We continue this week with another mission-critical sales manager trait. This measurement reveals a manager’s ability to take responsibility without using excuses for a lack of team peformance. Accountability For OthersThe capacity of a sales manager to take responsibility for the consequences of the actions of those under their management. This trait encompasses taking responsibility for the decisions and actions of subordinates and not shifting focus on blame or poor performance back onto them, or somewhere else. This trait derived from an internal responsibility and accountability to one€™s self as a manager. This internal willingness is to accept responsibility associated with being in a position of management. It involves understanding that it… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen To Trust Your Intuition
Yesterday I posted on a quick story regarding owners who make hiring decisions based on their gut feeling. I want to follow it up today by clarifying this approach. The article simply states that the owners made a yes or no hiring decision based on a gut feeling. It does not state what they did up until their decision and this is the point I want to make. Unfortunately, many hiring managers run down the same tired path – post an ad (the job description), sort the resume responses, interview the “yes-pile” people, follow their gut on the decision. Then the bad hire gets through and they attempt to revisit… Read More
Continue ReadingWarm Chair Attrition
The above term is from The Herman Group’s weekly newsletter (no link but their website is www.herman.net). I love that phrase – it is quite descriptive. Here is the excerpt that caught my attention: Fueled by the publicity frenzy the press is enjoying, the current volatility in world financial markets is affecting many people at all levels of our societies. From the employees’ point of view, this uncertainty engenders insecurity. What will happen to my company? Will it be in business? Will I have a job? The reaction is that they continue “corporate cocooning”, staying in the safety and sanctuary of their corporate jobs, despite their deep dissatisfaction. A number… Read More
Continue ReadingAds That Appeal
The Twin Cites are a hotbed for medical sales positions so we see many sales ads up here. One of these ads caught my eye this morning for this bit of clever writing: …what we do makes a statement about who we are. We are driven by scientific excellence and a commitment to make a difference in the quality of people€™s lives. We believe that investment in and commitment to our employees is key to our success and the achievement of our mission. I use the word clever in the best possible sense. We have worked with medical companies in the past in evaluating their sales teams. Our work has… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring Via "Gut Feeling"
If ever you wondered why hiring is such a gamble, feast your eyes on these 4 paragraphs from Inc.com’s Survey: Hiring Often Based on “Gut Feeling”: Most small-business owners hire employees based on likeability, rather than qualifications, according to a recent survey. In a survey of 500 small businesses nationwide conducted by The Price Group, a Texas-based marketing firm, 90 percent of owners said they decide whether or not to hire job applicants based on a gut feeling. Many reported having no formal hiring assessment process. The reason is that most small employers find hiring assessments too costly, according to Bette Price, president of The Price Group. “Unfortunately, they fail… Read More
Continue ReadingInc. 500 Companies Monitor Social Media
It’s true. Do you? Reading this blog would apparently qualify based on Inc.com’s article To Gain Competitive Edge, Companies Turn to Blogs, Video, and Social Networks. A study by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research found that 51 percent of Inc. 500 companies are monitoring social media, and they are doing so by various methods, including reading RSS feeds, looking at Web statistics, tracking video downloads, and watching online competitive activity. Interesting. The article isn’t overly descriptive of the methods, but the blog piece is certainly worth noting. “Inc. 500 companies are saying that not only is it important for us to communicate in an outbound… Read More
Continue ReadingA Sales Manager’s Biggest Responsibility
SellingPower.com offers a terrific how-to article regarding the sales manager’s role in developing his or her team. How to Ace Your Most Important Responsibility is a must read for any sales manager. The article categorizes the sales manager’s approach into 5 straight-forward stages: 1. Set the schedule 2. Pre-call planning 3. During the call 4. Post-call critique 5. End of the day A perfect breakdown of what has to happen to coach your team: To ensure the call remains in the rep€™s hands, sit further away from the buyer than your rep does. Lean back rather than forward in your chair. If the customer directs a question to you, turn… Read More
Continue ReadingScarcity Of Quality Sales Candidates
No surprises here from the ManageSmarter.com article – Roundin’ Up Reps. Our clients often ask us what the employment market is like right now. For most of this year we have been telling them it is a candidate’s market right now. Some seem surprised while others seem to be familiar with this fact. In case there were any doubts, this short article lays out the findings from a CareerBuilder.com survey (my emphasis): The 2007 CareerBuilder.com Midyear Employment Forecast indicates that “46 percent of sales employers currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates, an increase from 39 percent heading into the first half,” reads a release on… Read More
Continue ReadingManage The Leading Sales Indicators
I’ve been talking to numerous prospects and existing customers this week about onramping salespeople. This topic is germane to every company that employs salespeople. The discussions I had this week have all involved a common thread – managing the trailing indicators. Revenue, customers, pipeline, etc. The sales managers in these discussions were discussing the performance of their new salespeople based on the aforementioned criteria. But this data is a trailing indicator. Think of it as trying to drive a car by only using the rear-view mirror. Some of these companies were frustrated with the new salesperson and skeptical of their future. Mistake. Onramping a salesperson is difficult because the trailing… Read More
Continue ReadingAnother Cover Letter Bomb
From a resume received by a VP of HR: Here are my qualifications for you to overlook.
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