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 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 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
Continue ReadingTurnover Reflects Your Onramping Program
When you look at your employee turnover are you content or confounded? If confounded, what have you done to improve it? You may want to start by reviewing your onramping program. Managesmarter.com had an interesting article on this subject and provided the following findings: 22 percent of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment. (The Wynhurst Group) 46 percent of rookies wash out in their first 18 months. (Leadership IQ) Companies that leave onboarding (ed. what we call onramping) to chance experience failure rates in excess of 50 percent when it comes to retaining new talent. (Egon Zehnder International, 2007) More than a 50% failure rate? Ouch! I have seen… Read More
Continue ReadingDrucker On Mistakes
Peter Drucker is always an interesting read and clearly was way before his time. BusinessWeek.com provides an article titled Drucker’s Take on Making Mistakes. The article is filled with many great points so it is difficult to highlight just a handful. Here is the gist of the article (emphasis mine): A batting-average mentality, he added, allows for companies to accommodate different kinds of talent. “One man will consistently do well, rarely falling far below a respectable standard, but also rarely excel through brilliance or virtuosity,” Drucker wrote. “Another man will perform only adequately under normal circumstances but will rise to the demands of a crisis or a major challenge and… Read More
Continue ReadingGarden-Leave Clauses
Proprietary information is a nuclear topic when dealing with salespeople who are leaving a company. Product info, service plans, actual costs vs. pricing are all hot topics. But for sales, the one thing that keeps managers up at night is the security of the customer list. We see many companies who desire to hire a salesperson from the competition with the expressed hope that the salesperson will bring customers with them. Quick note-it rarely happens, but that doesn’t stop companies from focusing their hiring strategy. CNNMoney.com provides an article that discusses the legalities of this approach. In the article is a phrase that I have not encountered before – garden-leave… Read More
Continue ReadingDon’t Fight Emotions With Logical Facts
In sales we know that prospects and customers make decisions emotionally and then justify them afterwards intellectually. This is why strong salespeople have the ability to build rapport and then engage the prospect’s emotions during the qualifying stage. This truth appears to have been validated in a new book titled Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior as noted in this Inc.com blog. The pull quote: Newsflash: People, even when given a choice of thinking logically and getting beneficial results, will often act emotionally despite the consequences. The effects of this irrational behavior on businesses can be far reaching. There is an intriguing case study referenced in the post that… Read More
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