The document provides tips for using an inquisitive marketing approach to gain a competitive edge in one's career. It recommends always asking questions, looking for ways to add more value, and finding the few things that make a difference. Specific tips include researching areas of specialization deeply, tracking trends, focusing only on real company issues that will make a profit, practicing for confidence, and framing questions to lead to new answers. Social media is presented as a way to gain insights into trends, numbers, and surprises. The document suggests looking beyond the obvious by examining images, comments, third party information, numbers, counterpoints, and old data. General networking sites, microblogs, location sites, and industry verticals are provided as

1. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
Give Your Career Its Competitive Edge
Tips on how to get
the best job by
using marketing’s
inquisitive approach
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2. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
The inquisitive approach
Use the inquisitive approach used by the best marketers because we;
 Are always asking questions
 Always look for ways to extract more value
 Find the few things that make a difference
 Convert difference into an advantage
Add value to the bottom-line
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3. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
New default settings
Being competitive means updating how you look at things. Make these
habits part of your default settings:
 Research – Go really deep into the areas of your specialization
 Trends – Keep a track of the most popular issues
 Projects – Insist only on the real issues of real companies
 Bottom line – ‘Will this make a profit?’ The only Q that matters
 Practice – More the merrier. It gives you visible confidence
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4. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
Art of right questions
Framed well, questioning is an art that leads to new answers & to your
advantage. New questions to ask are:
 Why -> why not?
 How -> how much?
 Who -> who else?
 There’s an alternative to everything …
Questions can always be asked for every answer we get!
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5. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
Using social media
Stay sharp because the world’s biggest library of trends & consumer
insight gives us:
 Trends – What people like, dislike, love, share, talk about …
 Numbers – How many are doing what, where, how …
 Company & competitor insight
 Many surprises – Combo data reveals new advantages
How its used is as important as what is used
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6. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
Look for this
Go beyond the obvious and look for these things:
 Images – Forget a 1000, they say a million words. Also ask what’s missing?
 Guest comments – Hmm really! An underrated goldmine of insight
 3rd party – Most media & peer mentions are trustworthy. But look for context
 Numbers – How may or few follow, tweet, share, comment, refer etc.
 Counter points – Two sides to every coin. The other side also matters
 Old data – Trends! What we do today is actually redoing things from the past
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7. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
Where to look
The entire net is a good place, these places are better:
 General – Facebook, Google+
 Microblog – Twitter
 Location – Foursquare, Yelp
 Research – Slideshare, Scribd
 Images – Pinterest, Flickr, Picasa
 Hotel verticals – CNNGo, Zomato, HolidayIQ, TripAdvisor …
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8. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
Always remember…
 The competitive edge is earned, a little bit at a time, everyday
 Rules are good, uniqueness is always desirable!
 Stay in touch with the latest happenings
 Managers make choices, staff follows choices already made
 Faculty can offer only basic help, your career is your responsibility
Add value to your consumer, boss & business
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9. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
Contribute
This presentation is a highlight of a discussion with 2nd year students at
the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Mumbai on March 19,
2012.
These enterprising students contributed to the PPT:
 Aaditi Agwan, Vruti Makwana, Abhishek Das & Satya Sumanta
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10. @DMelloAlan IHM Mumbai, 2nd Year: Mar 19, ‘12
About Alan D’Mello
@DMelloAlan alandmello
Alan is professional hotelier with specialist skills in hospitality communication,
marketing & business development.
Launching his career as a chef with an int’l hotel chain, in his 18 year career, he
has managed several landmark hotel magazines and launched 16 hotels, resorts
& restaurants.
Presently attached to a fund with investments in luxury hotels & casinos, he is
regular guest speaker on marketing at colleges & at hotel seminars.
Please read his detailed profile on Twitter & LinkedIn.
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