CNNMoney.com reports on a specific area that is experiencing a hiring problem – lack of candidates: Despite the slump at lowlier levels of the job market, there’s currently a war for senior management talent. In fact, 70% of executive recruiters surveyed by networking organization ExecuNet (www.execunet.com), say there’s a shortage of people who can step in and run things. We’ve seen this shortage first-hand in the sales arena. Strong sales leaders are in demand right now, especially in one corporate segment (emphasis mine): Companies doing the most executive hiring aren’t necessarily the biggest, the ExecuNet study found. Employers with revenues between $51 million and $200 million are expanding their senior-level… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To End Time-Management Excuses
I currently reading Jason Seiden’s new book How To Self-Destruct Making The Least Of What’s Left Of Your Career. You may have guessed from the title that part of the book is written tongue-in-cheek. In fact, it is quite entertaining and a fast read. I’ll provide a full review once I complete the book, but I had to share this insightful commentary for all sales managers. When it comes to excuse-making, one of the favorite topics is time. “I didn’t have time.” “I ran out of time.” “There wasn’t time to ask that question.” These are excuses that need to be corrected. I realize time constraints do occur, but I… Read More
Continue ReadingAn Electronic Leash
You just knew this was going to happen – companies are using technology to monitor remote employees. The Wall Street Journal provides this article that illustrates what approaches are used by employers: They’re taking photos of workers’ computer screens at random, counting keystrokes and mouse clicks and snapping photos of them at their computers. They’re plying sophisticated technology to instantaneously detect anger, raised voices or children crying in the background on workers’ home-office calls. That seems quite invasive, but it appears telecommuters are generally willing to trade the invasiveness for the work-at-home option. I’m not certain I would be so eager to allow this type of monitoring into my computer. … Read More
Continue Reading10 Commandments Of Onboarding
We only work in the sales arena so we refer to onboarding as onramping since salespeople need to ramp up to revenue (production) during their initial employment. That being said, CareerBuilder.com provides some excellent rules to live by when bringing a new employee on board (my editing). Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy employee. Thou shalt give a written plan of employee objectives and responsibilities. A written plan detailing objectives, strategy and expectations of future results helps diminish any confusion about a new employee’s job functions and instead opens up the floor to discuss concerns or new opportunities. Thou shalt give thy employ thy undivided attention. Thou… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Brilliance Of B Players
Great article from BusinessWeek.com titled Let’s Hear it for B Players. I realize “B Players” is difficult to define, but these are the: …competent, steady performers far from the limelight. What I like about this article is the fact that B players can consistently deliver for a sales department without demanding star treatment. Unfortunately, their approach can cut against them also as they tend to be overlooked at times. Here is their value stated clearly from the article (my emphasis): B players, by contrast, prize stability in their work and home lives. They seldom strive for advancement or attention—caring more about their companies‘ well-being. Infrequent job changers, they accumulate deep… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Hiring, Expect Success
Have you ever worked with a “glass half empty” person? They are something to behold especially if you are a bit of an optimist. We get the chance to interact with many leaders of both sales departments (VP of Sales) and entire companies (CEO). One thing that always catches my ear is the leader’s level of optimism. I find leaders who have a realistic level of optimism to be the most effective. I’m not talking about whistling through the graveyard, but rather a measured optimism that seeks positive solutions. The reason this is so important is that employees have a more difficult time rallying behind a pessimistic leader. I have… Read More
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 ReadingI’m Too Busy To Coach Salespeople
Coaching in many organizations is an after thought at best. What we see all too often is that the quotas are set and salespeople are expected to reach them on their own (to some extent). These are the organizations in which we see far too little coaching by the sales managers of their teams. Why is this? In a post from Dave Stein’s blog he asks you to name one professional athlete that doesn’t have a coach. Even amateur athletes have coaches, so why do organizations not require and equip sales managers to be coaches? Dave makes some interesting points and I recommend that you go read the entire post. He may get you to change your… Read More
Continue ReadingA Fundamental Lack Of Communication
The more companies we work with, the more we see communication breakdowns being the root of most problems. Our work with our clients spans more than just recruiting. We assist them in onramping their new salesperson. This function places us in the unique position of working with both the salesperson and the sales manager. One of the more dysfunctional situations we encounter is a communication breakdown between the manager and salesperson. One manager complained that the salesperson wasn’t doing what he asked, but he never confronted the salesperson. Another time we had a salesperson who would not submit his weekly call report. Ever. Yes, he was let go (even we… Read More
Continue ReadingYou Get What You Pay Salespeople For
We have really come to enjoy Dave Stein’s posts. They are timely and cut straight to the heart of the issue. Today’s post is no exception. Working strictly on the sales side of organizations, one of the areas we look at while profiling their sale is compensation. Most importantly, we look to see if the compensation structure rewards the behaviors the company expects of the salesperson. More times than not it won’t and from one of Dave’s comments, he sees the same issues: I am bringing this up because compensation is another dysfunctional area within many companies. During the past quarter, I’ve been engaged with several clients where “errors of commission” are preventing… Read More
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