I’ve recently been looking at creativity in selling since it seems to be a topic of discussion with greater frequency. The younger generations are flattening the long-standing hierarchal structures that have been a hallmark of corporate structure. Part of this change has to be attributed to the creative freedom wielded by so many Gen Y employees. Managing creative types can be a real challenge as Jack Welch discusses in this article: But what a mistake if you lead creative people from your heart and stop there. Managing creative people also requires—it even demands—a measure of authority. Nothing heavy-handed, of course. You don’t want your resident out-of-the-box thinkers running for the… Read More
Continue ReadingRationalizing Rejected Offers
From BusinessWeek.com’s When The Candidate Says No: Then, disaster strikes. The candidate says no. In the blink of an eye, the story is rewritten. He’s self-important; she doesn’t know what she’s passing up. We didn’t land the candidate, so the candidate is flawed. Ever heard this story before? Of course—it’s one of Aesop’s most famous fables, The Fox and the Grapes. Once the fox realized the grapes were out of reach, he decided they were sour grapes, anyway. Who needs ’em? It’s laughable to see this story played out over and over, but it has a sobering side. When we invest time and energy in selling a candidate on our… Read More
Continue ReadingLeverage Your Sales Team’s Abilities
BusinessWeek.com offers up a great article from one of the authors of First, Break All The Rules. The author discusses how managers discover what makes their employees tick and then they use that information to place the employee in the best situations for success. This approach is one we wholly subscribe to: Do what great managers do: Instead of trying to change your employees, identify their unique abilities (and even their eccentricities)—then help them use those qualities to excel in their own way. This approach is one greatly important aspect of successful sales management. At times, we see sales managers who expect the sales team to adapt fully to him… Read More
Continue ReadingReaction Is Worth More Than Visits
From the Website Notes enewsletter from Web Pro News: Matt Bailey, President of SiteLogic said, “Simply getting more and more numbers to your Web site, is not the answer. It’s getting them to react.” There are three types of searcher: 1. Specific searcher (Sharp shooter) 2. Concept searcher (Shotgun) 3. Idea searcher (Artillery) He said writing content is just as important as the design of the content. Content should answer how it will make life easier. Call things what they are and speak in user’s language. That is a good point about simplicity …a point I think is often lost in websites. I know we get caught up in our… Read More
Continue ReadingPipeline Or Pipe Dream
One of the tenets of successful sales management is effective pipeline management. Sales managers have to have an accurate read on their team’s opportunities and a good understanding of when they will close. This truth is never more important than in a capital equipment sale. If a product has a long lead time or a highly customized build, the sales pipeline is even more critical. ManageSmarter.com discusses this topic in their article Pipeline = Lifeline (great title): “Pipeline management is a critical issue,” Stein says. “Few companies have it figured out.” For those that do, they will reap a myriad of benefits, including better forecasting the length of the sales… Read More
Continue ReadingDoom On Company Time
The Herman Group newsletter this week discusses the amount of gaming that goes on in an office. Gaming as in playing video games. Seriously. We estimate that computer gaming is costing United States employers millions of dollars every year. According to a recent survey of computer gamers, 24 percent of white collar workers admitted to playing during work hours. The most critical finding is the frequency with which these workers play. Over half (53 percent) said they play at work at least once a day. Seventy-nine percent said they play at work several times a week—or more. Eighty-four percent said that, on average, they play casual games at work for… Read More
Continue ReadingA Future Shift In Sourcing Candidates
Well, the future is now when it comes to this topic. The social network sites are going to have a dramatic impact on finding strong sales candidates. First, this may be slightly off topic, but MarketingProfs.com offers up this article – Facebook: Changing Advertising Forever: At the November 5 launch of Facebook’s new advertising platform, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, presented his vision for the future of advertising: “Once every hundred years media changes. The last hundred years have been defined by the mass media. The way to advertise was to get into the mass media and push out your content. That was the last hundred years. In the next… Read More
Continue ReadingWork/Life Balance And Relocation
Work/life balance is a hot topic as the younger generations flood into the work world and Baby Boomers start checking out. One are that I haven’t considered is the effect this balance will have on relocation. Forbes.com’s Travel Sick? article does take up this topic (my editing): Throughout the country a growing number of executives are taking to the highways, railroads and even the skies to get to work instead of relocating closer to their job. This is hardly a newsflash to the nation’s executive recruiters. Of those surveyed 55% say it’s more difficult today than ever to convince job candidates to relocate for a professional opportunity, according to a… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Next Generation Is MORE Connected
And you thought Gen Y was the gadget-driven, totally connect generation. I was utterly shocked by this Online Media Daily story: The Nielsen Co. released the findings of an in-depth study on the mobile media and cross-media behavior of U.S. “tweens” (ages 8-12). The report estimates that: 35% of tweens own a mobile phone, 20% of tweens have used text messaging, and 21% of tweens have used ring & answer tones. While text-messaging and ringtones remain the most pervasive non-voice functions on the phone, other content such as downloaded wallpapers, music, games and Internet access also rank high among tweens. According to Nielsen, 5% of tweens access the Internet over… Read More
Continue ReadingTalent Scarcity, But Plenty Of Grill Time
The recruiters conference I attended last Friday started off on the right foot – we calculated the cost of a bad hire (even for a $6 an hour employee, it can run $2400 or more), interacted with the moderator about CEOs’ perception of candidates brought in by an outside agency (79% unfavorable) and even discussed the challenge of finding “A” players in a tight talent market. But when the speaker explained their approach of grilling a candidate on each and every job back to high school (Tell me your bosses name. Spell it. Tell me your closest peer’s name at that job. Spell it.) during a 3 to 4 hour long third interview,… Read More
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