Isn’t that the truth? Here are some sobering points from a CNNMoney.com article: Businesses with fewer than 50 employees cut another 75,000 workers in October, according to estimates released Wednesday from payroll processor ADP. … A telephone survey of 830 small business owners conducted by management consulting firm George S. May International from Oct. 28-30 found that 74% of the owners polled do not plan to increase their staff headcount in the next 90 days. It has been our experience that sales hiring typically slows down during the holiday season, but companies often discuss their Q1 hiring plans with the intention of a fast start to the new year. Unfortunately… Read More
Continue ReadingTalent Is Dreadfully Cheap
How about this quote from Stephen King’s Danse Macabre (h/t JustSell.com): … talent is a dreadfully cheap commodity, cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work and study; a constant process of honing. Talent is a dull knife that will cut nothing unless it is wielded with great force — a force so great that the knife is not really cutting at all but bludgeoning and breaking… Discipline and constant work are the whetstones upon which the dull knife of talent is honed until it becomes sharp enough, hopefully, to cut through even the toughest meat and gristle.
Continue ReadingDecline Of The Dinosaur Boards
Here is a job title of a job posting I read this morning on one of the 2 large boards: SECRET CASH LOOPHOLE Here is the opening line of the ad: EARN AN EXTRA $1,000 a Week Working Less Than an Hour a Day, or $500 a Day Working 2-3 Hours a Day. As an aside, it is a good policy to be highly suspicious of any position that leads with your ability to earn more doing less. Perhaps couch potatoes are their top prospects. I realize in a recession with extremely high unemployment that these types of positions materialize. However, the two big boards are being overrun by these… Read More
Continue ReadingThis Is 85% Of Sales Success
From an article in our local StarTribune.com (bold mine): A Carnegie Foundation study once found that only 15 percent of a businessperson’s success could be attributed to job knowledge and technical skills — considered an essential element but overall, a small contribution. A whopping 85 percent could be determined by “attitude” and the “ability to deal with people.” I grant you that “attitude” is a fat word – I’m not sure exactly how he defines it in this survey. Nonetheless, you get the point when it comes to hiring. I would estimate that 85% of sales hires are based on technical skills as opposed to the ability to deal with… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Value Of Cliche Questions
Don’t flame me on the title, there is a method to this madness. I like cliché questions for sales interviews. There, I admitted it. Now, I should clarify, I’m not talking about an entire interview of these questions, but rather some strategic ones sprinkled into your question list. Here is why – if the question is cliché, the candidate should have a sparkling answer. Their answer may be well-rehearsed – that is fine. You, as the interviewer, simply need to drill down on their response to get to the unvarnished truth. However, the catch to this approach is when they don’t have a strong answer. I am always concerned about… Read More
Continue ReadingQ Is For Qualifying Questions
I come across this often – a company wants to hire a superstar salesperson and the hiring manager’s first instinct is to find a loquacious talker. Perhaps you have seen this approach too? Clearly no readers of the Hire Sense would administer this approach in their hiring. Right? Ok, maybe not. The point is that smooth talkers are not categorically the best salespeople. I am appreciative of good communicators, but being good at talking is the lesser part of communication. Being an active listener is more important. This fact is often overlooked in sales hiring. The reason this ability is important is that is supports the foundation of successful selling… Read More
Continue ReadingTwice The Fun
Here’s a headscratcher from an ad I read today, Sept. 10: On September 30, 2009, ABC Company will be upgrading the technology we use to receive job applications. Due to the upgrade, you will be asked to reapply to any jobs you have bid on. Any job applications, resumes, and/or cover letters that are submitted to ABC Company prior to September 30th, will not be converted to the new system. They are advertising for a sales position…today. So my assumption is that if I am a candidate, I can apply today and hope they are so overwhelmed they contact me immediately. Right? Otherwise, I will need to reapply in a… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Trial Hire
I’m back from a needed break in this sour economy. Everywhere I go I ask people about their business. It is fairly consistent – something from “could be better” to “really down.” That economic context allows some freedom for hiring companies to incorporate what I call contextual hiring techniques. These are typically techniques that take longer to measure and allow the hiring company to see the salesperson in action. Some examples: Job Shadowing – just as it sounds, the candidate spends time with an existing sales rep to get an understanding of the position. Peggy McKee at Medical Sales Recruiter has a post on this topic. A friend of mine… Read More
Continue ReadingOverwritten Ads
I keep an eye on the sales employment ads looking for trends, positions, companies and prospects. I admit it. One of the aspects that catches my attention is the sheer length of some of these ads. It seems apparent that some companies simple publish their internal, HR-drive job descriptions as an employment ad. Mistake. Ads that incorporate this style read as an onerous task list as opposed to describing the opportunity and, more importantly, describing the ideal salesperson in his or her terms. The salesperson should read the ad and think to themselves, “Those are my skills, those are my strengths.” Many ads like to list the reporting requirements of… Read More
Continue ReadingShould You Involve Customers In Hiring?
Quite the question, don’t you think? That is the title of this article from Selling Power. I have to confess I was perplexed by the entire thought – how would you as the hiring manager benefit from having your customer help you hire the salesperson? I see nothing but pitfalls in this approach. My first thought is mentioned in the article: “For example, the customer could be shopping around for someone he could squeeze on margins,” she says. “It’s more that they are looking for an easier mark, and that’s not to anyone’s advantage in the long run.” No kidding – there might be a great advantage to the customer… Read More
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