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 ReadingDictionaries Save Cover Letters
Killian’s Cover Letters from Hell are out again with some highly entertaining fare. This one does it for me: I’m looking for work because even though my company was profitable last year, this year they are expecting a large defecate.
Continue ReadingSales 2.0
I read often about web 2.0, recruiting 2.0 and sales 2.0. Math was never my forte so numbers scare me. But I did come across a very informative article in Sales & Marketing Management article titled A Step-By-Step Overview of Sales 2.0. The first pull quote: With instant access to corporate Web sites, search and social networks, your customers have company and product information at their fingertips, which give them much more control over the sales process than they had in the day when brochures and pricing were only available from a sales rep. Many prospective customers postpone talking with a sales rep, believing that they’ll get a better deal… Read More
Continue ReadingDegrees=Dollars
This is from the Career News newsletter (sorry, no link): According to the U.S. Census Bureau the difference in lifetime earnings between a high school diploma and bachelor’s degree is a million dollars. Add on a master’s degree and you can expect to earn an additional half a million dollars in earnings. Those with professional degrees earn much more – about 4.4 million dollars during their working life. Jennifer Day, Chief of the Education and Social Stratification Branch at the U.S. Census Bureau says, “In 1999, average annual earnings ranged from $19,000 for high school dropouts, to $26,000 for high school graduates, $45,000 for college graduates and $99,000 for the… Read More
Continue ReadingWeekend Hangover…For Ads
The days of posting your employment ad on the weekend are over. I think the whole weekend approach is a hangover from the Sunday paper days of job hunting. Nowadays, few – few – people look for a job on the weekend. According to The Career News newsletter (sorry, no link): In a trend that has held true for three years, job hunting takes off on Monday, peaks on Tuesday and is still very busy on Wednesday, according to Monster.com. Job hunt traffic on Tuesday is 28 percent higher than on Friday, said Steve Sylven, a spokesman for Monster. EQuest, which manages job boards for companies, used to see Tuesdays… 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 ReadingI May Know This Person
From the title of a resume posted online: receptionist,homemaker,health aide,sales ass,youth counselor,or daycare aide I know I have worked with many a sales ass. In the resume, this person lists a job from years ago in which they worked the retail cash register at a drug store. I particularly enjoyed their description of that work: SALES ASSOCIATE:RECEIVE CASH FROM CUSTOMRES IN PAYMENT FOR GOODS.PROCESS SALES TRANSCATIONS AND ISSUE RECEIPTS. “Issue receipts” just kills me.
Continue ReadingFirst Round Cuts
The frequency of layoffs has started to rise as the economy continues it’s slow progression (no, it hasn’t recessed). Up here in Minnesota we have experienced some large layoffs recently. But there is an interesting point in all of these layoffs when it comes to salespeople. Many times the underperformers are released first as a method for upgrading the sales force. One of the large corporations up here announced a sizeable layoff that reduced their employee count by 5%. Yet, the following week they had multiple employment ads on multiple sites looking for different levels of salespeople. This approach is not surprising as you will see it often during slow… Read More
Continue ReadingFictitious Selling
Ok, the title is a bit of a minomer. The reference is to a Kelley Robertson post on the S&MM SoundOff blog. He provides 3 sales tips based on a fiction writer’s boot camp he recently attended. Here is an abridged version of those tips (my bold): Start with a hook. The best novels usually start with a great hook. The more compelling your opening statement or question, the greater the likelihood your prospect will listen to the rest of your message. Show, don’t tell. Showing characters in action instead of telling the reader what the characters are doing creates a more interesting story. Show the results your prospects can… Read More
Continue ReadingA Database Of The Discarded
A headline from the Wall Street Journal – Employer Alliance Aims To Streamline Recruiting. “Streamline” is one of those overused business terms that I find annoying. Yet, the article is rather interesting: Seven of the nation’s largest employers have teamed up to help one another with recruiting. They’ve formed a consortium called AllianceQ, which allows them and future members to share information about job applicants they don’t hire. Which leads to this: Since QuietAgent.com doesn’t feature job ads, professionals will only learn about career opportunities if employers contact them. By giving out referrals to QuietAgent.com, AllianceQ members are helping job hunters they don’t hire find employment elsewhere, says Jason Kerr,… Read More
Continue Reading