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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Posted By Derrick Moe | Anecdotes, Communication, Hiring Salespeople | | Comments(1)

I think I may be a bully because this Wall Street Journal article, to me, borders on the absurd.

New research highlights the prevalence and dangers of workplace bullying. In a 2007 survey of 1,000 U.S. workers, 44% said they had worked for a boss they considered abusive. The survey was sponsored by the Employment Law Alliance, an association of 3,000 employment lawyers.

In a 2004 survey by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Heath, 25% of companies reported bullying incidents in the previous year. More incidents were attributed to co-workers than to supervisors. The study was part of the institute’s research on work-related stress.

This year, two Canadian professors concluded bullying can take a more severe emotional and physical toll than sexual harassment, perhaps because companies provide greater support for victims of the latter.

“Abusive” is a completely-loaded word that is difficult to define in this context.  I’m also thinking this bullying movement could spell some trouble for High D managers.

However, I think this paragraph sums up the motivation situation:

Some business groups and lawmakers say workplace bullying is too difficult to define, and a poorly worded law would expose businesses to unnecessary lawsuits.

I think there would be a flood of frivolous lawsuits if this idea became law.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Leadership, Team Management | | Comments(2)

If you think of the obstacles that have been thrown at our economy over the past few years (oil prices, housing market, credit crunch, ongoing war, etc.), you start to appreciate just how resilient it is.

When you work in the recruiting space, you pay close attention to the economic trends, especially the leading indicators, since hiring is a lagging indicator.

This ERE.net post caught my attention as it deals with an insightful excerpt from Jonathan R. Hefferlin regarding the latest jobs report:

There is renewed economic clatter with unemployment up by 0.2 to 5.7%, like there was a couple of months ago when it rose from 5 to 5.5%. We know the real number is higher, not counting folks whose benefits ran out before then found a job (an estimated + 4 million), which makes the true figure closer around 8%.

Betcha didn’t know that government stats only count those who are currently collecting unemployment and looking – a reported 1.6 million last month. 570,000 more, forced into part time work against their will, aren’t counted.

For all these shortcomings, you could at least use the 5.7% as an indication, until recent months. The entire rise from 5% can be attributed to the extension of unemployment benefits by three months, earlier this year. Had this not happened, the number we have learned to watch and love would be still 5% or less, as folks who used to be dropped off the rolls after six months are still counted.

Clarification might be found in lost jobs – 85,000 a month in Q1 vs. a recessionary 180,000 rate in 2001; 59,000 during Q2, and only 51,000 jobs lost in July, which was the 1st month in eight previous numbers weren’t revised downward. So the economy, which grew at a 1.9% rate in Q2 (0.5% of that $78 billion in stimilus (sic) checks thru June) vs 1% in Q1, proved amazingly resilient to $4.50 gas, $5 diesel, the credit implosion, and housing bubble.

If the plunge in oil prices continues, coupled with a weak dollar and the surge in bargain repoed home buying, the employment picture should continue to show some signs of hope.

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

You just knew this was going to happen - companies are using technology to monitor remote employees.  The Wall Street Journal provides this article that illustrates what approaches are used by employers:

They’re taking photos of workers’ computer screens at random, counting keystrokes and mouse clicks and snapping photos of them at their computers. They’re plying sophisticated technology to instantaneously detect anger, raised voices or children crying in the background on workers’ home-office calls.

That seems quite invasive, but it appears telecommuters are generally willing to trade the invasiveness for the work-at-home option.  I’m not certain I would be so eager to allow this type of monitoring into my computer.  However, many companies do monitor employees in the office both electronically and directly (manager).

Sales is a bit simpler in that it is easy to know how well a salesperson is performing based on their revenue production.  Monitoring could be beneficial in ramping new hires, but success is still easily measured.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Sales Management, Team Management, Trends, Work/Life Balance | | Comments(0)

We only work in the sales arena so we refer to onboarding as onramping since salespeople need to ramp up to revenue (production) during their initial employment.  That being said, CareerBuilder.com provides some excellent rules to live by when bringing a new employee on board (my editing).

1.  
   1. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy employee.
   2. Thou shalt give a written plan of employee objectives and responsibilities. A written plan detailing objectives, strategy and expectations of future results helps diminish any confusion about a new employee’s job functions and instead opens up the floor to discuss concerns or new opportunities.
   3. Thou shalt give thy employ thy undivided attention.
   4. Thou shalt have relevant paperwork ready 
   5. Thou shalt introduce thy employee to thy neighbors. 
   6. Thou shall set up thy employee’s workstation. An empty workstation is to a new employee what an unkempt home is to a houseguest. Before the employee arrives on day one, stock his or her workstation with everything from paper and pens to keys and, if possible, business cards. Make sure the phone and computer, complete with voicemail and e-mail accounts, are set up. Leave a copy of an organizational chart, staff list, and phone directory on the new hire’s desk.
   7. Thou shalt schedule one-on-one time
   8. Thou shalt create a balance.
   9. Thou shalt clarify the company culture.
   10. Thou shalt think beyond the first few days. After 90 days, request formal feedback on the new hire’s performance from his or her supervisor, and be sure to solicit feedback from the employee as well. Take this opportunity to address any issues of concern as well as note any accomplishments so that all parties are confident that the new hire is poised for success in his or her role.

We have a sales manager we know who took a job with a new company and showed up on his first day to find there was no office set up for him.  Instead, they told him to pick a cubicle.  All of the cubicles had junk stored in them so he had to move the junk out on his first day to create a space for himself.

As a sales manager.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring Salespeople, Onramping, Sales Management, Team Management | | Comments(0)

Here is a new one - candidates who use provocative usernames in the online resume submission software.  From abcnews.com:

…a candidate who entered his resume in the company’s online database — along with the username “Sexpig.”

Yeah, what more needs to be said about that one?  Well, this is much better:

Poindexter, a community manager at Disaboom.com, a Denver-based Web community for those with disabilities, recently had to retract a job offer from an entry-level candidate who proved to be a LinkedIn liar. Shortly after extending the offer, Poindexter Googled the new hire and found that his assistant-to-be’s LinkedIn profile had been updated to include a nonexistent position at Disaboom — as Poindexter’s supervisor.

I am often puzzled by this - why do hiring managers Google candidates after they extend an offer?

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

The Sales Machine blog on BNet features one of those posts I wish I had authored.  The title - Why Office Coffee Tastes So Bad.  A great topic for a Monday morning.  This post contains some of the most detailed information I have read about bad coffee.  Basically, it all comes down to tannins.

Contrary to popular belief, coffee is not bitter. It is supposed to be a naturally sweet beverage. However, the way it is usually prepared tends to concentrate the tanins (sic) in the coffee, which makes it unnaturally bitter. Remove these tannins and you get a good cup of coffee. Tannins come from five sources:

• Exposure to air. The more the beans are exposed to air and light, the more they begin to break down, turning the natural sweetness into tannins. If coffee is already ground, that process is accelerated.
• Brewing residue. Most brewing methods cause tannins to be deposited on the brewing mechanism where they’re transferred into the coffee. Plastic and metal is porous, so even if you scrub it, there’s always residue.
• The brewing process. If the water is not hot enough, the coffee flavor is lessened while the tannins are transferred into the water. Most coffee makers don’t heat up the water sufficiently to make a good cup.
• The filtering process. If the filter is the wrong porousness and not designed to absorb tannins, it will pass them through into the coffee. Many filters just filter out particulate matter and don’t absorb the tannins.
• Time after brewing. If there are tannins in the coffee, they’ll spread throughout the coffee, making it increasingly bitter over time. That’s why reheated coffee — or coffee that’s been sitting in the pot for an hour or more — usually tastes so wretched.

True story - first few months Lee and I worked together at a company with one of those old Bunn coffee makers.  The company supplied some of the worst coffee you have ever tasted.  Folgers tasted better.  Anyway, Lee would get to the office early some mornings to get some work done.  If the coffee pot contained coffee - FROM THE PREVIOUS DAY - he would put it in his cup, nuke it and then drink it.  All without brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

I’m still disgusted 6 years later.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Anecdotes, General | | Comments(2)

In a survey conducted by  LifeCare they asked employees to name the one benefit program that would make them more productive on the job.  Their response, in a landslide, was a flexible work schedule.  Of those surveyed, 63% gave that response, the second most frequent response was enhanced health and wellness programs (10%).

I’m not quite sure of the definition of flexible schedule for the survey, but we are big proponents of a flexible schedule.  Anytime you can hold an employee accountable for results, instead of the number of hours they work in the office, I can guarantee you will see more motivated, efficient workers.

Posted By Lee Charles | Hiring, Trends | | Comments(0)

Those two words should make every salesperson shudder.  I remember when we first encountered the phrase about 5-6 years ago at one of our customers.  Their top salesperson’s top account is a local company that shall remain anonymous (retail giant with a bullseye for a logo).  When this salesperson first mentioned “reverse auction” to me, I had no idea what he was talking about.  Once he explained it, I was taken aback.  It is the ultimate commoditization tool.

Dave Stein posted on this topic with an example of GE’s colossal IT budget for procurement.  One of the quotes from GE’s CIO cuts right to the core of this issue:

On auctions, Reiner goes on, “The more commodity-like the part or service is, the easier it is to auction; and the more differentiated, the less easy it is to auction. By design, every year we try to make more of our business portfolio be products and services that are noncommodity - that are differentiated. So we have been fortunate not to be as auctioned on the sell side as we are on the buy side.”

The interviewer asked: ”I would presume that as much as you like to buy things through reverse auctions, you absolutely hate to sell things that way.”   To that, Reiner responded, “That is correct.”

Did you catch that last paragraph?  This exact reason is the drive behind clearly defining your value proposition.  Prospects want to turn your solution into a commodity and then drive your prices down.  Now, this is a problem if your solution lacks value.  In that instance, you best be the low-priced option or you won’t be around for long.

Dave’s summation catches the core of this topic (my editing):

Unless you’re in a commodity business, participating in reverse auctions is about as defensive as you can get from a strategy perspective.  By definition, the customer is determined to strip away any unique value from your products and services so they can buy at the lowest price.  They’re not interested in your unique value, a long-term win/win relationship with you, or anything else that will increase the cost to them.

That should suggest not approaching reverse auctions tactically from the sell side.

He provides some excellent resources if you are forced to compete in a reverse auction format.

As they say, read the entire thing.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Sales Techniques, Trends | | Comments(0)

Great article from BusinessWeek.com titled Let’s Hear it for B Players.  I realize “B Players” is difficult to define, but these are the:

…competent, steady performers far from the limelight.

What I like about this article is the fact that B players can consistently deliver for a sales department without demanding star treatment.  Unfortunately, their approach can cut against them also as they tend to be overlooked at times.

Here is their value stated clearly from the article (my emphasis):

B players, by contrast, prize stability in their work and home lives. They seldom strive for advancement or attention—caring more about their companies‘ well-being. Infrequent job changers, they accumulate deep knowledge about company processes and history. They thus provide ballast during transitions, steadily boosting organizational resilience and performance.

Yes they do.  Some B players will move up to A player status which is a sign of good sales management.  Others are content in their role and will excel within the sales dept albeit in a quiet manner.  They are typically lower maintenance than the A players and they rarely make mistakes like the C players.  Their consistent, if not eye-catching, performance provides the foundation for a strong sales department.

One thing the article does not mention is that A players are typically well-known in your industry and often are recruited out of your company.  They can develop a prima donna complex and become as difficult to manage as an A-list celebrity.  Every sales team needs A players to drive the big deals and close the marquee accounts.  But the B in B players should stand for bedrock.

The authors close the article with 4 strong suggestions for nurturing your B players:

• Accept differences. We’re all tougher on people who differ from us. If you’re an A player, avoid the temptation to undervalue B performers. Ask what they want from their careers, then match them with mentors who’ll help them get it.

• Give the gift of time. Track your communication patterns to ensure you’re not ignoring—and thus alienating—solid performers.

• Hand out the prizes. Since B players are promoted relatively infrequently, reward them in others ways. Even handwritten notes of appreciation can make them feel valued and motivated.

• Give choices. Rather than grooming only stars, allocate scarce resources—compensation, coaching, promotions—to high-potential B players. Promoting sideways can provide appealing career alternatives.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Sales Management, Team Management | | Comments(0)