I received an unsolicited email this morning from a niche job board that is really lame.  The remarkable offer:

I spoke with my Manager specifically about your company.  I asked him to help me put together a cost effective trial package that would need to give you a good feel for how effective our service can be.

I was able to create a private promotion that my Manager has authorized until the end of February.

Since this is a private special, it is not available online. If you want to take advantage of it, you must call me.

And of course the offer appears to be a 70% discount.  Please.  The fact that “Manager” is capitalized is entertaining in itself.  However, the entire prospecting message screams “delete me.”

I always appreciate prospecting approaches that are real, honest and straight-forward.  Approaches like this one have far too much of a used car sales approach to be considered valuable.

UPDATE:  I just received the exact same email for one of our other sites.  Perhaps this sales rep and Manager are quite the proficient team.  Either that or it is spam.

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Might be a good idea to leave this bit of data out of the cover email:

Position must be daytime hours and reachable BY THE BUS SYSTEM. I am without a vehicle and License at this time, this is only temporary until I pay a fine.

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Now this is a provocative article from BusinessWeek.com titled Defining A Job.  The article is quite thorough in it’s reasoning and well worth the read.  But let’s start with this explanation:

In a nutshell: how do you define a job? For most organizations today, it’s based on the unit of time—40 hours week, for example—but I believe that definition is rapidly reaching the end of its useful life. Going forward, many jobs in our economy will be better defined by and compensated according to the task performed, regardless of the time spent achieving the desired outcome.

Ironically, the switch from time to task takes us back to the way most workers were compensated for centuries. In both agricultural and craft-based economies, rewards were directly related to output created: the amount of farm produce, the number and quality of pottery pieces, and so on. Even in the early days of the industrial revolution, workers were paid by individual piece rates, in most cases with no guaranteed base pay. As late as 1920, 80% of all workers in the U.S. were paid on a piecemeal basis or in some other way that linked pay directly to the quantity of results produced.

This approach is no revelation to those of us from the sales world.  The purest form of selling is straight commission.  As we say, “you eat what you kill.”  The thought of switching to a performance-based compensation structure makes complete sense to me due to my sales focus.  But here is a well-worded explanation from a macro perspective:

The majority of workers of the western world are now employed in service industries—and already more than half of those are knowledge workers, paid for writing, analyzing, advising, counting, designing, researching—and countless related functions, including capturing, organizing, and providing access to knowledge used by others. Time-based jobs make little sense for these workers. Who’s to say how long it will take an individual to write a report, conduct an analysis, or produce a piece of software? Why not specify the outcomes that each individual is responsible for producing, and let each knowledge worker determine how much time is required to do the job well? Task-based makes sense in a knowledge economy.

And the reality is, many corporations are there already—but just haven’t acknowledged it. The move to telecommuting is essentially trusting that the task will be accomplished, although in most cases the job is still stated in terms of an expectation to work a specified number of hours from home. As virtual work continues to spread, the logic of confronting this slight of hand, of making the stated expectation fit the operational reality, grows.

Brilliant.  I couldn’t agree more with the author.

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This is an interesting article from BusinessWeek.com - a ranked order of saving graces which are essentially counterpoints to the typically hard-charging approach of managers.

The 7:

1. Listening: Taking the time to listen can get you out of more jams than the rest of the saving graces combined. It is the ultimate way of demonstrating that it is not all about you and your agenda, and it is an excellent tool for breaking down barriers and getting more out of what you do with others. Few executives are good listeners.

2. Approachability: The best executives need to be early knowers, especially when it comes to negative information. The best executives are easy to talk to, even when conveying or having potentially bad information conveyed to them. To be effective, approachability has to be combined with listening. Executives tend to play 20 Questions: “Where did you get the information? Who else knows? Why didn’t I hear about that before?” This is not a best practice for effective executives.

3. Boss Relationships: Those who tend to venture into deep and dangerous waters find that it can be very difficult to swim alone. If you tend to stir up controversy and are quick to engage in conflict, it is helpful to have the advice and counsel of a seasoned boss who can coach you through such situations and provide some support when you falter. Making your boss successful is Job One, whether you like him or her or not.

4. Integrity and Trust: This one speaks for itself. The people you lead will often forgive a lot if they can clearly perceive that you speak the truth and are a person of your word.

5. Humor: The use of humor to make others comfortable is a useful skill. Using self-deprecating humor is one of the better techniques. It puts others at ease and makes your thoughts appear to come from someplace a little more accessible. Humor allows you to become approachable by putting others at ease when in your presence.

6. Interpersonal Savvy: Being able to relate 360 degrees is important. Finding a way to make a connection with individuals up and down the chain and inside and outside the organization gives you something to rely on when things are not going so well. Diplomacy, tact, and knowing what to say and when to say it can take the tension out of situations and make unpopular decisions and unfortunate mistakes easier to deal with.

7. Understanding Others: The focus here is on groups rather than individuals. Understanding others is about knowing what makes one group different from another and why that matters. This is more difficult to master than listening, but learning to identify what is important to a group and why is often the key for gaining buy-in and knowing how to lead through difficult situations.

I would say that is a fairly comprehensive list.  Can number 4 be stressed enough?  That may need to be number 1 for without it, all other factors are neutralized.

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We’ve been working through a fair amount of initial sourcing activities the past week or so and I’ve come across something that catches my attention.  I’m seeing more and more posted resume/cover letters that state what a candidate is not looking for in their next position.

No telemarketing positions.

No work-at-home schemes.

Not interested in travel.

Must have benefit plan or not interested.

I understand the desire to be focused in a job search, but I notice a negative effect when I read through these types of statements.  Immediately, I start thinking about what other restrictions may be part of this candidate’s baggage.

I suspect there are many companies out there approaching any new resume listing with the chance to become a millionaire by selling weight-loss drugs for just 2 hours a week from your home computer.  Annoying for sure, but I don’t think an introduction to an online resume is necessarily the best forum for voicing restrictions.

Sales candidates who take this approach always give me pause.

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This is the title from a sales resume:

sales pro here looking for best carrer oppertunity

Spell check is a jobseeker’s best friend.

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Romance in the office is the topic du jour on Valentine’s Day.  This year is no exception as BusinessWeek offers The Ethics of Office Romance.  I did enjoy the author’s take:

The implications for the workplace are this: The odds against an office romance succeeding are just slightly better than what you’d find at the worst casino in Las Vegas. When you lose at roulette or keno, though, you’re out only a couple of bucks (if you’re smart), and that’s the end of it. When you lose the game of love at the office, you still have to face the other person day after day. That constant reminder of a relationship that didn’t work out is a painful burden to bear, and it can affect how well you are able to do your job, which is the main, if not sole, reason we’re employed in the first place.

How true.  The article continues with all of the pitfalls that accompany an office romance.  Yet, towards the end of the article, the author offers this advice for those who want to push forward with a romance:

1. Proceed with your eyes wide open. Be prepared to accept the consequences, whether or not the relationship succeeds. If co-workers complain or your work suffers, you may have to be transferred to another department, or you may even lose your job, so have a backup plan for employment.

2. Be discreet. Even if everyone in the office knows love is in the air, do your best to avoid PDAs (i.e., public displays of affection, not personal digital assistants. I’ll discuss those distractions in a future column).

3. Just don’t do it if the object of your affection is your boss or assistant. There is no good way to effectively handle such relationships other than preventing them from happening in the first place.

Good advice in my opinion.  And I say that as a man who met and married the woman of his dreams at work.

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This article ranks 50 metros in terms of relative ”stress” and I was glad to see my metro did not make the top 10. We did, however, miss the “Top 10 Least Stressful” metros (by one place). Distressing, to say the least. Those of us who live in the Twin Cities love to brag on our quality of life, even more so than our weather. We love being in the top 10 of any silly survey.

It made me think about the stress of working in sales. The constant pressure to perform. The uncertainty of the deal. The hidden power centers and arcane purchasing rules. The shifty clients and the wayward economy. Off-shore competition. Crabby sales managers (OK, that was a dig, but I am entitled having lived on both sides of that aisle).

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

When you’re interviewing for that next sales person, you better find out how they handle stress or you might simply be adding to your own. Does the candidate shut down? Blame others? Avoid confrontation (and thereby avoid closing the tough deal)? Or do they readily accept the conditions of the job and figure out ways to succeed without exploding?

Now, you say to yourself, if this is such a key attribute, how do I evaluate that candidate? Ask them during the final interview?

Better to address it with a careful assessment, up front. Our friends at Select Metrix capture a lot of key information during their online assessment of sales candidates, including skills, motivations and rewards. Plus, they use their unique approach as another proving ground, each conversation or contact with the candidate carefully crafted to place that salesperson into facsimiles of real-life sales situations. The candidate is evaluated not only by their answers to the assessment questions, but also in how they respond to the challenges, topic shifts and intentional obstacles that the Select Metrix interviewer throws at them. It’s like this – they try to intentionally stress them out to see how they handle it!

Here’s the analogy that pops into my head – an NFL quarterback who can’t handle crowd noise won’t succeed, despite all the basic skills and athletic ability. So too, a sales professional needs to be able to handle the stress of our highly competitive and fast-paced world of commerce.

Assess the stress and stay out of the scary forest.

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Salespeople are motivated by many factors, but the primary, most common motivation is Utilitarianism.  The drive is for a return on investment.  Most people first think of money which is a good example, but it is bigger than that.  It involves a return on time, effort, energy, resources, etc.  72% of the top salespeople in any market or company are motivated by Utilitarianism.

Now imagine a salesforce that is not compensated in some manner by commission - a group with a strong Social motivation.  You would then have this story from the Boston Globe - A noncommissioned sales force? You’re crazy:

What is it that Little, vice president of sales for the semiconductor company Microchip, says to prospects that makes them stare at him with incredulity? He tells them that his sales force does not work on commissions. He tells them: “We are the only noncommissioned sales force in the industry. We are here to serve, to help customers solve problems.”

This VP claims it has worked for his team.  I’m a Utilitarian myself and struggle with this entire concept.  Obviously helping customers solve problems is mission critical, but what about prospects?

Little replied: “The normal sales call has the customer mind-set of, ‘Tell me about your product, give me your lowest price and go away.’ We break down that wall. Once the customers understand that we really are there to serve, they start asking for our advice and our expertise. We become part of their planning process - what are we working on five years out?”

Again, I struggle with this approach.  The discussion focuses around customers, but what of prospects?  There are many prospects out there who would enjoy a salesperson who walks in and shares his or her advice and expertise for free.

What about the size of the opportunity?  If I am a salary-only salesperson, where is my motivation to close a large opportunity that is going to require more work than a smaller, simpler opportunity?  We saw this effect first-hand at a previous customer that had a heavily-loaded salary plan (with some commission).  That sales team was simply the most unmotivated group of salespeople I have ever seen.  They were indifferent to losing an opportunity since it was of little material cost to them.  I realize there are more factors at work than just compensation (sales management, culture, etc.), but it was the weakest team we have ever assessed.

But Little explains part of the success this way:

“We don’t have to waste time on the games,” he said. “My peers spend 40 percent of their time on figuring out how and what to pay, on arguing who gets paid or what.” And it isn’t just sales managers’ time spent on the games, of course: Add in all the time typical salespeople spend calculating commissions, plotting how to get credit for sales and checking the reports from headquarters to make sure they got everything they were entitled to.

In fact, if you’ve been a salesman, or worked around them, just think of the time spent daydreaming about commissions, sitting with the calculator and working out, “If I sold X Company Y amount, that would mean I’d get Z.” Take that time, convert it to helping customers, and you’d see a transformation in the profession.

It sounds like Little is a successful VP so I give him credit for that, but I just can’t buy into this approach.

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As you can see at our site, we have updated the blog page a bit.  We have had some strange issues in the past with truncating (really disappearing) text so we have gone with a new theme, layout, color, etc.

I hope you like the look and ease of reading The Hire Sense with these changes.  There are a few more on the way so please check back often as the look evolves.

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