I’ve written about this phenomenon in the past and I continually encounter it in many sales areas – the allure of experience. In fact, I just talked to a recruiter from a different part of the country who focuses on sales hiring. We talked a bit of strategy and I was just dumbfounded. This gentleman focuses solely on finding someone with as much industry experience as possible. His primary motivation – find candidates who can bring accounts with them. No discussion about skills, no behavioral-based questions, no attempt at learning their style and motivation…just simple experience. I am not even sure if he asks if it was successful experience. My… Read More
Continue ReadingObvious Red Flags In Employment Ads
Don’t do this: If you have the contacts in these areas with such customers, let us know! That line is from a sales employment ad I read this morning and it is a tremendous red flag to savvy salespeople. The ad is also from a recruiter and not the hiring company which makes it worse. It is this approach that makes sales recruiting so difficult. Clearly this recruiter is less interested in ability and more interested in an existing network. Fair enough, but having a network is one thing, getting customers to walk over to a new company is another. It rarely works in spite of what the salesperson thinks… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Interviews Are Uncomfortable
I about fell out of my chair reading this SellingPower.com article – Interviews Get Comfortable. A quick excerpt to set the tone: “It’s your job as an interviewer to make the candidate feel comfortable and it starts from the moment you see that person,” says Barbara Pachter, a speaker, trainer, coach, and author of numerous business books, including The Power of Positive Confrontation (Marlowe & Co., 2006). Pachter does acknowledge that there are times when interviewers put candidates in awkward positions to view reactions, but for the most part they should work to put candidates at ease. Her suggestions for putting candidates at ease include: Be a gracious host.… Read More
Continue ReadingChaotic Freedom In Sales
I read this line from an sales employment ad this morning: Reps are NOT restricted by territory. The unrestricted territory seems innocuous enough…maybe even valuable. It usually isn’t. As a salesperson, I would read this ad with some skepticism in that the company may be trying to add salespeople without a cogent management plan. Back in my early years I took a job with a company that had no territories. There were approximately 15 salespeople in there serving the local market. What I learned is that the “old-timers” had effectively squatted on all of the accounts, whether they had an active relationship or not. Since there were no defined territories… Read More
Continue ReadingCompanies Get It Wrong Too
I was recollecting about a job I took in which I felt I did everything right. It is doubtful I did, but it is my recollection so bear with me. I qualified the opportunity, the sale, the expectations and the ramp time. All of the responses were a good fit to my abilities. The ramp time was 6 mos. before getting to a steady revenue stream according to the hiring manager. I knew I could beat that and I did by cutting it in half. I had closed a handful of fairly sizeable deals within 3 mos. and was chasing a handful of large deals. And then I was laid… Read More
Continue ReadingImpending Movement
In sales there has always been career movement. Most successful salespeople have a “hunting” ability for closing deals. They also use this ability to close new deals for themselves in terms of a new job. I believe this approach is intensified in the younger generations – Gen X and Gen Y. This current economy is going to erode much of their loyalty as they watch companies shed employees. This downturn is far worse than that of 2001, but it is two career-altering downturns in less than 10 years. That has to have an effect on younger workers. Some of this movement can be seen in this article from Managesmarter.com: Even… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring A System
If you have noticed a decrease in hiring topics of late there is a reason why…few companies are hiring. We have seen it affect our business too. We had an early glimpse of it last year around Q2 as our assessment business started to decline gradually. That is a painful path to go down as you try to figure out a way to counteract the trend. At any rate, companies are still purchasing assessments and some are still hiring. Yes, it is true despite what you see in the media. As you might imagine, there is some serious talent available to companies that have the wherewithal to hire right now.… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring Without Knowledge
Selling Power’s Hiring One of the Team focuses on finding superstar salespeople that will fit into your existing team. Clearly that is the goal for all sales hiring and this article supplies some sound advice. Other parts of it I will leave to your judgment. Here is a quote I enjoyed (emphasis mine): “Hire and promote first on the basis of integrity; second, motivation; third, capacity; fourth, understanding; fifth, knowledge; and last and least, experience. Without integrity, motivation is dangerous; without motivation, capacity is impotent; without capacity, understanding is limited; without understanding, knowledge is meaningless; without knowledge, experience is blind. Experience is easy to provide and quickly put to good… Read More
Continue ReadingThey May Not Be High Tech
Honestly, I read this line on the “about us” page of an engineering company’s website: All information and engineering is conducted using networked personal computer workstations. Do you think that even warrants a single line on a website? The context of the sentence was to support their cutting-edge approach. As a candidate, I would have some serious concerns after reading that sentence.
Continue ReadingSalespeople With Emotional Needs
One of the reasons we are so adamant about assessing sales candidates is to know what motivates and rewards the person. Once identified, these factors can be explored during a face-to-face interview. There is one reward that requires an in-depth discussion with any sales candidate who possesses it – Status & Recognition. This salesperson is rewarded by prestige, social acknowledgement and tangible trophies. Let me be clear – this is a strong reward structure for a salesperson. However, when it is over-amplified, it becomes a detriment. I have a friend in sales who has this issue. He is incredibly knowledgeable about his complex product line. He speaks about it on… Read More
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