Green Selling - Improving Your Resume

By Steve Ashkin

About 15 years ago I was introduced to a concept called “resume-ing”.  The idea was simple, every six months I would update my resume.  This was NOT because I was looking for a new job, but more importantly it gave me a chance to see if I was moving my career in a positive direction.

From then on, every time I updated my resume, I would include all of the things that I had done over the past six months that were important enough to add to my list of “accomplishments”.  At first it wasn’t much because some of the best and more important accomplishments take time, but nonetheless I persisted and soon I was replacing earlier and lesser important “accomplishments” with ones that would really standout.

In addition, I would update my list of “references” which were key, important or influential people that I had met over the past six months.  These people were those that would be willing to serve as a reference for me in case I was being interviewed for my dream job by my dream company.

As I stated earlier, the reason to do all of this was NOT because I was looking for a new job, but rather it forced me to beginning thinking about what I was doing and to make sure that when I was prioritizing my activities on a daily and weekly bases to include some of those huge important projects and made effort in building new important relationships.  Resume-ing made me very aware of those things that would really help my career.

So what does all of this have to do with selling Green Cleaning products and services?  Everything!

It is now mid-December and I hope among the many things you are now doing now is an analysis of 2005 and set your New Year’s Resolutions for 2006.  It is very important that you develop a good plan.  And you will be best served if your plan not only accomplishes your short term goals, but prepares your career for the future as well.  And this is what resume-ing can do for you.

There are five specific areas that over 2006 you may want to consider being able to add to your resume.  These include:

  • Professional Development:  Become a Green Cleaning expert.  Attend educational seminars sponsored by the likes of ISSA on Green Cleaning or IICRC on cleaning in general.  Or consider becoming a LEED Accredited Professional by studying the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System and taking their accreditation test.  These can show up on your resume under professional development and educatio

  • Piloting:  Implement a COMPLETE Green Cleaning program to really learn all the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the issue.  Far too many sales people are just superficially doing Green Cleaning.  Sure it’s important to sell chemicals or recycled paper towels.  But that is just one piece of the puzzle.  Nothing will help you become a Green Cleaning expert then to do a complete program.  So set a goal to do at least one pilot program and find one that will look good on your resume under Green Cleaning accomplishments.

  • Publishing:  There are very few things that would be better for your career then publishing a magazine article.  So when you identify that Green Pilot Project, keep a file, log or journal about your experience.  Write down what worked, what didn’t work, what surprised you, what was easier then you expected, what was harder then expected, what others can learn from your experience, what you would do differently the next time, funny stories, how your Green Cleaning program made a difference for a specific building occupant, capture quotes from your customers and occupants, etc.  And don’t forget to take lots of pictures!  Not only will getting published set you apart from your competitors as you send copies to all your current customers and prospects, but it looks great on a resume. 

  • Speaking:  Public speaking is one of the most feared issues that many people face, but it can also be one of the best career builders.  Green Cleaning is hot!  And today there are many opportunities to talk about how cleaning can both protect health and reduce environmental impacts.  So set a goal in 2006 to do some public speaking.  It’s OK to start small, but do at least one.  Speak at a local school board or PTA meeting, Rotary or other civic club, chamber of commerce or other local business meeting.  Speak at a school or university who is interested in environmental issues.  Remember, Earth Day is coming up soon and this can create an opportunity for you to speak, so start planning now!  And you can invite all of your customers and prospects – plus it will look great on your resume.

  • Networking:  Picking up a pile of business cards at a conference and adding them to your email address book is NOT building relationships.  Sure it’s a start, but set a goal to find at least one person who would be willing to serve as a reference.  And the best way for you to do this is by doing an incredible job with your Green Cleaning Pilot Project and make that building manager or purchasing agent a “hero”.  If you do this, then you have a pretty good chance that they would be happy to serve as a reference

    Remember, Green Cleaning is happening and your customers and prospects are going to be buying those products from someone.  So think about what would improve your resume -- set a clear goal and make a plan. 

    Let’s make 2006 a terrific and very Green year.  Good selling!

Copyright (c) 2005 The Ashkin Group, LLC.. All rights reserved.