Gas prices are driving companies to adjust their reimbursement policy for outside salespeople. We have seen a handful of salespeople who have taken a real hit due to the fact they are on a monthly car allowance and not mileage reimbursement. Telecommuting is already grabbing a larger foothold in the work world which is a trend that predated the gas price increase. Our local Pioneer Planet quotes a recent SHRM report regarding telecommuting: (The SHRM study) found 18 percent of employers are allowing workers to telecommute, up from 4 percent in a survey a year ago. That doesn’t sound like much, but a 4% increase in 1 year is remarkable. … Read More
Continue ReadingDefining Excellence
Selling Power released an archived article titled Four Elements of Excellence. The short article provides a well-thought description so let’s cut right to the chase. Here are the four: 1.) Goal Setting 2.) Commitment 3.) Feedback 4.) Organizational Support I would say that is a good list. The one that jumps out is goal setting. This is something we see in the sales arena often, but not in a good way. Many sales managers believe an annual quota is all the goal setting a salesperson needs. But let’s jump back to the article: Without specific goals, you’ll never know whether you’ve achieved excellence because you’ve never defined it. Hence, the… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Job Interview Bombs
CNNMoney.com offers up the latest story about this Springtime topic (must be all of the college grads hitting the interview circuit that gets these stories started). There are some beauties in here: “One job applicant came in for his interview with a cockatoo on his shoulder.” “We had one person who walked out of an interview straight into a glass door. The glass shattered.” “The candidate got his companies confused and repeatedly mentioned the strengths of a competing firm, thinking that was who he was interviewing with.” “A candidate fell asleep during the interview.” Fell asleep? I’m guessing the only way that happens is if the interviewer is doing all… Read More
Continue ReadingParsing The Unemployment Number
The Herman Trend Alert enewsletter (sorry, no link) takes a look at last week’s unemployment numbers. Some interesting items in there (emphasis mine): This increase in unemployment continues to mask the real situation. Looking at the BLS’ Household Survey, in the month of May, the national unemployment percentages among adult men and women were 4.9 and 4.8. At the same time, the rate for teenagers, ages 16 to 19 jumped from 15.4 in April to 18.7 in May, an increase of 21.4 percent. While part of this increase is due to high school and community college graduations, these new job seekers do not account for this huge increase. Rather, we… Read More
Continue ReadingOne Source Value Proposition
I have been noticing a common value proposition from distribution companies – “your one-stop shop for all things _________.” Some of the sales reps for these companies use this value proposition as their main lever. I tell them this is a mistake. Here’s why – the web changes everything about sourcing. I don’t need to limit myself to one vendor for all my _______ needs. In fact, I have a subtle doubt about that approach – am I getting the best deal, product or solution if I go with one company exclusively? The “catalogue mentality” is fading from our society and being replaced with a research mentality. The proverbial old… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Commute Question
We are sales recruiters so we have been fairly immune to this question, but it is even appearing in our world. For salespeople, the question is some variation of “How often will I be expected to be in the office?” This question doesn’t mean they are planning on playing hooky; the candidate simply wants to start the discussion about working from home, their car, coffee shops, etc. The Career News newsletter (sorry, no link) offers up a quick article on this topic: When it comes to making a living, how many miles would you travel? According to many hiring agencies and recruiters, people job hunting are taking climbing gas prices… Read More
Continue ReadingPresentations Are Security Blankets
Salesopedia.com offers an article from Jeff Thull discussing sales presentations. This topic is a tricky one for salespeople and managers – most view presentations as a good thing…a chance to discuss your offering with a prospective customer. But here is the “trap” that can occur in an ill-timed presentation: Look at this from the customer’s perspective. Based on what we said about the customer’s area of comprehension, it is highly likely that two-thirds or more of the information that customers hear falls outside their area of comprehension. Further, what they do hear sounds very much the same. What does the customer understand? Price. As you may already expect, everyone is… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Weekend Ad Report
Remember when the Sunday paper was the big employment section? It wasn’t that long ago. I don’t remember posting any job ads on a different day – it was simply call in your ad by the Thursday deadline and approve the proof you received via fax (including the cryptic shorthand used to save space/lines). That whole process is probably foreign to Gen Y…and that’s a good thing. Anyway, I was perusing the postings this weekend and found this title: Sales Represenitive The title simply cannot have errors. None. Period. Also on titles, there is no simpler clue to these pyramid deals than to see a long description for a title.… Read More
Continue ReadingManaging Through Distractions
Dave Kurlan has a post that struck a chord with me. The topic is distractions and how they affect salespeople (my editing): Distractions can take many forms, from the call that takes them off their game, to the illness or death of a loved one that stops their game cold. Distractions can last a few minutes or they can linger for months. You can even understand why some, especially the really bad distractions, can interfere for so long. You know they’ll have distractions so it’s your job to know your salespeople well enough to recognize when they are being affected. Helpd (sic) help them cope, focus and work through them… Read More
Continue ReadingHow Not To Save An Interview
This article from abcnews.com starts off with a terrific interview anecdote (emphasis mine): John-Paul Lee, CEO of Tavalon Tea, a premium tea company based in New York, recently interviewed a job candidate he’s not likely to forget. “The first two minutes were great,” Lee says of the recent MBA grad. Then Lee asked the candidate who he believed Tavalon’s biggest competitors were. To which the candidate replied, “I think Tavalon Tea is a formidable one.” “I assumed he was nervous and had blurted out the wrong company,” Lee says, “so I played along and asked him, ‘Why?’” The candidate’s answer? “I don’t think they have the right management in place.… Read More
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