This is the opening sentence from an email caught by my junk filter: Sorry for not having the pleasure of knowing your mindset before making you this offer as it is utterly hell confidential and genuine by virtue of its nature. “…utterly hell confidential” is a new construction for me. This example is anecdotal – the larger issue is the prevalence of email communication in selling. The days of cold calling are receding while initial email communication is advancing. This fact adds another factor to successful sales hiring. The ability to be effective on the phone will always be important in successful selling, but the email approach is replacing the… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Trial Hire
I’m back from a needed break in this sour economy. Everywhere I go I ask people about their business. It is fairly consistent – something from “could be better” to “really down.” That economic context allows some freedom for hiring companies to incorporate what I call contextual hiring techniques. These are typically techniques that take longer to measure and allow the hiring company to see the salesperson in action. Some examples: Job Shadowing – just as it sounds, the candidate spends time with an existing sales rep to get an understanding of the position. Peggy McKee at Medical Sales Recruiter has a post on this topic. A friend of mine… Read More
Continue ReadingOverwritten Ads
I keep an eye on the sales employment ads looking for trends, positions, companies and prospects. I admit it. One of the aspects that catches my attention is the sheer length of some of these ads. It seems apparent that some companies simple publish their internal, HR-drive job descriptions as an employment ad. Mistake. Ads that incorporate this style read as an onerous task list as opposed to describing the opportunity and, more importantly, describing the ideal salesperson in his or her terms. The salesperson should read the ad and think to themselves, “Those are my skills, those are my strengths.” Many ads like to list the reporting requirements of… Read More
Continue ReadingShould You Involve Customers In Hiring?
Quite the question, don’t you think? That is the title of this article from Selling Power. I have to confess I was perplexed by the entire thought – how would you as the hiring manager benefit from having your customer help you hire the salesperson? I see nothing but pitfalls in this approach. My first thought is mentioned in the article: “For example, the customer could be shopping around for someone he could squeeze on margins,” she says. “It’s more that they are looking for an easier mark, and that’s not to anyone’s advantage in the long run.” No kidding – there might be a great advantage to the customer… Read More
Continue ReadingOdd Hold
I’m on hold this past week with my website hosting company with some questions about our account. I have a somewhat complex question/request for them which requires the customer service rep to put me on hold to obviously research it. I don’t mind being put on hold as I am ever hopeful they come back with the solution. However, I was a bit shocked by the hold music when she put me on hold the first time. The song was Another One Bites the Dust. I kept waiting for the dial tone as surely she was preparing to hang up on me. I was relieved when she returned. I explained… Read More
Continue ReadingDouble Dippin’
I’ve come across two different instances of a nefarious sales trick that is reviving itself in the telecommuting era. Two different customers recently shared accounts of salespeople who were on their payroll and the payroll of another company. This stickler is that they were allegedly full-time employees for both companies. In one instance, the salesperson was on the West coast while headquarters was back in the East. This guy set up a small office in an office building and had a slider sign on the door. He would simply slide it to reveal the company he was representing that day for that appointment. He also had a company car from… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Future Of Social Networking
The Herman Trend Alert’s topic this week is the future of social networking. An excerpt for you (my bolding): “Social networking is in its infancy”, says David Nour, Relationship Economics CEO and Web 2.0 guru. “We’re on the upward swing of the hype cycle”. Lots of people are discovering the power of Social Networking and investing their time and energy to make it work for them. “The real power and promise of Social Networking is a mass collaboration platform, accelerating one’s ability to get things done”, adds Nour. Enlightened individuals are shifting from “not invented here” to “invented everywhere.” It gives us the opportunity to extend our reach beyond any… Read More
Continue ReadingSimply Elegant Marketing
There is an elegance to simplicity that often gets belittled, mocked or dismissed. That condescension can blind one’s eyes to an cost-effective marketing campaign. I give you Google Video from Germany (via SalesHQ.com): I love the simplicity of the entire clever campaign.
Continue ReadingIt Could Be Worse
This Forbes story is probably more therapeutic than anything else – the gist of it is that celebrities make colossal business mistakes. One thing I have always wondered about, where is the anger towards celebrity pay? I hear of the anger regarding CEO compensation, but never so much as a whisper of discontent regarding celebrity compensation. At any rate, I had completely forgotten about this stunning blunder: The award for biggest entrepreneurial swing-and-miss might go to actress Kim Basinger. Smoldering in films such as 9 1/2 Weeks, Batman, L.A. Confidential and I Dreamed Of Africa, Basinger bombed on a grand scale in 1990 when she sunk $20 million into buying… Read More
Continue ReadingHow Pipeline Bloat Occurs
Here is another line from a sales employment ad (emphasis mine): The primary role of this position is to build a revenue generating sales pipeline which will primarily consist of prospective accounts. Pipeline bloat is something we encounter with sales managers on a regular basis. As you probably know, salespeople have a tendency to…overestimate their pipeline. This is done for a number of reasons, but the primary one is to make their sales manager believe that the salesperson is on the cusp of big revenue. Many a sales manager has been drawn in by potential deals. So with that as a backdrop, I am surprised to see a sales ad… Read More
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