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MAR 4354 – Marketing Yourself – Instructions

A4: Professional Contribution Assignments

Assignment Overview

To demonstrate your ability to contribute to professional dialogue through your use of reflective

commentary, you will be required to comment on several assigned articles and/or videos that present

marketing-related material. Your task is to use your previously gained experiences as well as

knowledge acquired from your courses to add to the dialogue from the perspective of your industry,

your organization, your position, and/or your personal/professional experiences in order to contribute

to the discussion of various marketing yourself aspects of the presented material. You will do this via

both an original Comment (6 points) and a Reply to someone else’s comment or reply (4 points).

When writing your comments/replies, remember that you are representing your own

personal/professional brand and, in essence, marketing yourself. Portray yourself as a professional in

all interactions. Do NOT repeat the question prior to answering. Do NOT reference the course/class

or refer to an “instructor” or “professor” because this may cause other readers to discount your

expertise due to what will then be perceived as your “student” status. Remember that your brand is a

professional one. All comments and replies should be of a positive nature and should be thoughtful,

intelligent, and, when possible, incorporate concepts learned in the course. Disagreeing with the

author/presenter is fine, but do so amiably and always on a professional level.

If you decide to share the article/video via social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to

showcase your expert commentary, it would be best to share the article/video immediately after you

make your comment so that your particular comment(s) will be more accessible at the time of sharing

(rather than buried below other comments). You also might decide to use your comment on the

assigned article/video as a way to connect (professionally) with other individuals by making reference

to their articles, videos, websites, etc. You can do this by mentioning their name or username (as a

hyperlink in that platform) in hopes that they will be notified and thus see your comment, and/or you

can simply copy and paste your comment into an email message and let them know directly that you

mentioned them and felt compelled to promote their work. Previous students who have used this

technique have been able to connect with top corporate executives, authors, popular speakers, and even

some mid-level celebrities.

Your comments can be formal or casual, but use proper spelling and grammar as appropriate.

Remember that you are representing your own personal/professional brand.

Article/Video Topics

You will have to comment (and reply to a comment) for each of the following five short articles and

videos. You do not need to be an expert on any of the topics, but use your common sense and

personal/professional experiences to add to the professional dialogue.

 For PCA-1, view “Perception vs. Reality” on YouTube at http://bit.ly/mmPerception

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 For PCA-2, view “Master the Art of Conversation: How to Disagree Respectfully” on YouTube at http://bit.ly/ToDisagree

 For PCA-3, read “Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg Says that You Don't Have a Personal Brand. Well, Do You?” on LinkedIn at http://bit.ly/NoBrand or view it on YouTube at

http://bit.ly/NoBrandYT

 For PCA-4, view “Using the Stages of Change (Transtheoretical) Model” on YouTube at http://bit.ly/Guess77

 For PCA-5, read “Customer Lifetime Value” on LinkedIn at http://bit.ly/GuessCLV

As you watch/read each video/article, consider how they could apply to your process of building and

managing your professional brand.

Specific Instructions Part One: The Comment

For each of the videos/articles, use your YouTube account (for videos) or LinkedIn account (for

articles) to provide professional commentary by writing two to four complete, compelling,

grammatically correct sentences, using one of the questions below as a guide (do NOT use the question

word-for-word, but only as a GUIDE). NOTE: for each video/article, you must use a different

question as the guide for your comment.

1. Which part of the video/article resonated most with you (or you most connected with) and how could you use that information or concept in your professional life?

2. What concept or idea from the video/article have you experienced in the past and what was your experience?

3. Which point of the video/article did you agree with the most, and why? 4. What is a “hidden gem” or something that few would notice in the video/article, that you find

to be noteworthy/critical/game-changing/enlightening/etc., and why?

5. What is an addition that you could offer to extend the concepts discussed in the video/article? 6. How does or could the material in this video/article (or some portion of it) apply to your

particular industry or field or job position?

7. How could the material presented in this video/article inspire or influence you or someone else to change your approach to marketing, sales, personal branding, or behavioral change?

8. What is an aspect of this video/article that gives you a different perspective on some aspect of marketing, sales, personal branding, and/or behavioral change?

9. Which point(s) of this video/article have you not considered before, and how could it change your thinking about the topic?

After you have made your comment, be sure to take a legible screenshot of the entire comment for

later submission in the Assignment Dropbox.

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Specific Instructions Part Two: The Reply

For each of the videos/articles, you also will be required to reply to another person’s comment (or

another person’s reply to a comment) in a manner that furthers the professional contribution of the idea

or thread portrayed in the comment/reply. Remember, your replies also should be of a positive nature

and should be thoughtful, intelligent, and, when possible, incorporate concepts learned in the course

and from your experiences. Your goal should be to add to the professional dialogue. After you have

made your reply, be sure to take a legible screenshot of the entire reply for later submission in the

Assignment Dropbox.

Specific Instructions Part Three: Submit in Assignment Dropbox

Complete the following in a document and then save it as a single PDF:

1. Student Name 2. YouTube User Name 3. LinkedIn User Name 4. For each of the five PCAs, include the following:

a. Which guide question did you use while formulating your comment for this article or video? (Write the number and the text of the question, not just the number please.)

b. Screenshot of the entire comment. Import/embed the screenshot of the comment as an image in the document. Be sure that you size the screenshot large enough that the

comment can be read easily. c. Screenshot of reply (note that reply screenshot also must include the referenced

comment and/or reply for context in grading). Import/embed the screenshot of the reply

as an image in the document. Be sure that you size the screenshot large enough that

the reply can be read easily. d. Save the final document as PCA-YourName and then upload it to the appropriate

Assignment Dropbox link.

5. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channels and connect with or follow the LinkedIn authors so that you can follow any dialogue that is inspired by your comments and replies.

Remember that this activity serves not only as an assignment, but as an opportunity to market your

expertise to your connections.

• • •

Introduction to Carew/CMU Partnership

MKT 340 Spring 2019

Phone Prospecting

CMU – MKT 340

MODULE 1

MKT 340

Dr. Hoyle

MKT 340

January 22,2019

Who Is this Guy?

Dr. Hoyle

MKT 340

January 18, 2019

MKT 340 Spring 2019

Sales Process

Overview

MKT 340 (Dr. Hoyle) Assignment 1 Spring 2019

NAME__________________________

PLEASE ANSWER ALL PARTS OF EACH QUESTION. AVAILABLE POINTS ARE STATED BEFORE EACH QUESTION. IF YOU NEED ADDITIONAL SPACE FOR ANSWERS MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF THE QUESTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR ANSWERS. ASSIGNMENT IS DUE BY 11:59PM SUNDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2019 VIA BLACKBOARD ASSIGNMENTS SECTION

1. (20 points)

What is position?

How can understanding the Position Progression Model (PPM) help you achieve the top status with your customer? Per Module 1 one thing PPM does is to help to understand your current business relationship. Explain the three other things that understanding the PPM can help you to advance or enhance your current position

2. (10 points) Describe the odds-are factor? Why is it important to you as a sales person?

3. (20 points) During a meeting with decision makers of Acme Manufacturing, a medium size plastics vacuum forming operation, it was shared that a current supplier, which is a competitor of yours, recently was missing delivery dates for critical items and negatively impacting Acme’s ability to meet its promises to its clients. Acme’s CFO, Sarah, was interested in having you submit a proposal for services that they have never sourced from you and your company. What is your current position and why? Briefly describe a strategy based on your answer to the first question?

4. (20 points) You are a recent graduate from CMU Professional Sales program and have been hired as a sales representative for the Top Solutions in Chicago, IL., which is a leader in consulting, analytics, digital solutions, engineering, and cyber with industries ranging from defense to health to energy to international development. Currently you have no book of business and have to start from scratch. You will be on salary of 50K for 6 months, during which time you will go through sales training with access to mentors within the company and shadow current sales reps, then begin transitioning to full commission.

As part of this process, you’re looking for a M.A.D. decision-makers. What does M.A.D. mean?

5. (10 points) Discuss the four (4) main components of the Anger Cycle depicted in the Carew text and how they relate to dealing and resolving the anger cycle.

6. (10 points)

What are the characteristics of a dependency-subordinate relationship versus an

interdependent relationship? Give an example of each. Which less-than-effective relationship do many sales professionals assume on initial sales calls?

7. (10 points)

Define perception. Distinguish between selective perception and objective perception.

Selective Perception

Objective Perception

8. (20 points) What does the Bonding Process (LAER) accomplish?

1.

2.

3.

9. (20 points) Briefly describe the steps and the main purpose of each step in the Bonding Process, LAER? Give an example statement or nonverbal action for each step.

L

A

E

R

10. (20 points) Based on the results of your LAER-S style assessment what strengths and challenges are you now aware of and how will you use this as a professional salesperson?

11. (10 points) What % of human communication is verbal?

12. (10 points) There are two other components of communication. What are they and what % of human communication do each represent?

13. (10 points) What type of information/data about prospects would be critical to effective phone prospecting –e.g. conversion from prospects to leads?

14. (10 points) Name two of the five characteristics Josh discussed Thursday, October 4, 2018 in class presentation.

a)

b)

Extra Credit – must get all three to get the 5 points

(5 points) What does each leg of a three-legged stool represent – e.g. characteristics of good sales professionals?