I’m not much of a web address guy though I know their are many who enjoy purchasing domain names. This Search Insider article provides a good, quick list of suggestions for good (and bad) web addresses. What Makes a Good URL? On GoodURLBadURL.com I list some best practices for marketing professionals who, like me, take this URL thing seriously. Here are the Dos and Don’ts I’ve come up with for selecting and promoting URLs. I’d love to hear yours, too — either in the Search Insider Blog or the comments section on my site. Dos 1. CapitalizeTheFirstLetterOfEachWord. 2. UseDifferentColorsOrBoldToHelpEachWordStandOut. 3. Whenever possible, use YourBrandName.com. 4. If .com is not available,… Read More
Continue ReadingA New Author Debut
We are in the process of some changes here at The Hire Sense. We are working on a new look and we are adding a new author. Eric Ramberg is a customer of ours who will be guest blogging on a regular basis. We have worked with Eric for the past 3 years on many different hiring projects. I know he will bring a unique perspective to our blog – the hiring manager/customer perspective. I suspect that perspective will be somewhat unique in the blogosphere. I hope to have Eric’s bio up on our site later today. Eric has a diverse background from theater director to sales manager. The topics for him… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Experience Matters
We go after experience-only hiring in that it is overly subjective and wrought with pitfalls. But that doesn’t mean experience is irrelevant. There are certain aspects to an applicant’s history that is important for hiring decisions. I’m currently sourcing for a mid-level, B2B sales position in the Twin Cities’ market. Although open to less-experienced sales candidates, our customer still requires a certain level of sales experience for the position. This requirement means that the Best Buy salespeople, car salespeople and other retail-based experience is not a fit. I am certain there are talented salespeople within those groups, but the mitigating factor is that our client’s sales cycle is long (up to 2… Read More
Continue ReadingComments Are Back
My apologies to those of you who were not able to comment recently on The Hire Sense. Apparently we had accidentally installed some draconian comment filter that viewed all of you as spammers. I know blaming technology is an easy way out, but it is the truth. Now, as to who activated the program… well, that is better left unsaid. All comments now welcome (except the real spammers).
Continue ReadingCandidates Are Negotiating Offers
No surprise here but the Career News is reporting that candidates are negotiating for higher starting salaries in this current market (emphasis mine): Job candidates are more apt to ask for higher starting salaries this coming year, and companies may have to up the ante to attract them. That’s according to an annual study on employment and compensation trends by Robert Half International (RHI) and CareerBuilder.com titled The (EDGE) Report. Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers polled for the project said it was difficult to find qualified candidates 12 months ago; 91 percent said recruiting is equally or more challenging today. More than half (52 percent) of hiring managers who are… Read More
Continue ReadingKnow Your Value
I was meeting with a VP of Sales yesterday discussing the onramping program for the new salesperson we found for them. He brought up a good point in that his new salesperson was spending time researching their competition. Unfortunately, they are in a commoditized market with many – many – competitors. The VP told the salesperson that there are too many competitors to research since they do not have a specific, common competitor. This led to a discussion that I heard regarding federal authorities and counterfeit money (a common topic this morning). There are far too many counterfeiters with different techniques to know all of the scams. So instead, the… Read More
Continue ReadingSupplemental Income
You know, I have had fourth quarters where I was tanking on my commission plan. Yet, I never thought of this idea to make up for it: A bank teller in Clearwater had a million reasons not to open an account for an Augusta, Ga., man Monday, authorities said. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill, said Aiken County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Michael Frank. Fantastic. My favorite line from the article is the last one: The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill,… Read More
Continue ReadingThat Might Work With The Chicks…
I’m quoting Bill Murray from Scrooged in case that was a bit too vague a reference. We’re in a good sourcing window right now, a window in which we have success every year (from now until Dec. 17 or so, then it shuts down until after Jan. 1). However, I received an email from a gentleman responding to one of our ads. His email: sexysalesguy@domain.com Good grief.
Continue ReadingIt Is Review Time
It is that time of year again…no, not Christmas – employee reviews. This topic is of great interest to us in that we help companies on-ramp new sales hires. One of the key aspects of onramping is regular meetings or reviews. That is management 101. Yet, it is surprising how many managers have a tendency to avoid a structured review with their employees. I suspect some of it has to do with the fact that managers may not be involved in their sales reps activities. I’m not talking about babysitting them every day, but I am talking about pre-call strategizing and post-call debriefing. If a sales manager is not completing those… Read More
Continue ReadingRecruiting Unconference This Week
I am a bit tardy in relaying this information, but there is an excellent recruiting conference coming up this Friday at Best Buy corporate headquarters in Richfield, MN. This is the second event in what is going to be a fairly regular conference. The first conference was excellent and this one looks to be no different. The topics for this conference: Talent Acquisition – “How NOT to put a Square Peg in a Round Hole” Top 10 SEO Tips For Company Job Boards Antisocial Networking: Getting Beyond Denial to Deliver a “Wow!” Experience I’ll be in attendance and I encourage any of you in the Twin Cities area to register and attend… Read More
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