Friday and time for another anecdote as the week winds down. A while back, I was working with one of our clients who has a fairly complex sale in which they offer a high-end solution. Budget is one of the first qualifying questions in their sales process so we mirror that process in our sourcing. We ask candidates, “At what point do you qualify a prospect’s budget in your current sale?” As I talked with each candidate, I asked them this question to see if they could discuss this topic and how they handled customers who were reluctant to share their budget. Most of the candidates did well with this… Read More
Continue ReadingBackground Verification
In an article on Salary.com titled – Can Your Credit Report Hurt You in An Interview? An interesting statistic popped out at me – only 1 out of 5 small to medium-sized businesses run any form of background verification. 20%! I was shocked that the number is so low. Soap box time: If you are not already completing some form of background verification, start with your next hire and all subsequent hires. A true story to illustrate my point. Roughly 2 years ago, we were working with a client that was impressed with a candidate’s ability to close the deal (ask for and start the job). They liked him so… Read More
Continue ReadingJobseekers & Sites
I thought I would pass along some stats and information I found regarding job boards & recruiting. This information can be found in a recent newsletter from Weedle’s, which is a research, publishing, consulting and training firm. They surveyed 750 job seekers and asked them how much time they normally spend on a job board. Here are their findings: 29.1% spend more than 30 minutes on each job board they visit 24.5% spend 11-20 minutes 22.3% spend 21-30 minutes 18.9% spend 6-10 minutes 5.2% blow in-and-out in 5 minutes or less They also provided some suggestions when trying to determine which sites to use in recruiting active vs. passive job… Read More
Continue ReadingHow to achieve success
I came across this article that is almost a year old on EyesOnsSales website this morning. It is titled Why Success is a Science (membership required). It is a short read but the author makes some great points. First, your current thinking regarding your abilities, your product and your industry is habitual – and we call that programming. This programming is buried in your subconscious mind, and it drives your behavior on a daily basis. These programs, or paradigms, came from outside sources and we often accept them without question. Many times our paradigm contains lack and limitation because a parent, teacher, coach, or another person we respected wanted to… Read More
Continue ReadingFinally Some Interviewer Tips – Part Deux
A few months back we posted on an article from CareerBuilder.com titled Top 10 Interview No No’s. One of the top 10 “no-no’s” is a topic that we discuss with our clients regularly. It is: 2. No Opening Monologue – It is often tempting to have a monologue at the beginning of your time with a candidate. Giving too much information about the type of candidate you are seeking, or providing a substantial amount of information about the position and responsibilities can be detrimental. Giving too many details upfront leads a candidate to tell you what you want to hear, instead of what he/she actually thinks. Do simple introductions and… Read More
Continue ReadingWork & Health
I laughed out loud when I read this headline from CareerBuilder’s recent newsletter, 46% of Workers Have Gained Weight at Their Current Jobs. I have to admit that I am in with the 46% so naturally I had to read the article. CareerBuilder.com surveyed more than 2,200 workers from June 6 to June 16, 2006. Here are some of their findings: 20% say they are more than 10 pounds heavier. 10% say they are more than 20 pounds heavier. 57% of government workers gained weight. 54% off IT workers gained weight. 53% of accounting/finance workers gained weight. 35% of retail workers gained weight. 39% of sales workers gained weight. Well,… Read More
Continue ReadingTalent Shortage
According to a recent SHRM article, …approximately 60% of the 3,100 human resource executives surveyed by Novations Group (a Boston-based consulting firm) said they see signs of a talent shortage, while nearly 10 percent said they have seen no shortage but expect to before the end of the decade. That leaves 30 percent that see no or few signs of the shortage. About 20 percent of respondents said they see no signs of a talent shortage but will remain cautious on new hiring in the year ahead and ten percent said they do not even anticipate a shortage of workers in the next decade. More than half of those seeing… Read More
Continue ReadingSelling to Women
I’m catching up on some reading and came across Selling Power’s recent Sales Management Newsletter which had this article, If You Sell to Women, You Better Clear the Clutter. Some interesting information about selling to women. According to a cruise ship survey women could recall details as small as the design on the rugs and the subject matter of each painting on the walls. In contrast, most men couldn’t even remember the color of those walls. Women account for more than 80 percent of all purchases in the U.S., $3.7 trillion as consumers and $1.5 trillion as business owners. And third and foremost in my mind was the authors final… Read More
Continue ReadingAnecdote – Is that your final answer?
Late on a Friday and we need some levity so it is anecdote time. The set up – I am conducting a phone interview for a consultative service company where excellent listening and verbal skills are required. After asking a candidate (that was doing quite well) some preliminary questions about their general experience, I started asking more sales process-oriented questions. My first sales-specific question was “What is your typical length for one sales cycle?” His response, “I have been in this industry for almost 6 years but looking to make a change.” I was utterly baffled. I apologized to the candidate and mentioned that my question was not clear and… Read More
Continue ReadingNarrowing Down Applicants
A dated article in the Harvard Management Update caught my eye. The article provided some great practical advice that I thought would be good to pass on. If you are having trouble narrowing down the number of candidates, the author suggested asking each candidate to perform a simple task. Some examples: write a description of themselves or prepare a report on some aspect of your company or industry. A sizable percentage of the candidates won’t bother to do the task thereby effectively eliminating themselves from consideration. At that point, you can spend focused time with the applicants that have followed through on your request. This might be a great way… Read More
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