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.
Continue ReadingWipe Your Facebook
The thought of using social networking sites as part of a candidate background check has been debated greatly in recent months. I have to confess, I am of two minds on the topic. Foxnews.com offers up an interesting story titled Job Hunters Hire Pros to Clean Up Online Profiles. Some CareerBuilder.com stats are provided within the story: A study of 1,150 hiring managers by Careerbuilder.com found 26 percent of managers admitted to using search engines such as Google and 12 percent of managers said they used social networking sites like Facebook.com in their hiring process. … Of the 12 percent who checked social networking sites, 63 percent declined to hire… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Developing Others
This week we focus on a critical sales management trait. We often encounter sales managers who attempt to sell first, manage later. This approach may pay short-term dividends, but the long-term effect is an underdeveloped sales team. We always look at this measurement when hiring sales managers. Developing Others The ability to understand the needs, interests, strengths and weaknesses of others and utilize this information for developing others. This trait is derived primarily from a person€™s concern, their ability to evaluate others, and their ability to identify with others. It is affected by a person€™s focus on structure and order. The person with a strong focus on structure will tend… Read More
Continue ReadingInterviews And The 2% Improvement
Good ManageSmarter.com article here titled Hiring as a Competitive Advantage (great title). There are few echoes in the article that reflect exactly our thinking when it comes to successful hiring processes. First, an amazing piece of data: €¢ Interviews: A University of Michigan study found that a typical job interview only increased the likelihood of choosing the best candidate by less than 2 percent. The statement could use some clarification, but the fact is that most ineffective hiring processes over-rely upon the interview in their decision-making. Less than 2% is even worse than I would have guessed. Hiring the “best” candidate clearly requires more input than what can be gathered… Read More
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