is a GPS receiver.  I get lost in my driveway and yet I still do not own one of these things.  In case you were wondering (you probably weren’t wondering, but I was), here is how the thing works:

When people talk about “a GPS,” they usually mean a GPS receiver. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is actually a constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites (24 in operation and three extras in case one fails). The U.S. military developed and implemented this satellite network as a military navigation system, but soon opened it up to everybody else.

Each of these 3,000- to 4,000-pound solar-powered satellites circles the globe at about 12,000 miles (19,300 km), making two complete rotations every day. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, anywhere on Earth, there are at least four satellites “visible” in the sky.

A GPS receiver’s job is to locate four or more of these satellites, figure out the distance to each, and use this information to deduce its own location. This operation is based on a simple mathematical principle called trilateration.

My simple mind finds that fascinating.

Comments(3)

Sales managers have to be part-time psychologists in their leadership position.  The best salespeople have an internal motivation that drives them to succeed.  Yet, a strong sales manager still has to know each salesperson’s drivers and how to access them when needed.

Selling Power offers a short article titled Internalizing Motivation that discusses this topic: 

Sales trainer Don Hutson recounts the story about a sales manager who approached him at one of his seminars and said, “I don’t believe in motivation because it doesn’t last.” Hutson replied, “A bath doesn’t either, but it’s a good idea to take one once in a while.”

Hutson says sales managers can’t directly motivate salespeople to sell any more than salespeople can directly motivate customers to buy. It’s an indirect process. Motivation has to come from within if it’s going to work and last. Sales managers can create an atmosphere and environment around their salespeople that encourages self-motivation.

That bath line from the above quote is priceless.  Motivation is important in that there will always be days where a salesperson could use some external motivation.  I won’t define what that motivation needs to be, but you get my point.

The first key to properly motivating a salesperson is knowing what that salesperson’s motivation is and, simultaneously, knowing what rewards they value.  These are measurable traits that can be provided to a sales manager as part of our sales development plan.

Comments(0)

He’s old.  And he rarely reads my posts so this gift will still be a surprise to him.

Comments(1)

The ability to ask the right question.  From Colleen Francis’ blog:

Over 20 years ago, Neil Rackham concluded a 12- year study analyzing some 35,000 sales calls conducted by 22 companies in 23 countries. The objective of the study was to determine the precise behaviors of successful sales people.

What did he find? That mediocre sales people make statements. The best ask questions.

That is absolutely true and we see it in spades on a daily basis.  Have you ever noticed how people assume someone who is talkative is often told they should go into sales?  I think this conventional wisdom is the reason why there are so many overbearing salespeople in the world.  Successful selling involves many aspects, but the ability to ask the right question, shut up and listen is foremost among them.

Comments(3)

I didn’t know this:

FORGET CYBER MONDAY. NIELSEN ONLINE has confirmed that Monday, December 10th was the biggest online shopping day this season, based on its Holiday eShopping Index. The index comprises data from more than 120 online retailers across 12 categories.

The Index showed 34.9 million at home and work unique visitors on “Green Monday”–a term recently coined by eBay to describe the second Monday in December as the heaviest online shopping day of the season.

Spending hit $881 million on Dec. 10, according to comScore, up 33% from last year.

(From Online Media Daily)

Comments(1)

We were pleased to learn that The Hire Sense has been nominated for the Best Blogs Awards 2007.  The fact that we were nominated is an honor in itself as there are many tremendous blogs up for the award.

If you enjoy The Hire Sense and would like to vote for us, you can simply follow this link to cast your vote in the survey or click on the image above.  You can vote for this blog in the Best Overall category and the Best HR Blog category.

Many thanks to RecruitingBlogs.com and to Zoom Info for running and sponsoring the annual awards and for considering our blog.

Comments(0)

In all honesty, I am a streaky salesperson (at best).  I have always been prone to peaks and valleys in my sales which speaks more to my abilities.  Nonetheless, this ManageSmarter.com article addresses this problem with tips for breaking out of a slump.

First, a great point:

Besides, prospects can smell desperation in sales people. If you panic, your prospects will sense that you’re desperate, and they’ll avoid you.

Oh that is so true.  Prospects have an innate ability to detect a salesperson working a deal out of desperation.  And, of course, that desperation typically plays out as a sizeable discount in the sale price.

Then there is this:

Third, don’t get angry. Anger will be misinterpreted by your clients, peers and managers as being emotional or out of control. Whenever you find yourself becoming angry, try to be as honest as possible, and focus on solutions and options—not on laying blame.

Anger is the common outcropping when a desperate deal falls through.  Nothing hurts worse than losing a good deal when you are in a sales slump.

There are 7 steps in the article that provide guidance for getting out of a slump.  The steps are worth the read so here is an excerpt to whet your appetite:

2. Get back to basics.
Once, after Tiger Woods had spent hours on the practice green sinking hundreds of puts, a commentator asked him why he was still practicing considering how consistent he had been. Tiger responded: “I don’t like the way the ball is rolling into the cup.” That’s mastering the basics.

Slumps are almost always caused by not having enough qualified buyers in the pipeline—in other words, not enough prospecting. If you find yourself in a slump, start by looking internally, not externally. Remember that the slump is your slump, not someone else’s. Be strong enough to realize this, and take corrective action.

Comments(1)

It already seems like a holiday week, but we’ll keep things moving this week as best we can.  The first interesting item I found this morning is a story stating that Google is looking to develop a competitor to Wikipedia.

From MediaPost:

LOOK OUT, WIKIPEDIA. GOOGLE IS soliciting entries for a new Internet encyclopedia that will consist of material submitted by people who want to be identified as experts.

The concept, revealed in a posting on Google’s Web site, poses a challenge to the nonprofit Wikipedia, whose entries are generated by unpaid, anonymous contributors. Google is calling its alternative “knol”–the company’s shorthand for a “unit of knowledge.” Submissions are currently by invitation only as Google fine-tunes the system.

Google may be able to own the entire world is 5 more years.

Comments(0)

This post from the Pondemonium blog at Inc.com explains the rationale behind hiring from a corporate and employee perspective.  What is interesting is that the blogger is the decision maker who had to let people go last week.

I thought these graphs cut right to the core of employment:

I don’t know about other companies, but every time I’ve ever hired someone to work here, it was because I fully believed I’d be able to make more money with them than without them. In other words, if I pay someone $1 to do something, I expect to make $2 from their efforts or services. It’s really that simple! Unfortunately my crystal ball is sometimes blurry, the economy doesn’t always cooperate, and I’ve even been known to invest in ideas expecting future business that somehow doesn’t materialize according to my expectations.

For an employee, this same principle holds true in reverse. An employee needs to find a job that pays enough to meet basic needs and also leaves money for discretionary spending. Individuals call this “extra” money, while business owners call it “profit.” The employer and employee enter into a relationship for an identical economic need, which is to acquire “extra” money after all the basic needs have been met. No employer starts out intending to just break even, and job hunters always try to find a job that pays more than they need to survive.

What all of this means to employees and owners alike is employment should be viewed as a means to a common end. I will help you realize your dreams and goals associated with employment, such as salary, raises, job satisfaction, security, and benefits, if you will help me realize my dreams and goals, too. If I fail to do my part and am forced to let someone go, then we both lose. Likewise, we also both lose if an employee fails to do his or her part.

Comments(0)

This info is trivial, but entertaining.  From the JustSell.com daily newsletter – the 2007 cost of the 12 days of Christmas from the CNNMoney.com website:

Here’s the breakdown of the 12 days…

1. Partridge in a Pear Tree – $164.99
2. Turtle Doves – $40
3. French Hens – $45
4. Calling Birds – $599.96
5. Gold Rings – $395
6. Geese-a-Laying – $360
7. Swans-a-Swimming – $4,200
8. Maids-a-Milking – $46.80
9. Ladies Dancing – $4,759.19
10. Lords-a-Leaping – $4,285.06
11. Pipers Piping – $2,213.40
12. Drummers Drumming – $2,397.85

I had no idea the price of Lords-a-Leaping had gone up so much.

Comments(2)