I found this article in a recent Selling Power Newsletter that piqued my interest. After reading it, I found that the author touches on some very good points to remember when making an offer to a candidate. It is a very short read and well worth the time. The author, Craig Silverman gives these 5 reasons you will get a no: Need – If your message isn’t compelling enough, they won’t feel the need to make a change. Motivation – You have to understand what motivates the candidate before you offer the position. Once you find out, build it into your offer. Compensation – Most salespeople don’t want to make… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Fine Art of Stalling
“Let me think it over.” “I’ll get back to you.” “We’ll take a look at it.” If you have been in sales more than a day, you are familiar with these sayings. They are the prospect’s attempts to “stall” a buying decision. These comments are trouble for any salesperson who does not get these fuzzy phrases qualified. And yet often the salesperson accepts these stalls and presumes a close date for the deal. This approach is almost always the explanation for a prospect making it through the sales funnel but never closing. These are the deals that hurt because they have been forecasted with a high probability to close. And… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Unsaid Often Says It All
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 ReadingAd Format
I saw this section in a sales ad this morning: Day to Day – At a glance The section contained seven bullet points explaining the tasks of a typical day in this role. It was a quick read section that provided enough insight into the position to pique the interest of the right candidates. The brevity of the section is the factor that makes it work. I would not recommend 25 bullet points with every daily task – just provide the flavor for the candidate.
Continue ReadingOnline Ads
From Fortune/CNN Money.com: A market research firm called Borrell Associates is now claiming that in 2006, online ad spending for employee recruitment – a.k.a., help wanted – has for the first time surpassed comparable spending in newspapers. The actual amounts are $5.9 billion on the Web vs. $5.4 billion for newspapers.We haven’t seen the full report, but in a thorough post, Alan Mutter quotes this nugget: “When the history of Internet advertising is written, recruitment sites will undoubtedly dominate the first chapter,” says Borrell. “In 12 years, these sites have grown from a few job boards to hundreds of niche competitors. Online recruitment now accounts for 25% of Internet advertising.”… Read More
Continue ReadingQualifying Time Frame
We talk often at The Hire Sense about a salesperson’s ability to qualify a prospect. There are many points to qualify in any given opportunity, but one of the important items is time frame. Tirekickers abound on the web and often contact companies to learn more about their offerings. Yet, these tirekickers have no intention to make a short-term purchase. A thought struck me as we work with one of our customers who is searching for a new salesperson. This position involves a technical sale and we have recently sourced a strong candidate that they want to pursue. We were involved in the initial interview and the candidate was quite… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Advancement or Job Hopping?
I just reviewed a sales management resume I received from a gentleman. The resume contains a handful of spelling and grammatical errors which is a concern. But this is what caught my eye, for the past 10 years, he has changed companies every 2 years. This employment pattern is always a red flag for us. Sales is a difficult position to successfully hire as most people know. A main problem is that bad salespeople often use their good rapport-building skills to subtlely, but emotionally, persuade a hiring manager to hire them. We refer to these types as schmoozers. They look like John Wayne in the interview and perform like Elmer… Read More
Continue ReadingTalent, Talent, Talent
Another marketing article with overall hiring implications – Marketing Challenge: Hire Experience or Potential? The article is from the MarketingProfs.com website and is basically an open question to their readers looking for their input. A manager interviews employees and narrows down the candidates to two: one with experience and one with potential, intelligence, and high motivation. Which one would you choose? The experienced employee may ramp up faster and bring in knowledge that will help make the process better. But he or she may also have baggage that could interfere with the work. The employee with potential may bring enthusiasm and energy into the job and go the extra mile… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Offers Gone Bad
A friend of mine is an established, successful salesperson who is looking for a new opportunity. He recently received an offer from a large corporation that had a 6 or 7 page commission document. The document looked like a court filing. After sifting through as much as we could tolerate, we came across this gem: All newly hired participants will receive a quota for incentive purposes on or before the 30th day of their territory assignment and no later than the 90th day of their territory assignment. So, for sure before the 30th day. Unless it is no later than the 90th day. Obviously, it cannot be “on or before”… Read More
Continue ReadingStreet Level to C Level
From a sales cover email: I can sell direct to consumers, or to “C-Level” executives. That pretty much covers everyone. I don’t know about you, but I instantly think jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none.
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