The economy is roaring after 5.3% growth in GDP last quarter. We have recently started tracking this monster.com index and it appears to be quite accurate. The takeaway stat: The index, which Monster said is a strong predictor of overall U.S. demand for workers, is up 25 percent over the past year.
Continue ReadingLack of a Sales Process
From Sales & Marketing Management: Of the 1,275 companies surveyed nationwide recently, less than half have a formal sales process; of the 45 percent that do, only 45 percent of those actually monitor the processes in place to make sure they are helping the company sell better. Our first step in running a sales hiring process is to have our customer fill in this graph: This information tells us 2 things – the basic level of prospecting activity required and the company’s grasp of their current sales process. If a company cannot define what it takes to close one deal, how can they expect a new salesperson to do it… Read More
Continue ReadingIncentives vs. Motivation
Rewarding salespeople is a tricky endeavor. Yes, most salespeople are motivated by money, but what rewards do they seek? This seems like a fine point, but motivations are different than rewards. This Selling Power article provides some examples of misaligned rewards, or incentives, that companies have thrust upon their sales force. An example: One high achieving rep at an insurance company, who had won every award the company had to offer, including salesperson of the year, eventually stopped bothering to attend the annual award ceremony. Noting the rep’s absence, one manager decided to find out what was truly important to this particular salesperson. The manager discovered that the rep centered… Read More
Continue ReadingQuestions When Hiring
Jill Konrath has a great post about salespeople who come on “like a bull in a china shop” when trying to sell to prospects. Her cure for these salespeople: You need to create conversations with decision makers. And, there’s only one way to do this. You need to ask questions to engage prospects in a dialogue, then shut up and listen. I couldn’t agree more. I want to take that point and apply them to sales hiring. We use the entire hiring process to observe the salesperson in action. We particularly observe their question pattern – are they trying to determine how they would sell the company’s value proposition if… Read More
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