It is difficult to classify telecommuting as a trend – it is more than that today. We encounter telecommuting in almost every position we source, even some where you wouldn’t expect to find it. Managers must have the skills to be effective with their team even though they may not seem them face-to-face on a daily basis. ManageSmarter.com offers up Talking Telecommuting which provides some excellent tool suggestions for a manager faced with a geographically-dispersed sales force. The example company is Cisco which obviously has some powerful tools for keeping remote workers informed. Check out this proprietary tool: Cisco ensures it’s easy for mobile workers to find and use internal… Read More
Continue Reading3 Words You Don’t Want To Hear In Voicemail
I just listened to a sales candidate’s initial message in response to one of our ads. He described his experience by saying: I’ve been in the _______ business for 20 years. Yada, yada, yada. Funny on Seinfeld, painfully bad on an approach call.
Continue ReadingNow THIS Fact Will "Surprise" Economists
From CNNMoney.com’s Jobs gains back on track: U.S. payrolls posted a net gain of 110,000 workers in the month, according to the Labor Department report. That’s roughly in line with the forecast of a 100,000 gain by economists surveyed by Briefing.com. The Labor Department also now estimates that August had a gain of 89,000 jobs, a big upward revision from the originally reported 4,000 job loss in August. … The July payroll reading was also revised higher by 25,000 jobs more than the earlier report. That means that there are 228,000 more Americans with jobs in this latest estimate, based on the September gain and the revisions, compared to the… Read More
Continue ReadingAn Encouraging Ad
I haven’t seen this approach in a long time: No online or email applications. Call (XXX) XXX-XXXX. That line is from a sales ad I read this morning. I love it. Start with the phone screen and move on from there. You notice that a phone call means they are not relying upon the resume as the first filter. I have to confess the ad does describe an entry-level position, but kudos to the hiring company for taking a screen-based approach to sourcing.
Continue ReadingAnd The Economy Rolls On
The latest Q4 hiring survey is out, this time from CareerBuilder and USAToday. From the press release with my emphasis: The survey, titled “Q4 2007 Job Forecast,” was conducted from August 10 through September 4, 2007 of more than 2,700 hiring managers and human resource professionals in private sector companies. “Given the housing slump and tight credit market, caution is to be expected when it comes to hiring in the fourth quarter,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. “While employers are keeping a watchful eye on economic indicators, they are still planning to expand staffs at a steady pace and are actively competing for qualified labor. Forty-four percent of employers… Read More
Continue Reading7 Sales Manager Difference Makers
ManageSmarter.com offers 7 suggestions for sales managers to make them more effective: 1. Do not micromanage people 2. Take time when increasing expenses 3. Take care of your “stars” 4. Be teachable 5. Focus on the things that make a major difference 6. Be sure to understand the ‘hierarchy’ 7. Earn the respect of the people you are leading You will have to read the article to get the details for each point. But here is the take-away from point #5: There is a tendency to get caught up in making changes to areas that are irrelevant to productivity yet have a negative impact on the staff. Let the little… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Role Awareness
This week we focus on a unique trait in that it is usually low amongst jobseekers. They are confused or unclear about their current role and looking to find clarity in their next role. This fact is the reason why we stress a strong onramping program for all new sales hires. A clear program immediately sets the parameters of their new role – something that was most likely missing from their previous position. Role AwarenessThe ability of a salesperson to be aware of their role in the world or within a given environment. This is the ability to understand the expectations placed on a position and to clearly see how those expectations… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Hand That Rocks The Cradle
I may be alone here, but I found this information remarkable: Looking at statistics from hotels and resorts worldwide, about “43 percent of business travelers were recorded to have been women”. Moreover, according to American Airlines’ director of women’s sales and marketing, women are responsible for 70 percent of travel decisions. … Interestingly, two key characteristics distinguish women travelers from men. First, according to Marybeth Bond, a consultant who has advised hotels on marketing to women, “Women will take more time for themselves than men if they are traveling for business. Men will rush home, but women will stay an extra day.” The second is that women appreciate the details,… Read More
Continue ReadingOnline Job Postings Continue To Rise
From the Career News newsletter (sorry, no link): In September 2007 there were 4,270,000 online advertised vacancies, an increase of 165,200 or 4 percent from the August 2007 level, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series released October 1, 2007. In September, 2,934,100 of the 4,270,000 unduplicated online advertised vacancies were new ads that did not appear in August, while the remainder are reposted ads from the previous month. Online advertised vacancies were up (17.5%) over the year (September’06 – September’07). There were 2.78 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in September. I suspect this information is illustrative of the migration from newspaper… Read More
Continue ReadingTales From The Sales Manager Crypt
We have encountered many moronic sales management moves that lead to a dysfunctional sales team. Needless to say, this ManageSmarter.com article – How to Ruin a Sales Force – caught my attention. The bulleted article is well worth the quick read, but let me call out a couple points I particularly appreciated: Corrupted jobs. Decontaminate jobs that are degraded with non-selling tasks such as “fetch and get” after-the-sale customer service duties. We’re living this one today. We have a new salesperson at one of our logistics customers who is actually doing deliveries himself. The reason is that the operations dept. is not reliable to complete the deliveries. Unbelievable. And a common… Read More
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