I came across an interesting article from Selling Power titled “Stop Nodding and Ask.” A far too common mistake I make with my wife is nodding as if I am paying attention, understand and agree with her. This interaction usually occurs when I think I am just too busy to stop what I’m doing and listen to what she has to say. Unfortunately, she always catches me and rightly busts my chops. You would think after 23 years of marriage I would learn. Okay the article isn’t written for the purpose of having better spousal communication. It is written for salespeople to ensure that they don€™t fall into the trap… Read More
Continue ReadingApril Fool’s A Day Late
April Fool’s went by this year uneventful for me, no practical jokes and no annoying pranks. At least so I thought. I have a group of guys that I lead in a bible study on Monday nights. Since it is Spring break this week, we talked about moving our usual meeting day and time. After several emails and conversations everyone agreed that we would keep it our normal time. I showed up, as usual, about 15 minutes early to shoot the breeze with some of the guys. Our 7pm meeting time came and went and no one showed up. I thought out of my 8 guys that at least half… Read More
Continue ReadingA Commission Plan Gone Bad – Update
The saga continues. My friend as gotten to be a great resource for me on what not to do for sales management and incentive plans. Just after the last post a new turn of events transpired in regards to this latest contest. As I mentioned, her team was challenged to sell 2 specific add-on services (both truly commodities). Extra spiff’s were added by the manager to “motivate” the sales team. One of the team members actually went out and sold 10 of these services which should have entitled them to a half day off (and no small feat to accomplish these sales). Yet, the weekly report listed only 1 sale.… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Gen Y Wants
SHRM’s recent newsletter (membership required) contains an article discussing what Gen Y’ers are looking for in their lives. In a recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center here is a wish list of what the Gen Y’ers want. Life goals are geared strongly toward getting rich (81 percent) and famous (51 percent). Their Generation X predecessors, by comparison, place less importance on these goals, with 62 percent seeking riches and just 29 percent seeking fame. Thirty percent of respondents indicated that finances and debt were the most important personal problems they were facing. Education was a distant second at 18 percent, followed closely by career and job concerns at 16… Read More
Continue ReadingDoes Gloomy Weather Impact Productivity?
Yes, according to an article on CareerBuilder. There are more numbers and stats in the article than you can shake a stick at, but I thought I would share a couple with you (FYI, it is cold and rainy here in Minnesota today). One-in-ten workers say that they tend to be less productive when there is gloomy weather outside. Inclement weather can also result in higher absences. One-in-five workers (21 percent) have called in sick because of not wanting to travel to work in bad weather. Workers in the Northeast were the most likely to call in sick due to bad weather (32 percent) compared to the South (21 percent),… Read More
Continue ReadingAvoid Super Candidate Syndrome
Monster provides some great resources for employers including free webinars on timely topics when it comes to hiring. Click here to see a recent presentation or here to see what other scheduled (or completed) webinars on on their docket. The top sources for finding new opportunites as used by candidates are: Family & Friends Job Boards (large) Past Managers & Colleagues Job Boards (niche/speciality) Recruiting/Placement Firms As you are probably aware, many people consistently keep an eye open for new opportunities. So why don’t more people apply to ads? Here is what the researchers discovered were the biggest frustrations for candidates is their search: Vague Job Descriptions Inflated Requirements –… Read More
Continue ReadingA Commission Plan Gone Bad
A couple of weeks ago I posted on a friend’s review experience and now it’s time for a follow up. She relayed to me another experience she had with her manager. Once again, this is an example of what not to do as a sales manger. My friend set the personal goals she wanted to attain so that her territory had a good chance at winning the contest. In fact, she started talking with the rest of the team and they each set their own goals to win (unbeknownst to the manager). On the manager’s weekly conference call, the team found out they had already moved up a place in… Read More
Continue ReadingAd Writing Essentials
Over the past week there have been more articles than I care to count on how to write an effective job ad – none of which are written with sales positions in mind. When it comes to sales, you need to think a bit differently. Let me give you an example – all the articles recommend, in some fashion or another, to collect resumes from candidates via email. Some even suggest that you respond with a thank you even if they are not qualified for the position. Fair enough, but not one mentions to put your phone number in the ad. You’re probably saying, I’m not doing that and having… Read More
Continue ReadingAre Leads Dying On The Vine?
There is an interesting article in the recent Career Concepts USA newsletter (sorry, no newsletter link). Career Concepts USA offers recruiting solutions through Career Fairs, Sourcing, and Partnership Services. They have an article on research done by Salesnet.com which found that 87% of all leads are not pursued by salespeople. Boy is that a frightening statistic, think about all the money that is spent to develop leads and then they are never pursued. We often hear from salespeople that their company doesn’t do enough lead production. Here are the main reasons why leads are not pursued as stated in the article: -Lag time between prospect interest and sales contact. -Lack… Read More
Continue ReadingReference Checks
I came across an article on Monster this morning that identifies fives mistakes you want to avoid for reference checks. The article is a quick read, but here are the five mistakes to avoid: Not Checking at All Lack of Consistency Making the Job Offer Contingent on a Reference Check Not Requiring References Who Have Worked Directly with the Candidate Asking Leading questions and Failing to Ask Follow-Up Questions In point 3 the author has this to say: References should be checked much earlier in the process than many employers actually perform them. Once the top two or three candidates have been identified through resume screenings and initial interviews, references… Read More
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