That isn’t my commentary, it is from the author of the Inc.com blog Sold!. His reasoning: And there are some very good reasons why I believe woman are better suited for selling. Among them: o In their personal lives and in business they tend to create relationships better. o They tend to sell based on personal input and business input rather than just business. o They listen. o They don’t have a sales history that they are tied to, so “new” works for them. o In many areas, women who are good in sales are still enough of a rarity to create a buzz. Ok, it pays to be provocative… Read More
Continue ReadingCandidates That Do Not Wow
We’ve been on this topic a bit lately, but it is mission-critical to successful selling. Asking questions…asking the right questions is tantamount to qualifying prospects. Most sales managers know this, yet we often see them displaying selective amnesia when it comes to interviewing sales candidates. Case in point: Lee often observes sales managers who are underwhelmed with a candidate because the candidate didn’t “wow” them. That’s understandable, but many times the manager isn’t wowed because the candidate is qualifying the opportunity instead of spewing feature/benefits. It is at this point that Lee has to mention the different questions that the candidate asked in their responses and the information that candidate… Read More
Continue ReadingAlways Be Scouting
From Human Resource Executive Online’s Uncertain Economy, Uneven Hiring (emphasis mine): Richard Fanelli, president of Fanelli McClain Design Studios, a commercial interior planning and design firm located in Fairfax, Va., says that his company is not hiring right now, but they’re scouting. “We have to have the workload to support new hires,” he says. “But if I were to find the right person, I might hire them and then market harder to justify the hire.” That is an interesting turn of phrase, isn’t it? “Scouting” is an excellent verb to use in this context. This is a practice we preach, but most companies don’t scout consistently. This lack of consistency… Read More
Continue ReadingRainmaker Traits
Here’s a good post on sales “rainmakers” from my friend Bob Rosner. I suspect that most of you are aware of our emphasis on salespeople with strong listening abilities. Part of a rainmaker’s skill set? Absolutely: DO Listen and synthesize. The biggest difference between an average salesperson and a rainmaker? Mr. Average assumes his most important tool to making a sale is his golden tongue. While Ms. Rainmaker knows that it’s her ears. That may be the most important aspect of their abilities. Unfortunately, we have seen this work against them in an interview. Some hiring managers want to be wowed in the interview by some form of verbal gymnastics. … Read More
Continue ReadingThe Cost Of Underperforming Salespeople
Here’s an interesting little article I stumbled across this morning from Seacoastonline.com titled Get the most out of your sales team. The premise is simple and accurate – nonproductive salespeople are the bane of any small (or large) business. A nonproductive sales team is among the top common dangers that cause many small businesses to fail. Analyzed studies reveal that a large percentage of small businesses are unsuccessful because of underperforming sales people who bring in, at a minimum, 50 percent less revenue than top performers, according to researcher Dr. John Sullivan, professor of Economics at San Francisco State University. … Studies indicate that a common reason for poor performance… Read More
Continue ReadingPersonality Assessments And Stereotypes
Personality assessments, or “communication style” as I prefer, are highly valuable in the hiring process for one important aspect – communication. How many office conflicts have you seen where poor communication was adding oxygen to the fire? We see it in almost every office conflict. One way to diffuse these situations is to assess candidates before they join your team. Doing so allows the manager to know the preferred communication style of the new employee. This knowledge can also predict potential conflict areas between two employees before any conflict develops. However, there are still companies out there who harbor concerns about assessments. One common concern is mentioned in this BusinessWeek.com… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring For Style
Selling Style is one area we assess in our process. Some people refer to it as personality which I don’t believe is particularly accurate. Nonetheless, style is an important assessment for managing the salesperson but too many hiring managers assume certain skills based on a candidate’s style. When we refer to “gut-level decisions,” often those decisions are made based upon a candidate’s style. That method leads to hiring mistakes. One of our newer customers offered an interesting take on this style issue yesterday after a couple of candidate interviews. The candidates were markedly different in their styles, but their aptitudes, skills and motivations were relatively similar. Our customer’s comment: “I’m… Read More
Continue ReadingHow Does Your City Rank In Terms of Stress?
This article ranks 50 metros in terms of relative ”stress” and I was glad to see my metro did not make the top 10. We did, however, miss the “Top 10 Least Stressful” metros (by one place). Distressing, to say the least. Those of us who live in the Twin Cities love to brag on our quality of life, even more so than our weather. We love being in the top 10 of any silly survey. It made me think about the stress of working in sales. The constant pressure to perform. The uncertainty of the deal. The hidden power centers and arcane purchasing rules. The shifty clients and the… Read More
Continue ReadingIt’s A Dry Cold
From Yahoo News today: It lived up to its name: The temperature in International Falls fell to 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the northern Minnesota town won a federal trademark making it officially the “Icebox of the Nation.” The previous record low for Feb. 11 in International Falls was 37 below, set in 1967, said meteorologist Mike Stewart at the weather service in Duluth. The temperature also fell to 40 below in Embarrass, 80 miles southeast of International Falls. That’s just one degree above the all-time record in Minneapolis, 250 miles to the south, that was set in January 1888, the weather service said. I can… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat’s Hot In A Recession
More stories are appearing that address “recession-proof jobs” in response to our slowing economy. Timely titles for sure, but one position is always recession-proof and that is sales; specifically successful sales. Case in point, Job Hunting in a Recession from The Wall Street Journal: Target critical posts. “The safest jobs are the ones selling to or servicing customers,” says Gary Rich, president of Rich Leadership, an executive advisory firm in Pound Ridge, N.Y. “When things get tight, it’s all about who’s going to drive the top line and who’s going to service that.” Less durable jobs are those in human resources, public relations, finance, strategic planning and other nonvital business… Read More
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