The Memorial Day weekend is here so why not kick off the unofficial start of summer with an “assessment.”  You can take the short assessment at SalesHQ.

Here is my result:

Friendly Regular

You’re at home in the bar…but dancing is not so much your thing. Casual conversation, light flirting, or live music is your ideal night. You enjoy a nice beer and a good glass of wine, occasionally a cocktail. This is a great lifestyle for a hard worker like you!

Yeah, we won’t be using this assessment in our hiring process.

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From BusinessWeek.com’s Ten Reasons Gen Xers Are Unhappy at Work (my editing):

Corporations really need Gen X—folks in their 30’s to early 40’s, who should begin to serve as our primary corporate leaders over the next couple years. But I fear many current corporate executives are taking this small and therefore precious group for granted.

Why are many X’ers uncomfortable in corporate life?

1. X’ers’ corporate careers got off to a slow start and many are still feeling the pain. You graduated when the economy was slow and the huge bulge of Boomers had already grabbed most of the key jobs. As an article in the May, 1985 issue of Fortune said: “[T]hese pioneers of the baby-bust generation are finding life on the career frontier harsher than ever…they’re snarled in a demographic traffic jam…stuck behind all those surplus graduates of the past decade.”

2. When you were teens, X’ers witnessed adults in your lives being laid off from large corporations, as re-engineering swept through the business lexicon. This engendered in most X’ers a lack of trust in large institutions and a strong desire for a life filled with back-up plans, just in case. Many of the adults you saw laid off and then struggling to reintegrate were in their 40’s—about the age X’ers are reaching today.

3. Most corporate career paths “narrow” at the top —the perceived range of options diminishes as individuals become increasingly specialized in specific functions or roles. X’ers crave options, which assuage your concerns about being backed into a corner, laid off from one path. The sense of narrowing career paths and increased vulnerability is often most palpable at the transition from middle to upper management—just where many of you are today. This step also often brings demands for relocation and separation from established social networks—an additional assault on your sense of self-reliance.

4. Just your luck—the economy was slow when you entered the workforce and now its slowing once again—just as you are standing at the threshold of senior management. Stepping into leadership roles right now looks more difficult and the roles themselves, more vulnerable than they have at any point in the past decade.

5. And then there are those pesky Gen Y’s. Many X’ers are charged with “managing” Y’s which—let’s face it—is an impossible task, at least if you define “manage” as controlling their channels of communication. While vying for promotions and trying to look good, many of you feel that Y’s are doing an end run around.

6. X’ers are, in fact, surrounded by a love fest—and not feeling the love. As I wrote in last week’s post, Boomers and Y’s are learning from each other—and enjoying their interactions. It’s easy to feel left out.

7. X’ers are the most conservative cohort in today’s workforce—and you’re surrounded by “shake ‘em up” types on both sides. In your personal lives, X’ers are not particularly keen on rules, but you had to follow them in the workplace—and you resent it when others now don’t. It seems unfair to be rewriting corporate etiquette when you’ve had to toe the line for so long.

8. Many X’ers’ are guarding a closely held secret: you’re not all as comfortable with the technology that is changing the way things are done as everyone seems to think you are. While it’s perfectly acceptable for Boomers to feign ignorance and ask for help, it’s embarrassing for X’ers to do so.

9. And if Boomer colleagues are annoying, the Boomer parents of your Y reports are down-right over-the-top. X’ers can’t believe the frequency of Y-parent interactions and are deeply turned off by parents who make their presence felt in the workplace.

10. Finally, your own parenting pressures are at a peak. You’re deeply committed to spending more time with your kids than your parents did or were able to spend with you, but juggling is getting more and more difficult.

Perfectly stated in my Gen X opinion.  I definitely feel like we are the forgotten generation stuck between two huge generations that suck all of the oxygen out of the room.

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Inc.com’s Boss School blog discusses a topic that seems like it might be a distinction without a difference – leadership vs. management.  However, I think the author hits a perfect chord right at the start:

Leadership isn’t the same thing as management. Leadership is about providing vision as to where the company is going. It’s about inspiring and motivating. It’s about instilling a certain amount of comfort that someone wiser than you is going to figure a way out of a mess.

I often think of managing as being somewhat akin to being a zookeeper.  You keep things in order and provide needed resources.  That’s not the greatest metaphor, but you get the idea.  Back to the blog post – here is the observation that caught me attention:

Don’t get me wrong. I think everyone wants a fearless leader. But I also think there’s a fine line between sounding positive and sounding delusional. You lose credibility. Done in the proper manner, an honest “negative” appraisal of a difficult situation can be positive if it leads to a good plan of action. It is an opportunity to show the staff that you are critical of yourself and take responsibility.

It is unnerving to work for a leader who seems out of touch with reality.  Leaders who refuse to address the realities of the situation are problematic.  They refuse to acknowledge the present realities which leads to a lack of corrective actions.  We’ve seen a handful of companies absolutely crater under this type of leadership.

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Well, this is only fair – ERE offers up an article with the real definition of common recruiting buzzwords/phrases.  Some of the buzzwords from the rather extensive list:

Ad-hoc (adj.) Usage: “There will also be some ad-hoc projects required.” Definition: A catch-all phrase used by corporations to describe the countless hours of manpower invested in activities unrelated to one’s job function, generally evoked at the whim of departmental heads.

DOE (acr.) see also depending on experience.Usage: “I am unable to provide a salary range for the position as it is DOE.” Definition: Whereby a company unable to pay market rate for a position compensates by placing the blame on candidate deficiencies.

Feedback (n) Usage: “I’ll provide feedback from my hiring manager as soon as I get it.” Definition: Generally construed as a one- or two-word answer by which hiring managers summarily reject top candidates.

Next steps (phrase) Usage: “We’ll be in touch regarding next steps.” Definition: A phrase used to put off rejecting marginal candidates for as long as possible until an offer is accepted by a more qualified party.

Overtime (n) Usage: “There may be some slight overtime involved.” Definition: An institution imposed by corporations to increase shareholder value without increasing headcount by maximizing working hours of employee population, up to and including Saturdays, holidays, and seminal life events.

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LOVE this article from SalesHQ – Marketing Buzzword Bingo.  The author shares my disdain for marketing buzzwords.  The article is simply a list of buzzwords with his definition for each one.

Some examples:

Reputation management – controlling information flow to that which I want known

Lifelong value – guess at how much money we would make out of a fictitious customer who stays with us for life, however long that is.

Lifetime value – same guess

Out-sourcing – stuff we have given up doing because we thought it was too hard

In-sourcing – stuff we outsourced that we lost control over and had to do ourselves again to save costs

Intrapreneur– one our people who always seems to be full of ideas that won’t fly in our organization

Critically important – important, perhaps critical

There are many more in the article that will make you laugh, sigh or cry.

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This article from Selling Power offers suggestions for salespeople when questioning prospects.  The author makes some excellent points with one that stands out – number 9.  I have edited the content for length.

1. Qualify prospects
You can quickly establish if this “suspect” is a qualified prospect with a few questions. Many salespeople waste valuable sales time chasing the wrong company or talking to someone without decision-making power. Develop a profile of your ideal prospect. What criteria must a “suspect” meet to qualify as a bona fide prospect for your product or service?
2. Uncover needs
By asking questions and understanding the client’s needs you can determine which benefits the prospect will buy.
3. Help Your Prospect Clarify Needs
Some clients don’t really understand their own needs or may not have clearly defined their goals. They may not understand the many considerations in choosing products or services such as yours.
4. To Gain Respect
Sophisticated prospects will want to know that you know what you’re talking about. Knowing your market and your product or service and doing your homework about this prospect are important. 5. To Build Long Term Relationships
Many salespeople perform fine on the first call but what do you do for an encore? By continuing to ask intelligent questions you will deepen your understanding of your client and his company, along with your own industry.
6. Involve the Client
Asking clients a question involves them in the sales process. It also helps to limit your own talking. You know that a good salesperson does not deliver a monologue.
7. Learn How to Sell This Prospect
An involved client may tell you what you need to do to sell him. You want the client to have a chance to vent his feelings and ideas. You will learn how cooperative this prospect will be.
8. Establish Trust
Establishing rapport and a climate of trust and confidence can be better achieved through questioning rather than small talk and chit-chat. Asking questions shows clients that you are interested in them, their businesses and their needs. You are not there to give them a standard pitch to fulfill your sales quota.
9. Maintain Control
Asking questions allows you to control the sales interview without the prospect feeling he is being controlled. You are leading rather than pushing. By maintaining a friendly and open attitude and asking good questions, the prospect experiences you as an interested and well-informed expert. To the casual observer of such a conversation, it would appear that the prospect is leading the conversation. In reality, the salesperson is subtly leading. Imagine watching an inexperienced rider on a horse. In an often vain attempt to direct the horse, the rider pulls every which way on the reins and kicks the horse. The horse may rebel or resist these directions. In contrast, the expert horseman would appear as if he is not doing anything to direct the horse – he is simply sitting on the saddle. Yet, it is through subtle movements of the fingers and shifts in the pressure of his legs against the horse that the rider controls the horse’s movements. In sales, we might refer to this subtle control as a “soft halter.”
10. Get Minor Yesses
By asking some questions that you know the prospect will answer yes to, you can create a positive atmosphere filled with agreement rather than conflict.
11. Avoid Rejection
Asking questions lets you evaluate how much interest a prospect has and if she or her company is in a position to buy at this time. Through better probing, your expectations will be more realistic.
12. To Close the Sale
Ask questions to lead toward the close and to determine if the prospect is ready to take action. By asking questions you may find prospects ready to buy much earlier than you thought. Once you think they are ready to buy, ask a closing question and close the sale!

It is counterintuitive to think that the person listening is actually controlling the conversation, but it is true if they are the one asking the questions.  The horse-riding analogy describes it well.  Questions, followed by attentive listening, is one of the tenets of successful selling.

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A good article here from Selling Power titled Five Questions Every Sales Manager Should Be Able to Answer.  The questions are spot on, but pay special attention to number 3 (my editing):

1. Which lead sources result in the highest percentage of closed deals? Do you know where your best leads come from and what those leads look like? When you do, you can better direct your marketing efforts and dollars while boosting your conversion rate.
2. Are your reps selling the most profitable products? Often, reps will sell the products that are easiest to sell rather than the ones that provide the highest margin for the company. Face it: they’re going to get to quota the easiest way they can and if it means selling lower margin products, they’re going to do it.
3. What percentage of the time is your sales process being followed? This is an important question. Assuming, of course, that you have a process in the first place, do you know how often reps are adhering to it? Many sales executives have lamented that there are sometimes as many processes as there are reps. If your sales results are in need of a course correction, dig into this question. It may turn out that fixing those results is as simple as getting everyone to adhere to your established process.
4. Where do your reps tend to stall in the sales process? In other words, do you know exactly how deals move through the pipeline for all your reps and where in that pipeline reps tend to get hung up?
5. Which competitors do you lose the most business to, and why? All managers knows who their biggest competitors are, but do you know precisely how much business you lose to each one? And more importantly, do you know why?

I am always amazed at how many sales managers lead without a selling system.  Now, I’m not talking scripts, but a selling system with enough flexibility for each rep to adapt it to their natural strengths and styles.

We walk into many sales departments where each salesperson has their own approach to selling.  The reason this spells trouble is that you never have an accurate forecast, the sales manager has difficulty coaching the salespeople and new hires are often sent into the market without the right tools to succeed.

Much of this approach comes from sales managers who are unsure themselves about which selling system to use.  If they are using some form of a selling system, the next issue is holding the salespeople accountable to the system.  The best sales teams we see are the ones that use a system and the sales manager holds them accountable to it.

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ERE’s daily article hits a chord with me today – Understanding Why Fast Hiring Is Critical to Recruiting Success.  We have been beaten down of late due to some slow-moving hiring processes.  The author, Dr. John Sullivan, provides many suggestions for putting metrics to your hiring process.  However, I found these stats to be the compelling reasons why you should worry about the speed of your hiring process:

One large accounting firm recently found that if they didn’t act within 22 days, their chances of landing “high-demand” candidates decreased by nearly 90%. A large electronics firm researched the issue and found that the very best in their field (the top 10% of candidates) were often gone within 10 days.

The logic of speed hiring is simple: if Tiger Woods decided to leave his golf team, he would be in such demand that he might be in and then out of the job market in as little as a few hours.

A second reason for speed hiring is the economic loss to the corporation of having position vacancies. Obviously, if an airline has insufficient pilots for each of its planes, it would lose revenue from each of those canceled flights.

We deal in sales positions only so we have a skewed perspective, perhaps.  But I am always caught by a company’s indifference towards an open sales territory/position.  These are real costs to a company, but we have seen some take an inordinate amount of time to schedule interviews, follow up with candidates or come to yes/no decisions.

The present economy probably gives some companies a false sense of security.  The economy is slow so there must be plenty of candidates and few opportunities.  This relaxed approach will have to change quickly as the Boomers retire and more positions flood a market with fewer candidates.

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Inc.com chronicles one Gen Y marketing campaign by BMW that I have not heard of.  The opening sentence forewarned me:

Generation Y’s indifference to traditional forms of marketing and advertising has some big companies and their ad agencies scrambling for creative ways to reach and engage this demographic.

Engagement is the key these days, isn’t it?  If you read the marketing campaign in the short article, you won’t read about magazine ads, TV commercials or radio spots.  Instead there are short films on YouTube, Facebook pages and micro-websites.

I think the author best sums up this new marketing approach (my bold):

It seems to me that the campaign is less about the actual product than it is about delivering a specific message to a target market: we understand what gets your attention, so we’re going to plant our brand where you live, give you fun stuff to look at and play around with online, and we’re going to facilitate an ongoing conversation that will engage you far longer and more intimately than a 30-second television commercial.

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Anesthesiologists.  From Forbes.com’s America’s Best- And Worst-Paying Jobs:

…the mean annual salary for America’s 31,030 anesthesiologists is $192,780, up 4.6% from a year earlier.

Not surprisingly, the top 9 jobs are all in the medical field (surgeon, orthodontists, etc.).

Oh yes, and the bottom end of the scale:

The lowest paid of all? People who cook, prepare and serve in fast-food joints, followed by dishwashers, busboys and the folks who shampoo your hair.

I am proud to say that I was a dishwasher in high school.  Technically, we called it a “dishlicker” and we were at the lowest end of the totem pole.  That is the type of job that should be on Dirty Jobs.  I can’t describe the funk that permeated my clothes.  Despite my mom’s extreme laundry efforts, she could not remove the odor.

Nasty.

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