Many thanks to Eric for his compelling comment to this post from a couple days ago. I thought this was too good to leave in the comments. It may come as a surprise to know that there are ways to assess the potential value of ‘professional actors’ when they show up in your selection process net. Two of my early careers were production stage manager and theatrical stage director – and key to the success of our productions were selecting the best actors for the roles and the show. If you can imagine – many actors are a lot better at auditioning than actually performing. Anyone familiar with the process… Read More
Continue ReadingThe “Drop Trouser” Sales Move
First off, I have an interest in the Boeing vs. Airbus rivalry. Boeing used to be a customer of mine in a previous role and I have seen their amazing production facility in Everett, WA. The building is unbelievable huge. Anyway, I caught up to this Foxnews.com article – Airbus CEO Dropped Trousers to Seal US Airways Airplane Order. Here is the money excerpt (emphasis mine): Pierson, who ran Airbus from 1985 to 1998, was at US Airways’ headquarters for what he thought would be a short meeting to tie up a 400-plane deal, the anecdote runs. At the last minute, US Airways’ then-chairman Stephen Wolf started arguing for a… Read More
Continue ReadingSalespeople Are Professional Actors
Inc.com offers this article – When Is It Safe To Hire? The focus of the article is a software manufacturer’s assistance to their rep companies in hiring salespeople. Basically, the manufacturer will provide $10,000 to the rep company to assist them in hiring salespeople. The money can be used for assessing, training, supplementing salary, etc. Apparently this approach is relatively common in the software industry. The article discusses the pitfalls of hiring salespeople in the context of small business owners ($1-2 million revenue). This ground is well travelled by us. I am convinced that in companies this size, sales hires are a make-or-break proposition. And when I say “break” I… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat If All Your Senior Execs Left?
What If All Your Senior Execs Left? from BusinessWeek addresses a topic we have been shouting from the mountaintop. First, a great point that I haven’t considered: Organizations today are running with lean, highly productive staffs. While such streamlining is great for budgets, the fact that workplace productivity levels have continued their upward trajectory has created a dearth of available talent.Losing multiple key executives within a short time can tear a hole in the business plan and hurt both a company’s bottom line and stock price. Companies are highly streamlined today which makes every position important to overall corporate success. Technology continues to drive productivity increases, but I believe the… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Informed Sales Candidate
Our friends over at Hidden Business Treasures have paid us a nice compliment by posting about The Hire Sense last week. They allowed us to be a guest writer on their blog and we offered up this post – Searching for the Sale. The topic of our post is the importance of finding sales candidates who possess the web-searching skills needed to prospect today. We provide 3 techniques for determining a candidate’s information literacy. If you are interested, please follow the link and leave a comment for them if you are so inclined. While there, take a look at their consistently thoughtful posts.
Continue ReadingMedian Hiring Time Shortens Slightly
3.7 months. According to this CNNMoney.com article, that was the median time it took to hire in the fourth quarter. As long as that may seem, it trended down from third quarter which is a good sign. U.S. workers needed less time to land a new job in the fourth quarter of 2006 than they did in the prior quarter, according to a survey released Thursday.After hitting the highest level in more than three years in the third quarter, the median job search time fell 12 percent in the fourth quarter to 3.7 months, according to the survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. While fourth-quarter job search times improved, they… Read More
Continue ReadingPresenteeism and Flexible Hours
I had never heard of “presenteeism” up until a couple of months ago as I mentioned in this post. Now I encountered this SM&M article – Working While Sick. Top reasons for schlepping in when sick: I feel guilty for calling in; my workload is too heavy; I save my sick time for personal reasons like family emergencies, sick children, parent care issues and other unexpected events; and I try to have perfect attendance. “Schlepping in…?” Another new phrase for me. No real surprises in the reasons for coming to work sick. I did find this paragraph insightful: The study suggests bosses could do more to stem the trend. “Employees… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Using Common Sense
Today we tackle a tough trait that is in short supply according to Mark Twain. The Using Common Sense trait provides for us some insight into a salesperson’s ability to think on their feet. This trait is most important for effectively dealing with a prospect’s objections. Using Common Sense This capacity is determined by the persons focus on practical thinking, their ability to see the world clearly and their general intelligence. A salesperson with strength in this capacity will have use of everyday, informal knowledge that has not been formally evaluated and placed in the decision-making process. The utilization of common sense in the decision-making process appears to be more… Read More
Continue ReadingFlying The Friendly Skies
Bob Rosner has a great riff on security at airports in his Working Wounded blog – Biz Travel Safety. To be clear, he is all for safe airline travel and even goes so far as to thank the screeners when he gets plucked from the line for an additional screening. I laughed at that line since I am invariably plucked from the line no matter what airport I am at (my wife laughs every time). An excerpt: For example, on my most recent flight I had my baggie full of gels and liquids out and ready to show anyone who wanted to know the secret for my youthful appearance. A… Read More
Continue ReadingMechanistic vs. Humanistic
Let’s keep this ad riff going. From another sales ad (I removed the city name from the ad): About this Career Opportunity: We are currently seeking an experienced Sales Professional to work at our showroom store location in the TH-CitySSP to help accelerate our growth further! A large company posted this ad and they serve the B2C (business-to-consumer) market. I am guessing from the frequency of their ads that they have consistently high turnover. However, when I read such obvious boilerplate ads, I get the impression that this company’s culture is mechanistic. Might not be fair, but impressions are the subjective interpretation of the person. The poorly-spaced, strangely-coded city field… Read More
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