Who Needs A Landline?

From our local Pioneer Press: More than a quarter of young adults have only cell phones, making them the leading edge of a strengthening move away from traditional landline telephones, a federal survey showed Monday. Overall, the portion of adults with only cell phones grew by more than 2 percentage points in the latter half of last year to nearly 12 percent, an expansion rate that began in the first part of 2006 and was double earlier rates of growth. One in four people age 18 to 24 had only cell phones, as did 29 percent of those age 25 to 29, the study showed. The percentages declined with age… Read More

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Turnover Trouble

Turnover is trouble for any company when it is not controlled.  To use a timely analogy, it is similar to a forest fire.  A controlled burn clears out a section allowing it to be repopulated with fresh, new trees.  An out-of-control fire can destroy an entire forest in a short amount of time. Obviously, extreme turnover is typically a sign of a “churn-and-burn” organization.  However, a small, controlled amount of turnover is valuable to an organization’s overall health.  But what about a company with no turnover?  Is it healthy? This question is difficult to answer in a vacuum.  Number of employees, company revenue, market trends, etc. all play into the equation.  Yet, problems will… Read More

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An Ad Without Clarity

In reading through more sales ads this morning, I kicked up an example of an ad without clarity about the position. Here are the qualifications: -Hard working and dependable -Sales experience is necessary (____________ industry, preferred) -Must have no travel restrictions in covering assigned multi state territory -Must be computer literate -College Degree preferred -Strong Relationship building skills That is it. The remainder of the ad is filled with the compensation and benefits the salesperson will earn in this role. The few bullet points provide no specific traits or skills for a candidate to qualify. I suspect that almost every salesperson who reads the ad will believe they fit these… Read More

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New Position – Sales Demonstrator

I just read an ad for a position I have never seen advertised before – “Sales Demonstrator.”  I was quite skeptical before reading the ad – successful selling pivots on the salesperson’s ability to qualify.  There is no more important sales skill set than qualifying.  Demonstrating to an unqualified prospect is a fool’s errand. However, after reading through it, I realized the ad is actually pretty solid.  The position is B2C sales so the demonstration part makes more sense (consumer sales tend to involve more emphasis on the demonstration stage of a sale). Part of the description: Demonstrators offer water samples to people passing by and try to engage them… Read More

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