Those two words should make every salesperson shudder. I remember when we first encountered the phrase about 5-6 years ago at one of our customers. Their top salesperson’s top account is a local company that shall remain anonymous (retail giant with a bullseye for a logo). When this salesperson first mentioned “reverse auction” to me, I had no idea what he was talking about. Once he explained it, I was taken aback. It is the ultimate commoditization tool. Dave Stein posted on this topic with an example of GE’s colossal IT budget for procurement. One of the quotes from GE’s CIO cuts right to the core of this issue: On… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring Stats Should Be Localized
You ever notice what a mixed bag of economic news we receive these days? Here is one that caught my eye from CNNMoney.com (my editing): The private sector gained 9,000 jobs in July, primarily among small businesses and the service sector, according to a report payroll manager ADP released Wednesday. A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a loss of 60,000 non-farm jobs. Can you imagine if the “consensus of economists” bet on football games? They would be making their predictions from the poor house. Nonetheless, I heard a very interesting talk from John Sumser last week in which he discussed that national employment statistics are grossly overrated… Read More
Continue ReadingCasualness – The Candidacy Killer
I remember having a sales job (pre-computer days) where I was expected to wear a suit every day. One day I showed up with a navy sportcoat, tie and khakis and I actually was a bit nervous about what my boss might say. I didn’t get in trouble, but I didn’t wear a sportcoat again. Suffice to say, the average office has become extremely casual over the past 20 years. We get the opportunity to see many different office environments and I am beginning to think that they are evolving into even more casualness. Jeans are becoming more common in the middle of the week, not just on Fridays. I… Read More
Continue Reading10 Most Recession-Proof Jobs
This story from Forbes.com provides a survey with a simple, but insightful structure: To compile its list, Jobfox examined its database of about 4,000 job postings from November 2007 through July 2008 to see which professions have the most openings monthly. Ok, so what did they find? Sales representatives top the list–and, unlike other professions, not because there’s a shortage. Rather, in tough economic times, a good sales force is a critical way to pull a company out of a downturn. I like to say that good salespeople are always in demand no matter what the economy is doing.
Continue ReadingCompensation Consternation
I know, lame title, but I couldn’t resist. ManageSmarter.com offers up this article – Compensation Complexity Hinders Sales – regarding current compensation plans. Here are some numbers they quote within the article (my editing): Only 41% of sales leaders were satisfied with their current compensation plans (down from 59% two years prior), and only 46% believed their plans were promoting the correct behaviors for sales success. Nearly half (46%) of sales force leaders believe their sales compensation programs have become more complex since 2006. I always found the compensation plans to be more “complex” when I wasn’t at quota. Successful selling definitely alleviates many problems. But there is this: The… 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 ReadingSales 2.0
I read often about web 2.0, recruiting 2.0 and sales 2.0. Math was never my forte so numbers scare me. But I did come across a very informative article in Sales & Marketing Management article titled A Step-By-Step Overview of Sales 2.0. The first pull quote: With instant access to corporate Web sites, search and social networks, your customers have company and product information at their fingertips, which give them much more control over the sales process than they had in the day when brochures and pricing were only available from a sales rep. Many prospective customers postpone talking with a sales rep, believing that they’ll get a better deal… Read More
Continue ReadingWeekend Hangover…For Ads
The days of posting your employment ad on the weekend are over. I think the whole weekend approach is a hangover from the Sunday paper days of job hunting. Nowadays, few – few – people look for a job on the weekend. According to The Career News newsletter (sorry, no link): In a trend that has held true for three years, job hunting takes off on Monday, peaks on Tuesday and is still very busy on Wednesday, according to Monster.com. Job hunt traffic on Tuesday is 28 percent higher than on Friday, said Steve Sylven, a spokesman for Monster. EQuest, which manages job boards for companies, used to see Tuesdays… Read More
Continue ReadingA Database Of The Discarded
A headline from the Wall Street Journal – Employer Alliance Aims To Streamline Recruiting. “Streamline” is one of those overused business terms that I find annoying. Yet, the article is rather interesting: Seven of the nation’s largest employers have teamed up to help one another with recruiting. They’ve formed a consortium called AllianceQ, which allows them and future members to share information about job applicants they don’t hire. Which leads to this: Since QuietAgent.com doesn’t feature job ads, professionals will only learn about career opportunities if employers contact them. By giving out referrals to QuietAgent.com, AllianceQ members are helping job hunters they don’t hire find employment elsewhere, says Jason Kerr,… Read More
Continue ReadingTightening The Ad
I’ve been reading through many sales employment ads recently and am seeing a trend – the ads are written tighter. A couple of examples: -Minimum of 5 years of related public accounting and/or corporate sales -A minimum of two years’ business development experience in a pharmaceutical and/or CRO biotechnology, or drug development company. Nothing wrong with this approach since the candidate pool is still relatively large due to the slow economy. One thing to be sure of – the labor pool will tighten up again soon. At that point, it is wiser to move these requirements into preferences and look outside of your industry for transferable skills. One interesting point… Read More
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