We’re fans of Jeff Thull here at The Hire Sense and his latest article on the Salesopedia.com only supports our belief. Anyone who has been in sales longer than a day has seen a sea change in the customer relationship over the past couple of years. Rapid commoditization is a huge problem even for “unique” solutions. Here is the crux of what is happening (emphasis mine): Seeking competitive differentiation through increasing uniqueness and complexity can be a deadly double-edged sword, especially if building that differentiation exceeds the needs and understanding of your customers. You and your competition may believe you have a high-value product or service, but if your customers… Read More
Continue ReadingA Port In The Storm
If ever there was a time to make a move into the healthcare sales market, now is it. According to RecruitingTrends.com: “Healthcare continued to add jobs in February, with a gain of 27,000. Job growth occurred in ambulatory healthcare (16,000) and in hospitals (7,000). Employment gains in the industry averaged 30,000 a month in 2008,” the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this and last month alongside news that the nation’s overall number of unemployed individuals increased by 5 million over the last year. Select Metrix is located in the Twin Cities which is home to United Health Group, Medtronic and most of the other medical device players. This market… Read More
Continue ReadingSocial Sites Trump Email
Also from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal (emphasis mine): Nielsen said “member communities” are now at 67 percent participation while e-mail is at 65 percent. The study found that of Internet users throughout the world, two-thirds visited a social networking site last year. Of those Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook is the leader, with visits every month by 3 of every 10 Internet users, the Nielsen study reports. In fact, Facebook had a 168 percent increase in users, the study said, while Mountain View, Calif.-based LinkedIn had a 137 percent increase. The biggest growth spurt for Facebook has been in the category of users from 35 to 49 years of age.… Read More
Continue ReadingHappiness Is Outstate
Ok, I’m confused – from our local Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal: Gallup, Healthways and America’s Health Insurance Plans earlier this week ranked Minnesota as fifth in the country for the overall health of its people. In the case of emotional health, Minnesotans were ranked fourth. The ranking, derived from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, comes about a week after the Minneapolis metro area came in 19th in BusinessWeek.com’s list of the 20 unhappiest cities in the United States. In Minnesota, we refer to the Twin Cities as the “metro area” and the rest of the state as “outstate.” Apparently happiness is found in the outstate areas. This distinction is even more… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Work-At-Home Scam
This shouldn’t be surprising, but abcnews.com has a story regarding all of the work-at-home job postings on the Internet right now. As you can imagine, this type of economy breeds these types of “jobs.” I’ve always found them to be borderline ridiculous…like the email spam that says you have inherited millions from a deceased Kenyan official. “Currently there’s a 54-to-1 scam ratio among work-at-home job leads on the Internet,” said Staffcentrix co-founder, Christine Durst, who screens up to 5,000 online job offers every week and rates them on her Web site. “That means that for every 55 [work-at-home] job leads that you find on the Internet, 54 of them are… Read More
Continue ReadingDown 25%
That is the number I continue to hear from salespeople in a variety of markets when I ask them how are sales? That is a staggering number when you think about it. Unfortunately, those are the times we live in for now. I continue to believe that the best method for offsetting this decrease is to go take business from your competition. Who are their top customers? Those accounts must always be your top prospects in any economy. In today’s economy, I believe it will be difficult to persuade companies to invest in new purchases. However, if they are currently buying from a competitor, salespeople need to unhook the business. … Read More
Continue ReadingImpending Movement
In sales there has always been career movement. Most successful salespeople have a “hunting” ability for closing deals. They also use this ability to close new deals for themselves in terms of a new job. I believe this approach is intensified in the younger generations – Gen X and Gen Y. This current economy is going to erode much of their loyalty as they watch companies shed employees. This downturn is far worse than that of 2001, but it is two career-altering downturns in less than 10 years. That has to have an effect on younger workers. Some of this movement can be seen in this article from Managesmarter.com: Even… Read More
Continue ReadingThere Are Still Open Positions
You never quite know what you are going to receive from the Herman Trend Alert which makes it one of the more highly-anticipated newsletters in my inbox. This week the topic is how many job postings there are presently – over 1.8 million. Granted, there is far more to hiring than just the quantitative aspect, but the number surprised me. Here is their intro (sorry, no link): While job postings between January 2008 and January 2009 have declined in all industries, there are still almost 1.88 million jobs that require skilled workers. According to a release by Indeed.com last week, the industries that experienced the least contraction were Education and… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Most Important Innovations
…of the past 30 years is a topic I posted on last week. The top 30 list was unveiled this week. Here is the video link to the story regarding the top technical innovations. And here is the overall list: 30. Anti retroviral treatment for AIDS 29. SRAM flash 28. Stents 27. ATMs 26. Bar codes and scanners 25. Bio fuels 24. Genetically modified plants 23. RFID and applications (e.g. EZpass) 22. Digital photography/videography 21. Graphic user interface (GUI) 20. Social networking via internet 19. Large scale wind turbines 18. Photovoltaic Solar Energy 17. Microfinance 16. Media file compression (e.g., jpeg, mpeg, mp3) 15. Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions (e.g., eBay) 14. GPS… Read More
Continue ReadingBest And Worst Jobs For 2009
I was disappointed when I didn’t see salesperson on the list of best jobs for 2009 at Recruiting Trends, but at least it wasn’t on the list of top 10 worst jobs! Here is the list of top 10 best & worst jobs: 10 BEST RANKED JOBS Mathematician Actuary Statistician Biologist Software Engineer Computer Systems Analyst Historian Sociologist Industrial Designer Accountant 10 WORST RANKED JOBS Lumberjack Dairy Farmer Taxi Driver Seaman Emergency Medical Technician Roofer Garbage Collector Welder Roustabout Ironworker Derrick adds: I just encountered a position for the worst list – trade show salesperson. I heard a call yesterday that was quickly dismissed by the decision maker. I have… Read More
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