I just came across an ad this morning for a sales director that started this way: As a Business Development Director with Idea Information Security, you will enjoy a healthy base salary… The ad is quite long and covers more topics than needed, but the opening line is a bit of a concern. Hiring salespeople who are money-driven is a wise approach (though there are mitigating factors in that approach). The issue with the opening line is that it sounds like a reward for winning the interview process. This point is subtle, but we have run into it in the past. We prefer to list base salary amounts in the… Read More
Continue ReadingTips To Retain Employees
Retention is on everyone’s mind with the job-hopping world we now live in. I have to admit, if we see a candidate who has been locked in with a company for 10+ years, we start to wonder about their overall development. Today Kevin Wheeler offers an excellent article on the ERE website that deals with strategies to implement to improve employee retention. Money Won’t Hold Them starts with a quick history lesson on how we got here: But somewhere in the early 1980s, things began to change. The first crack came with the advent of the 401(k) and (b) plans that freed employees from the corporate retirement programs. The 401… Read More
Continue ReadingRaises For Results
This CareerJournal.com article can only be categorized as good news – More Employers Are Basing Raises, Bonuses on Results. Of course, none of this is surprising for salespeople since the vast majority are compensated based on their successful selling. For other positions, this may be a bit of a surprise: Employers have turned to tying pay to performance to shore up costs and to try to retain their best workers. “There is a limited amount of money that people have, and they are trying to get a better return on those compensation dollars,” says Steve Gross, Mercer’s global-reward practice leader. I am a passionate proponent of merit-based pay structures and… Read More
Continue ReadingCEO Compensation
The CEO-bashing that has occurred regarding their compensation is a sore spot for me – especially since the criticism is leveled by people who have never spent a single day as a CEO. Now I catch up to this Foxnews.com story – Oprah Highest-Paid Star; Simon Cowell a Distant Number Two. Do you know how much Oprah makes per year? $260 Million. A year! Where is the outrage? If I am not mistaken, Oprah is the CEO of her production company. This number is her salary – what about her benefits and perks? The second highest television salary is $215 MILLION less than her salary! The mainstream media goes to… Read More
Continue ReadingA Surprising 6 Figure Job?
According to Forbes.com’s article Near The Head Of The Salary Class, one of the “surprising” 6 figure jobs is that of a sales representative. Surprising? As most of you know, a strong salesperson can easily make 6 figures in most industries. The main point regarding sales (and many other positions) is that you have to pay your dues. Nonetheless, Forbes listed this information in their slide show regarding the sales rep position: Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products Sell goods, for wholesalers or manufacturers, to businesses or groups of individuals. Work requires substantial knowledge of items sold. Top 10% Wage: $101,030Median Wage: $49,610Total No. Of Jobs:… Read More
Continue ReadingCompensating Mileage
Simple thought here for anyone who hires or manages salespeople. We always recommend reimbursing outside salespeople through mileage as opposed to a monthly allowance. Simple psychology here: Allowance Reimbursement – you are paying the salesperson a set amount of money every month regardless of their travels. Now the salesperson may look at travel as an expense the dilutes their personal profit margin. They make more money by traveling less which is anathema to selling. Yes, it is good to encourage them to be frugal in their travel so they don’t go on a shake-and-howdy bender – better to qualify prospects thoroughly before scheduling a visit. I don’t like the subtle reinforcement… Read More
Continue ReadingTips For Extending Job Offers
I am going to chime in here a bit on the Velvet Hammer’s post from below regarding the 1 week window for making offers to candidates. Last week, Selling Power had an excellent article in their newsletter that contained some great tips. Dan Miller, vice president of Talent Acquisition and Retention at Monster.com made this smart suggestion (my emphasis): “Don’t just talk about the base salary; talk about the ability the candidates will have to achieve the upside,” says Miller. “Candidates may take a lower offer on the base salary if they feel that they have the tools and opportunities to exceed quota. If you’re trying to build a world-class… Read More
Continue ReadingThe 1 Week Window
There is a subtle psychology to working with sales candidates in a hiring process when you get to the offer stage. The ideal time frame for an offer is approximately one week after the final interview. This 1 week window provides enough time for both sides to contemplate the position and the salesperson’s fit to it. Now understand, I’m talking about a hiring process where a phone screen, assessment and multiple interviews have occurred. This candidate has been fully vetted and found to be a strong fit to the position’s requirements. Unfortunately, we have seen a couple of clients work past this ideal window into an extended time period after… Read More
Continue ReadingThat Giant Sucking Sound From The Newspaper
The Pioneer Press offers up an utterly worthless piece of agenda journalism regarding CEO pay. At the risk of upsetting the Red Bird, I have pulled some quotes from You’re fired! Take these millions and go (all my emphasis): If 3M ever fires George Buckley, one of Minnesota’s highest-paid CEOs, there is one detail Buckley won’t have to sweat: health insurance. The Maplewood-based manufacturer will kindly pick up much of the tab for Buckley’s health care for two years as part of the $38 million goodbye he’ll get on the way out the door. (ed. – we learn later in the article that this “supersized pay” health care equals $28,430) Buckley’s… Read More
Continue ReadingUbiquitous Communication
Yesterday I posted on communication blindness. Today, I stumbled upon CareerJournal.com’s Can a Business Be Run As a Corporate Democracy? A stunning thought that I have never considered. Yet, I suspect Gen Y has some ideals that favor this approach. Ternary runs itself as a democracy, and every decision must be unanimous. Any of Ternary’s 13 other employees could have challenged the incentive decision and forced it to be revisited. Running a company democratically sounds like a recipe for anarchy, and it can prompt bureaucratic whiplash: Ternary, a company with annual revenues of around $2 million, adjusted salaries for employees up and down several times last year. At first blush,… Read More
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