A friend of mine is an established, successful salesperson who is looking for a new opportunity. He recently received an offer from a large corporation that had a 6 or 7 page commission document. The document looked like a court filing. After sifting through as much as we could tolerate, we came across this gem: All newly hired participants will receive a quota for incentive purposes on or before the 30th day of their territory assignment and no later than the 90th day of their territory assignment. So, for sure before the 30th day. Unless it is no later than the 90th day. Obviously, it cannot be “on or before”… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To Stand Out
We are sourcing many different positions right now so my antennae are up regarding resumes, phone calls and emails. At times, the responses can be overwhelming. Or underwhelming. Just yesterday I received a stammering voicemail about a position in which the candidate said they were going to send an email with their resume. I’m still waiting. I received another call a couple weeks ago in which the candidate wanted to fax a resume to me for a technical position. I told him he could email it to me instead. He said he doesn’t have email. It seems apparent to me that their is no more odd time in a hiring… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Handling Stress
You could argue that this week’s aptitude – Handling Stress – is a key component in almost every job. In sales, it is critical because the typical sales position involves multiple levels of stress. Whether it be presentations in front of many Directors and VP’s or dealing with an irate customer, sales presents a wide variety of stresses. Handling Stress This is a person’s ability to balance and defuse inner tensions and stresses which, if allowed to build up, could interfere with a person’s ability to perform up to their potential. It is not the person’s ability to handle stressful situations, but rather their ability to appropriately separate themselves from… Read More
Continue ReadingCandidate Questions
We always say that interviewing is a two-way street. Both the hiring company and the candidate have to be impressed with each other to continue the process. Either one can terminate the process at any time. That being said, BusinessWeek has an interesting article dedicated to candidates titled Ask The Right Question. The author provides a strategy to 3 styles of questions all candidates should ask in an interview: Here’s My Brain Working Questions My Turn Questions What Happens Now? Questions I’ll let the author lay out the strategy for the questions (which is quite well developed). One overly simplistic tip I will share from our experience – candidates should… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Sales Job Postings Go Bad
We keep an eye on the sales employment ads so we are informed of trends in the market. I came across an ad that was innocuous enough in its title. Then I read the opening sentence: This is a job in our Customer Service Department that can lead to an outside sales position at our company. What does customer service and outside sales have to do with each other? Nothing…that is the problem. We have seen this trap before with some of our customers. The skills and aptitudes required for effective customer service are markedly different than the skills and aptitudes required for successful outside selling. This situation is exasperated… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy Assessing Works – Stopping the Fakers
CareerJournal.com again with this article – Pre-Hire Tests Aim To Stop ‘Fakers’. I like to riff on this topic often. My comment – if we could simply keep the fakers off your payroll, we would be worth our weight in gold. Along those lines, I think the most accurate pricing model for our assessments would be $500 for determining a strong candidate and $1,000 for identifying a weak candidate. I doubt that would fly, but the logic is sound. Some excerpts: Despite the tests’ flaws, Dr. Griffith says pre-employment tests are generally more reliable predictors of performance than an interview alone. Generally? An understatement in my opinion. Our primary focus… Read More
Continue ReadingVerification Statistics
You have seen multiple posts from us here at The Hire Sense on background verification and it’s importance in the hiring process. This morning as I was scanning through some online content, I came across some statistics from Verified Credentials on verification discrepancies. 10% of criminal background searches contain discrepancies 18.42% of academic verifications contain discrepancies 41.07% of employment verifications contain discrepancies 4.17% of professional license verifications contain discrepancies 1% of personal reference checks contain discrepancies 46.65% of driving records contain discrepancies A discrepancy is defined as “information provided by the applicant which does not agree with the information verified.” This does not always mean that the discrepancy would disqualify… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Results Orientation
Last week, we defined Project and Goal Focus which is important for successful selling in any market. Salespeople must stay on target over extended periods of time while overcoming many obstacles. The companion aptitude to Goal Focus is Results Orientation. It is one thing to stay on target, it is another thing to actually accomplish the tasks needed to reach that target. A salesperson with little aptitude for achieving results will be the proverbial “cloud of dust” salesperson. You will see a cloud of dust kicked up by all of their activity, but at the end of the day, the wagon hasn’t moved. Results Orientation The ability to identify actions… Read More
Continue ReadingObjective vs. Subjective Hiring
Most hiring managers believe they are accurate assessors of talent. Even when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they still trust their hiring ability over someone else’s. Why is this disconnect so prevalent? I believe it comes down simply to gut-level hiring. If you rely on your gut to tell you if a candidate is strong, there is no appreciable way to outsource your decision to another. You can’t place your feelings into an HR person, an external recruiter or a different process. You simply have to meet candidates face-to-face and hope you aren’t being snowed over by a disingenuous salesperson. Sounds high risk, doesn’t it? Yet it permeates… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Project and Goal Focus
This week we turn our attention to another important aptitude for successful selling – Project and Goal Focus. Most sales managers can relate to the issues that surround this particular ability. Project and Goal Focus An individual’s ability to maintain their direction in spite of obstacles in their path. It includes their ability to stay on target regardless of circumstance. A salesperson with strength in this capacity is able to stay on track while involved in a project or opportunity – even if there are unforeseen obstacles that occur during the process. They will tend to ignore the problems and stay on the path even if some event causes the… Read More
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