The salutation from another email cover message: Dear All Hiring, Cover emails are difficult to write without starting it in this manner. I’m not a big fan of using “To Whom It May Concern,” but at least it doesn’t draw your attention in a negative way.
Continue ReadingA Question For Every Candidate
We never, ever phone screen a sales candidate without asking some form of this question: Why are you looking for a new opportunity? This question is revealing especially if you drill down a bit on their initial response. You will learn much about the candidate. We also ask it of previous positions – why did they decide to leave those positions. Listen closely to their response. Just in time comes this line from an email cover (emphasis mine): The company is closing their doors in Minnesota and abolishing all positions. Therefore that is why I am seeking new employment. Dramatic. This respondent certainly gets right to the point on the… Read More
Continue ReadingCoffee Culture Marketing
I graduated with a degree in psychology and I have a coffee addiction so abcnews.com’s article was irresistible: Starbuck’s Psychology. The article points to some specific, subtle marketing principles incorporated by the ever-expanding Starbuck’s chain: It has everything to do with the marketing strategy behind this designer coffee chain, which devised a clever way of creating its own community. It also pinpointed one key aspect of caffeine shoppers: They want their coffee immediately. “Designer coffee” for certain. Knowing this fact, they devised their strategy: Across the United States, there are 9,814 stores with a total of 13,728 worldwide. The Starbucks management has watched coffee drinks, and figured out exactly what… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Can vs. Can’t Approach
One client of ours told me a sales hiring story that led them to us. The sales manager followed the conventional hiring process – post an ad, sort the resumes, interview the candidates from the “yes” resume pile. He chose a salesperson with a glowing resume who absolutely won him over in the interview. He knew he had made a mistake a couple months into her employment. It turns out that this salesperson could not handle making calls in the presence of other people. What I mean is that her phone-intensive position was located in a cube farm with her peers all around her. She was incredibly uncomfortable talking to… Read More
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