I have noticed this of late – salespeople are having more discussions on their cell phone while in the office. Maybe they go into a conference room, a hallway, lunch room, etc. Is there a greater clue that they may be looking for a new opportunity? Granted, these calls may be nothing more than a personal call and not an employment opportunity. However, I always become suspicious when I see that behavior inside an office. Just an observation.
Continue ReadingThe Straight-Up Truth
These are skittish times, aren’t they? I have seen this among reps and myself – every little item is scrutinized. Communication, email, reports…I find myself looking for subtle clues in all of them. Is a layoff coming? How bad is it? What is going to happen next? These are not productive thoughts. As a manager, how do you quell these fears? There isn’t one move, tool or approach that will cure it, but a concerted effort will help to minimize your team’s anxiety. Selling Power offers up an article that has some feel-good points that I question. However, there is something in the article that caught my eye: Don’t make… Read More
Continue ReadingImpending Movement
In sales there has always been career movement. Most successful salespeople have a “hunting” ability for closing deals. They also use this ability to close new deals for themselves in terms of a new job. I believe this approach is intensified in the younger generations – Gen X and Gen Y. This current economy is going to erode much of their loyalty as they watch companies shed employees. This downturn is far worse than that of 2001, but it is two career-altering downturns in less than 10 years. That has to have an effect on younger workers. Some of this movement can be seen in this article from Managesmarter.com: Even… Read More
Continue ReadingIt’s All About Leads
Ask any salesperson and they will likely tell you that good leads are the most important aspect of successful selling. I’ve worked for companies at all different levels on this topic – from absolute garbage leads (the company thought they were good) to golden leads (that were often ignored!). The golden leads are money if you have salespeople who can effectively qualify. To that point, Miller-Heiman has released their annual Sales Best Practices Study (h/t Managesmarter.com). One of their many interesting findings: Organizations in which sales and marketing are aligned regarding their target market, customer profile, and lead definitions are in a much stronger position to produce quality leads. Maintaining… Read More
Continue ReadingThere Are Still Open Positions
You never quite know what you are going to receive from the Herman Trend Alert which makes it one of the more highly-anticipated newsletters in my inbox. This week the topic is how many job postings there are presently – over 1.8 million. Granted, there is far more to hiring than just the quantitative aspect, but the number surprised me. Here is their intro (sorry, no link): While job postings between January 2008 and January 2009 have declined in all industries, there are still almost 1.88 million jobs that require skilled workers. According to a release by Indeed.com last week, the industries that experienced the least contraction were Education and… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring A System
If you have noticed a decrease in hiring topics of late there is a reason why…few companies are hiring. We have seen it affect our business too. We had an early glimpse of it last year around Q2 as our assessment business started to decline gradually. That is a painful path to go down as you try to figure out a way to counteract the trend. At any rate, companies are still purchasing assessments and some are still hiring. Yes, it is true despite what you see in the media. As you might imagine, there is some serious talent available to companies that have the wherewithal to hire right now.… Read More
Continue ReadingBest Companies To Work For
I think in this economy you could simply state “any” as the best. Well, that may be a bridge too far, but you get my point. Fortune magazine released their annual list of the top 100 companies to work for. Here are the top 10: 10. Nugget Market 9. Goldman Sachs 8. Methodist Hospital System 7. Genentech 6. Cisco Systems 5. Wegmans Food Markets 4. Google 3. Boston Consulting Group 2. Edward Jones 1. NetApp How about this excerpt on the number 1 company NetApp: Typical of its down-to-earth management ethos, NetApp early on ditched a travel policy a dozen pages long in favor of this maxim: “We are a… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Most Important Innovations
…of the past 30 years is a topic I posted on last week. The top 30 list was unveiled this week. Here is the video link to the story regarding the top technical innovations. And here is the overall list: 30. Anti retroviral treatment for AIDS 29. SRAM flash 28. Stents 27. ATMs 26. Bar codes and scanners 25. Bio fuels 24. Genetically modified plants 23. RFID and applications (e.g. EZpass) 22. Digital photography/videography 21. Graphic user interface (GUI) 20. Social networking via internet 19. Large scale wind turbines 18. Photovoltaic Solar Energy 17. Microfinance 16. Media file compression (e.g., jpeg, mpeg, mp3) 15. Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions (e.g., eBay) 14. GPS… Read More
Continue ReadingFindability
It is a travel day for me – back to the cold of Minnesota – so may I suggest a thought-provoking article from the Killian BrandAid email newsletter? Finability: Catch The Fourth Wave is a must read. First a taste: Buyers, not sellers, control all transactions. That’s a sweeping generalization, but let’s sweep together: Your prospects feel entitled to do their own research, given that they believe they have the information resources to find you (and, of course, find your competitors). Since a brand’s first duty is visibility, it’s essential that every organization with competitors (let’s spell that out: You) must engage in findability engineering. Your future depends on it.… Read More
Continue Reading30 Most Important Innovations
We receive many media alerts at Select Metrix, but this one caught my eye. PBS’ Nightly Business Report is airing the 30 Most Important Innovations from the Last 30 Years. Here is their description: In 1979, the first spreadsheet software was introduced, Sony rolled out the Walkman, ESPN began broadcasting sporting events to cable TV companies, and on public television, Nightly Business Report made its debut. To celebrate their three decades on the air, PBS’ Nightly Business Report has teamed up with Knowledge@Wharton, the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to select the 30 most important innovations from the last 30… Read More
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