I know the Twitterheads are going to flame this, but I have to agree with Ricky Gervais:

But after composing only five Tweets, Gervais gave up on January 9, telling his 13,000 followers he was going to stop his updates because “I don’t see the point.” He followed up with an explanation on his blog, calling Twitter “undignified.” (As opposed, say, to David Brent dance.)

“I just don’t get it, I’m afraid,” Gervais wrote. “I’m sure it’s fun as a networking device for teenagers but there’s something a bit undignified about adults using it. Particularly celebrities who seem to be showing off by talking to each other in public.”

I have not invested much time into Twitter so I have probably a comparable amount of knowledge regarding it as Mr. Gervais.

Flame on.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Communication | | Comments(1)

Now this is something I have not seen yet – loaning out your employees during slow periods.  Inc.com provides the article:

How it works: On the StaffShare website the “seller” company lists the employee’s skills, daily rate, and availability. The cost is £50 (roughly $81.70) a year per candidate. The “buyer” company searches the database, uses the website’s message system to vet candidates and iron out details with the seller, and then a contract is sent electronically.

The background behind the idea:

“The companies had these redeployment pools of 1,000 people who needed to find other work within the company,” Flaxton says. “So we thought, ‘What if there was a service where they could find it at another company?’”

Conceptually, I think it is a tremendous idea.  Logistically, I’m not sure how this approach would work for retention.  Still, I believe there will be major transformations once we finally come out of this severe recession.  Employees moving to a contract agreement seems to be a natural progression.

The movement of health insurance payments from the employer to the employee (inevitable based on rising costs) will remove one of the incentives of traditional employment agreements.  A contractual (1099) agreement could become the more standard arrangement.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Compensation, Retention, Team Management, Trends | | Comments(0)

You don’t have to look far to find disconcerting news about the present economy.  This AP story from one of our local papers lays out numbers that paint a vivid picture (emphasis mine):

There were nearly 6.4 unemployed workers, on average, for each available job at the end of November, according to Labor Department data released Tuesday. That’s up from 6.1 in October, and a record high.

There were 1.7 jobless people for each opening in December 2007, when the recession began.

Job openings fell sharply to 2.42 million in November from 2.57 million in October, according to the department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

That may sound like a lot, given the depths of the recession, but it’s the lowest number of job openings since July and the second-lowest since the department began tracking the data in 2000. It’s also about half the peak level of 4.8 million, reached in June 2007.

It will turn as our economy is almost constantly in a state of expanding or contracting.  The real issue on the horizon is retention as I have written about in the past.  Hiring is the key.  There are many salespeople today who are “corporate cocooning” until hiring picks up again.

Earlier this week I spoke to just such a salesperson.  He is stuck in a development position where the company is eager to talk about supportive changes but reticent to act on them.  He is simply performing in the role as best as he can with the internal company factors working against him.  He basically said he is ready to leave once there are signs of expansion in the economy.

There is probably a ratio in the above quoted article that flips the exit light on for salespeople.  I won’t hazard a guess, but I suspect it won’t have to get back down to 1.7 jobless people for each opening to open the floodgates to job jumping.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Economy, Retention, Trends | | Comments(2)

This article from Yahoo’s Hot Jobs contains 5 hiring myths designed to help candidates perform better in an interview.  Myth #1 is excellent for the hiring manager:

Myth #1: Be prepared with a list of questions to ask at the close of the interview.

There is some truth in this common piece of advice: You should always be prepared, and that usually includes developing questions related to the job. The myth here is that you must wait until it is “your turn” to speak.

By waiting until the interviewer asks you if you have any questions, “it becomes an interrogation instead of a conversation,” says Greene.

Greene recommends that you think of an interview as a sales call. You are the product and you are selling yourself to the employer. “You can’t be passive in a sales call or you aren’t going to sell your product.”

How true!  We always treat an interview (either phone or in-person) as a sales call.  As a hiring manager for a sales position, the interview is a natural sales situation.  The interview is the perfect opportunity to play the role of the prospect to watch how the sales candidate qualifies and closes you.

This approach, using the interview to see the sales candidate in action, is the foundation for repeatable, successful sales hiring.  Salespeople are naturally good at…selling!  Granted, some are not, but they eventually get broomed.  The problem is that many hiring managers are not adept at being the disinterested prospect in an interview.

Many hiring managers (including many sales managers) are inexperienced interviewers.  Their preparation may consist of nothing more than pulling out a resume 5 min. before the interview and then asking the candidate to walk them through their resume.  This approach reveals nothing more than the candidate’s pre-canned talk about their mostly unverifiable past.  We’re they really the top salesperson?  Did they truly turn around an under-performing territory?  Did they close 50 new accounts?

No, the better approach is to treat the interview as a sales call and put some pressure on the candidate – see how they handle it.  Interrupt them (graciously, of course) and change topics quickly.  Can they move with the discussion?  Question some of their statistics and look for visible signs of emotions.  These unexpected moves knock them off of their script and if you have been in sales you know it is impossible to script a sales call.  Ideally, the candidate can handle your “objections” and respond with good qualifying questions.  Now you can actually see the candidate in action which will reveal more about their abilities than any resume.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring, Hiring Salespeople, Interview | | Comments(2)

I do some IT consulting work on the side as a hobby/pastime.  Call me a geek.  In that arena, I have a customer who has been battling to get some information from a prospective vendor.  He wants to use their services but has had trouble getting a response.  Finally, today he got a response.  His summation was filled with wisdom:

Coming in obnoxiously late and extraordinarily high priced is not a good place to be.

I couldn’t agree more.  And I’ve been there myself in previous sales roles.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Anecdotes, Sales Techniques | | Comments(2)

Employment in this economy is a wonderful asset, to say the least.  However, this abcnews.com story points to an impending problem – retention.

Even Americans who are lucky enough to have work in this economy are becoming more unhappy with their jobs, according to a new survey that found only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work.

That was the lowest level ever recorded by the Conference Board research group in more than 22 years of studying the issue.

The economy will eventually turn around though it appears it is going to be a slower process in comparison to historical recoveries.  When it does turn and hiring picks up, there is going to be a tremendous push for retaining top sales performers.

I have talked to top salespeople recently who are not satisfied with their current position, but they are unwilling to make a change right now.  Interestingly, I have had a few of them contact me to get their oar in the water for when hiring picks up again.  At that point, they will use their sales prospecting skills to find a new opportunity for themselves.

The key to improving retention is understanding the salesperson’s motivations and identifying their reward structure.  Here is an example of how it works – if you have a salesperson who has a strong Utilitarian motivation (hopefully you do), they are driven by return on investment.  They will appreciate practical, efficient workplaces that assist them in their quest to close deals.  A sales department rife with gross inefficiencies will grate on this salesperson.

Now that you know their motivation, it is important to understand what rewards them.  Here is a fine point, but an important one.  If your salesperson is rewarded by Material Possessions, you can expect them to respond to money so they may acquire the possessions they desire.  This seems logical.

However, if you have a Utilitarian salesperson rewarded by Status & Recognition, their will respond more to titles, exclusive clubs (President’s Club) or money that they can use to gain access to a higher status (e.g. private golf club membership).  Both salespeople will appear to have similar reward structures, but they respond differently based on their deep-seated structures.

If you are interested in learning more about your team, please contact us at your convenience.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Retention | | Comments(0)

9.3 to 9.7%

That’s right, that is the expectation for the 2010 unemployment rate from the Federal Reserve based on this abcnews.com story.  I find that number shockingly high, but it is realistic.

Then there is this bit of information from Reuters (emphasis mine):

Speaking at American Economic Association’s mammoth yearly gathering, experts from a range of political leanings were in surprising agreement when it came to the chances for a robust and sustained expansion:

They are slim.

Many predicted U.S. gross domestic product would expand less than 2 percent per year over the next 10 years.

The depressed economy combined with the high unemployment numbers has started to change my thoughts about the impending employee shortage.  As the Baby Boomers exit the workforce, there may not be an immediate need to replace them on a one-to-one basis.  The potential length of this recession combined with the dramatic increases in productivity (leveraged by technology) seems to point to a needed exit of the Boomer generation.

One shift we are seeing in our business is a disinterest in hiring inexperienced salespeople.  The surplus of experienced, effective, established sales candidates has placed the typically younger sales candidates in an unenviable position.  The ramifications of this trend may have an impact on the sales talent pool in the next decade.

Sales is a profession that requires experiences to develop skills which is why it cannot be taught effectively in a classroom.  The trap many hiring companies fall into is a belief that the sales candidate needs to have specific experience in their industry.  Although desirable, the better approach is to have experience in a similar sale that has allowed them to develop and hone transferrable skills.

That being said, a remarkably high unemployment rate will have a negative impact on sale hiring in the younger generation.  That depressed hiring trend will force younger candidates into other fields creating a sales talent void over the next decade.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Economy, Hiring Salespeople, Sales Candidates, Trends | | Comments(0)

I, for one, am ready to say good riddance to 2009.  This year was the most difficult I can ever remember in terms of revenue, business and the economy.  I suppose the one good thing is that it can only get better!

However, it is the end of the year and of the decade so I am enjoying the retrospective stories that permeated the media this week.  Saleshq.com offers up the top 5 sales stories of 2009.  One of them stood out to me:

The sales world lost one of its best this year with the death of Billy Mays. One of TV’s most famous pitchmen, Mays was known for his enthusiasm, loud voice, and boisterous demeanor. Mays allegedly died from a lethal arrhythmia of the heart, brought on by heart disease,which was partly caused by cocaine use.

Mays, famous for selling products such as OxyClean and Orange Glo, helped sell over $1 billion in merchandise during his career. Just three months before his death, Mays and his partner, Anthony Sullivan, starred in a show called Pitchmen on Discovery Channel that followed their exploits as sales professionals.

True confession, I watched that Pitchmen show on Discovery and was fascinated by it.  It did provide a behind-the-scenes look at sales and marketing.  Granted, it was for television pitches of new products, but it contained some intriguing, real-world scenarios.  It contains a tragic ending with Mays’ early death.

I hope all of you are looking forward to turning the page on this year and jumping into the new decade.  It is surely one filled with promise and possibilities. All the best to you this new decade!

Posted By Derrick Moe | Economy, Trends | | Comments(0)

This video is making its way around the net and I found it quite funny.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Select Metrix and The Hire Sense.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Anecdotes, General | | Comments(0)

This is from the Herman Group as they make their predictions each year.  I can attest to the first point being valid – I have talked to a handful of salespeople who are waiting out the economy to jump from their current position.  These guys have a wonderful grasp of new words and phrases.  I always learn about some relatively new word from them.  I have taken the liberty of bolding some of them in the pull quote below.

1. Cutbacks and Re-Engineering will continue into 2010 Expect ongoing reductions in force as some employers continue to optimize their workforces and eliminate “redundancy”. We caution these employers to be very careful, because we know that 54 percent of today’s employees are ready to jump, as soon as the economy improves. They are currently “Corporate Cocooning“.

2. Shortages of Certain Skill Sets will become More Acute As the economy begins to recover, certain skill sets will be more critical and difficult to find. These high-demand workers will be more demanding about their work schedules, environment, etc. The wisest employers will embrace not only flex-time, but flex-place as well.

3. Employers will embrace Innovative Ideas to Reward their Valued Workers This innovation will include non-financial ways and even non-reward (recognition only) ways to add value for their top talent; these innovative ideas will come from the employees themselves. Employers that do not mine the collective intelligence of their workers will find themselves unable to optimize profits.

4. Fear and Apprehension continue to reduce Productivity A significant percentage of employees continue to worry about the future. These negative feelings will persist, unless addressed. Transparency, besides being one of those elements employees seek, will be imperative.

5.More Employers will invest in a Variety of Healthcare Cost-Cutting Strategies Besides wellness programs to address expensive unproductive behaviors (like smoking and over-eating), more large employers will embrace ideas like onsite clinics and health coaches. For some candidates, the cost of not complying with the prospective companies’ wellness programs will change their employee value propositions so drastically that they will choose to work elsewhere.

6. Focus on Engagement will replace the Focus on Retention Recognizing that with engagement comes not only retention, but greater productivity and profitability, too, employers will change their focus. We will see Directors of Retention morph into Directors of Employee Engagement. The next step (coming much later than 2010) will be to recognize the importance of the total “Internal and External Customer Experience”.

7. Increasing Attention to Succession Planning Around the globe, we see an increasing attention to succession planning and management. However, the issue of succession preparation continues to take a backseat to succession planning. This big mistake will begin to be felt in 2010, when Baby Boomer retirements combine with the lack of trained people becomes a critical problem. Succession management continues to be critical to long-term success.

8. Employers that did not build Bench Strength will pay More to hire Experience Organizations that did not take the opportunity presented by this business slowdown to send their people for more training, will have to pay more to hire trained, experienced people.

9. Some Employers will eliminate Reward Programs Misunderstanding Dan Pink’s new book, “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us”, some employers will abolish their reward programs altogether. This ill-advised shift will cause significant, negative, unintended consequences.

10. Burned out Employees will begin Leaving Employers Over 80 percent of today’s employees feel overworked and under-appreciated. Too many organizations have survived and maintained some level of profitability by over-loading their long-term employees. Once we begin to see positive job growth in the second half of 2010, some employees will feel confident enough to leave their companies.

11. Employers will accommodate Older Workers like Never Before The exodus of their long-term employees will challenge some employers to get the work done, without resorting to hiring expensive contract help or paying high fees to recruiters. Enlightened employers will mine the rolls of their retired workers and hire them back on a part-time, temporary, or seasonal basis. These seasoned professionals will be welcomed back, in spite of the fact that they will dictate their own terms.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring, Retention, Team Management, Trends | | Comments(0)