If you have been in sales for any length of time you have probably heard something to this effect – “If you’re talking, you’re not selling”. I came across an article at Salesopedia that provides 10 tips for effective listening. Now the article is not written directly for salespeople, but there are some great points that are good reminders we can apply to our everyday sales life. Face the speaker. Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness through body language. Focus solely on what the speaker is saying. Try not to think about what you are going to say next, if you do, you may not… Read More
Continue ReadingThis Post Will Self Destruct In…
Now this seems like a good idea – from Inc.com’s Secure Your E-mail, Mission Impossible Style: BigString, which provides free, large-storage, Web-based e-mail accounts, allows users to send recallable, changeable, erasable, non-printable and self-destructing e-mails. E-mail senders can also track who reads an email and can control the number of times a message is read or forwarded. E-mail senders can set a time or date for e-mails to self-destruct and can create emails that can not be printed, saved, or forwarded by the recipient. Clever. You knew it was just a matter of time before this level of security became real. Of course, it comes at a price. There are… Read More
Continue ReadingThe List Of Generations
Maybe it is me, but there seems to be many different groupings and names for the different generations in our society today. I was reading an article about a recent Harris Poll that used this generation grouping: Matures (those ages 62 and over) Baby Boomers (those ages 43 to 61) Gen Xers (ages 31 to 42) Echo Boomers (ages 18 to 30) I am not familiar with “Echo Boomers” terminology – I always thought that generation was referred to as Generation Y. “Matures” is a new one for me too. Wouldn’t it be nice if somehow we could get some ANSI-like standard on what the generational names are?
Continue ReadingSpell-check Sloppiness
We’ve discussed the candidate faux pas of spelling errors in their resume. The resume is typically the most formal document the candidate will write themselves. Proof-reading and spell-checking should be standard practice. If you have read any bulk of resumes you know this is not the case. I have a real problem with employment ads which contain spelling errors. This morning I read an ad for a sales manager (reads more like a salesperson with a big title) that contained this error: “Develope” Honestly, how hard is it to run a spell-check before posting? Most of the boards have built in spell-checkers and if they don’t, write the ad in… Read More
Continue Reading3 Steps To Remember Names
I am simply awful at remembering names which is a real drawback when working in sales. JustSell.com offers some quick tips to help improve your memory when meeting new people: 1 – Give full attention 2 – Repeat the name 3 – Make an association Follow the link and you will find bullets under each of the 3 steps with specific suggestions. If you struggle with names, this 1 page article is well worth your time.
Continue ReadingCoaching Salespeople With Focus
All sales managers must coach their salespeople. Many do so in a cursory manner, but that is typically not the most effective solution. I’m catching up on Selling Power articles today and kicked up this one – Coach Early and O.F.T.E.N. I’m typically not a fan of acrostics, but anything to remind sales managers of effective coaching has some value. The author provides solid advice for effectively coaching salespeople: F is for Focus Coaching interactions should be focused, specifically on one or two tasks or activities. Too often, however, coaches allow themselves to be distracted and get off track. Give too much feedback that’s all over the board and employees… Read More
Continue ReadingDoing Something On The Fringe
From Inc.com’s Not Only the Lonely Become Entrepreneurs: Ever wondered about the kinds of people who become entrepreneurs? In a recent survey, 43 percent of entrepreneurs admit they were loners as kids, while 25 percent said they would have been described as nerds. Isn’t that interesting? As a psych major in college, I was always fascinated by personality types. Here is an insight that helps explain this entrepreneur mentality: “People who have the personality and motivation to be the leader and start something on their own are more inclined to feel like they aren’t part of the social structure,” said Mark Rice, Dean of the Graduate School of Business at… Read More
Continue ReadingAccountability
Sales & Marketing Management offers this quick article – Avoiding Accountability Talks. First, the context of the article is the reluctance of employees (and managers) to engage in holding other employee’s accountable. A couple of survey stats: 50 percent say they are afraid of negative outcomes. 16 percent say they don’t know how to start, hold or finish such a conversation. Sales managers take note – this activity is one of the most important components to effective sales management. We encounter this reluctance often. Salespeople need to be held accountable to their activities, their behaviors and ultimately, their results. You don’t even have to be good at it. But you… Read More
Continue ReadingMechanistic vs. Humanistic
Let’s keep this ad riff going. From another sales ad (I removed the city name from the ad): About this Career Opportunity: We are currently seeking an experienced Sales Professional to work at our showroom store location in the TH-CitySSP to help accelerate our growth further! A large company posted this ad and they serve the B2C (business-to-consumer) market. I am guessing from the frequency of their ads that they have consistently high turnover. However, when I read such obvious boilerplate ads, I get the impression that this company’s culture is mechanistic. Might not be fair, but impressions are the subjective interpretation of the person. The poorly-spaced, strangely-coded city field… Read More
Continue ReadingTypos In The Ad
We posted about typos in resumes back in September and mentioned a significant survey result: Eighty-four percent of executives polled said it takes just one or two typographical errors in a resume to remove a candidate from consideration for a job opening; 47 percent said a single typo could be the deciding factor. Time to turn the tables on these executives. I just read a sales ad from a sizeable company that had this typo in the description: …seeking an outstanding individual for Territory Account Manger Perhaps Christmas is still on their mind, but this error leaps from the page. Obviously from the survey mentioned above, typos on resumes are… Read More
Continue Reading