That is how long you have to hook a person on a cold voicemail message according to this article on Salesopedia (my bold):

6 Interesting Sales Prospecting Statistics

1.  In a recent survey 95% of salespeople said they can sell – they just need to get in front of more prospects.
2.  Effective prospecting blends both marketing & selling.
3.  Most salespeople HATE to prospect.
4.  The best prospectors often close more business than the best salespeople.
5.  Nearly 60% of high performing prospectors consider the phone ESSENTIAL to their prospecting success.
6.  Decision makers listen to only 9 seconds of a “cold” voicemail before deciding to press delete?

Good points all of them.  If you only have 9 sec., does it make sense to spend it stating your name and contact information?  My thought is that it makes more sense to take an approach that buys you another 9 seconds.  Whatever your approach, know that your window is smaller than you may have expected.

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The online job posting statistics provide a look at general hiring trends…I think.  My question is always in regards to which online boards are being tracked.  We are seeing a marked migration away from the big boards to the still-developing niche boards.

That migration may be skewing the data from this Inc.com article – I’m not certain.  Nonetheless, the year-over-year tracking of the big boards is still noteworthy (emphasis mine):

The number of online job postings last month declined 16.4 percent from a year ago, the Conference Board reported Friday.

In total, there were 2,591,500 new jobs posted online in April, with healthcare and management accounting for more than 450,000.

Alaska continued to lead the online job market last month, followed by Nevada and Massachusetts, while the sharpest declines were reported in Maryland, Vermont, and Connecticut.

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This tip comes from the Selling Power archives:

Never ask a question without first explaining why you’re asking.

Nirenberg says, “Just asking a question puts the listener on the spot. However, if you let him know why you’re asking, it makes him a partner,” Nirenberg goes on to explain, “People with sales backgrounds often avoid asking questions because they think that the talker controls the conversation. That’s not true because the listener can always tune you out. In fact, you’d be surprised how often you’re talking to yourself during a sales call.”

That is a good tip.  Asking good qualifying questions is crucial for successful selling.  However, most people have experienced a salesperson who takes this approach to an obnoxious extreme.  I have seen them rattle off question after question like a machine gun.  You could just see the prospect shutting down.

The key is to soften the questions before asking them.

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