Unbelievable.  I sent an email NINE days ago to Dex, the phone book company.  They have an old listing for our business including a phone number and address we haven’t had for over 3 years.  I was just informed of this fact by a customer who was trying to reach us from a coffee shop when he didn’t have his cell phone with him.

The response from the Dex rep says much about customer service in this particular market segment.  My initial email through their website form simply stated they had the wrong information for our company and I provided the correct information.  The response I received:

Thank you for writing Dex. Currently the listing information we are publishing for (xxx) xxx-xxxx is coming directly from your phone company. Since it is coming from an outside source we are unable to change it here. If you contact your service provider though, they will be able to address this for you. I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you,
<removed>
Dex Media

My email back to them:

Thank you for your email.  A couple things jump out at me.  First, we haven’t used that phone number for over 3 years now.  I would think that you may want to audit the phone company information you are receiving.  After all, you are publishing a directory with allegedly accurate information.  If the information is inaccurate, doesn’t that make your directory less valuable?  Why use a directory with inaccurate information?

Second, I find it remarkable that you are asking me to fix your problem.  I was attempting to point out an inaccurate listing in your directory.  I am not aware of what phone company you are referencing.  We have a VoIP line so no phone company is involved.  May I suggest that YOU contact the phone company that is providing YOU with erroneous information?

I am not going to waste my time trying to sort out which phone company is providing the information.  If you can fix your problem, great.  Thank you in advance.  If not, I understand and will do my part to inform people of the inaccuracy of Dex.

Regards,

Just doing my part.  You know, you often hear about the bully pulpit of the Presidency.  Maybe there is a bully pulpit of blogging?

Comments(2)

We received an email heads up about the new book from Bradford Smart titled Topgrading for Sales.  What I like is the promo page they have put together for the book – it includes a movie trailer…of the book’s content.  A very web 2.0 approach which I appreciate.

The topics include how to interview, hire and coach top performing salespeople.  The one thing that catches my eye is the calculator for mishires.  This topic is bandied about without a definitive number for what a bad sales hire costs a company.  The number is certainly staggering no matter how it is calculated.

The opportunity cost is the killer…and a number that is incalculable.

Comments(0)

This article from abcnews.com discusses different corporate plans to help employees deal with the rapidly increasing gas price.  Of all the creative approaches I have read of late, I think this one takes the cake (my bold):

The career search Web site Jobing.com’s program really helps employees’ wallets. Those who meet certain requirements (such as length of time at the company, a good driving record and completion of a safe driving course) can get their car completely wrapped with the company’s logo. The reward: 100% of the employee’s gas is paid for along with a monthly $500 stipend. The company has an approved list of cars that employees can choose to either lease or buy.

Peter Difilippantonio was one of the first employees to get a wrapped car at Jobing.com. He purchased his Jeep Cherokee in October 2003 and paid it off last year using the $500 monthly stipend. Since the benefit doesn’t end when the car is paid off, he uses that money on household expenses.

I’m sure you caught that last sentence.  Now that is a clever perk.

Comments(0)

Gas prices are driving companies to adjust their reimbursement policy for outside salespeople.  We have seen a handful of salespeople who have taken a real hit due to the fact they are on a monthly car allowance and not mileage reimbursement.

Telecommuting is already grabbing a larger foothold in the work world which is a trend that predated the gas price increase.  Our local Pioneer Planet quotes a recent SHRM report regarding telecommuting:

(The SHRM study) found 18 percent of employers are allowing workers to telecommute, up from 4 percent in a survey a year ago.

That doesn’t sound like much, but a 4% increase in 1 year is remarkable.  We have seen a recent trend amongst our customers to go with remote salespeople located in the territory.  The centralized sales force may become a fossil as companies move to a distributed sales force.

Comments(2)

Selling Power released an archived article titled Four Elements of Excellence.  The short article provides a well-thought description so let’s cut right to the chase.  Here are the four:

1.) Goal Setting
2.) Commitment
3.) Feedback
4.) Organizational Support

I would say that is a good list.  The one that jumps out is goal setting.  This is something we see in the sales arena often, but not in a good way.  Many sales managers believe an annual quota is all the goal setting a salesperson needs.

But let’s jump back to the article:

Without specific goals, you’ll never know whether you’ve achieved excellence because you’ve never defined it. Hence, the first step is to write clear, specific goals of what you wish to achieve and at what level you wish to achieve these goals.

Here’s the issue – I worked with a fairly strong salesperson who had a golden territory.  He had worked hard to develop it and was successful in landing a handful of large accounts.  However, he stagnated.  The only measurement for success was the annual quota which increased slightly each year.

This salesperson was able to ride his good accounts each year to cover the increased quota responsibility.  Yet, his territory contained much higher potential.  The goal setting in this instance did not define the right growth for him or the bountiful territory he controlled.

Successful sales is a matter of executing the right behaviors consistently.  Goal setting should include prospecting, new customers, retention, product/service mix, industry associations, on-time expense reports, trade shows and many more items.  Define success beyond just profitable revenue.  Set appropriate goals that stretch the salesperson outside of their comfort zone.

Comments(0)

CNNMoney.com offers up the latest story about this Springtime topic (must be all of the college grads hitting the interview circuit that gets these stories started).  There are some beauties in here:

“One job applicant came in for his interview with a cockatoo on his shoulder.”

“We had one person who walked out of an interview straight into a glass door. The glass shattered.”

“The candidate got his companies confused and repeatedly mentioned the strengths of a competing firm, thinking that was who he was interviewing with.”

“A candidate fell asleep during the interview.”

Fell asleep?  I’m guessing the only way that happens is if the interviewer is doing all the talking.  Not a good approach, if that was the case…still humorous.

Comments(0)

The Herman Trend Alert enewsletter (sorry, no link) takes a look at last week’s unemployment numbers.  Some interesting items in there (emphasis mine):

This increase in unemployment continues to mask the real situation. Looking at the BLS’ Household Survey, in the month of May, the national unemployment percentages among adult men and women were 4.9 and 4.8. At the same time, the rate for teenagers, ages 16 to 19 jumped from 15.4 in April to 18.7 in May, an increase of 21.4 percent. While part of this increase is due to high school and community college graduations, these new job seekers do not account for this huge increase. Rather, we believe that something else is happening.

We believe that employers are holding on to their skilled, experienced workers and those with lower skill levels are considered more expendable and easier to hire back—as employees or contractors—when conditions improve.

What these data reflect is that the US has a real problem with its under-resourced schools—schools that are either not engaging students enough to keep them there or preparing them for the job market.

I think that last sentence is right – schools are not doing a good enough job preparing students for the job market.  One other note – how can these numbers be analyzed without taking into account the increased minimum wage?  The minimum wage is scheduled to increase again so I suspect companies are not hiring entry-level employees (16 to 19 year-olds) at the same level.

Whatever the explanation, 5.5% unemployment is a historically low number despite what the media reports.

Comments(0)

I have been noticing a common value proposition from distribution companies – “your one-stop shop for all things _________.”  Some of the sales reps for these companies use this value proposition as their main lever.  I tell them this is a mistake.

Here’s why – the web changes everything about sourcing.  I don’t need to limit myself to one vendor for all my _______ needs.  In fact, I have a subtle doubt about that approach – am I getting the best deal, product or solution if I go with one company exclusively?  The “catalogue mentality” is fading from our society and being replaced with a research mentality.

The proverbial old days were serviced by the Sears Roebuck catalogue where they had everything in there from clothes to tools to kitchenware.  I remember looking through that catalogue when I was young to check out the toys.  My kids think that idea is crazy.  They hop on the web and visit multiple sites to track down a specific toy or game.

Today, distribution sales requires salespeople to take more of a value-added reseller approach.  Customers are less impressed by companies that offer many different lines.  If needed, the customer can probably source the lines themselves from alternative channels.  Sales reps have to find the value their company brings to the marketplace and then leverage it in their approach.

One example is a friend of mine who sells office furniture.  He does not have exclusivity in this territory and there are bigger competitors.  His value is to provide certified interior design services.  I wouldn’t say that is a revolutionary approach, but his designers are quite skilled and the salespeople know how to leverage their designers’ abilities.  The fact that they are smaller than their competition allows them to provide highly attentive service to their customers.  Simple and effective.

Successful selling requires an detailed understanding of your value proposition.  If it is no more developed than “one-stop shop,” I would suggest you revisit your company’s offering to the market…unless your company is called Amazon.com.

Comments(0)

We are sales recruiters so we have been fairly immune to this question, but it is even appearing in our world.  For salespeople, the question is some variation of “How often will I be expected to be in the office?”  This question doesn’t mean they are planning on playing hooky; the candidate simply wants to start the discussion about working from home, their car, coffee shops, etc.

The Career News newsletter (sorry, no link) offers up a quick article on this topic:

When it comes to making a living, how many miles would you travel? According to many hiring agencies and recruiters, people job hunting are taking climbing gas prices into consideration. “If we were looking at them commuting 20, 30, 40 miles for a work assignment, they’re hesitating,” Blaise Krautkramer at Firstaff Staffing Services said.

Each week, about 50 people walk into our agency office, all of them expressing serious concerns about these high gas prices. A fair amount of these people are passing up job opportunities. “The cost of gasoline is a component in their decision, and it’s a difficult decision for them,” Krautkramer said. A short commute is now a top priority for job seekers.

If you haven’t done any hiring recently, be prepared for this topic.

Comments(0)

Salesopedia.com offers an article from Jeff Thull discussing sales presentations.  This topic is a tricky one for salespeople and managers – most view presentations as a good thing…a chance to discuss your offering with a prospective customer.  But here is the “trap” that can occur in an ill-timed presentation:

Look at this from the customer’s perspective. Based on what we said about the customer’s area of comprehension, it is highly likely that two-thirds or more of the information that customers hear falls outside their area of comprehension. Further, what they do hear sounds very much the same. What does the customer understand? Price. As you may already expect, everyone is now starting their downward spiral to commoditization…the natural outcome of presenting too much, too soon and too often.

To help you avoid falling victim to the Presentation Trap, ask yourself these five critical questions:

1.  What percentage of your sales presentation/proposal is devoted to describing your company and your solution?

2. What percentage of your sales presentation/proposal is devoted to describing your customer’s business, their problems and objectives?

3. How well do your customers understand their own problems?

4.  How much of your presentation is focused on persuading and convincing?

5. How well can your customers connect your solutions to their business situation?

Presentations have to occur at the proper time in a sales process.  Unfortunately, our experience has shown that most errors occur because salespeople present too early, before they have fully qualified the opportunity.

The need to educate prospects is a hot trend in the information age.  However, if you read the article, you will see there is a right way to do this without forcing the prospect’s decision process down to the lowest common denominator…price.

Comments(0)