Salespeople, with strong skills, are always in demand in any economy. Certainly some sales opportunities have an ebb and flow tied to the current economic conditions, but those are mainly business-to-consumer positions. From that understanding comes a 2008 sales hiring outlook from Monster.com. First key graph: In 2008 as always, salespeople in nearly any industry will find work, if they’ve got the contacts, the product knowledge and the street savvy. “Any successful salesperson in any industry is able to write their own ticket,” says Brandon Gutman, director of marketing and business development for recruiter Stephen-Bradford Search in New York. Couldn’t agree more. As companies make difficult decisions, some strong salespeople… Read More
Continue ReadingA Cover Letter With Odd Confidence
This excerpt is from the cover letter of a salesperson: Telemarketing There is no better. willing to work Short Term, Long Term, Temp. Commision, depending on rate of pay. Currently i am working a sales job, however, i do not like it, although i am very good, great at it I am only making $7 an hour. Pass.
Continue ReadingDressed For Success-Take Two
Ok, the whole candidate attire topic seems to be floating around the areas of the web I patrol. CareerJournal.com offers a follow up article titled Tassels, Pantsuits and Other Interview Fashion Faux-Pas. Great title. Here is a quick description of the debate from the article: Perhaps it’s lamentable that a person should be judged on how he maintains his car interior or what he wears. “I’ve encountered far too many empty suits who are perfectly groomed but have little relevant knowledge,” wrote Marty Robins, an attorney in Buffalo Grove, Ill. “Conversely, many people who emphasize keeping current their technical skills and industry knowledge do not have time to spend preening… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Subtle Requirements For Successful Sales Hiring
ManageSmarter.com offers up an interesting article titled Do You Have the Right Talent? First off, I love the fact that they advocating the pursuit of talent – that is the key to a successful sales hire (read: not experience). Second, the author strikes a chord that resonates with us: There is no one-size-fits-all salesperson. The right approach is to look at a salesperson’s abilities and see how well they fit into your sales model. This approach is talent/skill-based, not experience-based. Here is an excellent example of this principle in action (emphasis mine): A client of ours is a partner in a construction company specializing in commercial ventilation systems. They have a… Read More
Continue ReadingThe No-Show Trend
We haven’t seen this trend yet, but I suspect it may show up on our front stoop at some point. From The Career News (sorry, no link) comes this abridged story from MSNBC.com: The first step to acing the interview: Show up! I know this sounds obvious, but apparently not to everyone. “It happens all the time lately,” says Emmanuel Conde, director of recruitment for Alliant Technologies, an information-technology staffing firm that estimates about 50 percent of entry-level IT professionals they try to place don’t show up for interviews. Among senior level folks, about 20 percent skip it. The no-show phenomenon is a growing problem for many recruiters and hiring… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Laid-Off Salesperson Problem
When sourcing and phone screening, we tend to come across salespeople who have been laid off from a previous position. Layoffs are obviously a common occurrence in business, but they are problematic in sales. Most companies do not lay off salespeople who are closing profitable business. Granted, some companies view salespeople as an expense and assume the customer relationship will remain – big mistake. Some smaller companies are family owned and keep the family members employed as the business contracts. There are always exceptions, but they are not the rule. When we encounter a salesperson who has been laid off, we immediately look for logical specifics regarding their shortened tenure. The… 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 ReadingWhat The Candidates Are Reading
From Yahoo Finance comes this BusinessWeek article – When an Employer Just Is Not That Into You: Here are some signs that they’re just not that into you, and you’d be better served pursuing other opportunities: 1. Silence After Initial Contact 2. Difficulty Scheduling a Phone Screen 3. Last-Minute Interview Changes 4. Delay in Post-Interview Contact 5. Too Many Changes in the Process 6. Slow Follow-Up After Second Interview 7. Delay in Extending the Offer There are paragraphs written under each of these 7 topics and I strongly encourage you to read them. Do you notice any pattern to the 7 topics? A lack of structure and a lack of… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Makes A Strong Sales Candidate?
I have been sourcing sales candidates the last couple of weeks for several of our clients and received a phone call from a recruiter. Normally, I don’t get a lot of calls from recruiters. It was an interesting call so thought I would share the exchange with you. To set the stage, the recruiter did not ask if I had time to talk or if it was a convenient time for me. In fact, his call came just a few minutes prior to a scheduled screening call with a candidate. Recruiter: Hi, this is John Doe from XYZ Recruiting. I’m not sure you know me but XYZ has filled numerous… Read More
Continue ReadingTimeliness Counts!
In the past several weeks I have been working with one of our clients on a sales position that they are desperately trying to fill. On numerous occasions they have said it needs to be filled quickly. I can appreciate this approach, however the actions of the client are not congruent with their words. Let me explain. We have a strong candidate that has interviewed several times in-person and on the phone. Unfortunately, he has been waiting 2 weeks for a follow-up call from one of the managers to set up what he was told would be the final interview. Before you pass judgement think back over your latest hires.… Read More
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