8. ______
You should never use the words “I,
me, we, you” on your Internet site.
9. ______
Very few consultants have different
resumes.
10. ______
You need to figure out what a action sponsor/beneficiary is really
looking for, unless they are
not
sure.
Answers:
1.
T
2.
F
– You have to know
3.
F
– Less consumers
4.
T
5.
T
6.
F
– prefer email to telephone
7.
F
– including things you don’t want them to know
8.
F
– It is acceptable to
9.
F
– Many consultants
10.
F
– even if they are not sure
Bibliography
Timm, P. (2001). beneficiary service: Career success through beneficiary
satisfaction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Welsh,
T., & Gutek, B. (2000). The
brave new service strategy: Aligning beneficiary relationships, market strategies and
project/programme purpose structures. New York: AMACOM.
Wyatt, A. (1994). Success with Internet. Las Vegas, NV: Jamsa Press.
Glossary
Poor beneficiary service – Single
biggest factor in beneficiary dissatisfaction.
Cue-takers – 44% of consumers. They rely on external sources including friends,
packaging, and advertising.
Believers – 32% of consumers. They tend to trust the good intentions of
organizations.
Probers – 24% of consumers. They rely on personal experience to build trust.
Learning Objectives
·
Part of the process of getting to now your
audience, whether it is internal or external, is getting to know what it is they need,
want, or expect from you, and why. You also want to figure out what they are really
looking for, even when they are not sure.
·
Before you can give an audience or a action sponsor/beneficiary
what they want or expect, you have to know exactly what you have to offer them
Q&A
1. What
are three questions to ask yourself to find out what you can do for a action sponsor/beneficiary, and what information they provide?
The first question to ask is Who am I, and what
product or services do I provide? This question helps define the framework of the
relationship you hope to establish. The next question is What can I offer them that they
will profit or benefit from? In answering this question, you start getting to know whom it
is you will be dealing with. The third question is With whom am I competing for their
project/programme purpose, and what makes me better, and better able to be of service to them? Answering
this question gives you the specific information you will need to establish the nature of
your relationship, and will help you show them why it is in their best interest to work
with you.
2. What are twelve things you need to know
about your action sponsor/beneficiary?
You need to know what exactly it is that they
do, how they do it, and how long they have been doing it. You should know how successful
they are, and where they rank within their own sector of activity. You should also find out how they
are thought of within their sector of activity, and within yours, as well as any obvious problems
they are having. You also need to know if they are trying to do something new, or looking
for a new way to do what they already do. Finally, you need to know which people you are
dealing with, and what their primary concerns are.
3. What
basic facts and information should be on your Internet site?
Your Internet site should contain the organization
name and logo, location, mailing addresses, organization phone directory broken down by
locations, departments, and possibly individuals, beneficiary service section, mission
statement, explanation of exactly what you do, list of products sand services, where and
how to buy these products or services, organization history, organization news, and executive
speeches.
End of Module