I’m still a LinkedIn neophyte, but I like the development they are pursuing. From Online Media Daily comes this story – LinkedIn Opens ‘Back End’ To BusinessWeek, Other Web Publishers: LINKEDIN, A SOCIAL NETWORK TARGETING business professionals, is living up to its name. It’s opening its “back end” to Web publishers that want to bring the network’s functions to their sites. The first publisher to get the LinkedIn invitation, BusinessWeek, wants to use its networking function to make BW’s Web site a place where business types can connect and maybe even make deals–in other words, a place to do business, rather than just read about it. In one feature, LinkedIn… Read More
Continue ReadingCube Rage
ManageSmarter.com offers up this article – Cubicle Conniptions – that discusses office behavior that mirrors road rage (emphasis mine): Workplace violence is increasingly common in offices, and it isn’t limited to physical injury or assault, but includes any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted at his or her place of employment. Thirty-three thousand workers are assaulted on the job each week in the U.S., and 17 employees are murdered, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. I’m speechless.
Continue ReadingMediocrity In The Hiring Process
Hiring salespeople is the difficult combination of science and art weighted perfectly to select the right person for the position’s requirements. Obviously, knowing the position’s requirements is the preeminent step. Many sales managers believe they know what it takes to be successful in the position and they do to a certain extent. Yet, their knowledge often consists of themes as opposed to specifics. This reason drives us to profile the sale as the very first step in our sales hiring process. ManageSmarter.com’s Is Hiring Mediocre Good Enough? approaches a hiring process with some valuable insight and other items I wouldn’t recommend. First, the reason astute hiring is mission-critical to corporate… Read More
Continue Reading2008 Workforce Forecast
The Herman Trend Alert offers up their 2008 forecast in this week’s electronic newsletter. Since I do not have a link, here is the forecast in it’s entirety: This year, once more, we offer you our full forecast for the coming year: 1. Recruitment in a Tightening Labor Market Even the coming economic slowdown will not completely stop the creation of jobs. Moreover, stimulated by job creation and the fact that skilled workers in many occupations are in short supply, time-to-fill openings will also continue to increase as will the costs. 2. More Employers Turning to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) In an effort to reduce costs, more large employers will… Read More
Continue ReadingSports And Selling
Older article here from our local StarTribune paper – Sales Skills Hiring Managers Seek. There are some interesting points from the quotes in the article, but one thing that stands out to me are these quotes from different recruiters: …and have achieved in athletics. and A sports background also helps. This background is couched around the competitive nature of sports transferring to successful selling. I’m not sure I buy into that correlation, but it does intrigue me. I played sports throughout high school and college and can envision many self-centered teammates I would not recommend for any sales position. Still, I am probably over-focused on the exceptions. However, I do… Read More
Continue ReadingNow THIS Is Marketing
I heard a radio commercial this morning for one of these credit card debt consolidation companies. The closing line from the commercial: Must have over $10,000 of credit card debt to qualify. Qualify? Exclusivity in a club for which most people would not want to qualify. Excellent spin.
Continue ReadingTime Kills All Deals
I recently read an excellent Career Journal article – Speed Date a Potential Employer And Get an Offer That Same Day. A point made in the article is to include a response deadline when extending an offer to a candidate. The author puts in the following quote: “Time kills all deals,” he says. “I’ve had clients that lost out on candidates because they went the traditional way and dragged their feet for three or four weeks.” No one is making you, as an employer, change how you hire. If you want to take 3, 4 or even more weeks to run your hiring process, that is your choice. Remember, you are looking at a salesperson and… Read More
Continue ReadingATS Sterilization
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are widely employed on corporate websites and by recruiting agencies. I understand the automated efficiency of a computer program in handling a large number of applicants. Yet, I don’t find them helpful for hiring salespeople. When we place an ad for a sales opportunity, we provide the option to email or call for response. We do not ask respondents to fill out an online form. First off, if they send a resume (the most common response these days), I get the opportunity to see how they present their experience and abilities. Formatting, presentation, flow…these are all pieces of information that can be gleaned from their resume. … Read More
Continue ReadingWearing Out The Delete Key
From a cover email I just received in response to an ad for a regional sales manager: Hi, Lee. I am _____. I live in __, however, I am international, or regional, or national, or whatever the job calls for. It gets worse. The candidate worked in a collection-type role and included 2 pages of collections (amounts, dates, commission, payment type). He included the first and last names of the people from which he collected the late payments. Unbelievable.
Continue ReadingCompensation – Keep It Simple
Every year we find December to be a fertile time for sourcing salespeople. One of the biggest reasons – the upcoming year’s compensation plan. More specifically, new commission plans tied to new quotas. The salespeople receive the new plan and are, well, disgruntled. Or ticked off. Good salespeople tend to look outside for new opportunities when their commission plan gets over-adjusted following a strong year. Let me speak clearly here – I am all for raising the bar, but you do have to take all factors into account before setting the new targets. ManageSmarter.com offers up this article – Fast Track Your 2008 Sales Compensation Plans – with 10 tips… Read More
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