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Archive for March, 2007

Flexible Hours Expected

CareerJournal.com’s Bend Without Breaking: Women Execs Discuss Flex Schedules is an interesting take on a woman’s leadership challenges.  This quote is what caught my attention:

Michele Coleman Mayes, senior vice president and general counsel of Pitney Bowes, says one of the main rules she learned early in her career — to never leave the office at the end of the day before her boss — is considered outdated by her 20- and 30-something employees. “We baby boomers were driven by face time, but younger employees say ‘what’s the point of that when everyone is wired and always reachable?’” says Ms. Mayes, who is 57.

Some women executives Ms. Mayes’s age glower when younger employees ask for flexible work schedules and complain they aren’t committed, she says. Ms. Mayes dismisses that view as foolish, saying it can cost companies talent that they need and, now, with technology, can manage in new ways. She arranged for one attorney on her staff to leave work by 5 p.m. each day to spend time with her young child. The attorney works from home on her laptop later in the evening and never misses deadlines, according to Ms. Mayes.

If you do not offer flexible work arrangements now, you should definitely prepare to in the near future.  This flexibility is expected from more than just the younger generations.  We are experiencing flexible hour requests from baby boomer candidates also.

Sales Management Fear Factor

“Let’s be clear, I’m not going to take the assessments.”  That was part of a conversation I had with a sales manager recently.  It is surprising how often I have this discussion – either overtly or indirectly.

Sales managers are not fans of taking our assessments even though the assessments provide strategic insight into growing themselves and their team.  One cannot successfully look at a team – any team – without the context of the team’s leader.  In order to understand the sales team, we must understand the sales manager.

This disdain for our sales management assessment begs the question, why do they dislike the assessments?  My thought is simply this – the sales manager, at one time, was promoted or hired into the position.  Either way, the new sales manager was expected to bring extensive management skills that would be a perfect fit to this particular sales team.

But how many salespeople know how to succeed in sales management?

Take the top-performing salesperson who is promoted into the sales manager role.  They succeeded in the sales role so the assumption is they will “teach” the other salespeople through their own personal success.  That model is expected to lead to team-wide success.  But this approach is not sales management, it only works if you have a team of clones selling in exactly the same markets.  Surely you don’t.  Each salesperson is different in many facets, not the least of which are skills and aptitudes.  How does this new sales manager positively affect change in a salesperson who is not “wired” the same way as him?

I believe this is the crux of the problem.  Salespeople are placed in management positions without knowing how to manage their people.  If the sales manager candidate reveals this fact, they know they will not be considered for the position.

That fear brings us back to the assessments.  Woody Hayes was the legendary football coach at Ohio State University years ago.  Hayes was renowned for running the football almost exclusively (and ignoring the pass).  When asked about his run-always philosophy, he said something to the effect , “Only 3 things can happen when you pass the football and two of them are bad.”

I think sales managers take a similar approach.  The assessments will reveal that the sales manager is strong, weak or has deficiencies that the company did not know they had.

This approach is misguided.  Sales managers are typically the people in which the company has the most invested.  Sales managers are also the people who can have the greatest impact improving the sales team’s performance.  Even if a sales manager could be stronger, it is in the company’s best interest to invest in the sales manager’s ongoing development.  We will be releasing more information on a new program shortly in regards to this business-critical topic – please look for it soon.

Soft Skills Make The Business Person

Interesting article from the Ottawa Business Journal titled The hard facts about soft skills.  The premise:

“The things that students are missing out on when the certificates are handed out are lessons in soft skills that actually make a business person who they are. The technological skills are relatively easy to learn, but the soft skills are what make you a business leader,” said Barry Gander, vice president of CATA and author of Success.

Gander makes an excellent point especially in regards to recent business school grads.  Technical skills are difficult to differentiate since they appear to be a commodity.  Soft skills are certainly the more elusive traits to locate (and measure) and therefore the better differentiator.

“There are five things employers will pay for. They include leadership skills, project management skills, people skills, communication skills and sales skills. Notice they’re all soft skills. Everything else (like technical skills) everyone else has too!”

He’s right.  I would take it a step further and say that companies will measure these 5 skills and we at Select Metrix will look at how those different skills interact.  This interaction is an important part of the equation.  One example:  strong communication skills but weak sales skills often reveals a schmoozer.  Schmoozers are dangerous because they are often smooth enough to look strong in interviews but their weakness is exposed once they are on your payroll.

Sales Traits Series – Integrative Ability

This week’s trait is one we bandy about here at Select Metrix often regarding salespeople.  This trait is important in all sales but especially in complex selling environments.  Pay special attention to the weakness description – it is a common issue we encounter amongst salespeople struggling in a complex sale.

Integrative Ability
The ability to evaluate what to do is also the ability to identify the elements of a problem situation and understand which components are critical. Being able to clearly see the component dimensions of a situation gives a person the ability to see different types of situation structures. Thereby, they are able to see different types of problem solutions.

A salesperson with strength in this trait is able to integrate all the variables of a situation into a single homogenous picture. The picture is then used to make decisions regarding planning, resource allocation, problem solving, etc.

A salesperson with a weakness in this trait may tend to not be able to see the most obvious problem solution. They may get mentally blocked by focusing too much on any one component in the problem (e.g., people, system structure, and resources). Someone with an intense weakness in this trait might also tend to have preset ways in which they solve problems. They find it difficult to break away from these narrow habits and utilize other problem solving techniques or methods.

“They Are Not Motivated”

I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who is a sales manager for a technology company. As is often the case, we started talking about some of the issues he is seeing with his team. We also discussed another one of our friends who is a sales VP and the problems he is having with his large sales team.

Two managers, same problem – the salespeople are not motivated. That is it in a nutshell. The salespeople are capable and know their product, but they do not appear to be highly motivated nor successful. Their sales are average at best, but not remarkable.

Mediocrity is a sales neutralizer. Think of it like yeast in cooking. A small amount of yeast will work its way completely through the dough. Unchecked mediocrity will do the same thing in a sales department.

The first step to fixing this problem is understanding an important aspect of a salesperson – their motivation-reward structure.

Their motivations are the factors that drive them in their day-to-day activities. These deep-seated motivators affect their decision making, communication, direction and goals. Click here for more information about motivations.

Rewards are just that, the very thing the salesperson values. This information is more complex than it seems. Is your salesperson rewarded by material possessions or status & recognition. These two common sales rewards look similar in observation but are quite different in application. Click here for more information about rewards.

The final step is to bring these 2 factors together since they feed each other. Aligning the reward structure to the motivation structure is the first step towards getting the most out of your existing salespeople.

The follow-up question becomes, is their most enough for the position? That is a post for another day.

Cold-Calling Numbers Game

Is it me or is the saying “it’s a numbers game” an overly-simplistic statement regarding a grossly inefficient tactic?  Weight lifting is a numbers game.  Sales and marketing is not.  Some instances where this statement is applied:

  • cold-calling
  • networking
  • job searching
  • mailers
  • invitations

I’m sure there are other examples but those stand out in my mind.  There is a modicum of truth to the statement.  Yet, it lacks the strategic aspect needed in today’s market.  This throw away line is often the dismissive final comment from a person whom lacks a formal strategy and/or has reached the end of his or her tactical moves.

What about adjusting the approach, shifting tactics or rethinking the entire task?  These thoughts are viewed as over-analyzing a simple task.  Cold-calling, for instance, does require a salesperson to make the calls (and many salespeople won’t).  But lacking strategy and tactics on the call leads to a colossal waste of time.  In that instance, it is not a numbers game.

Today’s information age requires salespeople who have the ability to speak at an informed level.  The days of cold-calling a VP and asking, “What does your company do?” are gone.  Salespeople need to have a cursory understanding of their prospect’s business and even to some extent, the challenges that company is facing in the market.

Obviously the greatest cold-calling tactic will be pointless if the salesperson does not make the calls.  However, there are certain aspects that a salesperson can use in his or her approach.  Plan the call, have a toolbox to handle common situations and focus on the quality of the call before the quantity.

As a sales manager, don’t use the throw away numbers line on your sales team.  If you are struggling with the format of the call or coaching your team, we can help

The Pursuit Of Excellence

Successful selling requires excellence – in talent, ability, communication amongst other factors.  Successful sales management requires pursuing excellence in each team member.  Unfortunately, many sales managers are able to define failure in the position but they find defining success to be far more elusive.

When running our hiring process, we see this play out time and again.  Sales managers are adept at describing past failures in exquisite detail.  There is value in this knowledge so we gladly record it.

However, the conversation almost always slows down when we turn our focus to success.  The obvious answers are provided – revenue goals, customer acquisition, etc.  But what about the traits, behaviors and skills that lead to success in the position?  These topics often lead to the sales manager squirming in their seat.

Here is where we start:

This formula is difficult for sales managers to complete since no 2 sales go down the same way.  Yet, the sales manager must have a general understanding of this formula based on experience.  It is still surprising how many sales managers we encounter who cannot supply the numbers for these boxes.

Here is why this is important – if you know the numbers to close 1 sale, you can build the skills and traits needed to be successful in that sale.  One thing is for sure, you cannot ask a new salesperson to do something 10, 20, 50, 100 times that you cannot clearly define 1 time.

The information in the above graphic allows the sales manager to search for excellence.  The skills, traits, style, rewards and motivations necessary to succeed all start with an understanding of that one simple formula.

Annoying Co-Workers

From abcnews.com’s How to Cope With Annoying Co-Workers:

When someone makes a mess of the microwave, don’t say, “You’re such a pig.” Instead, try saying, “To keep the microwave clean for everyone, all of us must pay attention to wiping it down after each use. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, so I’d appreciate it if you’d try to be more diligent about this.”

Honestly, who talks like that? I would tell them they trashed the microwave and the paper towels are over there. The premise of the article is still entertaining. Here is an annoying example from early in the article:

At one company I visited, WallSt.net, the employee gripe was aimed at CEO Albert Aimers. His offense: Parking his Mercedes in two spaces unlike the 400 other cars in the lot.

Wow, talk about a tin ear. You would think a modern-day CEO would be more in-tune than that example.

I once worked for a sales manager who would smack his chewing gum and speak in short sentences like Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but you had to experience it. I’m getting irritated just writing about it so I better end it here.

Profit Over Market Share

Selling Power offers up Forget Market Share; Go for the Profits in their sales management newsletter and it is a compelling read.

The problem with going after market share as a primary goal is that companies wind up sacrificing profitability in the process. When your whole marketing strategy is about preserving or increasing market share, it€™s easy to get wrapped up in aggressive bidding wars. And it€™s a downward spiral: customers learn to take advantage of that aggressiveness, demanding lower prices, which further erodes profits.

It is a slippery slope because in essence a discount in price immediately discounts your value distinction.  Businesses that not only articulate their value differentiation but also successfully defend it are the ones that grow…exponentially.

Here is a comment to make sales manager’s gag:

In other words €“ and here€™s the tough part for many managers to swallow €“ when a competitor threatens your position by offering lower prices for a similar product, your first move should not automatically be to jump in to undercut him. In many cases, it is far wiser simply to walk away.

Salespeople are tempted by the discount to close the deal (I can personally attest to it).  But in the long run, discounts lead to dilution of your value.  I have always been one to fancy market share through extraordinary offerings as opposed to greatly discounted products or services.

Read the story about Reuters in the article for a real-world example of this principle in action.

Me Time Is Vital

Gen Y or Millennial candidates take a different approach to their job search.  If you weren’t sure of this or have yet to experience it, I give you the Pioneer Press’ The choosy generation:

They want to work for companies that offer nice salaries and clear career paths for advancement. But many are pushing for more. Work isn’t their life, they’re saying before they even begin working, and they’re searching for employers who offer flexible work schedules that allow them to maintain their personal pursuits. “Me time” is vital. So is volunteering in the community €” on company time.

We can attest to this trend as we have seen it first-hand.  This generation does take a bit of an entitlement mentality to their job search as the article explains.  However, this generation does offer some amazing talent that was simply not available in our generations.  Their wired ability leaps to mind.  This generation is the first to grow up with computers and the Internet and it shows in their abilities.  Yet, to land many of the talented ones, companies do need to take a new approach.  For instance:

“That comes in the form of significant vacation entitlements, in the form of imaginative alternative work programs which allow people to take leaves of absence, to work part-time, to job-share,” said Kernan.

The firm that is willing to consider these things will be ahead of the companies that require their employees to work a lock-step eight-hour workday, he said. “We are constantly looking at and tweaking all of our work-life related programs.”

That quote is from the 56 year-old managing partner of the Twin Cities’ branch of Pricewaterhouse Coopers.  Oh how times have changed.  One last point from the excellent article is the younger generation’s expectation to work with the management team.  Gen Y sees the company hierarchy in a relatively horizontal manner and expect the culture to reflect that view.

Today more than ever before, Slavitt is likely to field questions from job candidates about their potential level of exposure to company executives. “At a company with 5,500 people they would not be at all surprised to meet with me and others on the executive team and get that level of exposure,” Slavitt said.

Read the whole article.

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