From an ad for a National Sales Manager: Required Skills: 1. Product knowledge. The ad lists 3 other “non-sales” skills. Sales is that strange position where many hiring managers focus on skills other than selling. Is it any wonder there are so many sales hiring horror stories?
Continue ReadingA Candidate Shortage
CNNMoney.com reports on a specific area that is experiencing a hiring problem – lack of candidates: Despite the slump at lowlier levels of the job market, there’s currently a war for senior management talent. In fact, 70% of executive recruiters surveyed by networking organization ExecuNet (www.execunet.com), say there’s a shortage of people who can step in and run things. We’ve seen this shortage first-hand in the sales arena. Strong sales leaders are in demand right now, especially in one corporate segment (emphasis mine): Companies doing the most executive hiring aren’t necessarily the biggest, the ExecuNet study found. Employers with revenues between $51 million and $200 million are expanding their senior-level… Read More
Continue ReadingWatch The Writing
I would not hire a single salesperson without first seeing a writing sample of some sort from them. The information age has made writing a priority skill in communicating with prospects. This cover letter sentence makes me lose my faith in proofreading: I relocated down south due to my wifes job and the maeket for my construction managment was not very good so I ventured in to new firlds. There are different levels of errors within cover letters and resumes. This example would fall in the “very bad” error pile.
Continue ReadingWho’s Hiring Whom?
This excerpt is from a cover letter: If you think there might be a fit. Please send me a brief overview of your project or company. Let me know how I could help you if there’s a fit. If there’s any interest or a fit on my side I’ll drop you a note. Fair enough? You know, some times you do not need an assessment. I am quite certain this individual has a strong sense of self. His overuse of “fit” is only eclipsed by his cocky closing. I’m all for confidence, but I would have serious concerns about this approach.
Continue Reading10 Commandments Of Onboarding
We only work in the sales arena so we refer to onboarding as onramping since salespeople need to ramp up to revenue (production) during their initial employment. That being said, CareerBuilder.com provides some excellent rules to live by when bringing a new employee on board (my editing). Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy employee. Thou shalt give a written plan of employee objectives and responsibilities. A written plan detailing objectives, strategy and expectations of future results helps diminish any confusion about a new employee’s job functions and instead opens up the floor to discuss concerns or new opportunities. Thou shalt give thy employ thy undivided attention. Thou… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Hiring, Expect Success
Have you ever worked with a “glass half empty” person? They are something to behold especially if you are a bit of an optimist. We get the chance to interact with many leaders of both sales departments (VP of Sales) and entire companies (CEO). One thing that always catches my ear is the leader’s level of optimism. I find leaders who have a realistic level of optimism to be the most effective. I’m not talking about whistling through the graveyard, but rather a measured optimism that seeks positive solutions. The reason this is so important is that employees have a more difficult time rallying behind a pessimistic leader. I have… Read More
Continue ReadingOverqualified
The layoffs that have occurred in this weak economy have led to a larger percentage of overqualified candidates responding to lower-level positions. We are presently seeing this effect in our sourcing efforts. Clearly some companies that are looking to cut costs are laying off experienced salespeople who have 1.) higher salaries & benefits and 2.) are not delivering top-end numbers. That’s not to say they are not being successful, but they are performing at a level where a financial decision maker may decided to release them. This downsizing happens frequently to sales departments in weak economies. The follow up move is this – hire a younger, less expensive salesperson for… Read More
Continue Reading10 Mistakes Companies Make In The Hiring Process
The title of this post caught my eye from US News & World Report. The insightful list made me laugh; I believe I have watched companies make all 10 of these mistakes in the past 12 months. The 10 mistakes are: Flakiness. Making hiring decisions that aren’t based on the right criteria. Not distinguishing between what can be taught and what can’t. Not asking the right questions in interviews. Letting candidates get away with superficial, stock responses. Hiring too quickly. …Not moving fast enough. Not getting back to candidates. Conducting intimidating, high-pressure interviews. Not giving an accurate portrayal of the job. Author Alison Green has this to say about #2 Employers often overvalue particular types… Read More
Continue ReadingA Fundamental Lack Of Communication
The more companies we work with, the more we see communication breakdowns being the root of most problems. Our work with our clients spans more than just recruiting. We assist them in onramping their new salesperson. This function places us in the unique position of working with both the salesperson and the sales manager. One of the more dysfunctional situations we encounter is a communication breakdown between the manager and salesperson. One manager complained that the salesperson wasn’t doing what he asked, but he never confronted the salesperson. Another time we had a salesperson who would not submit his weekly call report. Ever. Yes, he was let go (even we… Read More
Continue ReadingYou Get What You Pay Salespeople For
We have really come to enjoy Dave Stein’s posts. They are timely and cut straight to the heart of the issue. Today’s post is no exception. Working strictly on the sales side of organizations, one of the areas we look at while profiling their sale is compensation. Most importantly, we look to see if the compensation structure rewards the behaviors the company expects of the salesperson. More times than not it won’t and from one of Dave’s comments, he sees the same issues: I am bringing this up because compensation is another dysfunctional area within many companies. During the past quarter, I’ve been engaged with several clients where “errors of commission” are preventing… Read More
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