Seth Godin offers a clear delineation between strategy and tactics.

This post reminds me of a company I used to work for that provided sales training. The tactical level of the training was excellent and provided the salespeople with a toolbox of powerful moves. Unfortunately, the strategy behind the process was never coherent and the salespeople never grasped the process.

The end result was salespeople who could use one or two of the tactics, but would then get shut down by the prospect. The frustration in the salespeople manifested itself in their concise criticism, “I don’t know what to do next.”

Mr. Godin speaks in marketing terms, but this point sums up the issue I observed with the sales training:

Here’s the difference: The right strategy makes any tactic work better. The right strategy puts less pressure on executing your tactics perfectly.

How true.

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Now HotJobs.com offers up their survey about job seekers in 2007 – Many workers to consider new jobs in 2007. No surprises in that headline. Their stats:

The survey — in which nearly two-thirds of respondents (66 percent) said they would consider new job opportunities in 2007 — suggests the U.S. workforce is full of “passive job seekers” looking to improve their prospects.Optimism about new jobs in 2007 was also common among survey-takers, as approximately 70 percent believe opportunities for job seekers are better or the same as one year ago.

These numbers are similar to SHRM’s results.

There is a stark contradiction later in the article.

Salary ranked as the main thing workers would change about their jobs (39 percent), with benefits coming in a distant second place at 12 percent. In addition, three-fourths of respondents said they did not get the raise or bonus they expected in 2005.

Yet, later in the article is this finding:

When asked how they define success, respondents opted for less tangible benefits than salary. Nearly half (46 percent) said having a work/life balance was the key to success, while 41 percent equated “feeling fulfilled” with success. Only 9 percent considered a high salary as the indicator of success.

It would be interesting to know the age groups that were surveyed, or at least the break out of respondents. Salary is probably what most survey participants believe is the “proper” answer to a survey question regarding why they would leave. Yet half of them do not find it to be a key to their own personal success.

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I saw this section in a sales ad this morning:

Day to Day – At a glance

The section contained seven bullet points explaining the tasks of a typical day in this role. It was a quick read section that provided enough insight into the position to pique the interest of the right candidates.

The brevity of the section is the factor that makes it work. I would not recommend 25 bullet points with every daily task – just provide the flavor for the candidate.

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CNNMoney.com offers this quick story – Planned job cuts take big Dec. dip. The phrase “planned job cuts” is a poor construction, but it essentially means expected layoffs.

Planned job cuts for all of 2006 fell below 1 million for the first time since 2000, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an employment consulting firm.

Be wary of the naysayers spouting an impending doom for our economy. The economy is robust and it truly is an employee’s market right now. The reason why you should be aware of this fact:

“With the American economy at full employment for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, the latest job-cut data provide strong evidence that employers turned their energy toward retention in 2006,” Challenger said.

There is a perfect storm brewing right now (or perhaps already raging). We have historically low unemployment, almost automated job search agents and a new generation of workers who monitor new opportunities . . . all the time.

Retention will be a top priority for 2007. It should be a top priority every year. Salespeople are on the look out for something better. If turnover is trampling your sales staff, perhaps it is time to provide some assistance to your sales management team?

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Today we are focusing on an aptitude that has become more prevalent with the advent of remote salespeople. When we assess sales candidates for home-based or remote office positions, we place a higher significance on this trait.

Self-Management
An overall trait comprised of multiple factors which involve a person’s ability to manage his or her own self. This trait is similar to a person’s ability to manage others which involves empathy, understanding, gaining commitment and various other leadership qualities. This trait measures a person’s ability to marshal similar abilities toward managing themselves.

A salesperson with strength in this aptitude will be able to objectively and accurately assess their own strengths and developmental needs. They tend to be realistic in deciding what they are capable of doing and in what time frame they can do it.

A salesperson with weakness in this area may have trouble applying these capabilities towards themselves. This is not to say that they do not posses the proper tools to manage. Rather, they simply may not be very practiced at internalizing such efforts towards themselves. They may fail to maximize their abilities to their fullest potential since they have difficulty properly analyzing themselves.

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CareerJournal.com – Returning to the Corporate Fold After a Stint As Your Own Boss:

“After seven years of running your own business, you’re a renegade,” Mr. Eberharter says. “I call people like this ‘psychologically unemployable.’ “

What a fantastic saying – I laughed out loud when I read it. I often tell the Rock Star I am unemployable.

There is a good piece of advice for any jobseeker tucked in the article:

If you’re determined to find a corporate job, you likely need to redo your resume since yours isn’t opening doors to the higher-level positions you should be targeting, says Jewel Bracy DeMaio, a resume writer in Sanatoga, Pa. “The job of your resume is to get a quality response, not a quantity response,” she says. “Yours isn’t doing that, so most likely it isn’t written correctly.”

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Inc.com offers up this slide show that nails it – 10 derailing mistakes that can short circuit any hiring process.

A couple of my favorites:

Jumping to conclusions
Don’t be too hasty when reviewing resumes. A 30-second glance isn’t enough to eliminate a candidate. Be fair, and take the time to discover the truth behind a resume.

I would take it one step further – don’t jump to conclusions after interviewing the candidate either. We have sat through many interview debriefs where the hiring manager took one piece of data from the interview and ran it out to a sinister trend in the candidate. There is nothing more frustrating than that. Ask questions. Ask follow-up questions. Ask clarifying questions. Don’t assume.

Letting personal attitudes and biases impact decisions
Everyone has pre-dispositions, but if you begin the process with bias for any reason, you may well miss out on a great candidate.

This mistake is subtle and difficult to expose. We see it often and try to work around certain aspects of it. Most often these biases are based on recent experiences. Heaven help you if you find a strong candidate who has any resemblance to the person who last held the position!

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From a promotional email from CareerBuilder.com:

Last year, job searches on CareerBuilder.com increased by over 60% in January, breaking all previous job search records.

Obviously, CareerBuilder is trying to sell employment ads, but the quoted statistic is remarkable.

We hear people complain about finding talented salespeople using the big online boards but we have consistent success with them. The boards may be a problem for some positions, but I don’t think that is the common cause. From what I see, many companies post ads that are . . . well, atrocious.

Here’s my Minnesotan view on it: Imagine you are on a large lake that is renowned for good fishing. Now let’s say you don’t catch any fish, or at least keepers, for an entire week. You could state that there are no keeper fish in that large lake, but few people would believe that statement. My initial questions to you would be, what bait were you using? What other bait did you try?

See, too often we encounter HR departments that have written a job description based on their internal criteria. That job description (which reads like technical instructions to a mechanical assembly) is then posted on a job board resulting in a flood of misaligned resumes in somebody’s inbox. Granted, there are automated responders on the major boards so you will receive some completely unqualified resumes. But the quality of response is directly proportional to the quality of the ad.

If you want to attract the right sales candidates, you have to write the ad so that they see themselves in the ad. The best approach is to outline the parameters of a typical sale and describe the skills and aptitudes needed to succeed in that sale. A brief description of the compensation plan is also a requirement. However, it is unwise to go into great detail about all of the rewards the salesperson will receive if they land the position. That information will enter the equation at the appropriate time in your hiring process – and hopefully the strong candidate will use their qualifying skills to discover it.

For more specific information, please read this article from our newsletter. The article is from 2 years ago, but the principles are still effective today.

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Each morning I peruse the sales employment ads to see who is hiring and what ads they are placing. I came across a local company I have never heard of and was impressed by a bullet point in their ad:

Accountable for achieving sales goals within an assigned territory which has key accounts.

The emphasis was theirs. This approach may seem trivial, but it is important in putting the right bait out their to find the right salesperson.

Companies often have glorified visions of a single salesperson with minimal marketing help being able to take a zero revenue territory and grow it into a highly profitable territory. This can happen – I’ve personally done it. But I had much help from the marketing department and a strong brand to sell.

Yet finding a salesperson to grow the dormant territory usually takes much money and a long time frame. If you have existing accounts in a territory, do not be afraid to give them to the new salesperson once they are ramped up to full speed. Give them the rewards of the commission for those accounts even though they inherited them. A taste of that sugar will keep them motivated. The commission structure also teaches them to earn as opposed to receiving a handout in the form of a guaranteed commission for a set time period (unless you have no existing accounts in the territory in which to earn commission).

One other point, if your commission plan pays the same rate for a dollar of existing customer business vs. a dollar of new customer business, you need to revisit your commission plan.

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This morning I heard numerous references to this Florida State survey regarding lying bosses. I caught up to the story and found a slightly different read – Study: Bad Bosses Abound in U.S. Really? I’m not sure how this is newsworthy, but it hooked me.

Here are the stats from the upcoming survey:

• 39 percent of workers said their supervisor failed to keep promises.
• 37 percent said their supervisor failed to give credit when due.
• 31 percent said their supervisor gave them the “silent treatment” in the past year.
• 27 percent said their supervisor made negative comments about them to other employees or managers.
• 24 percent said their supervisor invaded their privacy.
• 23 percent said their supervisor blamed others to cover up mistakes or to minimize embarrassment.

I do not see any direct statements regarding lying. I chose to highlight some of the egregious offenses discovered by the survey. To me, it looks like much ado about nothing.

I believe most people have experienced some of these interactions (thought I’m not sure about the context of “invaded their privacy”). Some of these statements have emanated from my 7 year-old son’s mouth.

Leading others is a difficult proposition for any one person. I believe it was Bill Cosby who once stated, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” The best managers I have every worked for share one common trait – they were all fair.

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