Allbusiness.com brings us this article – Eight Tips on Crafting Effective Voice Mail Messages. We live in a world of voicemail which has changed telephone prospecting in a profound way. Throw caller ID on top of a robust voicemail system and under-skilled salespeople are dead in the water. The author states that voicemail messages should be approximately 15 to 40 seconds in length because: If your message is longer than one minute, you’ll lose their attention. Putting a time limitation on your voice mail messages prevents rambling. As such, it forces you to laser in on the most compelling language to achieve your secondary objective, which is a return call.… Read More
Continue ReadingNow THIS is a Commute
Work in Omaha, Live in Connecticut from CareerJournal discusses the commuting schedule of the CEO of ConAgra. Two words = corporate jet. The article provides much detail regarding the interaction between CEO’s and the investment community. But in the middle of the article resides this little dandy: But other experts suggest that in the age of the BlackBerry, the CEO’s whereabouts are increasingly irrelevant. Many travel constantly among far-flung divisions anyway. And there are several high-profile chief executives who have lived away from headquarters cities. I don’t know if it is too early or too late to say this may be a trend. Perhaps we are headed towards the age… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat to do with the Decision Maker
All companies want salespeople who can sell to a high-level contact. Many ads claim you must be able to sell to the C-level. For some positions this is true but others it is a lower position in the company. The main point is to get to the right decision maker, but then what should a salesperson do? Selling Power chimes in with Don’t Make These Mistakes with Decision Makers. The author provides 5 strong points that all salespeople should follow when dealing with decision makers. The first point is one I keep encountering in other articles too: 1. Failing to prepare. When a top decision maker carves time out of… Read More
Continue ReadingAnecdote – The Debut
Our sourcing, screening and interviewing activities for our customers leads us into some comical discussions. Sales candidates are entertaining, coy and often cocky. Some times their responses are downright baffling. This news is not groundbreaking to anyone who has hired salespeople in the past. We’ve added a category for “Anecdotes” that will encompass some of the funnier moments from our experiences. Hopefully these posts will add a little levity to The Hire Sense. My question: Why are you looking for a new position at this time? Candidate’s response: My driver’s license is suspended at this time which was required of my previous position. Do I need to drive for this… Read More
Continue ReadingExperience – Fact or Fiction?
In this article from the Minneapolis StarTribune.com, the author discusses the growing demand for salespeople in the medical industry. One quote in particular jumps out: Medical salespeople often tell me it is rewarding to sell things that help people. I bring this topic up because it is of interest in that we have measured this reward in the medical and health insurance industries. There is a statistical significance among these salespeople to be rewarded by a higher Sense of Mission (purpose). The article continues: Medical salespeople are experienced, persistent and smart, do their homework and have an understanding of the audience they are selling to. I would agree with all… Read More
Continue ReadingDon’t Do That
This article from ABC News’ career correspondent is an interesting read. She visited a women’s prison to talk to the inmates about finding a job once they are released. I must admit, I was debating whether or not to read the article, but it does provide a different perspective. I choked on my coffee when I read this sentence: I’ve hired people because I got the immediate sense that they were kind, good, decent souls. And I’ve rejected others with awesome resumes because their demeanors were too harsh. Please, don’t do that. Your gut is a valuable tool in hiring, but it is not objective. A better approach is to… Read More
Continue ReadingPerfectionism
Two links that relate directly to each other. First, a Forbes.com article titled Addicted to Work. Interesting point: “Perfectionism overrides efficiency,” Robinson says. “A workaholic will spend unnecessary time on a project, often going over it again and again before passing it on.” The article gets fairly intense about the outcroppings of a workaholic. One particular Selling Style is particularly susceptible to becoming a workaholic – it is the High C. The very strengths in their style also make them susceptible to extremism in their work role.
Continue ReadingHow to Manage a Staff of Young Employees
We have a bit of an impromptu theme this week starting with our article released Monday. Generations X and Y are popular topics these days. I have been catching up to some older articles and came across this one from allbusiness.com which is the title of this post. Overall, it is a strong article with good tactical suggestions for managers. Some seem simplistic – be clear from the outset, be a mentor and teach them business standards. Yet, I can immediately think of 5 examples where sales managers did not perform such rudimentary tasks. Maybe these items are topical fodder for management articles nowadays? Two points really jumped out from… Read More
Continue ReadingBlog of the Week Honor
We’ve just been informed we have been chosen as the featured blog for this week at the Small Business Blog Directory. Thank you for the honor and welcome to the readers who have found their way to our blog. I hope you enjoy our first-hand accounts of sales hiring today.
Continue ReadingHiring as a Part-Time Activity
A few years ago we were working with a large corporation that was having a difficult time finding strong salespeople. In fact, they were quite lousy at it and had assembled a weak team overall. This project was quite extensive in that we had to assess their current team of over 30 salespeople, 5 managers and 3 VPs. After that, we modified our hiring process to work with their existing HR department’s process. After many meetings, we were off and running on the sourcing side. We identified the strong candidates and went to schedule interviews with the hiring managers. Anyone who has hired strong salespeople before knows that you do… Read More
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