Bob Rosner has a unique perspective on managing employees in his latest Working Wounded post – Stop Workplace Whining. The setup: A study by In Touch asked employees, “Why don’t you speak up at work?” More than 1 in 4 said they remain quiet because “there isn’t a good way to speak up” or “management doesn’t care.” I’ve outlined below three dos to reduce pressure at work and have everyone engaged in the problem-solving process. For more, check out Rant, Repair, Rave on workplace911.com. I’ll leave the whale example at the beginning of his post for you to read on your own (it is funny and disgusting all at once).… Read More
Continue ReadingSimulation Training And Hiring
Lee and I recently attended certification training for one of the assessments we use and found the training to be quite good. The part that made it memorable is the fact that we were asked to use the assessments in real-life scenarios. That type of training sticks, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Simulation Shows What It’s Like to Be Boss: That realistic feeling is a big reason companies such as NetApp use simulations to help train managers in complex subjects such as strategic thinking. Experts say adults absorb information better when they use it, not just hear it. There is a quote from earlier in the article that is… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Essence of Sales Management
This is a tough topic because there isn’t a cookie-cutter sales manager template that fits for all companies. Our experience has been that smaller-sized companies tend to expect the sales manager to carry a significant quota while larger companies expect the sales manager to manage without carrying a personal quota. The department quota/goals are a different story. Nonetheless, ManageSmarter.com offers up a well-constructed guide to sales management titled Executive Guide: Improving Sales from Managers to Salespeople. A point that often gets overlooked in companies is the essence of strong sales management. This excerpt sums it up nicely: 4. Track where your management team members are spending their time. As previously… Read More
Continue ReadingWeb Commute
That is a term coined by Citrix and one I suspect we will see with some frequency. If gas goes to $4/gallon, I suspect these articles will publish daily. ManageSmarter.com offers up an article discussing the preference of today’s workers to have technological flexibility in their job. The key here is the demographics of the results (emphasis mine): …U.S. workers aged 18-34 prefer flexible working conditions two-to-one over other age groups. In fact, 70% of survey respondents agreed that working remotely would be a welcome opportunity. In an era where acquiring and retaining good employees is a challenge, and the workforce is becoming increasingly young and mobile, offering the ability… Read More
Continue ReadingWide-Angle Thinking
I just caught up to this quote in a good quote from Peter Drucker in BusinessWeek.com’s Wide-Angle Thinking: Surely, Drucker would have applauded. “Too many think they are wonderful because they talk well,” he once pointed out. “They don’t realize that being wonderful with people means listening well.” Here is another aspect we subscribe to in our sourcing activities: Handy goes even further, advising that companies should roam far beyond their traditional bounds to better understand not just technology but myriad practices and processes. Say, for instance, a manufacturer needs to tap a team of top talent for a project that will be disbanded after a relatively brief period. Handy’s… Read More
Continue ReadingSatisfied Salespeople
Clayton Shold over at Saleopedia offers up some stunning survey results from a recent SalesDog.com survey. Check this out (my emphasis): Despite the job pressure, 70 percent of respondents reported being happy with their management, while 64 percent of those taking the survey said they felt adequately recognized for their achievements. A surprising 75 percent of respondents believe their management’s sales expectations or quotas are realistic. I’m sitting here cruising at 70mph in Northern Minnesota as I write. I should clarify that Lee is driving, I am geeking it up in the passenger seat. We have been talking about these results for miles. We often hear of how discontented workers… Read More
Continue ReadingOnramping Is Everything
This ManageSmarter.com article – On-Board Your Sales Hires Faster – hits me where I live. We ran into a serious issue with one of our customers where a salesperson we placed was terminated after 60 days. I won’t go into specifics, but this gentleman never had a chance. One anecdotal point – he never received business cards. You get the picture. We are working with our customer this week to establish a formalized onramping program for the next salesperson in this role. Much, or even all, of the problems that developed were due to this small company not understanding what needs to happen to successfully launch a new salesperson. Some… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Resource – Sales Gravy
Don’t you love that title, Sales Gravy? This site is a sales resource that I was not aware of until I received a call from Jeb Blount who runs the site. Sales Gravy is the fastest growing international networking community for Sales Professionals. Sales Gravy is your portal to All Things Sales.We believe that Sales Professionals are the Elite Athletes of the Business world and this site is designed and dedicated to helping our members gain the Winning Edge! There are many resources on the site and I have to confess I have not had a chance to browse through all of them. The Sales Tools and Resources is the… Read More
Continue Reading6 Sales Myths
This article is from ManageSmarter.com and it debunks 6 very common sales myths. My absolute favorite from the short article: Myth: If sales understood the product better, sales would increase. Reality: Actually, if everyone in the company—e.g., marketing, product developers, IT, and fulfillment, to name a few—understood sales better, sales would increase. That reality is perfectly stated and true. Successful selling, or should I say unsuccessful selling, has more to do with sales technique than it does with product knowledge. However, we have encountered many companies where the other departments felt they could direct the sales department. The common theme in those companies is that these departments believe they know… Read More
Continue ReadingToughest Sales Objection – Indifference
Clayton has a post on his Salesopedia blog that references some recent survey results from their highly-visited site. One result jumps off the screen: What’s the toughest objection? Indifference …….. 64.7% Price …………….. 26.5% Timing …………… 8.8% Isn’t that the truth? We used to work for a sales trainer who always stressed that indifference is the worst outcome of a sales call. Salespeople know what to do with a yes (after writing that, I wondered if there are salespeople who don’t know what to do with a yes…), they know what to do with a no, but no one is certain of what to do with a maybe. As a… Read More
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