We’re having some fun with the website as we move it to a new web host.  There was a post about the move, and now there isn’t a post about it.  The joys of transferring a site!

Anyway, the new provider will allow for our site to load faster and perform better.  We will also unveil a new look for The Hire Sense in the near future.

In the meantime, please bear with us as we get back online blogging shortly.

If you're new here and like what you see, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

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Mike Cardinal has released the final article in our Proactive Sales Management series titled The Finishing Touches.  This article completes our 3 part Summer series which defines 3 basic steps in structuring a sales department that acts, well, proactively instead of reactively.

An excerpt:

A simple but effective way to ensure flexibility within your sales department€™s foundation and structure is to utilize information available to you. Many of our clients take the insight they learn from our assessments to customize and add finishing touches to the communication style utilized with each individual.

Each salesperson has a blend of traits, styles, skills and motivations that need to be considered.  The sales manager sets the tone for the department and essentially €œfinishes€ the look of the department.  Yet, the sales manager also needs to understand the influencing factors associated with each individual to receive their full effort.

Some salespeople require a strong, bold approach while others thrive in a data-driven, detached style.  Many are rewarded by money, while others are motivated by status and recognition.  The sales manager who understands these fine details about his or her team is the one who puts the perfect finishing touches on the sales organization.

Please read the entire article.  And in case you missed the first two articles:

Part 1 - The Foundation of Expectations

Part 2 - The Structure of a Selling System

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Part 2 in our 3 part Proactive Sales Management series has been released.  It is titled The Structure of a Selling System and continues the homebuilding analogy by comparing a selling system to the framing of a house.

Just to give you a taste:

It took me awhile to understand what was going on and why some of the things I was required to do were important. The key to the training was to understand and use a proven sales process. Tom assured me of success if I stayed within this structured approach. He also assured me I would fail if I didn€™t use the process and techniques that had been refined by those who preceded me in this role. Tom told me repeatedly, €œThis structure and approach works.€

As an example, here are some of the questions from Tom€™s structured system:

• What lead them to consider our product or service?

• Who are the people making the decision?  Are their any hidden decision makers?  What does the decision-making process look like?

• How will the purchase be financed?  Sale, lease? Any special terms & conditions?

• When will delivery be required?

• What other are products are being examined?  What attracted the buyer to those products?

• Does the ROI make sense?  Has a cost justification been made? Is one required?

A funny thing happens to reps when they get asked these questions consistently €“ they go out and qualify the information from their prospects (as I learned to do). As Tom would say, €œEverything in this structure will have to happen at some point in the sales cycle. You might as well do it now, rather than later, or when it€™s too late. Spend your time on deals that will happen, don€™t waste your time on deals that won€™t, or on deals we don€™t want.€

As they say, read the whole thing.

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The Independence Day week must of got the best of me since I forgot to mention an article we released.  The Foundation of Expectations is the first article in a 3 part series regarding proactive sales management.

The hiring tension that is building within our economy means that retaining strong salespeople, always a corporate priority, will become the focal point for most companies.  This article series will lay out the building blocks for creating a strong sales department that keeps the sales team engaged.

The strongest houses are built on the strongest foundations.  No matter how well-constructed and reinforced the walls and roof are, none of it will stand under stress if the foundation is weak.  Conversely, a strong foundation will help strengthen an imperfect structure.

The success of individuals on your sales team and the direction of your sales efforts are directly linked to the strength of the foundation of expectations the sales manager establishes for his or her team.

Click here to continue reading…

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It has been a while since I last posted about important upcoming dates. I was looking through a promotional calendar and started chuckling at some of the titles I was reading. Instead of highlighting just one this month, I thought I would provide all of July’s honor:

• National Recreation and Parks Month
• Blueberries Month
• Cell Phone Courtesy Month
• Family Reunion Month
• Herbal & Prescription Awareness Month
• National Baked Beans Month
• National Culinary Arts Month
• National Grilling Month
• National Hot Dog Month
• National Make a Difference to Children Month
• National Purposeful Parenting Month
• Skyscraper Month
• Social Wellness Month
• Women’s Motorcycle Month
• Mental Illness Awareness Month

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Ok, as a blogger I find this Yahoo story downright insulting.  From ‘Most Hated Internet Words’ Revealed:

“Blog”, “netiquette”, “cookie” and “wiki” have been voted among the most irritating words spawned by the Internet, according to the results of a poll published Thursday.

Topping the list of words most likely to make web users “wince, shudder or want to bang your head on the keyboard” was folksonomy, a term for a web classification system.

“Blogosphere”, the collective name for blogs or online journals, was second; “blog” itself was third; “netiquette”, or Internet etiquette, came fourth and “blook”, a book based on a blog, was fifth.

They have got to be kidding.  Who did they poll for these results?  I have to admit that I have never heard the terms “folksonomy” or “blook” and I may be able to support those nominations, but “blog” . . . please.  I have suspect my mother may have been polled in this survey.  Or the Red Bird.

On a grander scale, I would vote “synergy” as the worst business word.  My apologies to any synergists who are insulted by my commentary.

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We’ve just released a new article regarding a popular topic in this present market - How to Lose Strong Sales Candidates. The job market has definitely shifted to the candidate’s favor since there are more sales positions available than strong salespeople. Companies that want to make the best hires need to avoid 3 important missteps in their sales hiring process.

Please read the article to learn what the 3 missteps are and how to avoid them.

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Today marks The Hire Sense’s first anniversary so without much pomp and circumstance, let’s get a proper perspective:

Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event.

-Oscar Wilde

We may have to use that quote every year on this date! Thanks to all of our readers and to the acquaintances we have made through this expanding channel.

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We are continuing to grow here at Select Metrix and The Hire Sense.  Let me be the first to introduce you to the newest member of our team - Mike Cardinal.  Mike will be heading up our new offerings which will revolve around sales management.

Mike has almost 30 years of experience in the sales and sales management arena and will be a strong addition to our team.  One of the first orders of business will be a significant change to our hiring process and specifically our warranty.  More to come on that topic later this week.

Mike will also be contributing to The Hire Sense with his expertise in sales management.  Please look for his first few posts in the near future.

We have also updated our About the Authors page with more information and background on each of us.

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We have assembled a Squidoo Lens that you can visit by clicking here.  The focus of the lens is sales hiring and retention.  This version is our first pass at a lens so go easy on us.  We plan on developing it further and adding more topic-specific lenses soon.  We’ll keep you informed as we go.

In case you were wondering what a lens is:

SO, WHAT’S A LENS?

A lens is one person’s view on a topic that matters to her. It’s an easy-to-build, single web page that can point to blogs, favorite links, RSS feeds, Flickr photos, Google maps, eBay auctions, CafePress designs, Amazon books or music, and more. Then, when someone is looking for recommended information, fast, your lens gets him started and sends him off in the right direction. It’s a place for searchers to start, not finish.

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