Successfully hiring strong salespeople involves many facets, but I want to focus on a particularly important item. Sales requires a fine-tuned blend of self-esteem and empathetic outlook to be effective.

First, let’s define these terms for the context in which we are using them:

Self-Esteem – The ability of a person to realize and appreciate their own unique self-worth. They base these feelings on internal factors as opposed to external ones.Empathetic Outlook – This is the ability to perceive and understand the feelings and attitudes of others – to place oneself in-the-shoes of another and to be able to view a situation from their perspective.

Each of these two aptitudes impacts the other and therefore the delta between them must be measured. For almost all sales positions, it is imperative to have a stronger empathetic outlook than self-esteem.

These salespeople are able to read the nonverbal cues of others to understand communication at a deeper level. They also do not overvalue their personal needs in comparison to the prospect’s needs. They have the ability to focus on the prospect’s strategy, needs and “hot buttons” when qualifying an opportunity. These salespeople are also able to suppress their egos to accomplish their goal of closing the deal.

There are articles available that discuss strong egos, strong drives, strong empathy, strong everything when it comes to spotting successful salespeople. Be careful following the broad brushstrokes defining these traits as needed in great quantity. The relationship between the aptitudes is the key determinant for selecting the strongest salesperson.

Comments(0)

Here is an interesting development – Newspapers will partner with Yahoo. I find it surprising that we are quickly approaching 2007 and the antique newspapers are finally making a serious adjustment towards an online focus. The dinosaurs of the newspaper industry may have made the move too late – it is hard to say. The younger generations are not newspaper readers. Instead, they consume their news in an electronic format. Suffice to say, it is a move in the right direction.

One piece of information stands out for our business:

The consortium said its first move would be to bolster Yahoo’s HotJobs online classified service, allowing advertisers to post job listings in newspapers, on newspaper Web sites and on the Yahoo network.

We have dabbled with HotJobs in the past, but we have not had much success with their online job board. Their impending tie-in with the newspaper postings will cause us to give them a second look. The newspapers tend to have strong local brands for employment ads and can be effective for city-focused sourcing. I would say this aspect of the agreement will surely bolster both the local newspapers employment ad revenue and HotJobs’ overall effectiveness in competing with Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com.

Comments(0)

We are sourcing many different positions right now so my antennae are up regarding resumes, phone calls and emails. At times, the responses can be overwhelming. Or underwhelming. Just yesterday I received a stammering voicemail about a position in which the candidate said they were going to send an email with their resume. I’m still waiting.

I received another call a couple weeks ago in which the candidate wanted to fax a resume to me for a technical position. I told him he could email it to me instead. He said he doesn’t have email.

It seems apparent to me that their is no more odd time in a hiring process than sourcing. On that topic, CareerJournal.com offers up a short Q & A article titled Do’s and Don’ts for Emailing Cover Letters and Resumes.

The multiple questions are topical and one stands out to me:

Will employers frown on replying to job ads from my work email?

That is an excellent question and I agree with the author’s answer:

Using your business address may not be wise for another reason: It shows potential employers that you don’t hesitate to use your company’s resources for personal gain.

I realize many employees use laptops and capture their work emails from their home network too (myself included). However, the use of work email for personal job hunting has the appearance of lacking respect for corporate property. Whether accurate or not, I often view these candidates as lacking discretion too.

On to a different topic with a solid answer:

As for cover letters, don’t attach one unless an employer specifically requests it, because employers don’t have time to open and read them, says Christine Goodson, director of talent sourcing for SPX Corp., an industrial manufacturer in Charlotte, N.C., employing about 15,000.

Use your email text as a very brief cover letter, Ms. Goodson says. Just say in about three sentences why you are the best person for the opening and offer your phone number.

If you have read The Hire Sense for any period of time, you know I have a weakness for poorly worded cover emails. Yet, Ms. Goodson is right – keep it concise, direct, well-written and you will stand out.

Lastly, a topic that is of great importance in our world:

She’s also impressed by applicants who follow up their emails to job postings with a phone call, even when an ad says not to call. Ms. Goodson says only about one person in 25 calls to ask if she has reviewed their resume. “It makes a difference,” she says. “I can think of several hires we made because someone took the initiative to call and point me to their resume.”

Remarkably, the phone call has almost become “old school” in the hiring process. In sales sourcing, the phone call is crucial to size up the candidate’s abilities. I’ve written this before, but if you are currently filtering candidates by their resume and then bringing them in for a face-to-face interview, there is a better way.

Comments(0)