From the title of an online resume: Not the best…but NOT the worst… I would describe that title as inspiring.
Continue ReadingThe Demise Of No Email Fridays?
I posted on No Email Fridays back in March of this year. Well, now it appears a revolt has occurred at that company. According to CareerJournal.com’s Employers Try ‘No Email’ Days, But Workers Are Fighting Back: When U.S. Cellular’s chief operating officer, Jay Ellison, imposed a “no email Friday” rule at his company, he thought it would ease workers’ overload. Instead, he got a rebellion. Among many irate responses, Kathy Volpi, a marketing director, confronted Mr. Ellison and “just ripped me,” he says. “She really gave me a piece of her mind.” This borders on hyperbole: But withdraw it even for a day, and some employees fight back like recovering smokers… Read More
Continue ReadingTitle Troubles
Part of our service to our customers is to help them write an effective offer letter to their top candidate. We adjust some words based on the candidate’s style, motivations and rewards to make the offer talk more directly to their preferences. One thing crossed my mind recently in regards to sales titles. Many times we see some of our smaller-sized customers providing “big” titles for the new salesperson. The obvious goal in some instances is to provide more title and less money. That works in banks but not so much for B2B salespeople. Nonetheless, here is an example of where the title can cause trouble. We have a customer… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series-Understanding Motivational Needs
Another sales management trait this week. Have you ever worked for a tyrant? Someone who had to have it his or her way only? Did you have to adjust completely to them? Understanding Motivational NeedsThe ability to understand the needs and desires of employees enough that this knowledge may be used to motivate them to succeed. The ability to encourage a self-starting, active pursuit of goals and objectives. A strength in this area is indicative of a manager who understands that everyone is unique and motivated by different things. They value individual desires and take the time to get to know an individual’s specific motivators. A manager with a weakness in this trait will tend… Read More
Continue ReadingCrackBerry DTs
Honestly, I thought this was a joke – Is that your phone or your imagination? From the article: Many mobile phone addicts and BlackBerry junkies report feeling vibrations when there are none, or feeling as if they’re wearing a cell phone when they’re not. … Research in the area is scant, but theories abound about the phenomenon, which has been termed “ringxiety” or “fauxcellarm.” The article is obviously a bit tongue-in-cheek and there are some good lines in it including this one: He also claims to “pre-feel” a new message or call. “I’ll feel it, look at it. It’s not vibrating. Then it starts vibrating,” he said. “I am one… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Not To Do At Work
Ok, I have a weakness for these types of surveys. From CareerBuilder: “Workplace Taboos” is a new CareerBuilder.com survey, conducted by Harris Interactive of more than 5,700 workers. The most common workplace taboos that workers admitted to taking part in include: Falling asleep at work (45 percent) Kissing a co-worker (39 percent) Stealing from the office (22 percent) Spreading a rumor about a co-worker (22 percent) Consuming alcoholic beverages while on the job (21 percent) Snooping after hours (18 percent) Lying about an academic background (4 percent) Taking credit for someone else’s work (2 percent) I laughed at number 1 since I used to work at a company where the… Read More
Continue Reading5th Annual National Work And Family Month
The US Senate designated October as National Work and Family Month back in 2003 in hopes that it would engage employers into sponsoring work/life programs for their employees. We’ve posted about this topic before, but as more and more Gen X & Y’ers fill the roles of the retiring Baby Boomers, this subject will require attention by everyone who plans on hiring. Gen X & Y’ers consider work/life balance a very important topic, often reporting it as important as money. As we posted earlier this year, a survey of recruiters showed that 85% of them have seen candidates reject a job offer because it was misaligned with their work-life balance.… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Case Against Cloning
I had an interesting, quick call this morning with a suspect who was interested in our assessment tools. His question involved cloning, specifically, why not clone his top salespeople for a benchmark. We don’t benchmark in our hiring process or assessments. The presumption is that you can find a clone of your top people. Bad assumption since people are the ultimate variable. Beyond that, there are other variables that affect this approach. 1. The Ideal Sale. We start all assessments by profiling your typical sale along with your ideal sale. The present-day realities of a typical sale must be defined. However, we also profile what would be ideal in your… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Management – Top-Down or Bottom-Up
Here is a sales management question for you – in terms of coaching and developing your sales team, is it best to focus on your top performers to make them better or your bottom performers to build them up? I have recently read articles that argue from each side of this equation. It’s a good question. My position would be to manage top-down with a focus on your top performers. The main reason I take this position is retention. I would qualify this position by assessing the top salespeople and adjusting my management style slightly to match their preferred communication, motivation and reward pattern. Simply put, some top salespeople are… Read More
Continue ReadingThe B.S. Lie
Lee and I had lunch with a customer of ours who is the VP of Sales for a medium-sized business. We were discussing why candidates lie about their education, primarily stating they have earned a degree when they have not. This information is easily confirmed so lying about it seems foolish. We had one candidate who has been in the workforce for 30 years yet lied on his resume about earning a B.S. degree from a local university. A degree was not a requirement for this position. Besides, 30 years of sales experience easily trumps a degree in our world. My only thought on this topic is that candidates must… Read More
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