Have you ever been flummoxed by some bizarre resumes you have received in response to a clearly written ad? We receive them frequently. And often we explain these scenarios to our customers. In case you ever wondered, I received a promotional email today that revealed much: You can use <product> to instantly search all major job sites (at the same time) for jobs you like. Next, review the jobs it found and put a check mark next to your favorites. Then, press a single button to send your resume & cover letter to ALL the jobs you checked. It’s that easy! You can apply to 1 or 1000 jobs all… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Regarding Proactive Sales Management
The first two parts of our series on proactive sales management have been focused on foundation and structure. An experience about a year ago, sums up the crux of the problem – and the eventual fallout. Depending on the sales scenario, product knowledge can be a foundational item that should not be compromised. Having been in a very technical environment for most of my sales career, experience says a sound product foundation is important in the sales process. I’m not suggesting that a salesperson delve into the minutia of every last product detail. What I am suggesting is the ability to use product information and knowledge in the sales process.… Read More
Continue ReadingAd Irony
From perusing the morning ads I came across a company looking for a Quality Engineer. One of the requirements is to be a “Competent technical writer.” Unfortunately, this plastic injection-molding company misspelled their name in the listing – XYZ Platics. That, my friends, is a perfect example of irony.
Continue ReadingNew Article – The Structure Of A Selling System
Part 2 in our 3 part Proactive Sales Management series has been released. It is titled The Structure of a Selling System and continues the homebuilding analogy by comparing a selling system to the framing of a house. Just to give you a taste: It took me awhile to understand what was going on and why some of the things I was required to do were important. The key to the training was to understand and use a proven sales process. Tom assured me of success if I stayed within this structured approach. He also assured me I would fail if I didn€™t use the process and techniques that had been refined by… Read More
Continue ReadingBrutal Bosses Get Promoted?
This report just cuts against common sense in many ways. From Yahoo News’ Bad bosses get promoted, not punished? In the study to be presented at a conference on management this weekend, almost two-thirds of the 240 participants in an online survey said the local workplace tyrant was either never censured or was promoted for domineering ways. Whenever I see these types of surveys, I wonder about the wording. “Domineering ways” is definitely a fuzzy phrase. I would guess that the respondents may simply have had an issue with a High D style. I’ve worked for quite a few bad bosses and I know the stress involved with them. Some… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Is A Fuzzy Phrase?
The Rock Star posted on fuzzy phrases just about a year ago. I believe I have uncovered a pristine example from an email I received this morning: The deadline is mid September.
Continue ReadingA Blogger’s Union
Talk about another bad business decision – from the Pioneer Planet’s Bloggers May Form Union: A loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers is trying to form a labor union in hopes of helping them secure health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards. But wait, it gets better: “Blogging is very intense – physically, mentally,” she said. “You’re constantly scanning for news. You’re constantly trying to … mobilize your readers. I particularly enjoyed the first part of that quote – blogging is very intense physically. Physically? Insert your own Jay Leno joke about how fat we are becoming as a nation.
Continue ReadingWhat The Candidates Are Reading
From Yahoo Finance comes this BusinessWeek article – When an Employer Just Is Not That Into You: Here are some signs that they’re just not that into you, and you’d be better served pursuing other opportunities: 1. Silence After Initial Contact 2. Difficulty Scheduling a Phone Screen 3. Last-Minute Interview Changes 4. Delay in Post-Interview Contact 5. Too Many Changes in the Process 6. Slow Follow-Up After Second Interview 7. Delay in Extending the Offer There are paragraphs written under each of these 7 topics and I strongly encourage you to read them. Do you notice any pattern to the 7 topics? A lack of structure and a lack of… Read More
Continue ReadingThe 35W Collapse
I can’t begin to tell you the enormity of the 35W collapse up here in Minneapolis. That is the main artery through Minneapolis and that bridge is one that almost all Twin Cities’ residents have traveled across – probably within the last 6 months. I cannot count how many times I have been over it. All of our people are accounted for this morning. As strange as it sounds, things could have been worse if the bridge wasn’t under construction. Traffic was crawling along through the construction zone during rush hour so there weren’t the normal number of cars racing over the bridge. The latest information is that 9 people… Read More
Continue ReadingShould Online Background Checks Be Used?
Inc.com’s Job Applicants Fear Impact of Online Behavior offers this (my emphasis): Job Hunting in the Digital Age, a poll of about 600 current employees conducted by Harris Interactive for Adecco USA, found that 66 percent of workers in Generation Y (ages 18 to 29) are oblivious to the online background checks employers do to research potential employees. In comparison, only 40 percent of baby boomers (ages 43 to 61) are unaware of such searches. How can this be? Gen Y is oblivious to online background checks? Later in the article: Therefore, more baby boomers make the effort to keep up with the latest hiring trends, as opposed to those in… Read More
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