This excerpt is from a cover letter:

If you think there might be a fit. Please send me a brief overview of your project or company.  Let me know how I could help you if there’s a fit.

If there’s any interest or a fit on my side I’ll drop you a note.

Fair enough?

You know, some times you do not need an assessment.  I am quite certain this individual has a strong sense of self.  His overuse of “fit” is only eclipsed by his cocky closing.

I’m all for confidence, but I would have serious concerns about this approach.

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I remember having a sales job (pre-computer days) where I was expected to wear a suit every day.  One day I showed up with a navy sportcoat, tie and khakis and I actually was a bit nervous about what my boss might say.  I didn’t get in trouble, but I didn’t wear a sportcoat again.

Suffice to say, the average office has become extremely casual over the past 20 years.  We get the opportunity to see many different office environments and I am beginning to think that they are evolving into even more casualness.  Jeans are becoming more common in the middle of the week, not just on Fridays.

I think this is a bit of a trap for a candidate, younger candidates especially.  Take this article from the Wall Street Journal that details young candidates using text message lingo in their job search correspondence:

After interviewing a college student in June, Tory Johnson thought she had found the qualified and enthusiastic intern she craved for her small recruiting firm. Then she received the candidate’s thank-you note, laced with words like “hiya” and “thanx,” along with three exclamation points and a smiley-face emoticon.

I hate emoticons.  The thought of including them in a thank-you note is baffling to me.  Here is where the casualness is creeping in:

Job hunters may be more inclined to use their cellphones and text lingo when thanking interviewers because the medium is gaining acceptance in a growing number of workplaces. “I definitely text my managers if I am running late,” says Jennifer Nedeau, 23, a project manager at New Media Strategies Inc., a marketing firm in Arlington, Va. “I know I’m not bothering them with a phone call, but they’re still getting the message.”

I have no doubt text messaging will become more common over the next couple years.  However, it has its place and candidate correspondence is not one of them.  I would have serious reservations if I received an email or worse a letter, that incorporated text message shorthand.  In sales this would be high risk, even in technology sales.

Far better for the candidate to display their proper writing skills in the formal setting of an interview process.

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I read often about web 2.0, recruiting 2.0 and sales 2.0.  Math was never my forte so numbers scare me.  But I did come across a very informative article in Sales & Marketing Management article titled A Step-By-Step Overview of Sales 2.0.  The first pull quote:

With instant access to corporate Web sites, search and social networks, your customers have company and product information at their fingertips, which give them much more control over the sales process than they had in the day when brochures and pricing were only available from a sales rep. Many prospective customers postpone talking with a sales rep, believing that they’ll get a better deal by acquiring as much “ammunition” as possible.

Isn’t that the truth?  I’ve seen many salespeople struggle with this transition as it is still underway.  Heck, I’ve struggled with it.  One change from prospects having the information has been a loss of control by the salesperson.  I don’t view this as a bad thing, just a change.

When salespeople controlled the information, they were able to qualify the prospect before supplying the catalogs/brochures/spec sheets.  Those days are long gone which is why I think there is such a strong push for relationship-focused salespeople.  Building a relationship with the prospect to get to the qualifying stage is the salesperson’s best approach today.

In the end, all things equal out which brings us to sales 2.0.

Sales 2.0 technologies are delivering instant information that build relationships and enable sales to be more efficient, more cost-effective and more productive that the old Willie Loman-style of selling.  Just as the Internet allowed buyers to literally let their fingers do the walking, these new Sales 2.0 technologies are allowing the customer’s online behavior to dictate the communication - before sales does the talking.

And that is a good summation of how selling is changing today.  Communication has increased dramatically between prospect and salesperson.  The next phase of selling continues the relationship sale by incorporating web-based tools to open a dialogue between the prospect and the salesperson in a new context.  In our business, we get calls from prospects who already have a general understanding of our process, assessments, training, etc..  The discussion starts at a point that would have taken 2 or 3 phone calls to reach just 10 years ago.

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The more companies we work with, the more we see communication breakdowns being the root of most problems.  Our work with our clients spans more than just recruiting.  We assist them in onramping their new salesperson.  This function places us in the unique position of working with both the salesperson and the sales manager.

One of the more dysfunctional situations we encounter is a communication breakdown between the manager and salesperson.  One manager complained that the salesperson wasn’t doing what he asked, but he never confronted the salesperson.  Another time we had a salesperson who would not submit his weekly call report.  Ever.  Yes, he was let go (even we so-called experts miss on occasion).

Those experiences led me to this Selling Power article about compensation - a recurring theme on The Hire Sense this week.  The opening statistics are shocking (my emphasis):

According to a recent WorldatWork survey of compensation practitioners and HR managers, 76 percent of organizations report revising their sales plans every year as a matter of course. However, the same survey found that only 58 percent of organizations communicate these changes directly to the frontline sales manager.

Makes me wonder with whom do they communicate the change?  The article continues with an excellent point:

Since frontline sales managers are the people doing the hiring, their ability to understand the incentive plan is really critical to making the right hire and putting together the right recruiting message, says Stoeckmann. If they fully understand the compensation and incentive program and are kept up-to-date, they can be very effective recruiters.

As a recruiter, it is difficult for us to have a full understanding of the compensation (especially commission) plan.  One thing sales candidates always want to know is how “real” is the plan?  How many people make quota?  I can’t imagine a situation where a sales manager didn’t know those details.  That would be a tremendous red flag for a candidate.

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This has been a topic of discussion here at Select Metrix several times.  So how do you refer to the companies with whom you do business?  Kendra Lee, guest author for Jonathan Farrington has this to say.

From my perspective a client is a person whose business you have a vested interest in, and for whom you perform as a partner within their business. Not everything you provide is billable. And not every opportunity you are awarded was shopped with the competition for the best price.

In contrast, customers are people who you help meet a need. They have a problem. You address the problem. You may invest long hours in determining the right solution. They may invest a great deal in purchasing the solution, but they don’t recognize the value of your recommendations. You don’t take time to present new ideas, perform quarterly review meetings, or call them spontaneously.

An interesting thought.  Whether you agree or not, I think we would all agree that having more clients according to the description above would make our businesses more profitable.  So how do we get to this point where we are viewed as partners?

I think Kendra is right on the money with her thoughts on the subject - we need to start treating them as our partners.  We can do that by forging new ideas, identifying strategic business objectives, holding review meetings and taking responsibility for our errors are just a few.  Realistically, I don’t think that everyone we do business with will see us as a partner which is is ok.  However, we need to do our part to make sure that we don’t give them an easy reason to do so.

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This list comes from Brian Tracy via the SellingPower.com Incentives newsletter.  If you have ever managed salespeople, you know how important proper motivation is.  Some days salespeople just don’t have it so you have to step in as their manager and give them that push they need.

The problems start when you find yourself stepping in daily.  At this point, you clearly have a de-motivated salesperson.  If you are at this point, here are some topics to consider:

1. Where am I going?
Salespeople lose their sense of direction when they are unclear on precisely what is expected of them on a daily basis, what their goals and quotas are, how their performance will be measured, and in what time frame. If, as the saying goes, clarity is 95 percent of success, the lack of clarity must be 95 percent of failure.

If you want to see this problem in spades, hire a new salesperson and leave these items undefined.  We have seen it too often of late.

2. How am I doing?
Ken Blanchard says that feedback, not Wheaties, is the “Breakfast of Champions.” On a weekly, daily, even hourly basis, people need to know how their performance measures up against stated goals and quotas. When a rep makes a sale, pick up the phone and offer congratulations. During weekly sales meetings, take the time to summarize the week’s sales results and share how well different team members are doing.

We had one sales manager who did not offer any feedback to his salesperson.  When we asked why, he said he was simply “observing him.”  Frightening.  The concern here is always the same - if you don’t interact with them, you can’t coach them.  If you don’t coach them, they will do things their own way.  It is at this point that the sales manager now loses touch with the critical pieces of information needed to do his or her role (forecasting, market adjustments, share competitive info with the team, new product/service suggestions, etc.).

You can read the entire article to learn all 7 de-motivators.  I highly recommend it.

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LOVE this article from SalesHQ - Marketing Buzzword Bingo.  The author shares my disdain for marketing buzzwords.  The article is simply a list of buzzwords with his definition for each one.

Some examples:

Reputation management – controlling information flow to that which I want known

Lifelong value – guess at how much money we would make out of a fictitious customer who stays with us for life, however long that is.

Lifetime value – same guess

Out-sourcing – stuff we have given up doing because we thought it was too hard

In-sourcing – stuff we outsourced that we lost control over and had to do ourselves again to save costs

Intrapreneur- one our people who always seems to be full of ideas that won’t fly in our organization

Critically important – important, perhaps critical

There are many more in the article that will make you laugh, sigh or cry.

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This article from Selling Power offers suggestions for salespeople when questioning prospects.  The author makes some excellent points with one that stands out - number 9.  I have edited the content for length.

1. Qualify prospects
You can quickly establish if this “suspect” is a qualified prospect with a few questions. Many salespeople waste valuable sales time chasing the wrong company or talking to someone without decision-making power. Develop a profile of your ideal prospect. What criteria must a “suspect” meet to qualify as a bona fide prospect for your product or service?
2. Uncover needs
By asking questions and understanding the client’s needs you can determine which benefits the prospect will buy.
3. Help Your Prospect Clarify Needs
Some clients don’t really understand their own needs or may not have clearly defined their goals. They may not understand the many considerations in choosing products or services such as yours.
4. To Gain Respect
Sophisticated prospects will want to know that you know what you’re talking about. Knowing your market and your product or service and doing your homework about this prospect are important. 5. To Build Long Term Relationships
Many salespeople perform fine on the first call but what do you do for an encore? By continuing to ask intelligent questions you will deepen your understanding of your client and his company, along with your own industry.
6. Involve the Client
Asking clients a question involves them in the sales process. It also helps to limit your own talking. You know that a good salesperson does not deliver a monologue.
7. Learn How to Sell This Prospect
An involved client may tell you what you need to do to sell him. You want the client to have a chance to vent his feelings and ideas. You will learn how cooperative this prospect will be.
8. Establish Trust
Establishing rapport and a climate of trust and confidence can be better achieved through questioning rather than small talk and chit-chat. Asking questions shows clients that you are interested in them, their businesses and their needs. You are not there to give them a standard pitch to fulfill your sales quota.
9. Maintain Control
Asking questions allows you to control the sales interview without the prospect feeling he is being controlled. You are leading rather than pushing. By maintaining a friendly and open attitude and asking good questions, the prospect experiences you as an interested and well-informed expert. To the casual observer of such a conversation, it would appear that the prospect is leading the conversation. In reality, the salesperson is subtly leading. Imagine watching an inexperienced rider on a horse. In an often vain attempt to direct the horse, the rider pulls every which way on the reins and kicks the horse. The horse may rebel or resist these directions. In contrast, the expert horseman would appear as if he is not doing anything to direct the horse - he is simply sitting on the saddle. Yet, it is through subtle movements of the fingers and shifts in the pressure of his legs against the horse that the rider controls the horse’s movements. In sales, we might refer to this subtle control as a “soft halter.”
10. Get Minor Yesses
By asking some questions that you know the prospect will answer yes to, you can create a positive atmosphere filled with agreement rather than conflict.
11. Avoid Rejection
Asking questions lets you evaluate how much interest a prospect has and if she or her company is in a position to buy at this time. Through better probing, your expectations will be more realistic.
12. To Close the Sale
Ask questions to lead toward the close and to determine if the prospect is ready to take action. By asking questions you may find prospects ready to buy much earlier than you thought. Once you think they are ready to buy, ask a closing question and close the sale!

It is counterintuitive to think that the person listening is actually controlling the conversation, but it is true if they are the one asking the questions.  The horse-riding analogy describes it well.  Questions, followed by attentive listening, is one of the tenets of successful selling.

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Sometimes the best advice is simply stated which is true of this Inc.com post titled The Fallacy of an Open-Door Policy.  This topic catches my attention in that some of the worst managers I worked for claimed profusely that they had an open-door policy.  They stated it, but we sales reps all knew it was a ruse.

I think the author strikes a perfect chord with this:

You need to create an environment where people can speak up in any venue. I’ve had some of my most important communications with employees driving in the car, standing in the lunchroom, or walking through the shop floor.

How true…and difficult to put in practice for some managers.

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What emails do you open?  The “From” field and subject line are the first draw for most people and a determinant for gaining a higher open rate.  MarketingProfs.com has an informative article that breaks down examples of awesome and awful email subject lines.  The article is a good read and worth your time.

I’ll skip to the end where the author, Josh Nason, provides a handful of tips for writing effective subject lines:

• Don’t discount the importance of the From name. Keep it your company name and not an individual’s name or drawn-out term. In addition, keep your company name out of the subject line: It’s redundant—a waste of valuable real estate.
• There is no point to using all caps in a subject line. OK? (Unless it’s “OK.”)
• Write a compelling subject line that won’t deceive people. If people aren’t opening it, that’s OK, as you’ll have many more campaigns to intrigue them. If you break the receiver’s trust early, you’ll have to work twice as hard to get it back. Never forget the Golden Rule.
• Most important, have some fun with subject lines! If you’re struggling that much with how to talk to your audience in a single-sentence format, give it to someone else to writes. Just make sure that you don’t explain the task in all caps, please.

And here are a couple of examples from the article:

From: AAA Northern New England
Subject: AAA Newsletter—February 2008

Ah, the dreaded (Company X) Newsletter with the month and date. Fun! When I opened up the newsletter, there were all kinds of great discount offers; but, instead, this subject line reads more “library” than “block party.”

From: Bob Marley
Subject: Comedian Bob Marley Returns To Boston!!

It’s a direct statement that his fans in that area would likely open. Since “Bob Marley” is already in the From line, there’s no need to repeat in the subject line. I’d try “Boston dates coming up soon!” instead. Why waste the valuable real estate?

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