Job Offer Etiquette

Call first, email second. There is no other way to do it safely. This BusinessWeek.com article – Hiring Companies Should Show the Love – got me thinking about this topic. The article is written to the candidate’s perspective, but it holds good advice for hiring companies too. For starters, if a company calls you with a job offer, they should have all the details ready to explain to you, including title, reporting relationship, compensation (salary, bonus, 401(k), etc.) and amount of travel. Now, much of this may have gotten sorted out during the interview process. But because the processes are often so fragmented, you may only have one shot with… Read More

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The Selling Sales Manager Paradox

We here at The Hire Sense are diehard hockey fans so pardon my analogy. Jacques Lemaire is the head coach of our Minnesota Wild. As head coach, he is obviously in charge of running practices, developing players, coaching during the game and, ultimately, winning games. He does all this without ever scoring a goal for the team. He does it by coaching his players and holding them accountable. It is a full-time job. Now imagine if the owner of the Wild decided he was going to measure Lemaire’s performance by how many goals he scored in the games. Lemaire would have to change his whole strategy to allow himself to… Read More

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6 Body Language Clues

Managesmarter.com offers this article – Express Yourself – to provide salespeople with 6 easy reads of their prospect. Nose or face scratch implies dislike. Head tilted to the side implies interest. Eye rub implies deceit. Hand or finger blocking the mouth implies lying. Thumb tucked under the chin with index finger pointing up on the cheek implies a critical attitude. Chin stroke implies making a decision. All of them are good reads for observing prospects’ subconscious take on the discussion. However, how do you affect a change in the discussion? One tool we provide salespeople is our Selling Style sheet which provides salespeople with a quick, 1 page reference sheet… Read More

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The Right Way To Share Profits

Andersen Corp. (window makers) is a well-known employer up here in the Twin Cities whose business has slowed down greatly with the housing slow down. Nonetheless, the company is still issuing profit sharing checks for all of its eligible employees (22% of their salaries!). The part that caught my eye: Andersen announced in early December that it was cutting 400 manufacturing positions at its Bayport plant and an additional 40 at a plant in Menomonie, Wis. The company cited a dramatic downturn in housing construction as the reason for the job eliminations. Those workers’ last day on the job was Jan. 2. In that same December announcement, Andersen officials said… Read More

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