A quick blurb of a story from TechWeb about Monster.com’s numbers released for June. 24 of the 28 major markets showed lower online recruitment activity. They do mention that Minneapolis and St. Louis actually saw an increase in online activity for the month. We can attest to that fact in our local sourcing campaigns. I think this excerpt cuts to the quick of the entire story: “Broader business expansion activities slowed with the start of the summer vacation season.” We see this trend every year – July and August are truly hit-or-miss months of the year. Vacation schedules play a major part in it. One anomaly, traditionally we have had… Read More
Continue ReadingRecruiting the Younger Generation
I just caught up to some reading on Workforce Management’s website. Ready for the Big Time captivated my attention. The author references a company where candidates are hired similar to an NFL-style draft. You have to register at the site but it is free. The article is quite long but I’ll give you the high points. The article is written about what National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) chief executive did in response to seeing that most of his executives and upper managment positions were being held by baby boomers. He put his Senior VP of Sales and Director of Employee Development on the task to develop a system to recruit their… Read More
Continue ReadingDealing with Counteroffers
I’ve never seen counteroffers get rectified. Countering Counteroffers sheds light on this difficult topic. Once a salesperson, or any employee, receives an offer from another company, a level of trust (or commitment) has been compromised. This salesperson obviously had an in-depth discussion about another opportunity and pursued it to the offer level. Now the manager is left to question the salesperson’s commitment to success at the current company. Here is the takeaway quote from the article (emphasis mine): Its poll found that 75 percent of employees who accepted a counteroffer voluntarily left their employer within six months because of promises not kept. Further, the majority of the ones who didn’t… Read More
Continue ReadingSelling’s Taboo Topic
Sales&Marketing Magazine briefly approaches one of sales most taboo topics – Cutting Your Losses. Sometimes customers that you worked so hard to close are simply not a good fit for your business and you have to end the relationship. Tricky stuff but there are some good suggestions in this short article. We had a client 4 years ago who had just purchased her technology company and needed to hire a salesperson. She hired us to find their first outside salesperson but we never completed the search. We presented one strong candidate after another, but she couldn’t pull the trigger. It finally got to the point where we had to end… Read More
Continue ReadingSourcing in Minnesota
The latest jobs report for our home state shows that Minnesota added the most jobs in a quarter since 1984. Of course, the journalist strangely felt obligated to follow that impressive fact with multiple paragraphs downplaying the incredible growth. Our state unemployment is now down to 3.6% which has affected our local sourcing activities. 4 years ago we would post 1 ad on monster and receive 50-60 calls and/or emails within a week. Not so today. We have adjusted accordingly by posting a position on 3 job boards simultaneously. The pattern that is working is to still use one of the major job boards (monster, careerbuilder or hotjobs), one niche… Read More
Continue ReadingSelling the Complex
Jeff Thull is a successful sales trainer in the Twin Cities who works extensively with companies that have a complex sale. I just read this article – How to Prevent “Unpaid Consulting” – and found it full of tactical advice for salespeople. A few gems from the piece (emphasis mine): Unpaid consulting starts when sales professionals cross the line between diagnosing the problem and explaining the solution. When they start designing solutions, they start acting as unpaid consultants. In past decades, this was not a monumental issue. Generally, there was limited competition in complex sales. If the salesperson figured out the problem and designed a unique and valuable solution for… Read More
Continue ReadingMarketing on Eggs…seriously
I just read CBS to Launch Offbeat Promotion on Eggs. CBS is going to advertise on eggs that you purchase in the supermarket. At first I was taken aback by the entire ubiquitous marketing approach of our society. Then I thought I would probably be intrigued if I opened the carton of eggs and saw the CBS eye logo on it. It goes deeper. I googled the company that places the ad on to the eggshell. Eggfusion’s site revealed this: Without affecting the contents or durability of an egg, Eggfusion’s proprietary laser-etching technology safely places tamperproof marks directly into the eggshell as it passes through the packaging process. Apparently, it… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen To Place An Ad
We constantly debate when is the best time to place an employment ad online. Lately we have been receiving mixed signals from other articles, our job board reps and our own experience. There certainly is not a consensus opinion on this topic. When I was younger, we used to go to beach parties where everyone would bring a liquor, a juice and a fruit. We would throw everyone’s “donation” into a large vat, mix it up and call it a Wapatui. For years I had no idea what that meant, but I think employment ads often resemble a Wapatui. A little of this, something from there and we’ll post it… Read More
Continue Reading“Staging” Value Propositions
This might be a stretch (maybe not for a Monday morning), but Staging a Sale is an article about companies that “stage” homes that are for sale. For some reason, I am intrigued by this whole premise. My wife watches a show on HGTV or A&E that is list large guy who stages a home for sale. I get drawn in to the show everytime she watches it. From what they reveal in the episode, the staging appears to make a tremendous difference (my wife informs me of this fact). So I am drawn in to this article and I read this line: A key part of their sales pitch:… Read More
Continue ReadingNot Thinking About Winter
I literally read this Selling Power article – Twin Cities Bring Twice the Fun – this morning while the temperature skyrocketed up into the 90s. The Twin Cities are a wonderful area and the winter does get a bad rap. It’s cold, but people know how to handle it well. Today, we are heading towards 100 degrees in the Twin Cities. Winter seems a distant memory.
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