BusinessWeek.com offers up the Best Corporate Practices 2008 which is a fascinating slide show if you have time to view it. This is from the opening of the article: In fact, much of the gap between the best and worst management practices can be described by that word: trust. At one point as a corporate human resources leader during the dot-com boom, our company switchboard was bombarded with calls from recruiters, seeking to pull away our sharpest technical talent. Our hardworking phone operators did their best to deter search consultants looking to make contact with talent by any means possible, but it wasn’t always easy. … We said to our… Read More
Continue ReadingPress Box Management
I mentioned a certain manager last week in a post and his desire to be an “observational manager” of a new sales hire instead of a hands-on manager. The problem is compounding itself this week as he contemplates firing the salesperson who started 1 week ago today. These are the headaches we have to deal with in the sales hiring arena. The new salesperson has already had one face-to-face meeting with a small prospect he located and is on the trail of 5 other companies…IN THE FIRST WEEK. He has even accomplished this using his own computer, cell phone and resources. He has also been afforded only 1 or 2… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring By Gut
Imagine a salesperson who comes to a forecast meeting and puts down a huge forecast. The savvy sales manager naturally starts asking a few questions of the salesperson regarding each forecasted account. What is driving them to look for a new solution? What is their decision process? When do they want to have a solution in place? Who else are they looking at for this project? Now imagine the salesperson’s responses involve statements like this: I know we are the best solution for them. I have a good feeling about this one. They will make a decision shortly, they have to think it over. If you have been in sales… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Greatest Risk When Hiring
I propose that it is hiring new employees without performing a thorough background verification. Think of the implications if you are wrong. The outcomes can be the ultimate dealbreaker in that they can end a company’s existence. With the stakes that high, it never ceases to amaze me that companies take this risk when hiring. Clayton at Salesopedia links to an excellent article concerning this topic in the context of sales hiring. Take this point from the article in Clayton’s post: Some of you may be reading this and thinking that you already have a defined scope for all applicants so there is no need to be concerned. However, the… Read More
Continue ReadingManic First Monday
I got to start my first Monday of the new year without my laptop. It died over the weekend so I come to you via a desktop system that is not my “home.” It is a strange feeling being on another system. It seems like there should be a resolution in here somewhere. In that light, BusinessWeek.com went to the streets looking for input from managers. The survey was literally conducted walking the streets of Boston so keep that in mind. Two items were the winner: Managers want to find a better work/life balance. As you saw in the video, one person is working 16 hour days. So much for… Read More
Continue ReadingObservational Management
I kid you not, this approach comes from a manager of a small company that recently hired a new salesperson. The salesperson traveled to the company for a couple days of training before his official start date. He did this on his own dime so he could accelerate his ramp-up time. The manager of the company was involved in the training since this salesperson would report directly to him (remember-small company). During the training days, there was some confusion about when the salesperson should arrive in the morning. No specific time was set, but a general schedule starting around 9am was the target. The salesperson arrived around 9:20am. A stack… Read More
Continue ReadingIM Is Actually Like Live Email
That is a rather apt description, don’t you think? I believe instant messaging will eventually displace email. I’ve heard many arguments against my position, but I really think it will happen. Of course, I liked New Coke when it came out so consider that point in my prediction. ManageSmarter.com offers this piece – Rethinking Instant Messaging -as a discussion on the use of IM. The article contains 2 points that I think will drive the expansion of IM: He says IM is more effective than e-mail for critical-action items like getting approval on a press release. and IM also pushes out to the customer at Web sites with live-support chats,… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Toughest Topic To Qualify-Money
It’s not really when you know how to do it. Unfortunately, many salespeople have a distinct weakness when it comes to even broaching this topic with a prospect. This weakness leads to compounded expenses in that the salesperson will typically invest time and resources on a prospect who will disappear at the first discussion of price. Many salespeople are aware of this fact so they deem it best to avoid the money topic all together with the hope they can persuade the prospect with an extended dog-and-pony show. The entire sordid affair feeds upon itself. The costs here can be enormous. I’m of the belief that a salesperson’s greatest asset… Read More
Continue ReadingCompany Mission Statement
This BusinessWeek.com article – How to Avoid the Commodity Trap – caught my fancy but I have to admit, it is a bit short on the “How to” part. The main thrust of the article is to treat your customers with respect. That is solid advice, but I was looking for more. But what the article lacks in tactical description, it makes up for with anecdotal stories. The article is a fun read. It closes with the author retelling a personal experience: My last example is personal. Two years ago, I dented my car and took it to a body shop for an estimate. A large tattoo-covered man stood behind… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Slower Web
Here is an interesting prediction for 2008 from The Economist (my editing): PEERING into Tech.view’s crystal ball, the one thing we can predict with at least some certainty is that 2008 will be the year we stop taking access to the internet for granted. The internet is not about to grind to a halt, but as more and more users clamber aboard to download music, video clips and games while communicating incessantly by e-mail, chat and instant messaging, the information superhighway sometimes crawls with bumper-to-bumper traffic. The biggest road-hog remains spam (unsolicited e-mail), which accounts for 90% of traffic on the internet. Phone companies and other large ISPs (internet service… Read More
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