This truth is one that we cannot utter to our customers, but it is critical in assisting a company to upgrade their sales team. Implicit in this statement is the fact that some companies, when it comes to sales, do not provide an “A” level opportunity. The reasons companies do not fit the A level often revolves around a handful of lesser items and one big item. First the lesser items: Compensation.A players expect A-level compensation. Many hiring companies believe they can offer A-level compensation through their commission structure. While this may be possible, it is often unattainable. A commission plan in which the salesperson must triple the company’s revenue… Read More
Continue ReadingMovin On Up – Take Two
We’re having some fun with the website as we move it to a new web host. There was a post about the move, and now there isn’t a post about it. The joys of transferring a site! Anyway, the new provider will allow for our site to load faster and perform better. We will also unveil a new look for The Hire Sense in the near future. In the meantime, please bear with us as we get back online blogging shortly.
Continue ReadingDefinitely NOT A Totalitarian Culture
Earlier this week I posted about a totalitarian culture. Now today I just caught up to a post from GL over at What Would Dad Say that provides a view of a completely different culture. I’ve recently invested in and joined the board of a fast growing software company comprised of mainly geeks, but cool geeks. They work hard and they play even harder. I’ve seen many of them passed out from doing keg stands and beer drinking relay races (at company events) . The culture isn’t for everyone, but the really smart, hard working, competitive types (who can also drink a lot) who don’t like a lot of corporate… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring Remains Strong
The latest numbers are out and the experts are…drumroll please…”surprised.” From Reuters: Employers added a surprisingly strong 166,000 new non-farm jobs in October, well ahead of forecasts in an early sign that consumer incomes may be better supported than thought heading into the fourth quarter, according to a government report on Friday. The Labor Department said the national unemployment rate in October was unchanged at 4.7 percent. It revised September hiring to show that 96,000 jobs were added instead of 110,000 it reported a month ago and said 93,000 new jobs in August instead of 89,000 that it previously reported. Don’t buy the hype about a bad economy. The 166,000… Read More
Continue ReadingOur Most Desired Question
One question we would love to hear more often from our customers is this, “What factors make this candidate a strong fit for our sales position?” This is the best question to ask when first viewing a candidate’s information. Unfortunately, we hear many customers resort to their old method for measuring a candidate – what does their resume contain? I often wonder if hiring would improve if resumes were removed from the process. I know it will never happen, but it would force hiring managers to take a more comprehensive approach to their decision-making. The focus would move from prejudging viability based solely on a sheet of paper to interviewing… Read More
Continue ReadingGood Interviews From Bad Salespeople
How about this thought – many bad salespeople are good interviews because they have much practice. We have seen many salespeople do well on the phone but once we dig into their history, we find a consistent pattern of 2 year stints. But man do they say the right things on the phone. For this reason, we tend to run a difficult phone screen to weed out the pretenders. In fact, just this week we received a resume from a candidate with whom we are familiar. He worked for one of our customers 3 years ago and displayed flamboyant incompetence. As they say in the Wall Street Journal, it wasn’t… Read More
Continue ReadingMy Shortest Phone Screen Ever
I am sourcing for a mid-level account executive for a complex, custom manufactured product for businesses. I had one candidate contact me via voicemail who stated that he has decades of experience in this market. Ok. So I called him back late in the afternoon to go through a phone screen. First off, he didn’t remember me. After I explained who I was, he remembered the company. Next, I told him, “I was hoping to take a few minutes of your…” He interrupted me at that point to say he only had 5 minutes to talk since he had to get to Dominos to deliver pizzas.
Continue ReadingThe Most Difficult Sale
We interviewed a candidate yesterday for an outside sales position who comes with a different background to our client’s company. The purpose of the interview was to further discuss his abilities before putting him in front of our customer. We were pleasantly surprised that his sales skills and history are even stronger than we first expected. Here’s why – he took over a territory in a complex, technical sale in which his employer had a bad reputation. The reputation was deserved. The task for this salesperson was daunting…and he succeeded in turning the territory around. Overcoming a bad reputation in the marketplace is more difficult than new business development with… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Sensitivity To Others
Today we wrap up our year-long Sales Traits Series with the final installment. This week’s trait is one that provides us insight into a candidate’s soft skills when relating to a prospect or customer. Sensitivity To Others The ability to be sensitive and aware of the feelings of others, but not to allow this awareness to interfere with objective decision making. A salesperson with strength in this trait will respond to the concerns of others even if they do not relate to the situation at hand. A weakness in this area is indicative of an inability to identify and relate with others on a personal level. Such a person has… Read More
Continue ReadingBenchmarking Pitfalls
We incorporate assessments into our hiring process and we sell assessments directly to companies. As you might guess, we are strong proponents of assessing candidates. Today’s ERE article presents an excellent explanation of what constitutes a “good” assessment. It is a long article but definitely an interesting read. One topic we often discuss with prospective customers is benchmarking their top salespeople. We don’t do it. We benchmark the sale in that we define the parameters of a typical and ideal sale. This information leads to the job skills needed to succeed in the position. Dr. Williams provides a clear description of the pitfalls of benchmarking top producers: How does one… Read More
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