There is a subtle psychology to working with sales candidates in a hiring process when you get to the offer stage. The ideal time frame for an offer is approximately one week after the final interview. This 1 week window provides enough time for both sides to contemplate the position and the salesperson’s fit to it. Now understand, I’m talking about a hiring process where a phone screen, assessment and multiple interviews have occurred. This candidate has been fully vetted and found to be a strong fit to the position’s requirements. Unfortunately, we have seen a couple of clients work past this ideal window into an extended time period after… Read More
Continue ReadingPhone Screens – See The Candidate In Action
Selling Power offers a quick article titled Successful Phone Interviews (the headline writer must have had the day off). I’m not aligned with all of the suggestions, but I cannot stress this one item enough: She also says to pay close attention to candidates’ phone manners €“ especially if they’re going to be using the phone on the job. How does their voice and tone sound? Do they project energy and enthusiasm or do they ramble on, putting you to sleep? How do they answer the phone? The key here is to talk less than the candidate. If you are talking, you are not qualifying. Paying attention to the candidate’s… Read More
Continue ReadingA State Of The Industry Speech – Mobile Devices
CareerJournal.com pens an article titled Mobile Workers Tie In With Hand-Held Devices. I hope most of the information in the article is familiar to you since mobile PDA phones are more than a passing fancy. The article reads like a state of the industry address with a couple of notable points. First, the sheer size of this industry (my emphasis): There are an estimated 50 million “mobile” workers in the U.S., those who have no desk or spend more than 25% of their time outside the office, according to Frost & Sullivan, a business-research and consultancy firm. Catch that? No desk – totally mobile. This new format is more than… Read More
Continue ReadingFast And Loose
This is from a shady-looking sales employment ad: Now is the time to get into the fast paced sales industry. We are looking for mativated (sic) well spoken individuals with a loose tongue. I’m speechless.
Continue ReadingRetention In A Downsizing Industry
We don’t do much work in the pharmaceutical market but I do have a couple of friends who sell for the big players. SellingPower.com’s article Have You Heard Who€™s Hiring? discusses a downsizing trend in sales hiring that is occurring in that specific market. €œThe days of armies of sales reps in the field driving revenues are over,€ Davenport says in a recent Business Wire story. €œIt will no longer be about numbers and volume €“ now the focus will shift to productivity and performance of the remaining sales staff.€ This comment is spot on even though it seems counter-intuitive. My sales friends in this industry have mentioned that their… Read More
Continue ReadingOf Dads And CEOs
From CNNMoney.com comes a humorous article titled Do CEOs make lousy dads (and moms)? The Q&A format is a discussion of an entertaining new book from a former comedy programmer at HBO. The guy is now a CEO of an executive search firm in Los Angeles who almost lost his wife during an armed robbery. The article starts with some stats from a monster.com survey: …found that 58% think their employers should do more to accommodate the demands of fatherhood; 71% of those with a child under age 5 took a paternity leave when it was offered. The poll also found that, if money were no object, 68% of fathers… Read More
Continue ReadingReading The Resume Tea Leaves
We do not make sales sourcing decisions based on resumes as you may know from reading our blog. It’s an unreliable approach when looking for strong salespeople or sales leaders. Yet, we do receive resumes in response to our ads and that always leads to some interesting reads. Here are the bullet points listed in one resume describing a candidate’s recent managerial position: –Create and maintain dedicated sales programs and outside events to increase revenue and overall sales –Motivating staff on a daily basis to achieve sales goals and maximize retention –Daily sales analysis to coach representatives into meeting monthly quotas These are 3 good points but they are not… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Sense of Self
This trait is one to measure in all salespeople since it reveals much of how they approach prospects, how they handle rejection and how they hold up under stress. Sense of SelfThe ability of a salesperson to realize and appreciate their own unique self-worth. They base these feelings on internal factors as opposed to external ones. This internal feeling of value allows them to appreciate themselves based on who they know themselves to be on the inside. They do not judge themselves based solely on what they do, what role they occupy or what success they attain. This capacity could also be considered the level of €œself acceptance.€ A salesperson with strength… Read More
Continue ReadingA Cover Letter Disqualifier
This is from an online job board: I live in _______. I have a lot of customer service experience, but I am willing to do just about anything. I am in a lot of debt and need a good solid job to help me get out of it. Not good. Apparently the appeal here is to have a company provide money to them to relieve their debt. I feel for them being in debt, but this type of positioning is terrible. Far better to articulate what the company receives for employing the candidate’s services.
Continue ReadingWhen Too Much Self-Esteem Is Good
Nary a day goes by that we are not assessing a salesperson for one of our clients. This activity gives us the opportunity to measure different traits in a wide variety of salespeople in many diverse markets. There is one trait pattern we always dissect and that is a salesperson’s self-esteem vs. their empathy towards others. At the risk of going too deep, the issue is how much does the salesperson value themselves vs. others. Here is why it is important – a salesperson who greatly overvalues himself will often appear condescending, or even cocky, to prospects when placed into a long sales cycle. But if you have a high-rejection,… Read More
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