"Successfully selling in specialized industries requires not only stellar sales skills but experience and industry-specific knowledge. Employers and salespeople alike need to focus on the salesperson's personal development, selling skills enhancement and their industry-specific training as well," discusses Daniel Sitter in his blog post for Idea Sellers. View the entire article at: http://ideasell...
More
Naviga’s 2009 Economic Survey finds companies are cautiously optimistic for revenue and hiring growth in 2009
In some encouraging economic news, an independent survey conducted on behalf of my sales and marketing recruitment firm, Naviga Recruiting & Executive Search, found that companies are projecting at least modest revenue growth in 2009 and most are planning to expand their sales force to make that happen.
When asked how they project revenues to change in 2009 compared to 2008, more than 32% of ...
More
Would An A-Player Use YouTube To Compete For A Sales Position?
If my own experience is any indication, video resumes are becoming more popular. I’m definitely seeing an uptick in the number of resumes I receive from sales professionals that direct me to a link on YouTube or another website to view their video resume.
For me, it creates a dilemma. There are some very real discrimination concerns because videos reveal information about the candidate such as r...
More
Where do you stand on sales positions that offer no base and are 100% commission?
Would you take a 100% commission business-to-business sales position?
I wouldn’t, nor will I take on any company that insists on such an out-dated pay structure.
The turnover rates are just too high (something like 99% of commission-only sales reps fails to make a livable wage and are forced to leave for greener pastures) and it’s nearly impossible to find A-Players willing to accept t...
More
Who says great sales managers can’t be found? Dig deep and make the offer sexy!
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a Fortune Small Business “Ask FSB” column (see “How do I Find a Great Sales Manager” in the September 2008 issue of Fortune Small Business), responding to a reader’s question on how to find a great sales manager to expand his staffing firm’s client base. The business owner said he was willing to offer very competitive pay, but was having a hard time...
More
Managing the Meeting
Regular sales meeting are a necessary evil.
On the one hand, good sales leaders know that regular gatherings with their team are vital to achieving objectives, meeting goals and nipping problems before they blow out of proportion and threaten productivity.
On the other hand, they can devolve into mind-numbing time-wasters that do nothing more than keep the sales team from actually selling.
The ...
More
Actions Speak Louder than Words
If every motivational strategy in the book fails to turn your team around, it’s time to look in the mirror. The problem may be you.
As a sales leader, you may honestly believe that you’ve created an environment that fosters success and encourages innovative approaches to achieving sales goals. But if the numbers aren’t backing that up, or if your team members are rapidly deserting you for greener...
More
Where the Sales Jobs Are
There is a great article on Monster.com that is a must-read for anyone curious about job prospects in today’s volatile economic times.
Surprisingly enough, in “Sales Hiring Outlook 2008,” author John Rossheim comes away with a much rosier outlook than you might expect, given the bad news that dominates the business pages. As long as we aren’t hit with a serious recession that is.
Rossheim notes ...
More
Make the First Week Count
Completing administrative tasks in advance of a new employee’s start date is a smart way to get them producing as quickly as possible. But it takes more than business cards and an email account. It also takes careful planning of their first week on the job, making sure they are properly trained and prepared to meet expectations.
Don’t wait to get them into orientation programs and training on the...
More
Why Wait for the Start Date?
If you want your new sales reps to quickly become efficient, productive members of the team, you need to make sure they have all the tools necessary to hit the ground running the day they start.
Why would you want them wasting time waiting for IT to give them an email password or reading through the company’s insurance plan when they could be hitting the pavement with sales calls?
True, some pro...
More
Bring in the “A Team”
It doesn’t matter how innovative your products or services are, without a strong sales team, your revenues will remain flat. So why make the mistake of not involving your top performing sales representatives in building out your team? Or worse, putting the selection process in the hands of under-performers?
Throughout my years of recruiting sales and marketing professionals, I have learned that t...
More