I heard an insightful business analyst quote this past weekend: Whatever results you are getting are a perfect outcome of the system you have in place. How true is that? Now add in this Albert Einstein quote: The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them. These truths can be applied to hiring salespeople. Companies are far too accepting of simply following their gut instinct when hiring a salesperson. This hiring approach is riddled with pitfalls, is not repeatable and introduces biases into the hiring decision. There is a better way. Click here to download our 1 page process overview… Read More
Continue ReadingUndergrad’s Top 25 Most-Desirable Employers
From BusinessWeek’s Undergrads’ 25 Most Wanted Employers: Public service or stock price: These were the two features undergraduates overwhelmingly gravitated toward in naming their ideal entry-level employer, according to newly released results of Universum Communications’ 2007 Most Desirable Undergraduate Employer ranking. Not to ruin the surprise, but here are the top 5 companies: 1. Google2. Walt Disney3. Apple4. State Department5. Peace Corps Click here to view a slide show of all 25. And yes, I know – the State Dept. and the Peace Corps? There is nothing like the idealism of a young, college graduate!
Continue ReadingHow To Source Candidates In A Tight Market
I’m sitting at a coffee shop right now reflecting upon an incredibly active week of sourcing and screening that has just passed. One of the items that stands out in my mind is how to handle candidates in this present market. It is a candidate’s market right now. Many companies are hiring so there are many opportunities for candidates to consider. This being true, hiring companies have to make some adjustments to their hiring process to be successful. Speed Up Yes, candidates use the veiled threat of other opportunities in an attempt to influence a quicker decision. This approach works in a tight labor market like we have today. Nonetheless,… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Wrong Salutation
The salutation from another email cover message: Dear All Hiring, Cover emails are difficult to write without starting it in this manner. I’m not a big fan of using “To Whom It May Concern,” but at least it doesn’t draw your attention in a negative way.
Continue ReadingA Question For Every Candidate
We never, ever phone screen a sales candidate without asking some form of this question: Why are you looking for a new opportunity? This question is revealing especially if you drill down a bit on their initial response. You will learn much about the candidate. We also ask it of previous positions – why did they decide to leave those positions. Listen closely to their response. Just in time comes this line from an email cover (emphasis mine): The company is closing their doors in Minnesota and abolishing all positions. Therefore that is why I am seeking new employment. Dramatic. This respondent certainly gets right to the point on the… Read More
Continue ReadingCoffee Culture Marketing
I graduated with a degree in psychology and I have a coffee addiction so abcnews.com’s article was irresistible: Starbuck’s Psychology. The article points to some specific, subtle marketing principles incorporated by the ever-expanding Starbuck’s chain: It has everything to do with the marketing strategy behind this designer coffee chain, which devised a clever way of creating its own community. It also pinpointed one key aspect of caffeine shoppers: They want their coffee immediately. “Designer coffee” for certain. Knowing this fact, they devised their strategy: Across the United States, there are 9,814 stores with a total of 13,728 worldwide. The Starbucks management has watched coffee drinks, and figured out exactly what… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Can vs. Can’t Approach
One client of ours told me a sales hiring story that led them to us. The sales manager followed the conventional hiring process – post an ad, sort the resumes, interview the candidates from the “yes” resume pile. He chose a salesperson with a glowing resume who absolutely won him over in the interview. He knew he had made a mistake a couple months into her employment. It turns out that this salesperson could not handle making calls in the presence of other people. What I mean is that her phone-intensive position was located in a cube farm with her peers all around her. She was incredibly uncomfortable talking to… Read More
Continue ReadingUbiquitous Communication
Yesterday I posted on communication blindness. Today, I stumbled upon CareerJournal.com’s Can a Business Be Run As a Corporate Democracy? A stunning thought that I have never considered. Yet, I suspect Gen Y has some ideals that favor this approach. Ternary runs itself as a democracy, and every decision must be unanimous. Any of Ternary’s 13 other employees could have challenged the incentive decision and forced it to be revisited. Running a company democratically sounds like a recipe for anarchy, and it can prompt bureaucratic whiplash: Ternary, a company with annual revenues of around $2 million, adjusted salaries for employees up and down several times last year. At first blush,… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Leading Others
This week’s trait focuses on an important sales manager trait. The aptitude to lead others works in concert with many other traits and motivations, but the natural ability to lead can be identified and measured through our assessments. Leading OthersThe ability to organize and motivate salespeople to get things accomplished where everyone feels a sense of order and direction. Effective leadership depends on a fine mixture of capacities that must match the environment in which the sales manager is asked to perform. Regardless of that mixture, every leader must be able to gain the trust of others and be able to solve problems among/for the group. A sales manager with strength… Read More
Continue ReadingA Quick Screening Tip
I’m working through another week consisting of one phone screen after another. There are few things that are more revealing than spending time on the phone with sales candidates. One topic I enjoy hearing is a candidate who clearly has experience building a territory from nothing to a significant revenue level. This ability is highly valuable and it doesn’t take long to discover if the candidate has truly done it or not. The candidates who have done it have detailed accounts of successes and failures in growing the revenue. Drill down a level or two on their responses and you will hear either past-tense experiences or theoretical strategies. Listen for… Read More
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