Too many times the process of hiring a sales person rarely takes priority in a sales manager’s duties – they have enough to do already. Unfortunately, the hiring tasks get pushed to the margins of their day. Any sales manager knows how important it is to hire strong sales people, but it all too often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Dave Stein has 11 spot-on quick tips that can help you set the right priorities and increase your success rate. His tips are: Make sure you know what you are looking for. Prepare your questions in advance. Remain objective during the interview. Trust but verify. Don’t lead the candidate. Push… Read More
Continue ReadingInitiative In Front Of You
This is a long set-up, but you’ll get the point. I just read an interesting Q&A article on BusinessWeek.com titled Being Pushy…or Taking the Initiative? Here is the question posed by an office manager who is hiring for a sales position: I’m the office manager in a branch of an international PR firm with more than 50 offices in the U.S. I run the administrative processes, work as the liaison with our U.S. headquarters, and serve as the HR chief for this branch. Last week I interviewed a candidate for an account manager position. This man had applied for the job through an online job ad. I do the first-screen… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To Size Up Candidates
ManageSmarter has a great article titled, The Ideal Job Candidate: Myth or Reality? that touches on a subject that we have posted on many times. I cannot begin to tell you how many conversations we have around this subject with clients and prospects. Jeff Schmitt has 3 points he writes about when it comes to hiring. As a a hiring manager, I would recommend that you keep these points in mind as you begin a hiring process: Examine yourself. Look at your recruiting effort. Are you still reposting that same job description after another fruitless round of interviews? Unfortunately, this doesn’t change one element: the problem is you haven’t adapted.… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Experience Myth
As you have probably ascertained, we are strong proponents of hiring for ability/potential that matches your sales as opposed to tenured experience in your industry. Naturally, this article – The Myth of Experience – from Managesmarter.com is right up our alley. Please allow me to reference an analogy from later in the article: Don’t fall into the myth of relying upon experience. Instead look for potential. That’s why there is always an image of flowers on a package of seeds. We don’t really care what the seeds look like. We want to know what they will become. I like that characterization even though I am not one to use “potential”…I… Read More
Continue ReadingTelecommuter-Friendly Companies
A few months ago I posted on the rising trend of telecommuting. The percent of companies that allow working from home has gone up dramatically over the past few years. From our experience, that trend has been accelerating in just the past few months. More companies are offering salespeople the option to work form home a few days a month once they are through their on-ramping process. We are also being asked by sales candidates early in the process if telecommuting is an option. Not all companies and positions have that flexibility, but that shouldn’t preclude you from looking for alternatives. A recent article from the Workforce Management newsletter lists 7 companies… Read More
Continue ReadingRequired Skills-Sales Ability
From an ad for a National Sales Manager: Required Skills: 1. Product knowledge. The ad lists 3 other “non-sales” skills. Sales is that strange position where many hiring managers focus on skills other than selling. Is it any wonder there are so many sales hiring horror stories?
Continue ReadingWhen Hiring, Expect Success
Have you ever worked with a “glass half empty” person? They are something to behold especially if you are a bit of an optimist. We get the chance to interact with many leaders of both sales departments (VP of Sales) and entire companies (CEO). One thing that always catches my ear is the leader’s level of optimism. I find leaders who have a realistic level of optimism to be the most effective. I’m not talking about whistling through the graveyard, but rather a measured optimism that seeks positive solutions. The reason this is so important is that employees have a more difficult time rallying behind a pessimistic leader. I have… Read More
Continue ReadingOverqualified
The layoffs that have occurred in this weak economy have led to a larger percentage of overqualified candidates responding to lower-level positions. We are presently seeing this effect in our sourcing efforts. Clearly some companies that are looking to cut costs are laying off experienced salespeople who have 1.) higher salaries & benefits and 2.) are not delivering top-end numbers. That’s not to say they are not being successful, but they are performing at a level where a financial decision maker may decided to release them. This downsizing happens frequently to sales departments in weak economies. The follow up move is this – hire a younger, less expensive salesperson for… Read More
Continue ReadingA Fundamental Lack Of Communication
The more companies we work with, the more we see communication breakdowns being the root of most problems. Our work with our clients spans more than just recruiting. We assist them in onramping their new salesperson. This function places us in the unique position of working with both the salesperson and the sales manager. One of the more dysfunctional situations we encounter is a communication breakdown between the manager and salesperson. One manager complained that the salesperson wasn’t doing what he asked, but he never confronted the salesperson. Another time we had a salesperson who would not submit his weekly call report. Ever. Yes, he was let go (even we… Read More
Continue ReadingRun The Spell Check
This job summary is from a sales ad for a FORTUNE 500 company: Job Summary Responsible for developing and maintaining customer relationships within the transportatin industry. Is that unbelievable? The irony here is that this company probably holds candidate resumes to a higher standard than their own ad. One other thing – a one line job summary is probably too short. I like quick-read ads, but there should be some specificity to the summary. And no spelling errors.
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