Remember the old joke, you can tell when they are lying because their lips are moving? Selling Power provides this article which opens with this statement: Did you know that 50 percent of candidates lie on their resumes? (This includes people who omit things, stretch the truth, and those who outright lie.) That seems optimistic to me. This lying problem is rampant in hiring as we have seen first-hand. I think candidates believe they can state things that are difficult to verify with the legal restrictions in this country. How can you verify that they turned around a territory? How do you know they were the lead person on a… Read More
Continue ReadingTop 10 Ways For Admins To Get Fired
Work for an American automotive company. Ok, that was my contribution. SalesHQ.com offers up a rather dry article for administrative people to avoid being fired. However, most of the points seem rather self-evident. I took note since my wife works in an administrative role. I wanted to enjoy this one but… 5. Drink at Work: One of the quickest ways to be shown the door is drinking too much at lunch and walking into a wall. Administrative assistants must keep things organized, efficient and clear, so maintaining your own clarity is extremely important. Staying on top of the mountain of details that go into making a business run smoothly requires… Read More
Continue ReadingTips For Hiring Superstars
Great article here from SellingPower.com – The Best Ways to Turn Off a Star. I am a big fan of showing people how not to do something. That is a powerful format for teaching. In that light, here are 6 tips from the article (in a “what not to do” vein): Talk about yourself and your company. You really don’t need any information about the candidates; it’s all on their resumes anyway. Wait for them to call you. Make them wait. Hey, if they really want to work for your company, it’s worth waiting through your 40-minute phone call to your old college roommate. Bribe them. Offer a free microwave… Read More
Continue ReadingPre-Call Prep
I have been in sales since 1992 and have seen the marketplace change in drastic ways. Today, we are in the midst of the information age where knowledge is king. Preparedness is a necessity for successful selling. In all honesty, this trait has never been one of my strengths. However, I have made changes to my approach (in order to survive!). The reason is found in this SellingPower.com article – Pre-Call Planning: It’s More than Just Research. The author shares a frightening sales story: G.A. Bartick remembers the day he called on a large wire house in San Francisco. He’d just completed a project for another brokerage firm that went… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Bad Economy
As a follow up to my earlier post, I give you this Inc.com article. The opening sentence: The economic crisis has kids worried about receiving fewer gifts this holiday season, according to Node Research. Where to start on that one? Could this be a push poll? Why even do this poll? Are kids primarily worried about how many gifts they receive? Is that the purpose of Christmas? Would fewer gifts be traumatic? I could go on, but you get my point. I think this is borderline propaganda.
Continue ReadingThe Economy Has To Be Bad
The economy is not in good shape right now, but the economic reporting by the “mainstream” media is abysmal. For instance, this article from CNNMoney.com shows the writer working hard to present the positive data are really being gloomy. The opening sentence sets the table for the writer’s theme: Stores and online merchants were busier this weekend than they were a year ago, according to figures out Sunday, but signs persist that holiday shopping will suffer in the weakest economic climate in decades. Unfortunately, facts are stubborn things (my editing): The National Retail Federation (NRF), an industry trade group, said shoppers spent $41 billion in the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. The… Read More
Continue ReadingGiving Thanks
It is already looking like Thanksgiving here at Select Metrix so it seems like an appropriate time to say thank you to all of our customers, our associates, our friends and our readers. Many of you span more than one of those categories. Thank you for your support through this year of change. May all of you have a happy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving!
Continue ReadingFragrance Follies
CareerBuilder.com has a post regarding an overuse of perfume and cologne by employees. The author asks a good question: Apart from sharing the story, I’m writing this to ask how you think managers should handle “strong fragrance” issues in the workplace. It seems like a sensitive issue because people wearing the cologne or perfume must not realize that it is SO noticeable for the people around them. Let me be a little crass – I heard a funny story from a sales manager we met with yesterday. He used to work for a company where he was a sales manager for one territory and there was another gentleman who handled… Read More
Continue ReadingJob Change Motivators
I like to say that people are the ultimate variable – there are almost limitless possibilities, variations, surprises, etc. One aspect of hiring that often gets overlooked is motivation. In sales, money is the common, assumed motivator. In many cases this is accurate, but money motivation can manifest itself in different forms. Our website illustrates some subtle differences between motivators. Selling Power has an article that speaks in slightly more general terms. I think these 4 are quite accurate in terms of my own interviewing of candidates. The second one is quite prevalent amongst Gen Y: Situations. This usually doesn’t have anything to do with the actual job, says Radin.… Read More
Continue ReadingA New Green Initiative
Here is a good Friday anecdote – I was doing some research on a company and I came across this line on their website: Expansion of our business recycling programs to include employees What in the world? This is a fairly sizeable company so I am surprised no editing occurred on the site. However, it is rather humorous. I’m not sure I want to know how they recycle employees. It certainly seems to take “green” to a whole new level.
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