Here’s a Monday morning thought: There are many facets to successful selling, but none of greater importance than asking the right questions. Think about this, there is nothing prospects like to hear more than their own voice. They have good reason for this – they believe the salesperson is there to talk them into buying something. A fair assumption for sure. The best approach for a salesperson then is to ask the right questions and let the prospect talk. Two critical items underscore this approach. First, the person asking the questions is in control of the conversation. They can direct the topics which leads to the second critical item. The… Read More
Continue ReadingSaturday Morning Humor
This whole premise of this website is funny. (h/t Seth Godin)
Continue ReadingMore Fun With Resume Covers
I have a general weakness for the general resume cover emails. This one is great: Help! I am not an idiot! Ok-I am employed full time-but they think I am incapable of anything but answering the phone, making copies, and filing! I am so much smarter than that.
Continue ReadingAnecdote – What Motivates You?
I was talking with one of our clients earlier today and we were reviewing a sales candidate’s assessment results. The candidate is presently working for a small temp staffing agency for a salary only (no commission) and puts in an average of 50-60 hours per week. The candidate had a strong social motivation which is a big red flag in our world. As we were discussing how these motivations would show up on the job, our client remembered that she had asked the candidate what gave her the greatest sense of satisfaction? The candidate’s response: When a person comes up to me and thanks me for finding them a job… Read More
Continue ReadingPay for Performance
At Select Metrix, we constantly preach that compensation plans should be, in part, tied to an individual’s performance. So when I was reading through my newsletters and RSS feeds, I was amazed to find stats from several different articles and feeds. First off, CEO turnover is up. The numbers show that CEO turnover for 2005 was 15% compared to 9% just 10 years earlier. Pay is also up, this could be due to the fact that more CEOs are moving around. In 2004 CEO pay increased 14.5% and in 2005 it increased 7.1% with the median salary and bonus coming in at $2,408,665. With this trend, The Corporate Library (paid… Read More
Continue ReadingSpotting Strong Salespeople
I’m in to analogies this week so I have had this one rattling around in my head for a while. Its Friday so let’s try it. If you are familiar with football and specifically the wide receiver position, you know that their primary purpose is to run fast, accurate routes and catch the football when it is thrown to them. On running plays, they may run hard downfield as a decoy or they may try to block a defensive player. These activities are simply secondary at best to their role. Suffice to say, wide receivers usually have the cleanest uniforms at the end of a game (sans the punter and… Read More
Continue ReadingExecutive’s Top 10 Business Issues
From Sales&Marketing Management’s Performance newsletter (sorry, no link): An annual survey by consulting firm Accenture of 436 senior executives at major companies around the world have identified risk management as their top concern. This is a shift from the past three years, when workforce improvement issues topped the list. Here are the top 10 current business issues for senior executives: 1. Managing risk 2. Achieving growth while increasing profitability 3. Acquiring new customers 4. Using IT to reduce costs and create value 5. Changing organizational culture and employee attitudes 6. Increasing customer loyalty and retention 7. Improving workforce performance 8. Increasing shareholder value 9. Applying innovation to stay ahead of… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Sense of Timing
This week’s series stops on an important aptitude for success is selling. There is nothing more clumsy than a salesperson with bad timing. Sense Of Timing The ability to accurately evaluate what is happening in such way that their statements, decisions and actions are effective, accurate and timely. This capacity evaluates a persons ability to look at the whole picture and effectively evaluate how their immediate request or action fits into the current timeframe. A salesperson with a strong aptitude in this capacity will be able to effectively interact with others by adjusting the timing with which he/she presents ideas, suggestions, criticism or solutions. A salesperson with a weak aptitude… Read More
Continue ReadingAbsentee Sales Management
Imagine your goal is to lose weight so you sign up for a 1 year membership to one of the large health clubs in town. You pay the steep initial fee and the monthly amount. In the first 6 months, you go to the club and workout a total of 5 times for 30 minutes each time. Suffice to say, you have not lost the weight you expected to lose. In fact, you have actually put on 5 pounds in those 6 months. You could call the club and complain that you have not lost the weight you had intended to lose. They will probably pull up a record of… Read More
Continue ReadingGreat Sales Quote
It has been a hectic customer day with many things happening. I was a bit worn out and then I caught up to this great quote from the justsell.com newsletter: “Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses and some don’t turn up at all.” –Sam Ewing (1920-2001) American writer & humorist
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