I have a friend who is a Director of Sales for a medium-sized company. A few months ago, he had a major issue with one of his salespeople in another Midwestern state. The salesperson cursed out a customer on the phone (the customer was “pestering” him by calling his cell phone more than 1 time in the same day). He was let go by my friend. Now it turns out that this salesperson is pushing his resume out to prospective employers. One of them called to verify his employment and had some interesting facts. Salesperson claimed to be a Sales Manager (he wasn’t) Salesperson claimed to win the President’s Award… Read More
Continue ReadingManagement Mental Short Cuts
I’m back in my psych book this morning looking for a specific answer to how managers get stuck on “bad” instances from otherwise strong performing salespeople. I’ve seen this effect with some sales managers who have a generally sour impression of a salesperson who seems to be doing well in the role. When I pursue the topic with the manager, I typically hear of anecdotal stories with what seems to be innocuous outcomes. However, the sales manager is still upset by situation. Here is what I discovered in the test book – availability heuristic. Availability heuristic is basically this – making judgments based on how easily instances come to mind. … Read More
Continue ReadingChipotle Rewards And Retention
Retention does not seem to be a topic of great concern in this present economy. However, the economy will turn and hiring will accelerate. When this happens (hopefully sooner rather than later), retention will become a key topic for many companies. In a surprising story, CNNMoney.com provides a brief description of a unique approach Chipotle uses: Find incentives that work. The best Chipotle restaurant managers get the title “restaurateur” and a $10,000 bonus for each person they hire who starts as crew and goes on to become a manager. We have 170 restaurateurs out of 1,000 managers, and the turnover rate among them is very low. Two things that work… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Employees Want
I am usually a bit cynical regarding these types of articles. My reasoning is this – each individual is unique in their motivations and rewards. Attempting to place employees into set categories regarding global characterizations is a stretch. Nonetheless, this article from Inc.com presents some excellent points and advice for employee engagement. I do not believe you can overstate this one: 5. Employees want flexibility. In addition to deciding how they work, the experts say employees also appreciate having a say over when they work. Gunther has, of course, set up a radically flexible schedule for his employees that might not work for every office. But, he says, it has… Read More
Continue ReadingSinking Stock Syndrome
I made that up, Sinking Stock Syndrome, from some interactions I have had recently with a couple of small business owners. Both owners suffered from this syndrome which had disastrously negative effects on their company, both in revenue and morale. Here is how I define my newly-minted syndrome – an irrational hope that a grossly underperforming salesperson will miraculously turn things around and become a sales superstar. It rarely happens. The problem stems from the business owner who has invested in this failing salesperson. Notice I used “business owners” – I do believe this syndrome is more prevalent among this group as they are closely tied to the business (i.e.… Read More
Continue ReadingFundamental Attribution Error
Warning – psychology babble coming your way from Fast Company. I encounter this effect often with clients: That judgment is what’s called, in psychology, the Fundamental Attribution Error. Meaning that we tend to attribute people’s behavior to their core character rather than to their situation. So when somebody cuts you off in traffic, you think, “What a jerk!” You don’t think, “I wonder situation he’s in that’s causing him to drive so crazy.” Even though in those times when YOU have driven crazily, it was almost certainly because of the situation you were in—you were late for a job interview or a date. May I make a suggestion? The use… Read More
Continue ReadingThe External Focus Of Sales
I’ve bumped into a common tension point within a company – the battle between Human Resources and Sales. My observations (and participation) of this feud is that it comes down to a fundamental difference in perspective between the two departments. Human resources has the strongest internal focus of any department. Their world exists within the walls of the company and then spend most of their time examining, building, adjusting, etc. that world. Clearly this is an important aspect of building corporate culture. A weak HR department has a significant negative impact on the entire company. I have worked in those environments and they are tortuous at times. Sales as the… Read More
Continue ReadingLegalities Of Employee Blogging
Inc.com offers up a timely article regarding employee blogging and the different pitfalls for companies who allow it. Honestly, I haven’t put as much thought into this topic as the writer. I did find these 10 points interesting (thought I don’t follow them): 1. Remind employees to familiarize themselves with the employment agreement and policies included in the employee handbook before they begin blogging. 2. State that the policy applies to both blogs for the company and personal blogs. 3. Blog posts should not disclose any information that is confidential or proprietary to the company or to any third party that has disclosed information to the company. 4. If an… Read More
Continue ReadingDisappearing Telecommuters
Saleshq.com offers up tricks for telecommuters in this article. There are some solid points like this: 5. Communication It’s very easy to forget the outside world when you work from home. While you do get to avoid the intricacies of corporate politics, it also means that you have to be your own advocate. Make sure there are multiple ways for your boss and colleagues to contact you. Check your email frequently, and respond as immediately as you can. Keep your phone at hand, and make sure you call if there’s an office meeting. An instant messaging service works well for open communication if something changes last minute. For more long… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Two-Pizza Rule
Full confession – I despise meetings. I have spent much of my career sitting through insanely inefficient meetings – I prefer to call them “boil the ocean” meetings. The topics in these meetings usually lacked clarity and focus so the meeting would drift…badly. Of course, when your boss is sitting in the meeting (or worse, was the one who called it) it is difficult to exit early. But alas, I have found an inspiring article with a fantastic idea. This is from Inc.com (emphasis mine): “Interaction should be constant, not crammed into meetings once a week. You just turn around in your chair and bounce an idea off one of… Read More
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