Auto Sales and Client Lists

Memo to salespeople in the automotive industry: If your dealership is about to be forced out of business, try to put together rather quickly a list of all your paying customers over the past several years. Make sure that potential employers know you will be bringing a client list along with you if they hire you! When you land a job, get word out to your loyal clients and invent therm to stop by, even just to browse. Generating traffic is in your favor!

Quick Thoughts

While preparing for a quick lunch at my desk, some thoughts have crossed mind and I decided to share them before though back into the cloudy area of my brain!

• Recently, I read an article about out-of-work professionals in the 45-60 years old age group turning to Botox injection or plastic surgery to give them a competitive edge in the job market. I challenge a hiring manager to tell me that they hired someone because they looked young. In most cases, this is not true. In fact, I have much more luck placing my contemporaries (yes, I'm somewhere in the 45-60 group) because a lot of firms are looking for people with a ton of professional work experience. Unless you want a job as a fashion model, night club performer, beauty pageant contestant, etc., do not waste your time or money on medical procedures to land a job. An interesting aside was that one of the main characters in the article still does not have a job!
• Several folks have sent me resumes of 5 lines in length or shorter this week. When I wrote one of them and asked for a more detailed version he replied that he has been in one job for almost 25 years, is good at what he does, and does not need to detail his experience to get an interview! Best of luck, my friend but don't wait for me to help you!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the moms and grandmoms out there, I wish you all a great day!

Priced to Move.

One of the side effects of the current economic slump seems to be price slashes in some consumer goods areas. Today, I noticed that garden plants were slightly less expensive than last year at this time. My daughter noticed that more and more food establishments are offering things like the 99 cent breakfast sandwich or the $2.99 sub. Cut flowers for Mother's Day were priced better than last year. Some of the discount stores appear to be marking items down to the bottom dollar. Take a look at new car prices this week. Hopefully, products will start moving, generating replenishment orders which will wake up distribution centers, shipping companies, manufacturers and so on. All the fancy talk about stimulus plans is not needed. We must simply get the flow of goods moving again which will then lead to a huge reduction in jobless rates.

Keep Those Calls Coming!

My message tonight is to anyone who sells a product or a service regardless of what it might be. With the placement industry fairly quiet, I have been looking for new ideas to generate business. About 2 weeks back it dawned on me that my existing clients are the ones who I will need the most when the recession starts to reverse itself (sooner than later I hope) and I better make sure I still have strong relationships with them. Now is not the time to oversell or hound clients. Most likely, no matter the field or industry you work with, your clients are going through the same or similar issues based on the economy.

Each afternoon, I now call 5 or 6 clients and just engage them in conversation without any attempt to solicit new business. No doubt, if they had the need to hire, they would tell me. The purposes of my call are to ensure my contacts are still afloat, to let them know I am there to help in any way needed, and to give them someone to commiserate with.

The shocking result has been that I am hearing that most recruiting firms have stopped calling! Fear of rejection should not keep you away from the telephone. Anyone planning to stick around after the recession needs to stay in contact with their clients now!!

Etc.

• Fiat+Chrysler+General Motors=Fiat Cherokee? or Fiat Cruiser? or (imagine this) See the USA in your Fiat/Chevrolet? The world really is changing.
• Resorts such as Myrtle Beach, Cape Cod, Ocean City MD, and Seaside Heights NJ are getting record numbers of seasonal job applications from former engineers, bankers, accountants etc.
• Not one of my clients has reported receiving stimulus funds to date.
• This week's classified ads in the northeast are showing a bit more promise than in the past several months. Let's pray this is a positive turnaround, not just a one shot deal.

Read All About It!

"Read all about it" was a catch phrase used by hawkers to sell newspapers on street corners in days gone by. The way things are going, we may have to read all about it electronically in the near future. I was dismayed to learn today that the Boston Globe is in absolutely awful financial shape. The Newark Star Ledger, Detroit Free Press, Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, and Gannett's numerous publications are all treading on very thin ice too.

The Internet is a great source for news but I must tell you I still enjoy opening up a paper each morning and will sorely miss that if things get much worse. Where will all the unemployed newspaper workers go? This is very troubling to me as many have been in the industry since their school days and their skills will not transfer terribly well to other situations. Perhaps those of you who have stopped grabbing a paper can pick one up a few times per week to save an age old tradition and the livelihoods are hard working people!

An Observation

This morning's Newark Star Ledger carried an article about the impact of the recession on Bergen County, NJ where many residents were high paid financial executives and now find themselves unemployed. The article quoted a banking official who had been out of work for so long that he went to an interview and told the company he was available at a sale price. Ultimately, he did not receive an offer of employment. While I understand that many are becoming desperate, going to an interview and basically begging will not work. You still need to show up with pride about your past experience but demonstrate a willingness to be flexible about compensation. There is definitely a difference between appearing realistic and looking absolutely hopeless!