Coaching in many organizations is an after thought at best. What we see all too often is that the quotas are set and salespeople are expected to reach them on their own (to some extent). These are the organizations in which we see far too little coaching by the sales managers of their teams. Why is this? In a post from Dave Stein’s blog he asks you to name one professional athlete that doesn’t have a coach. Even amateur athletes have coaches, so why do organizations not require and equip sales managers to be coaches? Dave makes some interesting points and I recommend that you go read the entire post. He may get you to change your… Read More
Continue Reading10 Mistakes Companies Make In The Hiring Process
The title of this post caught my eye from US News & World Report. The insightful list made me laugh; I believe I have watched companies make all 10 of these mistakes in the past 12 months. The 10 mistakes are: Flakiness. Making hiring decisions that aren’t based on the right criteria. Not distinguishing between what can be taught and what can’t. Not asking the right questions in interviews. Letting candidates get away with superficial, stock responses. Hiring too quickly. …Not moving fast enough. Not getting back to candidates. Conducting intimidating, high-pressure interviews. Not giving an accurate portrayal of the job. Author Alison Green has this to say about #2 Employers often overvalue particular types… Read More
Continue ReadingYou Get What You Pay Salespeople For
We have really come to enjoy Dave Stein’s posts. They are timely and cut straight to the heart of the issue. Today’s post is no exception. Working strictly on the sales side of organizations, one of the areas we look at while profiling their sale is compensation. Most importantly, we look to see if the compensation structure rewards the behaviors the company expects of the salesperson. More times than not it won’t and from one of Dave’s comments, he sees the same issues: I am bringing this up because compensation is another dysfunctional area within many companies. During the past quarter, I’ve been engaged with several clients where “errors of commission” are preventing… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Migration To Niche Job Boards
One of the points we always push when it comes to sourcing is to use multiple channels that still includes online job boards. In fact we use them during our sourcing efforts, however if you talk to other recruiters you will probably hear that running ads on the boards will only get you active job seekers (the unemployed). We find that at least half of the salespeople that respond to our ads are currently working or what other recruiters call passive job seekers. So the one thing we are always looking for are niche job boards to try out. What we are finding is that the niche job boards deliver on their… Read More
Continue ReadingMulti-Channel Sourcing
We preach to our clients that simply placing an onlie ad is not a sound sourcing strategy. Managesmarter.com has an article that gives 3 good, quick tips for leveraging the Internet to fill open positions. The only way to effectively recruit is to use multiple channels. You’re trying to find that one person who is exactly right, and that means exploring multiple avenues. This includes your offline efforts, by the way—don’t stop networking just because you’ve posted a job online. Work multiple sources (both online and real world) to get the word out about your opening. Make sure you’ve got an accurate, well-written, exciting job description. You need a posting that… Read More
Continue ReadingClient Or Customer?
This has been a topic of discussion here at Select Metrix several times. So how do you refer to the companies with whom you do business? Kendra Lee, guest author for Jonathan Farrington has this to say. From my perspective a client is a person whose business you have a vested interest in, and for whom you perform as a partner within their business. Not everything you provide is billable. And not every opportunity you are awarded was shopped with the competition for the best price. In contrast, customers are people who you help meet a need. They have a problem. You address the problem. You may invest long hours… Read More
Continue ReadingTurnover Reflects Your Onramping Program
When you look at your employee turnover are you content or confounded? If confounded, what have you done to improve it? You may want to start by reviewing your onramping program. Managesmarter.com had an interesting article on this subject and provided the following findings: 22 percent of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment. (The Wynhurst Group) 46 percent of rookies wash out in their first 18 months. (Leadership IQ) Companies that leave onboarding (ed. what we call onramping) to chance experience failure rates in excess of 50 percent when it comes to retaining new talent. (Egon Zehnder International, 2007) More than a 50% failure rate? Ouch! I have seen… Read More
Continue ReadingGas Prices Leading To A Sea Change
According to a Workforce Management article the buzz at the SHRM conference inolved rising gas prices and the wide-ranging effects it is having. In fact, the conference’s opening press event highlighted its recent poll showing how companies are trying to assist their workers. The two most noted solutions were flexible schedules and telecommuting. Some of the other ways they are helping are four-day weeks, gas cards and car-pooling. John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas made a great comment (my bold): These are more than short-term fixes, Challenger says. They are the beginning of a revolution in the office that will result in productivity being the central value of work, rather the… Read More
Continue ReadingDefinition Of Insanity-ATS And Sales Hiring
According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. According to a recent post on Recruiting Trends and a 2007 survey from DDI & Monster regarding corporate hiring systems: Less than 50% stated that they were satisfied with current selection systems. At least two-thirds expressed dissatisfaction with the efficiency of hiring systems, even with access to automation technology to help organize and track applicant information. From our experience in the sales world, I would have to say those dissatisfied numbers are much higher when it comes to the results of their hiring system or process for salespeople. So why not… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy Do Salespeople Quit?
I’ve read in many articles, blog posts and white papers that people take a job because of the company and quit because of a manager. I have talked to many salespeople about why they are looking for a new opportunity and the vast majority do come down to their manager. But there is an specific reason that we have been encountering of late when it comes to salespeople. Companies desire to seek out and hire strong salespeople and expect that these new salespeople will be strong for them without extensive direction or guidance from them. This lack of involvement is a pet peeve of mine. Do the salespeople want to be hand held? No, but… Read More
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