The Most Dangerous Sales Weakness

Derrick Moe

Sales is a difficult role, I would argue the most difficult role, in any company.  The skill set and mind set required to be successful is rare in the general population.  Yet, strong salespeople are out there and hopefully on your team. However, most teams that we assess have a salesperson (or more) who is not performing up to expectations.  This salesperson seems to have the tools, but something is holding him or her back.  The concern I always have, in this situation, is that they possess the most dangerous sales weakness. Fear of rejection. For sales, this is the big one.  This weakness can single-handedly neutralize any strengths the… Read More

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3 Tips To Hire Salespeople

Derrick Moe

From the Harvard Business Review Tip of the Day email: Most companies spend more on hiring in sales than they do in any other part of the organization. With an average annual turnover rate of 25 to 30%, and direct replacement costs ranging from $75,000 to $300,000, there’s a big opportunity for improvement. Here are a few places to start (emphasis mine): Focus on behaviors. A primary cause of turnover is poor job fit. Consider ramping up assessment tools, simulations, and interviewing techniques to help identify the right people. Or, try temporary positions to assess people on the job before offering a full-time position. Be clear about the relevant “experience”… Read More

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The Lost Art of Decorum

Derrick Moe

Maybe I am aging faster than I will admit, but I have seen a trend in the professional workplace that is unsettling. Decorum.  As defined by Webster, it is “correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners.” One of the things I tell hiring managers is that the initial candidate interview is as good as it will get.  The candidates’ behavior, manners, etiquette, communication, etc. will never exceed their level as observed in that first interview.  Therefore, the candidate’s decorum should be exemplary in that interview to the point where it is memorable. Sadly, I simply am not seeing this exemplary decorum nearly as much as I used… Read More

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How GPA’s Matter In Hiring

Derrick MoeNo Comments

They don’t.  That is the conclusion from Google based on their own internal research.  Some info from the New York Times article: “One of the things we’ve seen from all our data crunching is that G.P.A.’s are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless — no correlation at all except for brand-new college grads, where there’s a slight correlation,” Bock said. “Google famously used to ask everyone for a transcript and G.P.A.’s and test scores, but we don’t anymore, unless you’re just a few years out of school. We found that they don’t predict anything. Mind you, this is research from inside Google – they know… Read More

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5 Tips For Hiring A Sales Manager

Derrick MoeNo Comments

This Selling Power article is a quick, solid read.  The 5 tips are all on point with this one being my favorite: 2) Metrics without context. Your candidate noted that his or her team closed $2 million in sales last year. That’s great. But what was the quota? What were the expectations? Was this half of what your potential new hire and the team were expected to do? Or did they not only exceed quota, but also outperform every other sales team at the company? Don’t rely on metrics alone; your candidate should provide context that tells the whole story. So much of resume information is devoid of context yet… Read More

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Spinning The Bad Economy

Derrick MoeNo Comments

The economy is in rough shape as most people know.  However, I give credit to the Business Journal for attempting to spin a good story out of this hot mess.  Here is the headline: Challenger report: June job cuts hit 13-month low Sounds positive and they lead off with this info: Nationally, the country’s employers announced plans to slash 37,551 jobs in June, down 39 percent from May, which marks a 13-month low for planned cuts, according to a new report from human resources consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Ah, but the truth often lies in the later paragraphs: Still, halfway through 2012, there have been a total of… Read More

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Selling Experience

Derrick MoeNo Comments

I have been swamped in sourcing activities recently and have decided to push some random thoughts up to the blog.  Here they are: -Selling for modern-day monopolies (like utilities) is far different than selling in the highly competitive, cost conscious marketplace.  Sales candidates with these backgrounds must be screened for their ability to qualify money.  I have found that skill set lacking in these candidates. -Why are candidates turning into stalkers?  I realize the job market is still incredibly tight, but I have come across many candidates who simply overdo it.  Sense of timing is an aptitude we assess and I am convinced it is more important now then ever.… Read More

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Bad Wording

Derrick MoeNo Comments

The opening line of a candidate’s experience as he listed on his resume: Hired by company to penetrate virgin markets… Honestly, this is a candidate for a high-level sales position.  He doesn’t have enough sense to change that sentence?

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Skills Pay The Bills

Derrick MoeNo Comments

I am slowly coming to the realization that many (most?) sales hiring managers are drawn to hiring experience like a moth is drawn to light.  I am seeing it play out again at one of our assessment customers.  The allure is to hire a salesperson with industry experience before properly assessing their sales skills. Here are some of the common statements I hear from these hiring managers: -They will pick up on our sale quickly -They know the competition -They know the nuances of our market -They know the competition -They will step in and start selling All of these beliefs stem from the hope that the hiring manager will… Read More

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3 Years And A Cloud Of Dust

Derrick MoeNo Comments

My apologies for co-opting Woody Hayes’ saying, but I am from Ann Arbor and couldn’t stand the guy anyway.  I’m wondering what the Great Recession is going to do to resumes.  What I mean is this – many people have shortened tenures nowadays (especially Gen Y).  3 years is turning into a fairly good tenure for a worker. This recession has cost millions of people their jobs.  Some will have to start their work career over, essentially taking a “lesser” job and working their way up all over again.  In many instances, they will have to jump from job to job to keep moving up during their now condensed work… Read More

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