From Dick Costolo’s Ask the Wizard blog: Briefly, the “No False Positives” school of hiring says that bad hires are worse than no hire because bad employees infect the company with all sorts of issues. Better to march on with nobody filling an important slot than to bring in a sub-par performer. The hire fast, fire fast approach basically can be boiled down to “it’s really almost impossible to understand whether a person is going to be a killer A+ match before they start working with you day to day, so best to find somebody that seems close enough, and then remove them quickly if they don’t work out.” This… Read More
Continue ReadingCover Letter Confidence
It seems early this first Monday of daylight saving time so I thought we would start with some levity. From the email cover pile: I am THE sales SUPERMAN I am willing to relocate, I am your new Head Salesman. I put up big numbers… Really, what can I add to this cover letter?
Continue ReadingHow To Allay Sales Fears
A quick note from a well-constructed sales ad I just read. The company is a medical device manufacturer and contained a strong sentence for attracting salespeople: A strong work ethic is required to meet sales quotas. You will be supported by solid marketing programs, support staff, and innovative products that are designed to continue our growth in the medical device industry. Anyone who has been in sales more than a day has experienced selling for a company that does not fully support the sales team. I once worked for a large company where I had to pull my own product information, find the right envelope, address it and put the… Read More
Continue ReadingSelling With A Pierced Tongue
We’ve been on the tattoo and piercing topic for a while and it has generated many discussions at our shop. BusinessWeek.com offers A Pierced Tongue: Too Edgy for Sales? which is a Q&A article. Here is the set-up: There is a young woman in our office who has done a great job in sales support. We are considering her for an outside sales position, but some of the managers are concerned because the employee has a pierced tongue and a little silver barbell ornament in it. Good question – one we have never faced before. I would personally have reservations about the pierced tongue with an outside salesperson. The article mentions… Read More
Continue ReadingAnecdote – What Not To Do When Prospecting
We are presently running multiple processes and I received an email in response to one of our ads. The respondent listed the job title in the subject line and this in the body: Good morning: If I could show you the following: How to generate more leads How to increase company revenue and referral business How to be one step up on your competition A marketing program that will separate you from your competition Would you be open to look at information? John Doe 123-456-7890 I admire him for trying to create interest in his services, but this approach is insulting. Who wouldn’t want to increase company revenue? The implication… Read More
Continue ReadingFlexible Hours Expected
CareerJournal.com’s Bend Without Breaking: Women Execs Discuss Flex Schedules is an interesting take on a woman’s leadership challenges. This quote is what caught my attention: Michele Coleman Mayes, senior vice president and general counsel of Pitney Bowes, says one of the main rules she learned early in her career — to never leave the office at the end of the day before her boss — is considered outdated by her 20- and 30-something employees. “We baby boomers were driven by face time, but younger employees say ‘what’s the point of that when everyone is wired and always reachable?’” says Ms. Mayes, who is 57. Some women executives Ms. Mayes’s age… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Management Fear Factor
“Let’s be clear, I’m not going to take the assessments.” That was part of a conversation I had with a sales manager recently. It is surprising how often I have this discussion – either overtly or indirectly. Sales managers are not fans of taking our assessments even though the assessments provide strategic insight into growing themselves and their team. One cannot successfully look at a team – any team – without the context of the team’s leader. In order to understand the sales team, we must understand the sales manager. This disdain for our sales management assessment begs the question, why do they dislike the assessments? My thought is simply… Read More
Continue ReadingSoft Skills Make The Business Person
Interesting article from the Ottawa Business Journal titled The hard facts about soft skills. The premise: “The things that students are missing out on when the certificates are handed out are lessons in soft skills that actually make a business person who they are. The technological skills are relatively easy to learn, but the soft skills are what make you a business leader,” said Barry Gander, vice president of CATA and author of Success. Gander makes an excellent point especially in regards to recent business school grads. Technical skills are difficult to differentiate since they appear to be a commodity. Soft skills are certainly the more elusive traits to locate… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Integrative Ability
This week’s trait is one we bandy about here at Select Metrix often regarding salespeople. This trait is important in all sales but especially in complex selling environments. Pay special attention to the weakness description – it is a common issue we encounter amongst salespeople struggling in a complex sale. Integrative Ability The ability to evaluate what to do is also the ability to identify the elements of a problem situation and understand which components are critical. Being able to clearly see the component dimensions of a situation gives a person the ability to see different types of situation structures. Thereby, they are able to see different types of problem… Read More
Continue Reading“They Are Not Motivated”
I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who is a sales manager for a technology company. As is often the case, we started talking about some of the issues he is seeing with his team. We also discussed another one of our friends who is a sales VP and the problems he is having with his large sales team. Two managers, same problem – the salespeople are not motivated. That is it in a nutshell. The salespeople are capable and know their product, but they do not appear to be highly motivated nor successful. Their sales are average at best, but not remarkable. Mediocrity is a sales neutralizer.… Read More
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