I’m thinking of the poker colloquialism “tell.” From Wikipedia: A tell in poker is a detectable change in a player’s behavior or demeanor that gives clues to that player’s assessment of his hand. A player gains an advantage if he observes and understands the meaning of another player’s tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Our experiences have provided us with the ability to read certain sales manager behaviors during the hiring process. Typically, we notice the red flags first since they are most dangerous. Here is a sample: Tell: Hiring For Experience Sales managers who pass on strongly-skilled salespeople in favor of salespeople with industry experience. This… 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.
Continue ReadingFatal Assumptions Of Sales Managers
Good article here from ManageSmarter.com titled Can Training Fix Manager Transition Troubles? The primary topic is transitioning sales managers from sales rep roles. This is now small task and we have seen many crash and burn. The author provides some insightful commentary into this common problem. This section truly stands out. The topic is that there are some fatal assumptions new sales managers often make that derail their success. The “fatal assumptions” identified were: 1. My individual contributor success will translate into management success; 2. It’s out of my control—someone else can and should fix this; 3. Being the expert is the most important factor for my credibility; 4. It’s… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Absence Of Value
We’ve been working on this value topic because it is the single, most important aspect of any sales position. A company that lacks a value proposition is destined to stumble through the market while being commoditized on price. I saw this effect 6 years ago when doing sales calls in the field with a company’s reps. After spending a couple days in a couple different cities, it became clear that they had to value proposition to offer the market. This absence of value led to one consistent outcome – they had to compete on price. Granted, some companies are positioned to compete in this format. The company I was working… Read More
Continue ReadingMileage Reimbursement Increasing
In case you missed it, the IRS is raising the mileage reimbursement rate from the current 50.5 cents to 58.5 cents starting July 1, 2008. “Rising gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “Given the increase in prices, the IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the real cost of operating an automobile.” Keep this new rate in mind if you have any candidate offers going out soon. You will want to adjust the mileage reimbursement as this is a very hot topic among outside sales candidates today…along with telecommuting.
Continue ReadingGarden-Leave Clauses
Proprietary information is a nuclear topic when dealing with salespeople who are leaving a company. Product info, service plans, actual costs vs. pricing are all hot topics. But for sales, the one thing that keeps managers up at night is the security of the customer list. We see many companies who desire to hire a salesperson from the competition with the expressed hope that the salesperson will bring customers with them. Quick note-it rarely happens, but that doesn’t stop companies from focusing their hiring strategy. CNNMoney.com provides an article that discusses the legalities of this approach. In the article is a phrase that I have not encountered before – garden-leave… Read More
Continue ReadingQuality Of Hire Requires Objectivity
Ere.net offers up an excellent Kevin Wheeler article that explains how gut-level hiring occurs. Here is the crux of the problem: Interviews are examples of how easy it is to abandon the tools of objectivity, the scientific method, logic, and the rules of evidence, for our “gut” or for “chemistry.” While there is considerable evidence showing that testing candidates is far more likely to predict successful performance, we still rely almost exclusively on interviews. Though numerous researchers have pointed out the need to gather a variety of data about a candidate, we generally settle for an application form and an interview. Why are we so resistant to testing and other… Read More
Continue ReadingEmployment Branding
We work under a premise that my father is fond of saying, “They typically don’t need longer to say yes.” This is a truth of life that plays out time and again. There is one group of people that truly understands this principle…candidates. If they do not receive any feedback for a disproportionate period of time, they (properly) assume they were not a fit. What I don’t understand is why recruiters and hiring managers simply don’t tell the candidate they are not a fit. I have read many articles that discuss employment branding. In a simple vein, it seems obvious to me that one of the best branding approaches is… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen To Post Job Listings
The Washington Post has a short article that references job hunting trends from Monster.com. Here is the data if you want to play the averages: 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 and Wednesdays as tops for tapping new career possibilities. But in 2007, Americans broadened their search days, and eQuest indicates any weekday from noon to 4… Read More
Continue ReadingDon’t Fight Emotions With Logical Facts
In sales we know that prospects and customers make decisions emotionally and then justify them afterwards intellectually. This is why strong salespeople have the ability to build rapport and then engage the prospect’s emotions during the qualifying stage. This truth appears to have been validated in a new book titled Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior as noted in this Inc.com blog. The pull quote: Newsflash: People, even when given a choice of thinking logically and getting beneficial results, will often act emotionally despite the consequences. The effects of this irrational behavior on businesses can be far reaching. There is an intriguing case study referenced in the post that… Read More
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