CareerJournal.com has a dated article regarding compensation titled When to Disclose Pay To a Prospective Boss. This is an important topic for hiring strong salespeople.

There are many salespeople who have tremendous difficulty discussing money with prospects. Their weakness leads them to spending inordinate amounts of time with “prospects” that will never close (logically speaking, the lack of money means these are not truly prospects). A weak money-qualifying salesperson may choose to spend time calling, meeting, quoting, pursuing a prospect without questioning them about their budget.

This fear of a money discussion leads to gross inefficiencies in the salesperson’s performance. Most likely, the deals they close will be ones that they simply stumble in to. Since they choose to avoid qualifying money, it is difficult to quantify how much money they leave on the table in each deal they do close.

With that background, the context of this article reads differently. I suspect the author was not writing exclusively about sales hiring, but this topic is crucial in the hiring process.

First, what not to do:

If you appear relatively underpaid, describe hefty raises and bonuses that you pocketed during boom times. Emphasize that bad business conditions rather than your individual performance were to blame.

Bad idea in sales – it is obvious excuse making.

Some better advice:

Inquire about the budgeted salary range for the targeted spot. Say whether that range matches your qualifications and personal needs. Express eagerness to negotiate your next package once it’s clear you’re the preferred pick.

In sales hiring, we value candidates who focus on the commission plan. Successful selling requires winning deals and being rewarded for those victories. Salespeople who focus on salary more than commission are displaying traits that should concern any hiring company.

Lastly, let us all hope this closing statement does not come to pass:

Should pay-history queries be outlawed? The practice “is unfair on its face — and has the effect of prolonging discrimination due to race, gender and age,” contends Ted Turnasella, a compensation consultant in West Islip, N.Y. He is lobbying state lawmakers to introduce a bill that would bar employers from posing the question during interviews or on job applications.

What an astoundingly bad idea. I wish the author would have asked Mr. Turnasella how this practice “is unfair on its face.”

Comments(0)

Money motivation amongst salespeople is one of the most misconstrued points in successful sales management and hiring. At the risk of splitting hairs, motivation needs to be separated from reward. This distinction is the key to differentiating between what motivates strong salespeople – money – and what rewards them.

This Selling Power article – Cash In on Cash-Based Motivation – fails to make this distinction. However, the quick read does offer 3 solid points for commission plans. The highlights:

1. Don’t Penalize Performance
Gonzalez refers to the practice of capping salespeople’s commissions as one of the gravest mistakes I’ve seen in the commission-based environment.

2. Be Careful with Team Incentives
In this kind of scenario people actually wind up de-motivated because they know that no matter how hard they work, they wont be able to make up for the shortcomings of the team.

3. Open Up a Line of Sight
Line of sight is the term Gonzalez uses to explain that salespeople need to understand the direct correlation between their improved performance and the company’s bottom line success.

The article contains more information than what I have shared in the above quote. Remember, finding Utilitarian motivations for sales is tantamount to success. Understanding what rewards their Utilitarian motivation is the key to locking in consistent commission performance.

I’ll close with an example. A Utilitarian salesperson will be motivated by a return on their investment of time, resources, effort, etc. They work hard to close a prospect and the company provides them with a commission check. The Utilitarian motivation is satisfied, but not rewarded. This salesperson is rewarded by status and recognition. Although they received the commission check, they readily connect with the reward of receiving recognition for their success. The sales manager would be wise to announce this salesperson’s success to the sales team. That recognition would reward this salesperson at a deeper level than the commission check.

This is a subtle, but powerful distinction.

Comments(0)

It is Friday once again and time for another anecdote. In case you haven’t noticed, the phone screen is the source for most of these humorous encounters. I was recently conducting a phone screen for a high tech company with a complex sale. I asked the candidate what products and services he had sold and how this experience fit the requirements of the position listed in the ad. He replied with:

That’s easy – my background fits very well. I’ve been a comic for over 10 years, an agent, sold cars at a dealership and car washes to gas stations.

He never tied these experiences nor the skills he gained from them into the requirements of the position. That is understandable since the position involved a solution-based, $500K sale that typically went through a top level executive.

The screen call ended soon after that line.

Comments(0)

Let’s keep the generations topic rolling this Friday. The workplace generations are transitioning as the boomers exit and the X’ers assume leadership roles. This topic is one we have written about here and here.

This week I came across an article by Kevin Wheeler titled Generational Differences Make All the Difference. The article is an interesting read as he dives deep into the 3 major generations in the workplace today.

I’ll give you a sample from each generation as a preview to the well-written article.

Baby Boomers
Career advancement is of key importance as are promotional opportunities and the chance to make a real impact. This is a generation of people that are desperate to do something meaningful before they retire.

Gen X
This is the generation that is skeptical of offers of security or long-term commitments. Leaders are suspect, and cynicism is common. They will leave you for a nickel, as the saying goes.

Gen Y
This is a generation that values balance and moderation. They want time to be with friends. They are conformists and team players, more than any other generation, and they will be very loyal if the organization provides them with a few things…

Some of the commentary paints in broad strokes, but, of course, that is needed when characterizing a generation. Motivations and rewards (i.e. money, social causes, leadership, etc.) vary in intensity in each of us. Measuring that intensity is the fine detail needed to select the strongest candidate from any generation.

Comments(0)

As I was reading through SHRM’s recent survey on Job Satisfaction (subscription required), a couple of stats really jumped out at me that further indicate the gap in what satisfies and motivates the different generations of workers.

Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction on 21 different aspects of their work environment. They used a standard 1 to 5 scale (1=very unimportant up to 5=very important). Here are some of the topical results broken out by employee age followed by avg. score:

Career advancement: under 35 – 4.41 36 to 55-3.85 over 56-3.53

Career development opportunities: under 35 – 4.49 36 to 55 – 4.09 over 56 – 3.85

Job-specific training: under 35 – 4.34 36 to 55 – 4.04 over 56-3.62

Employer commitment to professional development: under 35 – 4.34 36 to 55 – 4.01 over 56 – 3.77

Flexibility to balance life/work issues: under 35 – 4.57 36 to 55 – 4.44 over 56 – 4.36

As you can see, younger generation expects a company to be committed to providing opportunities for professional development along with a distinct desire to balance personal and work life.

Comments(0)

If you read The Hire Sense, you already know we love lists. This one is timely considering the current oil prices (they closed at a record high yesterday).

Relocating for a Job That’s Closer to Home lists the shortest commutes based on time.

No. 1: Wichita, KS = 21.1 minutes
No. 2: Omaha, NE = 21.3 minutes
No. 3: Toledo, OH = 22.2 minutes

I know, tenths of a minute is a fine resolution for measurement. Nonetheless, I have recently driven to both Wichita and Omaha and you can certainly get around both towns quickly.

Telecommuting will continue to be a hot hiring topic as there are few signs that gas prices will ease any time soon.

Comments(0)

From CareerJournal.com – Surveying the Field: Tapping IT Talent:

In the survey, 66% of the CEOs said high-quality employees are the biggest contributors to growth, outranking strategy and leadership. Last year, 25% cited high-quality employees as the top growth factor.

I emphasized the stats. 25% to 66% is a remarkable change and indicative of the tight (and tightening) labor market.

Comments(0)

Bob Rosner at the Working Wounded Blog pens a post – Professional Self-Deception – that argues against using assessments for existing employees.

That caught my eye.

Surprisingly, I agree with him in one regard. Self reported assessments are marginal at best. In Bob’s words:

And that, in a nutshell, is why I think these tests are so bogus because they don’t pursue an objective view of your performance, but simply quantify our own self-deceptions.

Exactly. I read that sentence and immediately think of the Myers-Briggs assessment. We have seen coworkers completely miss on the Myers-Briggs since they think they need to be a certain style.

We only incorporate assessments that have predictive reliability along with checks and balances regarding respondent answers. One of our assessments is nonsensical – respondents cannot detect a pattern or logic to the assessment.

These topics are important when assessing either candidates or employees. I put little value in self reported assessments, but a reliable and validated assessment provides accurate, objective insight that cannot be gathered by observation alone.

Not coincidentally, our relatively new assessment graphic metaphorically displays this truth. What is below the water line cannot be easily observed. Unfortunately, the majority of common assessments focus on communication style which is the easiest to observe and the least predictive of success.

Comments(0)

Sales&Marketing Management has a topical email newsletter that hits on some common issues. There is no link to their email so I’ll post the entire message here (emphasis mine):

Sales force productivity remains a big problem for many executives. According to a one survey of executives at 67 companies across a wide range of industries, 60 percent are dissatisfied with sales force efficiency and effectiveness, with almost half saying that goals were not met. So what should managers do to boost productivity? Perhaps they should take another look at their compensation plans.

Here are some tips to make sure your comp plan is up to speed:

1. Make It Simple
Having fewer measures creates focus for the sales force. Simplicity brings clarity to what the company needs to do to succeed.

2. Pay for Performance
More than half of respondents say their comp plans do not differentiate enough between top and average performers, which ends up being a demotivator. Focusing rewards on the right people is important because it will maximize the “bang for the buck” that a company will get for its compensation dollars.

3. Reward the Right Behaviors
Plans should clearly identify which selling behaviors the comp plan will reward. This is the key link to how the company’s strategy will be executed in the field. It takes some careful thought on the part of management to identify these behaviors, because the right ones to emphasize might be changing as a company changes its approach to the marketplace.

All 3 points are valid, but #3 is critical. Often we encounter positions that require a priority on one type of selling but the comp plan rewards the opposite. For instance, if the position requires new business development, it is imperative that the comp plan pay a higher commission on new customer business as opposed to existing customer business.

It’s not rocket science, I know, but you would be surprised at how many companies overlook this simple point.

Comments(0)

In all my years, I have never heard of this:

Cheerleading to Sales: The Leap is More Common Than One Might Assume

While the idea of recruiting current and former cheerleaders to work as professional salespersons may seem like a stretch, in reality it isn’t. If you want individuals who aren’t afraid of performing under pressure, are outgoing, dedicated, and are enthusiastic about getting others involved, cheerleaders are a perfect fit. Pharmaceutical firms and network communication equipment companies have both found cheerleaders to be phenomenal at sales.

The leap from the football field to the sales profession is so common that it can support a placement agency known as Spirited Sales Leaders, which specializes in enthusiastic people. With more than 10,000 “spirit leaders” in its database, it’s clear that others recognize the need for attribute versus skill-based recruiting.

We are all for attribute recruiting, but this seems to be a bridge too far. We have seen our fair share of “enthusiastic” salespeople who couldn’t sell water in the desert. I do commend the pharmaceutical firms and network communication equipment companies for looking outside of their typical candidate pool.

Comments(0)