This time, however, your objective is different. In the past, you re searched all this information in order to find out whether a particular company was the kind of company that could satisfy your needs. Now that you've established an interest in the company, your objective is to find out what the employer's needs are, and how you can help satisfy those needs.
If an employer is a sales manager, her need may be to increase sales. If an employer is a television producer, her need may be 10 new story ideas for a series. And their needs might be different even if they have the same job, but work for different organizations. For example, one purchasing director's primary need may be increasing quality while a different purchasing director at another company might be more interested in reducing costs.
Obviously, this kind of specific information is very difficult to obtain. It is mentioned only to introduce you to the concept that need satisfaction is of primary importance in the job search game, and many people don't realize it. What they are concerned with is their own needs, wants, and satisfactions, and they don't even consider that employers must have a whole range of needs, wants, and satisfactions of their own. If you do understand this premise, you are way ahead of the game. If you can incorporate this premise into your job search, you will increase your odds for success enormously. Why? Because need satisfaction is a basic tenet of sales, and that is what the job search is all about. It's about selling yourself. It's about letting employers know you're interested in what they're interested in. It's about convincing them that you can help them satisfy their needs. With that in mind, let's look at how you can research a company to uncover those needs.
Since identifying specific needs is almost impossible unless you have an inside contact, it is important to explore the alternative, identifying general needs. This is far easier. If you've been doing your homework, chances are you've already identified some general needs. Let's go back to your field research.
As you began identifying an industry and companies of interest, you met with a number of people. You asked them occupation-oriented questions, industry-oriented questions, and company-oriented questions. What did you learn? If your field of interest was banking, you probably learned that the nature of banking is rapidly changing. Banks are becoming more marketing-oriented and are offering a full range of services they never offered before. If your field of interest was education or social services, you probably learned that as federal and state monies are cut, educational and social service organizations are enhancing their own fundraising efforts, and that raising money is now a top priority. And if your field of interest is the oil industry, what you should be aware of is that a priority of companies is exploring alternate energy sources in order to reduce their dependence on foreign oil, Although these seem like simple realizations, and you probably learned far more than this, it is the accumulation of this kind of information that will prove to an employer that you understand the firm's general needs. All you have to do now is take it one step further. You need to think about how your skills, your background, and your interests relate to these needs. You need to convince an employer that your interests and concerns are the same as the firm's. That's not difficult if you think about it creatively, and once you've come up with a few good ideas, you're ready to sit down and write your letter.
The direct contact sales letter
You send a direct contact sales letter when you're interested in a particular company but do not know whether or not a specific opening exists at this time. The strategy is that a well-written letter directed to the right person may net a job opportunity whether the company is recruiting for that position or not.
Many counselors call this type of letter a letter of inquiry, but the author of this article feels this is an inappropriate name. Sending a letter of inquiry suggests you're merely inquiring if a position exists, and that's a passive posture. Sending a direct contact sales letter suggests you are going to sell someone on hiring you, whether the company is looking for someone or not. The difference is clear.
Another important aspect of the direct contact sales letter is that it doesn't necessarily have to accompany your resume. It may stand alone. The pros and cons of including a resume are strategic in nature.
If you want to work for a company, and your background is perfectly suited to that company - your skills, abilities, and potential will wow them - include your resume, by all means. On the other hand, if you want to work for a company, but your research leads you to believe you can sell them on hiring you only if you can get in the door, then don't include your resume. There's no advantage.
The format and content
The format for writing a direct contact sales letter is similar to that of a cover letter. It's the content that's different. The opening paragraph of a cover letter is where you state the purpose of the letter; it's where you mention the job you're seeking. In the direct contact sales letter, the opening paragraph is where you give employers a good reason for meeting with you. It is where you let them know you are aware of their needs, and that you've thought of some solutions, or that you're knowledgeable about industry issues and that you're committed to working on them. The first paragraph is never where you mention you are seeking employment. Why?
There is one very good reason. It is because most key-level executives refer all job-seeking letters to underlings or to the personnel department. That's because they don't have time to interview every Tom, Dick, or Sally whose resume they receive. So you probably won't get in to see them if yours is just another cover letter. On the other hand, if your letter is more than that - if it piques their interest and suggests to them that you're someone different - you might very well get in to see them.
The middle paragraphs are where you expand on the purpose of the letter. Rather than just discussing your skills and background, as you would in a cover letter, this is the place for a "teaser", as they say in television news. The purpose of a "teaser" is to give your audience enough information to captivate their interest, but not enough to give the whole story away. You will want to give the employer enough information about your ideas so they want to meet with you, but you don't want to give them too many details before you get in the door because there's no reason for them to see you.
The last paragraph is where you request an interview appointment.
And this time, you don't have to be at all passive like you were with the cover letter. Don't ever say, look forward to hearing from you to see if a meeting can be arranged." It's a different ballgame this time, and the game is just beginning. A much better approach is for you to assume control of your own fate, and specify how you plan to follow up.
Therefore, you should always conclude with the more specific, ''I will call you on Thursday, April 6th, to see if a meeting can be arranged." This approach leaves nothing to chance and suggests an underlying sense of self-confidence and professionalism.
The three letters that follow are all good examples of effective direct contact sales letters. As you can see, the people who wrote them did their research, gained familiarity with the company's products, and were able to suggest how their skills might meet the company's needs.