The Art of Being Memorable
“Elegance is not about being noticed. It’s about being remembered.”
— Giorgio Armani
Make sure that you are memorable for the right reasons. In an interview, your first post or 1000th, or your opening statement with a keynote, the first goal is to do a great job the first time out. Your second goal is to get a second interview, a like and follow or to get hired back to speak again! Your third goal is to ensure that you remain on the decision makers radar. A personally written thank you notes and all appropriate follow-up’s are quick and simple ways to stand out and stay in touch in a meaningful way. If you’ve just traveled some place that is interesting to you, finished a degree, done a presentation or created an interesting video for instance, these are all great excuses to stay in touch with your peers and potential customers. Let people know that you are ‘in the game.’
The head of wardrobe at the most prestigious repertory theater in North America, shared a great example of a young female sewer who interviewed for a sewing job five years prior. At the time, he told her that she had potential but wasn’t ready to do the kind of highly skilled work they required of her as they often work with costumes that can cost up to $50,000. Instead of seeing that as a ‘No’ for forever, she diligently maintained meaningful contact with him twice per year updating him on what work she had been doing, including samples and highlights of how she was refining her skills. Five years later, after maintaining contact and selling herself with integrity, she was invited to work as an apprentice to the head sewer. All because she made sure he remembered her by maintaining consistent contact in a meaningful way that mattered to him and to her.
Here’s a perfect example of someone becoming memorable for the wrong reasons. She felt she had every right to an in-house job she thought she was the best candidate for. In one short-sighted moment, she sabotaged her chances and tarnished her reputation with her peers. An administrative manager of a large university in the U.S. told me, she had sent out a job posting for a full-time administrative IT role. A junior administrative secretary that had been working at that university sent her resume along with hundreds of other applicants that came in from around the country. Many of these resumes came complete with Master’s Degrees and other high ranking skills, but the junior administrator was given an interview even though her skills paled in comparison to the level of the other candidates. Being a long time university employee, granting her an interview seemed justified. The specific role she was applying for meant that the junior administrator needed to show that she could manage hundreds of people, and all that role would entail. She was given a fair interview but, in the end, she didn’t get the job. She took such offense to being refused by the managers that she wrote a letter of personal grievance directed to the specific interviewers and copied every employee at the university. The details of the letter are irrelevant, but writing it destroyed her reputation, burned bridges, and, ultimately, got her fired for defamation of character. That one move made her feel better for a moment, but it will affect the rest of her professional life forever.
The reputation you are building is yours to nurture. Manage it as carefully as you would protect the most important people in your life.
By : Alli Mang
© Copyright Alli Mang All Rights Reserved
(Excerpt from Alli Mang’s book, Sold Out – How to Reach Your Full Potential in Sales from amazon.com)
