I always seem to get drawn into articles with lots of stats in them. I came across 2 short, but interesting articles in last week’s newsletter from Workforce Management.

The first article was from a survey conducted by human resources firm Adecco North America. In the article, they cite increased stress stemming from putting in longer hours at work. It finds that about 29% of employees report logging longer hours than they did a year ago, with a reported 32% experiencing on-the-job stress.

The second article was from Kronos Inc. and Harris Interactive. Their joint survey that employees who are satisfied with their employer are more apt to extend themselves beyond the call of duty. The survey found that a whopping 82% of satisfied workers say they would be willing to do so.

Couple of interesting points of information. It makes one wonder how many workers are truly satisfied where they are today?

Comments(0)

Friday anecdotes and the saga continues. This week I thought I would bring you up to speed on this post – Anecdote – Online Dating? I have received the following 2 emails from him since the first post. Please take note of the very similar writing styles in all 6 of the emails.

I received this email just a week after the first one.

I have procen track record in sales to C-level, HR Managers, VP, etc

Proven track record in extended sales cycles

Please contact me! Travel is not a problem.

Best Regards

I then received this one over the Labor Day Weekend.

Lee…I have proven experience in sales…and dealing with corporations, CEOs and HR Units. I have the ability to travel and look forward to that aspect.

I have been working from a home-offce for a decade..and have always reported directly to VPs of Sales.

Please contact me!

Best Regards

I must also add that I have yet to receive a resume or any compeling reason to call and talk with this person about this opportunity.

I tremble to think why he is so gung ho to travel.

Comments(0)

An article on Six Sigma in Selling Power’s newsletter caught my interest. We are all quite familiar with Six Sigma in manufacturing and engineering, but Six Sigma and sales? It seems a little far fetched. The article is based on Michael Webb’s (founder of Sales Performance Consultants) sales process which is broken down into 5 steps. Webb contends that Six Sigma “applies science to the art of sales to consistently improve results.”

The 5 steps are:
Step #1: Define
Step #2: Measure
Step #3: Analyze
Step #4: Improve
Step #5: Control

Interesting. There was a link to his website so naturally I clicked on it and poked around a bit. I came across an article titled What’s Wrong with Six Sigma? in which Webb discusses why Six Sigma is an effective method for impacting sales & marketing. He makes some great points that I would like to share with you.

First, Six Sigma characterizes business problems through precise identification of data and facts. It translates these measurements into mathematical, cause-and-effect relationships. This drive for hard facts ties every project to a measurable result, ideally on the financial statements. He goes on to say that the Six Sigma tool kit is not yet complete. Because it is rooted in manufacturing, Six Sigma’s tool kit is heavily weighted toward statistical validation of sampling techniques and design of manufacturing experiments. Where as in sales and marketing, the core process involves intangibles and transforming people’s behavior.

Webb gave this example which I thought illustrated his point nicely:

Suppose the belief that “sales is a numbers game” drives a sales office to generate a large number of quotes, which end up not closing. An inexperienced team might jump too quickly into process definition and measurement work. However, lean techniques (which focus on work flow and value to the customer) might lead the team to ask why the process is set up that way in the first place and ask these questions:
What value is a quote to a customer who is not likely to buy anyway?
How might we find more likely prospects before we go through the effort of generating quotes?

If any area in business needs a scientific method to improve operations and results, sales and marketing needs to be put at the top of the list. He contends not only will you be able to ask the following questions about your organization, but have a measurable answer for each one.

1. Don’t know which 50% of your marketing expense is generating a return? Now you have a way of finding out whether you are getting bilked.
2. Can’t tell which prospects have the best chance of leading to sales, and which ones are probably giving you a ride? You can learn the characteristics of each set of prospects, and have salespeople spend more time with the former and less with the latter.
3. Is your sales force blocking attempts to measure activities and results? If so, they are protecting something. You might not know what, but now you have a way to find out.

Comments(2)

Selling Power’s September issue has a compilation of the Top 50 Sales Websites. They have it broken down into the following categories; Sales Training, Lead Management, Sales Meetings, CRM, Sales Technology and Hiring & Testing. It’s a great resource for anyone in sales to add to their tool box. Selling Power provides the website, a link to get to their site and a quick summary of the service they provide.

However, the thoroughness of their list must be called into question. Select Metrix did not make the list. Hopefully they will have this oversight corrected by next year.

Comments(0)

From this week’s SHRM Newsletter: EEOC Backs Targeted Recruitment of Older Workers. We have written several posts related to this subject (Marketing to Baby-Boomers, 76 and 44). The article contains several points of valuable information.

EEOC’s Aug. 11 proposed rule change is in response to a Supreme Court decision two years ago (General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. v. Cline, 540 U.S. 581 (2004)), which concluded that there is no such thing under the ADEA as reverse age discrimination. While the current rule prohibits job advertisements favoring older persons, the proposed rule would make it permissible to encourage older people to apply. Employers may post help wanted notices or advertisements expressing a preference for older individuals with terms such as over age 60, retirees or supplement your pension.

So what are effective strategies for recruiting the older workers? Posting positions that target this age group, i.e. target mediums and areas that they will see, hear or read. Posting positions in 55 and older communities, bingo halls, clubs that are frequented by them. Also using newspapers, radio and TV advertising. Although expensive, these mediums are effective in reaching this audience because they are typically home during the day.

Also understand that they are looking for a different life balance. If you enquire as to what they want, they will tell you. Examples may be job sharing, adjusting schedules to miss rush hour traffic, a reduced work schedule or more vacation. The point is to ask and then listen. What you will gain from these concessions is a more stable, experienced work force. And they can be a great resource for relieving labor shortages.

Remember, shortages will continue to increase as the 76 million baby-boomers retire within the next 10 years. Beyond that fact, employers will hire more workers for work flows that vary during the day – this too will create added shortages. Here are some examples were employers took advantage of older workers to reduce their worker shortage.

A large bank targeted seniors to fill part-time positions when demand surges during the lunch hours. And a call center with 24/7 staffing was built across from a retirement community. Turnover is often high in call centers, so the call center allowed more flexible, two-hour scheduling. The call center also had an over-the-road bridge to make it easier for retirees to work and included insomniacs who might prefer working at night.

Comments(0)

Uncommon to most of our Labor Day weekends, we relaxed and visited with family instead of the usual getting kids ready to start school on Tuesday. So with that enjoyable break, I am finally catching up on my reading. One of my RSS feeds is from Keith Rosen, author of Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cold Calling. His post on The Best Managers Are Fully Accountable For Their Communication is definitely worth reading, but let me share his 7 Tips to Strengthen Communication with you.

1. Am I taking full responsibility for the message being heard by the other person? (Remember that it doesn’t matter what you say, it only matters what the other person hears.)
2. Did I respect the other person’s point of view or did I have a reaction (disagreement) to what they were saying that prevented me from listening to their full message?
3. If I was asking someone to take a specific action (delegating), did I make my request clear & check to see if the conversation worked/was successful? (Did I receive feedback to ensure that I was understood?)
4. Did I receive value from the conversation? (Did I allow the other person to contribute to me?)
5. If the outcome of the conversation did not meet my expectations, what did I learn that would enable me to better communicate with that person? (Did I open up a new and greater possibility that I didn’t notice before?)
6. Did I give the person the gift of my listening?
7. When delegating a task or having a conversation, was I cognizant of the common sense trap?

Comments(0)

Is it Labor Day weekend yet? Let’s go with an anecdote for now. I received this email with only a resume attached for a position that was advertised on Monster. In the ad, candidates were asked if interested to call or email Lee. Our client needed a salesperson with excellent communication skills. Their sales cycle is 1-2 years and it is a complex sale requiring formal written and verbal presentations to multiple people.

Here is what I received in my inbox:

Lee-

I am a Communications Major with more that 10 years experience. I am sending a cover letter and resume for your consideration to fill this position. Please contact me immediately @ 123-456-7890 to schedule an interview with me.

Thanks,

John Doe

I must admit he piqued my interest and had an interesting resume so I thought I would phone screen him. I left him a voicemail.

I never heard from him again. Ever. He should get a refund for whatever amount he paid for his communicaiton degree.

Comments(0)

At the risk of piling on about Katie Couric’s doctored photo in the news, I thought I would reference a prescient post regarding Work & Health. If you look at the article’s stats, perhaps Katie’s new anchor position is getting to her. Personally, I thought she looked great in the first picture.

I’d write more but I am off to photoshop my own image before uploading it to this site.

Comments(0)

I came across an interesting article on fuzzy phrases in this week’s newsletter from Sales Vault and it is well worth the time to read.

The author’s definition of a fuzzy phrase is something that really says nothing. You feel like you might have heard something of substance, but after analysis (usually after the call is over) you realize they just said nothing. They are his pet peeve as I am sure they are for all sales people. His suggestion is to ask for clarification.

When you hear any statement that is vague or wishy-washy, ask for clarification. If it’s something that needs to be done or discussed, I’ll always say, OK, let’s do it now.

What prompted this article was the author using a fuzzy phrase on a salesperson when the salesperson was trying to sell him some software. The salesperson accepted this fuzzy phrase – “I’ll give it some consideration and we can talk again.” The author provides some examples of clarifying questions that the sales person could have used in that situation:

• Great! Which aspects will you weigh most heavily?
• That’s good to hear. What are you going to be looking at?
• Super. Where do you stand right now regarding moving forward with it?

Any of these questions would have elicited a substantiative answer as opposed to ending the call in a haze regarding what the next step the salesperson should take. Some of you may think that these questions may be too pushy. The author says these questions are definitive and get to the real answers. They may get you further with the prospect or you may find out the prospect has no further interest in your solution. Either way, you learn something of substance.

Comments(1)

Blogs Could Become Newest Recruiting Tool from the SHRM website (membership required):

Blogs offer businesses an excellent and interactive communication tool. For example Microsoft has close to 3,000 blogs posted by the company’s employees. Blogs can give an insiders view of a company’s work environment to potential job candidates. This is extremely important with the younger generations (ed.-see our article), it is as important to understand the culture as it is the responsibilities of the position. For this reason companies that don’t have employee blogs could find themselves at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting.

Honeywell Corp. is a good example of a company that uses blogs as a recruiting device. The company launched blogs of three employees who began working for Honeywell last year after earning their masters degrees in business administration. All three of the bloggers participate in Honeywell’s Pathways Leadership Development Program. The intention of the blogs is to show the career opportunities and growth potential that Honeywell offers to students who have earned a masters degree. The idea of using the blogs has tremendous potential that could give Honeywell an edge in recruiting the best and the brightest from masters degree programs, according to Adam Forbes, global university relations manager for Honeywell. Right now, its just too early to tell exactly what the ultimate effect of blogs will be and how many employers will create recruiting blogs.

Blogging certainly isn’t for every company. The corporate culture must be conducive to allowing open communication from their employees to the outside world. The article also states that the companies that seem to be doing it right have found that the best bloggers choose themselves, instead of the company choosing them.

Creating compelling and engaging blogs seems to work best with a certain type of personality and clearly an ability to write good copy (don’t overlook this fact). That last point may explain why there are so many marketing blogs! Anyway, the people who do it well while making their companies look good in the process are easily identified through their blogging.

One last point from our experience – it takes a commitment to posting on a regular basis. There is no quicker way to terminate traffic to your blog than to simply not post for an extended period of time. There are many blogs that piqued my interest and I started reading them but soon unsubscribed from my RSS feed since they rarely posted new content.

Comments(5)