Gloves off: how to kill the competition

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Gloves off how to kill the competition

• Larry Stybel
• STYBEL PEABODY LINCOLNSHIRE
• lstybel_at_stybelpeabody.com

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Three Issues

• Big Picture and Its Impact on Your Job Search.
• How to kill your competition with primary and
  secondary research.
• How to ask the Killer Close and why it works so
  well.

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Big Picture

• Demographics is Destiny
• Unlearning is Harder than Learning
• Small is Beautiful

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Big Idea 1 Demographics is Destiny

• Vanishing Jobs? Blame the Boomers. Philip
  Longman, HBR. March 2008
• An older population brings less opportunities for
  those seeking employment corporate health care
  costs drives employers to seek alternatives to
  full time employment.
• As populations age, societies become more risk
  averse.

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Implications

• Job Recovery will be 5-6 in Boston and 6-7 in
  the rest of the country.
• In a more conservative society, competence-trust
  will trump speed, aggressiveness, hunger, and
  risk taking.
• Hunger for Trust

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Questions?
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What Era Did You Learn Your Business
Habits/Framework

• 1913-1943
• 1944-1974
• 1975-2005

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1946-1976

• Consumer is King Unmet consumer needs from
  depression/WWII growing Baby population means
  needs for things.
• U.S. unchallenged industrial producer.
• Growing middle class.
• Job search can be low key.

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Unlearning is Harder than Learning

• Job Markets is harsher global competition,
  shrinking middle management, shrinking middle
  class.
• Requires a more fierce and focused effort to
  secure new employment.

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Implications

• Middle class is eroding and harder to stay in.
  Not your fault not the Democrats/Republicans
  fault. Unique historical trend not likely to be
  repeated in our lifetime.
• There are more good people than good jobs and the
  competition is now global.

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Questions?
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Big Idea 3 Small is Where the Action Is

• MONEY MAGAZINE
• December 02, 2010
• Two out of every three new jobs in the country is
  created through a small business . In the last
  month, small businesses were responsible for 58
  of private sector job growth in the country.

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• WALL STREET JOURNAL December 8, 2011
• Eleven American companies have laid off 600,000
  people in the past two decades.

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Big Idea 3 Small, Unsophisticated Companies are
Where the Future Is.

• Big Companies are the ones doing the layoffs.
• Smaller companies are doing the hiring and they
  dont have professional HR.

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Implication

• Opportunities with smaller, unsophisticated
  players is harder. They may not be able to
  articulate their needs. YOU HAVE TO DO IT.
• They may lack ability to access talent. YOU HAVE
  TO DO IT.
• In a world where trust is important, they
  mistrust people from large companies. You have
  to demonstrate trust-competence .

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Questions/Reactions?
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Kill the Competition

• Focus will be on the job interview A

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ACTION STRATEGIES

• How to Kill Your Competition remember Anwar
  Bose
• find out what your competition is doing and
  DONT do it.
• Trick is the design a campaign that outflanks
  your competition, is professional, and
  demonstrates competence-trustworthiness.

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RECOMMENDATION 1 DUNKIN DONUTS RESEARCH.

• Dunkin Donuts Research. What do you
  like/dislike about working at X Company?
• Answer is less important than the reaction to the
  question.
• CFO of a U.S. division of a British owned
  manufacturing company.

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Recommendation 2 do your homework.

• 10K to look at strategic analysis of comparable
  public companies for private companies you might
  be interviewing with. Weston awn Garden Supply
  vs. Lowes Dominos Pizza relative to Steves
  Pizza.
• Linkedin.com and investing businessweek (name)
• Guidestar.com and Form 990
• LexisNexis Academic Universe for private
  companies and name of the CEO.
• RMA Annual Statements
• Dunn Bradstreet Credit Reports (dnb.com). Look
  at the realtionship between Paydex and current
  ratio.
• Google.news

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Questions/Reactions?
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The Killer Close

• David Thomas Foreign Motors West and BMW.
• Client at life sciences company for FDA director.

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Why does the Killer Close Kill Competition?

• Trust is the coin of the realm I am not trying
  to sell we are in the same boat.
• Risk aversion is increasing we are in the same
  boat. You are not alone.

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Summary

• Three Core Issues demographics is destiny we
  have to unlearn the lessons that were successful
  between 1947 and 1978 the opportunities are in
  small companies.
• Dunkin Donuts Research kill competition 1
• Over Research kill competition 2
• Killer Close Kill competition 3

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Questions?
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Thank You

• Give me your business cards if you wish a copy of
  the slides plus a copy of the HARVARD BUSINESS
  REVIEW article I referred to.