Derrick wrote a series on sales traits last year which transcends sales and applies to everyone. I was catching up on my RSS reader from the Labor Day weekend and came across this perfect example to illustrate the lack of Attention to Detail. According to this post from US News & World Report, employees of media agency Carat learned about a planned layoff by management through an email. Because someone did not have an abundance of the attention to detail trait, an email meant strictly for management accidentally went out to everyone in the company. This is why we stress the use of assessments to “x-ray” a person’s hidden abilities and talents, or lack thereof. Unfortunately… Read More
Continue ReadingBest Cities To Build Wealth
From Justsell.com’s daily newsletter: Looking to build long-term wealth? According to a recent salary.com survey*, the best American cities in which to build wealth include: Plano, Texas Aurora, Colorado Omaha, Nebraska Minneapolis, Minnesota Albuquerque, New Mexico I don’t know about that fourth one. The way they tax up here makes me think otherwise. New York City came in last place out of 69 major cities so maybe this information is accurate.
Continue ReadingBuilding Rapport
Saleshq.com provides a simple list of suggestions for building rapport and connecting with others at networking events. I’m not certain the list is all that remarkable, but I was struck by a couple of tips: 5. Show interest in your conversational partner by actively listening and giving verbal feedback. Maintain eye contact. Never glance around the room while they are talking to you. 6. Listen more than you talk. Clearly you have to talk to build rapport, but the actual bonding occurs when your mouth is closed. I especially enjoyed the suggestion to “never” look around the room when someone is speaking to you. I have a friend who does… Read More
Continue ReadingSimple Sales Skill – Attentiveness
Justsell.com offers up a reminder about a critical sales skill that is often overlooked – attentiveness. This skill is less frequent in salespeople who lack empathetic abilities or are overly task-oriented. I have seen this first-hand on a number of occasions. What happens is the salesperson tends to something else during a discussion. Typically, the actions seems fairly innocuous – a cell phone alarm, looking through some notes, checking a text message, even adjusting the height of an office chair. All of these tasks seem inconspicuous, but they are an immediate tell that you are not fully attentive to the speaker. The better approach is to ignore the task if… Read More
Continue ReadingGeneration Y-Enthusiastic Or Spoiled?
There is always difficulty when you try to paint an entire generation with one broad stroke. This fact is prominently on display in two different articles from RecruitingTrends.com. The topic is Gen Y. Here is an excerpt from the first one (my emphasis): The millennials share a generational personality that is highly misunderstood by preceding generations, who often misinterpret their motivation as impatience and their enthusiasm as narcissism. Employers who manage millennials need to understand their generational footprint in order to keep this tech-savvy, plugged-in group of employees engaged in their work. Here is an excerpt from the second one (my emphasis): So how do you supervise, lead, and approach… Read More
Continue ReadingGet ‘Er Done
You have probably read many “how to” articles that provide tips for jobseekers. One tip that almost always makes the list is to have a professional email address. Unfortunately, I was looking through resumes today and found one person who may not have read any of those articles. His email address: rednecktrucker@domain.com Next.
Continue ReadingIM Efficiency
How about this from the Herman Trend Alert – Use IM to Reduce Interruption (sorry, no link). Most people believe using “instant messaging” (IM) software to chat at work leads to an increase in disruption. In fact, a study published recently by researchers at Ohio State University and University of California, Irvine found that workers who used IM on the job reported fewer interruptions than their colleagues who did not. The research showed that IM is often used as a substitute for other, more disruptive forms of communication such as the telephone, email, and face-to-face conversations and thus it actually leads to an increase in productivity. Dr. R. Kelly Garrett… Read More
Continue ReadingJust 5 Minutes
Something to make you think, from today’s JustSell.com enewsletter (sorry, no link): Just five minutes a day… What if you came to work five minutes early and left five minutes late every day for a year? (5) x (twice a day) x (roughly 250 sales days in the year) = 41.6 hours a year. That’s a whole extra work week. And possibly… Another project successfully completed Another deal closed Another prospect turned into a customer.
Continue ReadingLiability Waivers And References
I have been used as a reference and I have called to talk to references – at times it can be awkward. I am extremely careful with what I say when I am the reference as I sense legal danger everywhere. When I am calling a reference, I truly enjoy the people who just roll and I only have to direct them a bit. Now our local paper runs this short Q&A article about a liability waiver. I have never encountered such a document: Q: One company I interviewed with asked me to sign a waiver saying my former supervisor would not be liable for anything he said about me.… Read More
Continue ReadingPublic Sector Efficiency
This abcnews.com article will tweak every Utilitarian out there (my editing): The federal government has 2.6 million civilian workers, making it the nation’s largest employer. But, it turns out a growing number of these workers are not working. Coburn commissioned the report “Missing in Action: AWOL in the Federal Government,” which tracked the number of absent workers without leave, AWOL workers, across 18 government agencies from 2001 to 2007. It found that federal workers missed nearly 20 million hours of work in the last six years, not including vacation time or sick leave. On average, 2.8 million hours of work are lost per year because of AWOL absences. Can you… Read More
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