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2010 Starts With Growth - TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

2010 Starts With Growth
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

January 2010 started with a bang. Canada created 43,000 new jobs reducing the unemployment rate to 8.3%.

Jeremy Miller discusses the job market and trends for employment for the year.

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/2010_starts_with_growth

New Year's Career Resolutions - TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

New Year's Career Resolutions
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

January is a prime time for job seekers. The New Year represents a golden opportunity for change, growth and development.

Jeremy Miller discusses career prospects for 2010, and shares a positive outlook for the year ahead

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/New_Year_Careers

2010 Job Market Looks Strong - TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

2010 Job Market Looks Strong
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Canada's employment levels stalled in December with the addition of 2,500 new jobs, leaving the unemployment rate at 8.5%

Jeremy Miller discusses December 2009's employment stats on TV, and provides predictions for 2010. LEAPJob is seeing positive hiring activity in January, and predicts it will continue through the year.

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/2010_Job_market_Looks_strong

Career Resolutions: Dreaming a Bigger Future

Career Resolutions
Dreaming a Bigger Future

By Jeremy Miller

We were all asked as children, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It's a great question. It lets you take off the shackles of reality and simply dream. As you enter 2010, ask yourself again, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Dreaming was easy and natural when we were children. When I was a kid I never settled on one dream. I was constantly picking new and different futures. After taking a class trip to the local fire hall, I proudly declared I was going to be a fireman when I grew up. Another time my teacher gave me an A for a short story I wrote, and I decided I was going to be an author. I even considered being an architect based on my amazing Lego building skills. Each time I made one of these little declarations, I pictured a new future. It was very liberating.

The older we get the harder it is to dream. The realities of the present squash dreams. It's hard to imagine new and different futures when you are dealing with the pressures of a job, a mortgage, family obligations and a to-do list a mile long. A dream may bubble up, but it's quickly popped when that little voice in the back of our heads says, "that's nice, but ..." After a while many adults stop dreaming altogether.

Dreams are important, especially for a successful career. Dreaming helps us consider our options, and allows us to focus our ambitions and capabilities. For example, you may dream of running your own business one day. As you get into this dream you might consider your leadership style, and the impact you have on your staff and the community. You may dream of the type of company you are running, the services it delivers and the brand it has established. The more you dream of this future the more tangible it becomes.

Elite level athletes use dreaming to propel themselves to greater heights. As the Olympics get closer you will hear many athletes talk of their dreams of winning a gold medal. They can describe in vivid detail the steps they are taking on their journey, and what it will feel like once they achieve their dream. Their dreams are a roadmap for success.

You too can use dreaming to propel your career forward. Take a few moments, and imagine your life five years from today. Where are you? What are you doing? What job do you hold? Why are you doing this job? How much money are you earning? What impact are you having on the company? What impact are you having on the community? Keep asking these questions.

As you dream and ask questions, try to solidify the place you are going, and why it is important for you. At first you may not have a very evolved picture of your five year future. It may feel like one of those childhood dreams like, "I want to be an astronaut." Don't fear. Keep practicing, and the fog will clear.

The next step is to turn your dreams into goals. Pull out your resume, and write in a new section five years from today. Describe the job you are doing, your title, your income, your core responsibilities and your accomplishments. This will give you a roadmap to your goals.

When you know where you are going in five years, you can plan what you will have to do and achieve to get there. For example, some people dream of moving into management and leadership roles. This can be a big career progression from an individual contributor, because it requires different skills and talents to be successful. To move forward into a leadership role consider the experiences you will need to have, and how your current employer can help facilitate the change. You may discover you need to take some courses and training, and maybe even do some community or volunteer work to acquire the necessary talents. If this is your goal, going out and getting the necessary skills will be all worthwhile.

Dreaming is an opportunity to experience a future, whatever it may be, and live in it vicariously. Like an elite athlete you can imagine the destination, and the steps it will take to get there in great detail. This perspective provides purpose for your career, and the actions you take on a daily basis. It's a roadmap for success.

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information visit www.LEAPJob.com.

79,000 New Jobs - TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

79,000 New Jobs
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

November 2009's employment numbers surprised many economists. Canada added 79,000 new jobs reducing the unemployment rate to 8.5%.

Jeremy Miller discusses these stats on TV, and provides predictions for 2010. Jeremy suggests the jobless recovery is not likely. We are seeing steady gains month over month, and the economy is slowly healing. He expects to see continued recovery through the new year.

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/79000_new_jobs

Surprising Job Numbers in October - TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Surprising Job Numbers in October
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

The unemployment rate rose .02% in October to 8.6%, surprising many economists. Canada shed 43,000.

Jeremy Miller discusses October's employment statistics. The losses were all in part-time jobs. Even though Canada experienced steep job losses of part-time jobs, we did see a gain of 17,000 fulltime jobs. This was a positive sign as we look to see growth in fulltime jobs month-over-month to signal the economy is recovering.

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/job_market_surprises

Cold Calling Is Dead - There are better ways to generate leads

Cold Calling Is Dead
There are better ways to generate leads

By Jeremy Miller

Cold calling used to be a sales person's most effective lead generation tool, but today it is futile.

Now I am not suggesting that making an unsolicited call on a strategic account is a cold call. Sure it is unsolicited, but it's simply the first step in a larger plan to engage a prospect, build a value proposition and work to win their business. Rather, I describe cold calling as the process of making 10, 20 or even 100 unsolicited calls a day, and touching as many companies as possible. This process of lead generation is unproductive. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

At any given time only 3% of your market is buying. These active buyers are sales leads. The problem with cold calling is 97% of your market is not buying today. So when sales people are told to cold call for their leads they are inevitably spending the bulk of their time with non-buying companies. Sure they could work over two to three years to cultivate and nurture relationships with these companies until they are ready to buy, but is that the best use of your sales reps' time? Wouldn't you rather focus your reps on active buyers, and use their talents to build the value proposition, demonstrate your company's capabilities, negotiate and close?

More importantly, can you guarantee a sales person will work a territory for two to three years to bring their leads up to a sale? Sales forces that rely on cold calling suffer from very high employee turnover. The reps burn out, get frustrated and leave. That means the customer relationships never truly develop. This process is very costly from an HR perspective, but it also hurts the company's brand.

Cold calling assumes sales people will be successful if they can reach the right person in an organization. It doesn't consider that only a small percentage of your customers have an immediate need for your services and are buying. As a result, sales reps that do a lot of cold calling focus on getting past gatekeepers, handling objections and letting the buyer know why they should make a purchase decision right now. When sales people are driven to persuade and push people to buy, they create negative customer experiences. Nobody likes to be pushed to buy. Consider how you feel when you meet a pushy sales rep. Cold calling can create an antagonistic buying experience, and that is off putting. Do you really want your brand tarnished with that reputation?

To be competitive today, smart companies must develop dedicated "demand creation" programs. Demand creation is a process of engaging your entire market, and developing relationships with your customers long before they are ready to buy. The goal is to be the "first call" for when a customer enters the 3% buying state. This allows your customers to get to know you, understand your value proposition and engage with your firm under positive terms.

Demand creation is multi-faceted. The programs must be tuned to your product mix, your customers and their buying habits. Part of the program focuses on being in the path of search for the 3% that are buying. That is often achieved through search engine optimization and search marketing. For the non-buying audience public relations, content marketing and events are effective. When producing content the goal is to offer really great advice or expertise and work on building relationships versus selling.

An effective demand creation program will build your brand awareness and make your company the "first call" when your customers are ready to buy. These leads are ideal. These buyers are approaching your organization with a desire for information, and they are more than willing to work with your sales reps. This makes for a far more productive and predictable sales process.

An added bonus of demand creation is sales force stability. When sales reps have a steady supply of leads their time is focused on selling. This makes for a more rewarding job, and one that plays to a sales person's strengths. It also allows the organization to size its sales force based on the volume of sales leads being generated. As you build volume of leads at the top of the sales funnel you will be able to hire and retain top performing reps that are focused on closing business versus grinding through cold calls.

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing firm. You can reach Jeremy at http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Time For Career Advancement - TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Time For Career Advancement
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Canada saw surprising job growth in September with the create of 32,000 full-time jobs.

Jeremy Miller discusses the latest employment trends, and how they are demonstrating the recovery is underway. Two examples he brings up is the job growth was in full time employment, and these positions were concentrated in construction and manufacturing. These roles demonstrate growth outside of the government stimulus, and that employers are starting to rebuild their workforces.

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/Time_For_Career_Advancement

The Power of Visual Experiences: Customers judge with their eyes

The Power of Visual Experiences
Customers judge with their eyes

By Jeremy Miller

Susan Boyle, of Britian's Got Talent, rocketed to fame in April 2009. To the media's amazement, physical attractiveness was not a good predictor of her singing ability. Susan Boyle proved that singers don't have to look like Britney Spears or Beyoncé Knowles to have talent.

On the surface the Susan Boyle story seemed ridiculous. Why was a great singer who was not a beautiful twenty-something making international headlines? Then it dawned on me. Appearance does matter. As a society we have been conditioned to judge value with our eyes. All of the singers we are exposed to on a daily basis are attractive and work hard to maintain their image. MTV foreshadowed this event with the first music video they aired in 1981: "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles. Celebrities don't achieve fame today without a total package.

Our eyes are our primary source of information. Whether surfing the Web, watching TV or reading emails on a Blackberry, you are dependent on your eyes. Technology has conditioned us to interpret and judge information visually. We evaluated Susan Boyle first with our eyes, and then were shocked when we heard her voice. The auditory experience was contrary to our visual expectations. Visual expectations are a big topic – much bigger than music and celebrities. Our visual dependence permeates all areas of society, and has a direct impact on how we sell complex products and services. Your customers are judging your company and its products with their eyes.

Take a moment and evaluate your company from a visual perspective. Look at everything a customer could see. Look at your products and their packaging. Look at your website. Take note of the images, the layout, the fonts and the colors. Look at your building and its surroundings. Look at the employees, and consider their facial expressions and body language. What do you see? What do these images say to you? Do you get a consistent message from each visual interaction?

The point is not to hire super models, and work in fancy office towers. The point is to evaluate what you are seeing, and determine if every visual interaction creates a consistent brand experience. Your eyes should validate what you read on the website and hear from a sales person. If there are any gaps in this experience, it will create doubt in the customer's mind.

Apple is a great example of a company that gets the visual experience. Their products have a distinct design and appeal. That style is reflected in their website, their ads and the people representing them in the media. When you walk into an Apple Store you are greeted by sales representatives that embody the Apple brand and look the part. The reps are young, hip and authentic. You can judge Apple solely with your eyes, and walk away with a positive experience. That's the kind of experience you should be striving for too.

Many sales forces defer visual questions to the marketing department. Marketing is responsible for advertising. Marketing is responsible for the website. Marketing is responsible for how your company looks. That may be true, but your ability to sell is directly linked to your customers' visual experience.

Your customers are judging your company with their eyes. Let's consider an example. You meet a new customer at a tradeshow. The meeting goes exceedingly well. You answer all of the customer's questions, and your products fit all of their needs. It's a great first meeting. That night the customer returns to his hotel and Googles your company, and up pops your corporate website. What he finds is a dull, disorganized site with stock photography. The site is filled with marketing mumbo jumbo, and is not visually appealing at all. How do you think the customer will remember your meeting when he wakes up the next day? Chances are the mixed experiences will put doubts in his mind, and he won't remember the meeting as positively as you did.

Sales people feel the repercussions of poor visual experiences. Sales people work very hard to build relationships, and demonstrate the value of their products. They rely on their product knowledge and interpersonal skills to connect with their customers. Yet all of their hard work can be shot down with a poor website, because your company is sending out mixed signals. The customers get one message from the sales people and another from the Internet. Which one do they trust? The mixed messages cause customers to oscillate between the two experiences, and try to determine which one was correct. This doubt may motivate them to seek out other answers, or engage more vendors in their selection process. No matter how you slice it, it's an uphill battle for the sales people. Now they have to work even harder to demonstrate the value and credibility of their products.

An organization can't expect its sales people to be successful if they are hindering their credibility with poor visual experiences. Customers are not basing their decisions just on what the sales people say. They are going online and validating that experience. They are using all of the technology at their means to make a sound purchasing decision. That means they are evaluating your company and your products with their eyes. Technology forces the customer to look at the information being presented to them.

Susan Boyle was at the right place at the right time. Her performance was contrary to the audience's expectations, and in the process she gained fame. She was one in a million. An organization cannot grow its sales with the same logic. Your customers have expectations. They expect their vendors to demonstrate their full capabilities at every interaction. If they don't, the customers question the capabilities of the organization. A negative visual experience creates doubt in the customer's mind. Sales and marketing have to come together to create a consistent customer experience. It's not just the sales people's responsibility to win sales.

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob. LEAPJob is a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

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Job Market Recovering - TV interview with Jeremy Miller

Job Market Recovering
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

The Canadian employment market is showing signs of recovery in August with the addition of 27,100 jobs. Canada experienced positive job growth in most provinces and sectors. Even though there was positive growth, the unemployment rate rose to 8.7% as more people returned to the workforce. Positive news and signs of recovery are drawing people back into the job market.

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/job_market_recovering

Self-Employment Gaining Popularity: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Self-Employment Gaining Popularity
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Over 75,000 people have become self-employed in Canada since October 2008. Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob discusses the growth of entrepreneurship in Canada.

More and more people are being drawing to self-employment, because the job market is so tough. Since October, Canada has shed over 414,000 jobs. This has created a very challenging job market where employers have a lot of choice. People are becoming self-employed to take control over their careers. The bulk of the new businesses are being formed in insurance, real estate, and professional services.

View Jeremy Miller's interview at http://www.leapjob.com/self-employment_gaining_popularity

Experiential Selling: Show customers how you are remarkable

Experiential Selling
Show customers how you are remarkable

By Jeremy Miller

Have you ever lost a deal because your company wasn't big enough, old enough or specialized enough? Losing deals for these reasons is the worst.

It's not fair that customers evaluate your services based on the size of your firm, the number of offices you have, or how long you have been in business. These are not good indicators of quality or stability. Actually, they have no bearing on the value of the services at all. Just look at the events of the past year. Industry giants like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Chrysler declared bankruptcy. Size does not matter. Age does not matter.

It's not the customer's fault they are asking these comparative questions. It's the sales person's fault. Customers ask these questions, because they don't know how to differentiate your firm from the big guys. They don't know what makes you remarkable or unique. They zero in on size and age as signs of a better service, because they don't have anything else to compare your services to.

The challenge in these comparative sales cycles is you can't win. You are competing on the wrong playing field. You are the small guy facing off against the thousand pound gorilla. They are going to crush you in an even fight. Rather than going toe-to-toe, change the game. Instead of selling, demonstrate your unique abilities. Don't let them ask, “What makes you different?” Show them. Show them early, and show them at every opportunity.

Experiential selling is a powerful tool to differentiate your company from the big guys. Each sales call is an opportunity to give exceptional value to your clients. You can help them uncover their pains, share insights into their problems and bring them resources and answers to solve their problems. Rather than explaining to them what makes you different, you show them.

Experiential selling encompasses two key components: questions and stories.

Well placed questions are extremely powerful. They give perspective, they provide insight, they motivate thinking, and they demonstrate expertise. It's like going to the doctor. You recognize their expertise as they ask questions to diagnose the problem. If the questions don't have a clear purpose, or just seem to come out of left field, you would doubt the doctor's capabilities. On the other hand, when the questions drive to the root of the problem, your trust and respect for the doctor increases dramatically. Well placed questions demonstrate you understand your client's situation, and that is a clear differentiator.

Customers appreciate sales people who know how to ask effective questions. It changes the relationship from sales person and customer, to two people trying to solve a problem. When you are in the sales person mold you are selling, which is trying to persuade someone to change their behaviors. Nobody likes to be persuaded. It feels like you are giving up control, and letting someone impose their will on you. Questioning on the other hand is a subtle form of selling. Rather than telling the customer what they should do and why, you ask them questions. A question lets the customer feel in control, and lets them come to their own decisions.

Questions on their own are not enough. You need stories. Stories take on many roles in experiential selling. They can be anecdotes, case studies or examples. The purpose of the story is to share information in a method that is easily digestible and accessible for the customer.

Humans have told stories since the beginning of time. Our parents told us stories when we were kids to teach us lifelong lessons. Fairytales taught us morals, while books like Everybody Poops taught us about our bodily functions. Stories are powerful tools to communicate complex ideas, and to share experiences. They work because for a moment in time we put ourselves into the story and learn from the experience.

Stories are very powerful sales tools. A well told story draws the customer in, and helps them to experience your expertise and problem solving abilities vicariously. Sales people tell stories about similar problems they have faced, and how they have helped other customers overcome these situations. Stories relate the pains, the difficulties, the emotions and the players. They craft a situation that allows the customer to put themselves into the story, and take away lessons that they can use in their own situation.

Questions and stories allow customers to experience what it's like to work with your firm. It takes you out of a selling relationship into a problem solving one. That is a game changing play. When you are selling, you are trying to craft arguments and explanations that justify why you are better than the competition. You talk about features and benefits, but you don't actually solve problems. Questions and stories allow you to change the relationship to become a problem solver, or a trusted advisor.

The customer begins to lean on you for advice, suggestions and guidance, because they know they can rely on you. Your questions demonstrate competence, and your stories demonstrate credibility. They won't have to ask you comparative questions about the size or age of your firm, because they clearly know how you will deliver value to them. Inserting experiences into the sales cycle will tip the scales, and let you stand head and shoulders above the big guys.

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob. LEAPJob is a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Where The Job Market Is Headed: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Where The Job Market Is Headed
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

The Canadian unemployment rate remained steady at 8.6% in July 2009. This was striking considering Canada shed 45,000 jobs in the month.

Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob, discusses the latest unemployment trends:

Canada's unemployment rate remained steady with the steep job losses, because fewer people were looking for work. Many job seekers have put their search on hold while they wait for the economic recovery.
1 in 5 students have not been able to find work this summer. This will put a serious burden on parents.
Ontario's employment levels improved slightly in July. The job losses were felt in Quebec, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan.

View Jeremy's take on these numbers at http://www.leapjob.com/where_the_job_market_is_headed

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Social Networking's Place in Lead Generation

By Jeremy Miller

Twitter is all the rage, but can you actually use it to drive sales? What about Facebook, LinkedIn or blogging? Social networking seems like the right place to build a lead generation program right now. These sites offer up huge audiences of engaged users, and make it relatively easy to setup targeted groups and encourage participation. It seems like a no brainer, but it's not. Many business-to-business lead gen campaigns based on social networking are failing.

Here's the secret, age matters. Your audience just might not be ready to be marketed to via social networking. They could simply be too old.

Take a moment and profile your customers. On a piece of paper identify the key decision makers you target in the sales cycle. This could be CEO, President, CFO or VP of HR. Beside each of the titles, write down their average age of the people in these positions. Next, profile the users of your products and services by writing down their titles and average age.

Depending on what you sell, I suspect you will see a gap. For example in the software industry the decision makers, the senior people inside organizations, tend to be 35 to 50. While the users, which could be administrative staff or mid-level managers, are typically 22 to 35. These groups are at least a generation apart, which has a direct impact on the types of technology they use in their day-to-day lives.

The Age Gap: Digital Immigrants versus Digital Natives

The plus 35 crowd, people born before 1974, are Digital Immigrants. They didn't grow up interacting with friends and family through the internet. Rather, they connected on the phone, in person or maybe by letter. If they wanted to plan a Friday night out, everyone called each other to coordinate plans.

As technology exploded in the late 90's and 2000's, the Digital Immigrants embraced the new tools. Email replaced the fax. Blackberries gave access to email and the internet anywhere, anytime. Google made it easy to find information in a matter of seconds. With each breakthrough, Digital Immigrants figured out how they could use the technology to make their lives more efficient.

The under 35 crowd, Digital Natives, have approached technology from a totally different perspective. Digital Immigrants may look at Facebook, Google and email like tools, but not Digital Natives. I asked my associate Fawzia, who is 26 and definitely a Digital Native, how she would describe her use of social media. She said, "It's a necessity. It's what you do. You might use the phone, but we text and social network. That's how we talk to each other. It's like breathing!" The Digital Natives can't imagine communicating without these tools. They are completely ingrained into their social connections, their community and how they learn.

When to use social networking for lead generation

The differing approach to technology between the Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives has a direct impact on your lead generation strategy. It is crucial to profile the demographics of your users and decision makers so that you know which media platforms to use in marketing.

When targeting the Digital Immigrants, social media is not the best approach for lead generation. Sure you may get a few leads from social networking, but not nearly as much as you could through traditional media. Digital Immigrants use technology as a tool to support their buying decisions. As a result, they use Google to find vendors, websites to evaluate companies and human interaction to make buying decisions. Social networking is not used in the buying decision, because it is not a tool for evaluating products or services.

As you understand the habits of the Digital Immigrants, you can tune your marketing programs to fit their needs. Some of the obvious programs are search engine optimization, because they use Google to discover their options. Public relations are effective, because they use newspapers and magazines as a primary source of information. Public events are also powerful, because Digital Immigrants truly value being able to see the white's of their vendor's eyes.

If your audience is Digital Natives, you have a lot more marketing options. In a business-to-business environment there are not many Digital Natives in the decision making roles, they tend to be users. Users are still important to the overall marketing strategy, because having access to them provides an influential group for up-selling and cross-selling.

For example Salesforce.com created IdeaExchange to engage the Digital Natives, and capture their input for product innovation. The IdeaExchange is an interactive, social networking site where users can post ideas and comments to help Salesforce.com get better. The platform builds on the habits of the Digital Natives, and offers incredible market intelligence for Salesforce.com to plan future versions and products.

Beyond product development, building an engaged user community offers tangible benefits for sales. The ongoing interactions the users have in the online community help to build a relationship with the company, and reinforce its brand. More importantly, the interactions keep the users in the know. They have a better understanding of the company, its products and its upcoming products and innovations. This knowledge helps them to advocate on behalf of the product inside the company, and even drive additional purchases. Essentially, the users start the sales process from the inside out.

Driving Leads Today

By profiling your customers, and understanding their technology habits, you can tune your marketing programs. Social media is definitely the way of the future, but it still may be too early for your customers. If you find your decision makers and users are Digital Immigrants, then focus your marketing on traditional media. Social networking may generate some traffic, but not as much as you could through public relations, search engine optimization and email marketing.

Social media is definitely the way of the future. The Digital Natives may not be sitting in the key decision making roles yet, but they will be in the next five years. As they move up the ladder they will pull their technology habits with them, and the use of social media in business decisions will become far more prevalent.

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob. LEAPJob is a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Job Market Improving: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Job Market Improving
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Canada's unemployment rate rose slightly to 8.6% in July with the loss of 7,400 jobs. These numbers were far better than many economists had anticipated. The expected job losses for July were to be 30,000 to 50,000.

Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob, discussed July's employment numbers on TV. 7,400 is a marked improvement from the previous losses we have seen this year, but are not quite signs of a recovery. The job market is still deteriorating, and much of the gains were in part-time employment.

Jeremy goes on to discuss the benefits of self-employment and entrepreneurship in a recession. View the TV interview at www.LEAPJob.com/job_market_improving.

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Stand Out To Employers: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Stand Out To Employers
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Canada's unemployment rate rose to 8.4% on May with the loss of 42,000 jobs in Canada.

Jeremy Miller, a Partner at LEAPJob, discussed the latest unemployment statistics on TV. He discussed there are glimmers of hope, and signs of recovery even in these job numbers. The unemployment rate has been driven up by the substantial losses of employment in the automotive sector. This has directly hurt the Ontario manufacturing sector, and caused the bulk of the job losses. Beyond automotive, the job market is doing surprisingly well. There gains in some provinces, and the rest were stable in their employment levels.

Jeremy also shares tips and ideas for how to stand out to employers, and how to get back to work. View the TV interview at www.LEAPJob.com/Stand_out_to_employers.

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Reinventing Family Business: LEAPJob's Story of Entrepreneurship

Reinventing Family Business
LEAPJob's story of entrepreneurship

By Jeremy Miller & Marcus Miller

2009 is a monumental year for LEAPJob. Our business turns 20, we are growing, profitable and to top it all off we are having a blast building our company. The past twenty years have been an amazing ride for our company and our family.

LEAPJob is a sales and marketing recruiting company, but we haven't always been this way. The business was originally founded by Donna and Marcus Miller as Miller & Associates, an IT recruiting agency.

Donna and Marcus opened for business during a difficult time – very similar to the economic woes we are facing today. The recession of the early 1990's was looming, unemployment levels were rapidly increasing. We slugged it out, and positioned our business for the IT sector. This proved ideal, and we are rode the Y2K and dotcom booms through the 90's and early 2000's.

Every family business faces a significant business challenge at some point, and Miller & Associates was no different. After the Y2K decline and then the dotcom bubble burst, our business significantly declined. It was time to reinvent ourselves again. In 2004 Jeremy, our eldest son, joined the business with a goal to change the status quo. It was timely, and we were ready to listen. Together we created a new business.

The changes were fast and furious. We changed everything: a new name, a new brand, a new service offering, a new company. We didn't want just evolutionary change, we wanted revolutionary change. We were reinventing our brand and our business with the goal to rule a specific segment of the recruiting industry – we just didn't know which one yet.

The first thing we changed was our identity:

As you can see: Revolutionary Change. The LEAPJob identity was built directly for the web. This meant our name had to fulfill several criteria:

We must have the .com domain name. As you can imagine, finding a memorable .com name is very challenging.
It had to fulfill a customer experience. A career is very much like a journey. You can be moving forward or backwards, stuck or taking a leap forward. LEAPJob reflects the journey metaphor as we help people leap their career forward.
It had to be short and memorable. The word play on leapfrog has been a very sticky element for our name. It’s easy to remember, it's easy to refer, and we are the first call when people are looking to change careers.

With our new identity and commitment to growth, we did a lot of soul searching. We had spent so much time in IT, the question became what else could we focus our business on that played to our strengths and passions.

New ideas come from the most unexpected places. In our situation, we found our passion at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Some families talk about sports or politics at a family event. Not ours. We talk about sales. We have a family culture that loves the sport of building business, the hunt of finding customers and the competition of winning sales. It's what we talk about at work; it's what we talk about at home. This passion was not overtly obvious to us, but when we realized this was what we thought about, talked about and worked on most often it was only natural to focus LEAPJob on sales.

In less than two years, our family built LEAPJob into Toronto's premier sales recruiting agency. We are the first call when sales people are looking for the next step in their career, and we are the first call when companies want to hire exceptional sales people.

Achieving a first call advantage doesn't just happen. It's more than a new name, logo and strategic focus. We achieved our position by being innovative marketers. LEAPJob's marketing platform is multi-faceted, and the source of our competitive advantage. We clearly know that talented people don't change jobs every day. At any given time only 3% of the workforce is looking for jobs. This is a small group of people, especially when you consider how competitive it is to hire great people.

Traditionally, marketing programs simply focus on the here and now. A job ad only speaks to people looking for jobs right now. At LEAPJob, we changed our mindset to engage sales people three years before they are considering changing jobs. The challenge is what to talk about in your marketing programs when you aren't selling anything. We chose to share our expertise. We created email newsletters, blogs and PR campaigns to share insights into what is happening in the sales community.

Every year our reach has grown. Today, we connect with over 10,000 sales professionals in the GTA monthly. We share our insights and our expertise freely, and we use this as an opportunity to build a trusted relationship with our market.

The strategy is paying off. Our business is up significantly year-over-year, which is striking when you consider the current economic conditions. At the same time we have cut our advertising costs, increased our reach and we are sitting in a wonderful position when this economy returns to a growth mode.

We know from our history that we cannot rest on our laurels, and we will continue to innovate for our future success. We are continuing to evolve our business, our services and our reach with a clear goal: help our customers drive sales. With this vision in mind, we are excited to see how we can grow even further for our next ten year anniversary.

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Marcus Miller is the President of LEAPJob, and Jeremy Miller is a Partner in the firm. LEAPJob is a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Time To Be An Entrepreneur: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Time To Be An Entrepreneur
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

On Friday, May 8th, Jeremy Miller discussed the growth of entrepeneurship in Canada.

Canada saw a rise in employment as 36,000 new jobs were created in April. The bulk of these job gains were in the self-employment category. Jeremy provides insights to would-be entrepreneurs on how to get started.

View the TV interview at http://www.leapjob.com/time_to_be_an_entrepreneur

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Brand + Demand + Talent = Sales; The Formula for Driving Sales

Brand + Demand + Talent = Sales
The formula for driving sales

By Jeremy Miller

Sales people like to suggest they can sell ice to Eskimos, as if to say they are just that good. It's a nice sentiment, but totally implausible. A sales person is only an influencer in a customer's buying decision. Sure a bad sales person can drive a customer away, but a great sales person is limited by the potential of the products he sells. If the customer doesn't want what he has to sell, there isn't much he can do about it.

Sales people are only part of equation. To determine if a sales person will be successful or not, you have to look at a company's brand and the demand for its products. The equation I look to for sales performance is Brand + Demand + Talent = Sales. You need all three for a truly effective sales force.

Brand

The Eskimos were never dumb. They don't take persuasive sales people at their word, and now they can check them out online. With a few quick searches on Google, they can clearly validate all of the sales person's claims. If they check out, great, the sale will be made. If not, well no ice is sold.

We live in an age of abundance. There are countless companies, products and services available. The competition is steep, and finding vendors is easy. If you don't know who to buy from you can source your options online. The Web is a powerful equalizer of companies. Buyers don't have to compromise. They get to find and choose the products and services that best fit their needs.

Brand counts for so much in the sales game. The more established the brand, and the clearer the value proposition, the easier the product is to sell. This is simply good marketing. The sales team is reliant on marketing's ability to get it right and layout a rock solid brand, market position and value proposition. Without an effective brand, the sales team ends up selling on price, because there isn't any other way they can differentiate their products.

Selling on price is a last resort. There is always another competitor who can sell for even less. That's why you have to nail down the brand. The better the brand; the better your margins. Why? Because customers are willing to pay more to get the differentiated products and services that meet their needs. They are choosing the brand, versus settling for something else. It's pretty straight forward.

Demand

The number one indicator of sales performance is territory potential. It doesn't matter how good a sales person is. If the territory sucks, the sales person's performance will suck too. A great sales person may do measurably better in a poor territory, but compared to the reps in high potential territories they will still appear terrible.

This poses a real challenge for organizations trying to increase their sales. The old logic states, to grow sales hire more sales people. The problem is more sales people won't increase territory potential. Rather every time a sales person is added to the territory everyone's performance is adversely impacted.

To grow sales you need to increase lead volume. The more leads there are, the more sales can be made. One of the hottest arenas in sales is demand creation. A demand creation department resides between sales and marketing, and its purpose is to execute programs and campaigns to generate sales leads.

Demand creation is multifaceted. You can generate leads by teleprospecting, webinars, events, tradeshows, search engine optimization, direct mail, email, public relations, you name it. The more touch points your organization can create with your market the better. The goal is to build relationships with prospective customers well before they are ready to buy. This will enable your organization to be the first call when your customers start to shop.

Before hiring more sales people always evaluate the territory potential. If you need to increase the potential build a demand creation department. The increased lead volume makes it easier to hire, feed and manage sales people for results.

Talent

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great wrote, good-to-great companies "first got the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off the bus."

Talent is the X factor in a top performing sales organization. They take brand and demand, and they make something of it. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a group of top sales reps dominate a market. Armed with a well defined brand and strong market potential they simply win deal after deal. It's a little like shock-and-awe. They achieve sales and revenues other organizations could only dream of.

Without a well tuned sales force, sales won't be made. Brand and demand drive customers to the door, but the sales team is responsible for reinforcing the brand, solving problems, negotiating deals and driving the revenue. In our overly competitive marketplace every differentiator you can build into your organization is essential. The caliber of the sales force is a clear brand differentiator.

Brand + Demand + Talent = Sales

There isn't a silver bullet for sales performance. Everything counts. From the focus of the brand, to the number of leads in a territory, to the caliber of the sales force. Each customer touch point has to be in sync to achieve sustainable growth.

The new reality of sales is sales and marketing have to work together. It's no longer a separation of functions. Both departments are clearly dependent on each other. The better an organization can align their sales and marketing, the better they will perform.

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Sales Start Online: Crafting a first call advantage

Sales Start Online
Crafting a first call advantage

By Jeremy Miller

How much does your company invest in the Web? Maybe a few thousand dollars for a new website every few years? Bad move. The Web is the most important tool for any sales force. A company's investment online should be in line with the cost of a sales person.

In the past ten years sales has undergone a metamorphosis. Prior to 2000, the purchasing process started with sales people. If a company was feeling some pain, or needed to consider their options, they called their local sales rep. The rep could diagnose the problem, discuss options, prepare quotes and help them decide next steps. The Web has changed that dynamic. Customers don't go to sales people for advice anymore, they go online.

From books to cars to capital equipment, customers start their buying process online. This means every company needs to be extending their sales programs to the Web. There are three key areas to consider in your Web strategy: search engine optimization, website experience, and lead conversion.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

You can find virtually anything on Google: advice, products, services, reviews, referrals, how-to guides, you name it. Whatever your heart desires, your search can find. Search results are one of the most powerful lead generating tools available. If your company comes up with top search results, you will drive interested buyers to your website and into the sales process.

Achieving a high search ranking in Google does not happen accidentally – it requires search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO is a process of tuning your site for top search results. You can improve your Google ranking by continually crafting your content, your website structure, the links coming into your site, and your key words. This is not a one shot deal. It requires a regular, monthly commitment to keep your content relevant for Google. You could bring the process in house, but for $12,000 to $24,000 per year it is just as easy to outsource the function to experts.

Website Experience

Is your site better looking than your competitors? Is it easier to use? If not, then it is time for a makeover.

People aren't patient searchers. They look at the first few options that come up in Google, and click on the sites that look most relevant to their needs. If a site doesn't catch their attention in five seconds or less, they are gone. They click back to their search results and look for another page. Searchers keep pecking away until they find what they are looking for. This means that your company not only has to achieve high search results, but your site has to catch the searchers' attention.

Companies should be revamping their website every eighteen months. This will keep your site's content, design and brand fresh. You can't rest on your laurels here. An outdated site says so much about your company.

Your website is your customers' first impression of your company. Consider this the introductory meeting, and you want to get things off on the right foot. Help your customers get the information they need. They want to know who you are, what you sell, who you sell to and why they should work with your company. They aren't looking for chest pounding language like, "We are the largest, oldest, best company since sliced bread." They want to know the facts, and they will decide whether to engage with you or not. Puffery and cheesy tactics just don't work.

Invest wisely in your site. You should be budgeting $15,000 to $30,000 to produce your site, and again this is not a one shot deal. The next version should be implemented within eighteen months.

Lead Conversion

Your customers have found your site, they have spent some time getting to know your company, and now they are ready to speak with a sales person. Make the process easy. No one wants to hunt around for a Contact Us page. Help them engage your sales team quickly and easily.

First and foremost, it should be blatantly easy to connect with a sales person in your organization. Look at Salesforce.com's site. On every page there is a section titled, "Next Steps." This menu item gives the customer a few options: Free Trial, View Demo or Contact Me. Each option fulfills a desire for more information. Ultimately though, Salesforce.com is driving these interested customers to their sales team. When you complete one of these forms, a Salesforce.com sales person will contact you within twenty-four hours. This rapid response is key to converting Web leads into sales opportunities.

Web leads are gold. These customers are engaged in the buying process, and they are looking for information quickly. Your goal should be to respond to all Web leads within four hours. If someone took the time to request information from your site, they want a quick response. The longer they wait, the more likely they will be off to your competitors and requesting information from them too. Age your leads, and hold your sales reps accountable to following up with them in a pre-set timeframe.

Building Your Web Strategy

Leveraging the Web is a must for any sales force. If your customers are there, well you have to be there too. It's that simple.

I am a firm believer in this process. I have seen the results in my business. In 2004, our sales team generated all of their business through cold calling and networking. Today, our Web strategy has completely replaced those prospecting activities. We generate 75% of our customers from the Web, and at the same time have reduced our sales cycle by four times. We are getting better quality leads that we can close faster. With an ROI like that, it is easy to be an advocate for selling over the Web.

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Canada's Unemployment Rate Rises to 8%: A TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Canada's Unemployment Rate Rises to 8%
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

On Thursday, April 9th, Statistics Canada announced Canada's unemployment rate rose to 8% in March. Since October, Canada has lost 357,000 jobs. This is the steepest decline in jobs since 1982.

Canada's unemployment rate is the highest in 7 years. We are now at the same level as we were after the Dotcom Bubble Burst.

Jeremy Miller of LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada, discusses the latest employment statistics.

View the TV interview at http://www.leapjob.com/unemployment_reaches_8_percent

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Your Brand Starts Online

Your Brand Starts Online

By Jeremy Miller

It's no secret that the web is crucial to your marketing efforts. It's the starting point for most customer relationships. It's where your customers find you, learn about you and form an opinion about your company. It's where your customers figure out what differentiates you from the competition. The web does all this and more, because that is where customers go to get their information.

Companies get it. That's why they have websites. I would be hard pressed to name a company that doesn't have one. Even startups have websites, and it's often their first marketing initiative to help give their company credibility. And that's the key reason for a website: credibility. The web is not simply a sales or marketing tool. It's your brand. It's your platform to differentiate your company, and establish credibility with your customers.

Consider your own behavior. Every time you surf the web, you are judging companies. What is your impression of a company that has an outdated or ugly website? What does that tell you about the organization and its products? Does it make you want to do business with them? Does it motivate you to look for other options? Your reaction, or even repulsion, is a clear sign of how you are evaluating companies online, and deciding if they are credible or not.

Perception is reality. If you don't have the time or the interest to thoroughly evaluate a company, you make assumptions. If a company's website is attractive and well organized, that's a sign. If the content clearly articulates what the company does and why, that's another sign. If the site has interesting articles and videos about their area of expertise, that's a sign too. In your mind you are forming an opinion on the company based on how well they are presenting themselves. The better the experience, the more credible they appear.

Check out a corporate website like Apple's. You get what you expect. They have a distinctive brand that people can easily identify with. Who doesn't love those Apple-PC commercials? Not only are they entertaining, they clearly speak to the Apple experience. The same is true for their website. It has a clean minimalist design, vibrant pictures and it's very easy to navigate. You can find ample product information to answer almost any question that comes to mind. It's just like a Mac.

Apple gets it, but they are an exception. Most companies' web strategies are abysmally shortsighted. They use the web simply as a marketing tool. Visit most corporate sites, and you will find the obligatory material: company profile, services, customer testimonials and contact information. Some companies go a step further and optimize their sites to generate sales leads, but still it is simply the same-old, same-old. Would you evaluate your website on par with Apple's? Would you suggest that your website clearly reflects your company's brand?

Building your brand online is difficult. It is time consuming, and hard work. You can't simply call a web development firm, and ask them to build a website that reflects your brand. But that is exactly what most companies are doing. They find a local web development firm, conduct some references, tell them what they want, and let the developer deliver an attractive site with pretty pictures. The company invests ten to twenty thousand dollars, and lets the site sit there until it feels old and tired. And then the process starts all over again.

Would you delegate the design and development of your products in such a haphazard way? Would you outsource your key intellectual property to a third party, simply because you can? No! You manage that process through and through, because that's how you make money. That's how you maintain competitive advantage. And that's how you build winning customer relationships. The same attention to detail you have for your products, needs to be applied online. Your website is your brand.

Take some time and study your website, and ask if it lives up to the brand. Start by judging it with your eyes. The web is a visual medium. We have to rely on our eyes to make judgments, because we can't use any of our other senses. We don't listen, smell, touch or taste on the web. We see.

When we visit an attractive site with relevant images, a clean design and is easy to navigate we are immediately drawn in. Our eyes confirm that this site has positive qualities, and we should investigate further. We then scan the site for information. We have expectations of where we will find the menus, the company bio and other pertinent details. If they all fit our expectations, we take another step into the site. The goal of a well crafted website is to continually draw the customer further-and-further into the site. We do that by pleasing the eye, and putting information where the audience expects it to be.

Does your website visually draw you in? Does it help you find the information you are looking for?

The next step is to evaluate your site at a cognitive level. Look at the content, the message structure, language and volume of information. Essentially your site has to do the work of a sales person. It should clearly articulate what you do, who you serve, why your company exists, and what others have to say about your services. Get into their minds, and clearly understand what they want and need from you.

To effectively deliver your brand promise, your website has to be able to sell without any human interaction – no matter how complex your products or services. You could be selling accounting services, capital equipment or cleaning supplies; it doesn't matter. The site has to be able to sell as well, if not better, than your best sales person. People are spending up-to an hour on your site assessing your products and services. They want to get the top level details, and then have an opportunity to go deep and find more detailed information.

The more complex your products or services, the more people use their cognitive faculties to evaluate your solution. That's why we have sales people. The human interaction plays to your customers' cognitive needs, and helps them clearly assess your capabilities. But as people become more comfortable with the web, their expectations for information are rising too. Customers aren't relying on sales people to fulfill their informational needs. They are using the web to gather this information. Help them. Anticipate your customers' questions. Give them straight up answers. And direct them to engage a sales person at the appropriate time, which is likely when they need a demonstration or pricing. Share as much information as you can on your site without giving away your trade secrets.

Can you confidently say your website sells as well as your best sales person?

Building a credible brand experience online is no easy task, but it's crucial. People are relying on what they find online more and more. It's where relationships start, and it's where expectations are set. You can't simply use the web as a tool. It's your brand. Treat it as such.

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Employers Hire Sure Bets: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Employers Hire Sure Bets
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Canada lost 83,000 jobs in February pushing the unemployment rate up to 7.7%. Ontario was hit particularly hard as it lost 35,000 jobs. Much of these job losses were in finance, construction and manufacturing. The steep losses in finance and construction had a direct impact on the Toronto job market. The Toronto unemployment rate rose from 8% to 8.7% in February.

This is a competitive job market. More and more people are looking for work. Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob, spoke on this rising unemployment rate on TV on Friday. He recommends that job seekers really focus on how they contribute value to employers.

It's no longer about finding a job, or what an employer can do for you. Job seekers must ask themselves "what can you do for a company?" Job seekers should identify how they contribute value to companies, and how they can have a direct impact on the bottom line.

View the TV interview at www.LEAPJob.com/Employers_Hire_Sure_Bets

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Turtles & Innovators: Innovation is the key to success in a recession

Turtles & Innovators
Innovation is the key to success in a recession

By Jeremy Miller

It's hard to stay positive in the midst of a recession. Every time you turn on the news you're barraged with negativity: plant closures, layoffs, bankruptcies and more. It's enough to make the most optimistic entrepreneur turtle up and hope for better days. Resist that urge. Turtling up is the last thing you should do. This recession will ravage the Turtles, and reward the Innovators. So rise up, and innovate, innovate, innovate.

Slow Down, Listen and Learn

Purchasing behavior changes dramatically in a recession. Companies become far more cautious with their investments, and many defer any major decision as long as they can. You see it in their behavior. Companies increasingly opt for trimmed-down options or do-it-yourself projects to maximize cash flow. Each spending decision is agonized over, and even small purchases require executive sign-off. The organization becomes hyper aware of their spending habits.

Frugal spending is an opportunity for Innovators, because companies are more receptive to new ideas. They still have needs, but they don't have the same budgets. Can you offer a better way? If so, this is a golden opportunity. While executives are scrutinizing their budgets, you can gain their attention. These buyers are fantastic to work with, because they see the big picture and know where the company can take risks.

Now is the time to be listening. Tune your organization to be hyper alert. Train your sales force to start asking probing questions, and teach them how to look for new opportunities. Sales people are focused on winning business in the here and now, but they can also be leveraged for market reconnaissance. Their customer interactions are invaluable.

As you gather information, management needs a way to capture and disseminate that knowledge inside the organization. Are the customer service reps hearing the same things? What is marketing finding? Can marketing tweak the messaging to speak to these customer challenges? What about operations? Can they develop new products or services to solve these challenges, or adapt current solutions to be more effective for the economic times? The whole organization can accomplish a lot with the right information and a can-do attitude.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

Muhammad Ali had an uncanny ability to spot weaknesses, move quickly, and strike. This is exactly the same skills we need for innovation.

The first thing a Turtle cuts is marketing. They view it as discretionary spending, and something that can be cut for short term gain. Bad idea. Rhodes and Stettler write in the February 2009 issue of the Harvard Business Review, "Companies that injudiciously slash marketing spending often find that they later must spend far more than they saved in order to recover."

As the Turtles cut their marketing, the Innovators should strike. Companies want to work with vendors that are secure and stable. They don't want to invest money in a risky vendor; they will seek out the companies that offer sure-bets. Actively marketing your firm is a sign of strength. When customers see you on the Web, in the media and at the tradeshows they will take notice. It shows that you are upbeat and optimistic for the future, and that you are here to stay.

Share Your Point of View

Market visibility is not enough. What makes you remarkable?

Customers are looking for your X factor. They want to see how you are different, and what your company is doing to innovate and stay ahead in this market. So tell them. Show them. Educate them.

The neatest ally you have in this recession is the Internet. At any given time only 3% of your market is buying. This means 97% soon will be. If you are only focused on sales, then the non-buyers will tune you out. To engage the non-buying audience share information and advice that companies can use right now.

You have so many options to contribute value to your market. You can post how-to videos on YouTube, write articles or blog, comment in social networking sites, or simply put great content on your website. All of these activities count. By sharing your videos and value-add content you can build relationships with your customers even when they aren't buying. These relationships will offer you powerful opportunities, because as these customers enter a buying state you will be their first call. They will know you, have experienced your value proposition, and will be ready to do business with you when the time is right.

The Innovators Advantage

No matter how you cut it, Innovators will always beat the Turtles. Look at the giant companies today. Many of them, like Apple and Microsoft, were founded in recessionary times. They achieved their stature by being innovative, aggressive and committed to success. You too have this opportunity in this recession. Grab hold of it, and enjoy the ride.

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Recession Proof Your Job: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Recession Proof Your Job
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

On Friday, February 6, Statistics Canada announced the unemployment rate spiked from 6.6% to 7.2%. Employment fell by 129,000 in January (-0.8%), almost all in full time jobs. This drop in employment exceeds any monthly decline during the previous economic downturns of the 1980s and 1990s.

Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob, spoke on the rising unemployment numbers and how to recession proof your job.

View the video at www.LEAPJob.com/recession_proof_your_job

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

A New Breed of Sales Professional

A New Breed of Sales Professionals

Jeremy Miller

In the fall of 1992, Alec Baldwin changed the face of sales. In the movie <i>Glengarry Glen Ross</i>, Baldwin portrayed Blake, a hard-hitting sales person sent to turnaround a group of failing reps. As he says, "He was sent on a mission of mercy." Baldwin's portrayal formed an archetype of success that sales people are being held up to even today. This classic quote from the movie sums it up best, "You want to know what it takes to sell real estate? It takes brass balls to sell real estate."

This attitude is so persuasive. Sales managers don't want nice guys and gals on their teams. They want "aggressive, go-getters." They want people who are "hungry." They want "closers." They want "hunters." I don't know about you, but these don't sound like positive personal character traits to me. Go to YouTube and search "Glengarry Glen Ross," and you will see one of the greatest sales speeches of all time. But you tell me. Would you buy from Alec Baldwin? Would you respect him?

When you make a major purchase do you like to be sold, or do you control your buying decision? Do you want to buy from a guy that can sell "ice to Eskimos," or buy from a professional who actually listens to your issues and helps you solve a problem? I would choose the second sales person. Modern sales people aren't closers – they're problem solvers.

Customers don't want to be persuaded or cajoled. Actually, the moment they feel a sales person is trying to persuade, motivate or sell them they become far less willing to believe whatever the sales person has to say. They tune out. Great sales professionals understand this fact intuitively. Their goal is not to persuade, but to reinforce the value of their service and how it solves problems.

Reinforcing value is the mantra of the modern sales person. Before a customer ever calls a sales person they do research online. Customers today are extremely well-educated, and they aren't looking to be sold. When they call a sales person they expect to have a meaningful business conversation. They want to clearly understand how the product or service works. Why it works. Who else it has helped, and how they overcame their challenges. What is the best practice for buying and implementing the product, and what are the risks and benefits. They expect the sales person to answer all of these questions and more.

The interesting twist of customers today is they don't expect to meet sales people face-to-face to make a decision. Customers are skeptical. They aren't buying based on the relationships they have with sales people, they are buying products and services that help them grow their business. Sales people are adapting to this new reality, and learning how to communicate value without having personal relationships. This is a new skill set for the modern sales person, because they have to build trust and demonstrate value from arms length. This requires sales people to have deep integrity, superior communication skills, deep product knowledge and a commitment to help their customers. They have to embrace all of the tools at their means in order to serve a very busy, very skeptical customer that is intolerant of persuasion and coercion.

To live up to their customers' expectations, sales people are sponges of knowledge. They learn from their organizations. They learn from their colleagues. They learn from their customers. They learn on their own. And they distill all of this knowledge, and translate it into a language that is easy and meaningful for their customers. I would describe great sales people as painters. They paint pictures in their customers' minds of how the solution solves their problems. They apply their knowledge in a way that makes their products and services tangible for their customers. Their paintings help customers buy.

The sales archetype Alec Baldwin portrayed in <i>Glengarry Glen Ross</i> does not work. He bullies his customers, he bullies his colleagues and he wins at their expense. That is the exact opposite of modern sales people. They aren't bullies. They are problem solvers, and amazing ones at that. I am in awe of how great sales reps are able to connect with their customers, and the commitment they have to help them succeed. That is the type of a sales person I want to work with, and the one that I would be happy to buy from.

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Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. LEAPJob recruits sales and marketing professionals and sales leaders for many of Canada's most recognized companies. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Personal Branding Online - Using content to generate business

Personal Branding Online
Using content to generate business

Jeremy Miller

Personal branding is a pretty big buzz word these days. Google the phrase and you get over 16 million hits. Now take your search a step further and Google yourself. What comes up? Not much? Now you see why everyone is into personal branding.

Your customers are curious. They want to know about the people they work with every day. Too often they don't find much. Maybe a quote here or there, a MySpace page or maybe the stats from a marathon you ran ten years ago. Either way, they aren't finding the information they want. This is a real missed opportunity. Feed their curiosity.

I can already hear your protests as you read this. "It's too much work." "I don't have time." "I am not Internet savvy." Bah! Those are just excuses. It's not that hard. My 85 year old grandmother is a rockstar on the Internet. If she can upload a YouTube video, then you can too.

So again, feed their curiosity. What is so neat about the Web is you have so many options: blogging, social networking, publishing articles, podcasting, and vidcasting. The list can keep going and going. It really comes down to your creativity and drive.

Start with what you already know. Every professional has expertise. Whether it's the products you sell, or the people you coach. You know something of value for other people. More importantly, you know something of value for your customers. This expertise is the corner stone to your personal brand. By creating content and sharing your expertise online you will develop a personal brand. It's that simple. The more content you produce the more people will see you. This is how you increase your brand awareness. The more valuable your content, the more credible you will be. This is how you improve your influence.

Producing valuable content can be a daunting task, but start with these three basic steps:

Step 1: Create online profiles

Who are you anyways? What is your area of expertise? Why should I be paying attention to you? What I am really asking of you is to define your unique selling proposition. It's time to package yourself, and describe your area of expertise.

You don't have to struggle and reinvent the wheel to create your online profile. Simply start with the social networking sites. I particularly like LinkedIn, because it is business focused. It allows you to profile your expertise with simple wizards. From a personal branding perspective make sure your messaging is tight. Every time you create an online profile it should be consistent, and it should clearly articulate your unique selling proposition. This is not about publishing an online resume, but presenting yourself as a subject matter expert.

Step 2: Answer Questions

Once you have a well defined profile and brand position, it's time to produce content. You have a lot of options here. You can blog. You can podcast. You can write articles. You can answer questions.

I recommend starting with answering questions. This is an easy way to produce content, and will allow you to test your ideas quickly. Check out LinkedIn's Answers section. This is where people are posting questions and answers, very much like a sophisticated newsgroup. It's a great way to share your knowledge, and get immediate feedback.

Once you have mastered Q&A, move on to more sophisticated forms of content. I use articles as one of my primary content vehicles. I distribute my articles through email newsletters, as well as submit them for publication to a number of online and print magazines. Typically an article takes me eight hours to brainstorm, write and proof. It is a time commitment, but I have learned to enjoy the process.

If writing is not your thing, look to video (vidcasting) or audio (podcasting). With all of the tools out there it's very easy to create interactive content. Check out the business podcasts on iTunes. You will see some extraordinary content, and I'm sure you will get ideas of what you can do too. Also look at YouTube. You can create your own channel, and produce videos in your home. Lots of people are doing it, and it doesn't require a lot of technology to produce highly engaging and interesting videos. Use your creativity, and explore the technology that best fits your unique abilities.

Step 3: Give people a reason to call

You have created a profile, and you are producing content on a monthly basis. Now what? Building a personal brand is great, but you need to get paid for your efforts.

You may not get hard cash for your content, but at the very least it should generate leads. When people stumble upon your content and it speaks to them, they will want more. Show them where to go. Include a bi-line in your articles, include a link with your videos, or tell people how they can reach you in your podcasts. Every link back to you is an opportunity for leads to find you.

Business owners and executives often link back to their companies. This is an important technique to evangelize their businesses and their positions. For employees or individuals, they may not want to give their leads away. If that's the case create a personal website. Buy your name as a website domain, and create a landing page that reinforces your unique selling proposition. Your site can offer a collection of your content, as well as give opportunities to request information and make purchases online.

Nothing comes easily

Personal branding is not something that just happens. It takes time and effort. Think of it like dieting and exercise. You have to make it an ingrained habit and part of your lifestyle. If you are not willing to make this level of commitment, well then it's not even worth attempting.

Branding is a process of regular commitment and engagement. When you see a corporate website that hasn't been updated in ten years what is your impression of the company? Not good. Don't make the same mistake with your brand. If you build it – build it well. If you do, they will come.

*****

Business Planning in a Volatile Market: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Business Planning in a Volatile Market
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

2008 has been a year of great volatility. With rapid swings in the dollar, gas prices and commodity prices it has been very challenging for business owners to keep. These swings hit businesses' bottom line. For importers and exporters the dollar has been a major issue. For companies in the food industry the rise in commodity prices like corn and flour have hurt them. For transportation companies it has been gas.

Jeremy Miller of LEAPJob, a sales and marketing recruitment firm, speaks on TV about how business owners can adapt to this volatility:

View the video clip at www.LEAPJob.com/volatile_market

Obama on Sales: Take a page from Barack Obama's playbook

Obama on Sales
Take a page from Barack Obama's playbook

By Jeremy Miller

Barack Obama called his staff, "the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States" in his Presidential victory speech. What an understatement. His campaign rewrote the rules on how to win an election. Not only was the American population voting for him, but so was the world. He took the power of his personal brand with the reach of the Internet to influence the entire globe in his bid for the White House. I am sure political strategists will be studying Barack Obama's campaign for years to come, but we too as sales professionals and marketers can learn from his playbook.

There are three key points we can take away from Obama's campaign in a business-to-business context: clear and consistent positioning, experiential marketing on the Web, and converting traffic.

Clear and Consistent Positioning

Change. The word "change" anchored Obama's campaign from the beginning. It was his brand, and his position in the hearts and minds of voters. This brand position was not accidental. He wasn't labeled as a maverick or a change agent by the pundits. He chose change. The word "change" was emblazoned on signs, on billboards and even on his speaking podium like a Presidential Seal. From day one he connected the word "change" to his name – to his brand.

Change was a great theme for Obama. With George W. Bush's popularity at record lows, the American public was crying out for it. It even appealed to Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Both tried to associate themselves with the word too, but it backfired. Obama owned it. It was his brand. Their use of the word simply reinforced Obama as a person of change, and made them look unoriginal and unauthentic by copying Obama.

Positioning is one of the most important aspects in sales. How are you different from the competition? Customers have choice, and you have to be very clear with what makes you unique. Notice "change" is not a unique selling proposition. It is just a position. It is clear, and it is adaptable. The word "change" means different things to different people, but they can all connect it back to Obama. The same is true in a B-to-B setting. You have to choose a position that is distinctive, and that can be adapted in multiple different settings.

At LEAPJob our word is "leap" – ok that was probably really obvious. But the word is important to us. "Leap" builds on the metaphor of journey. A career is a journey. For example people can be moving forward in their career, they can be on the wrong path or they can be stuck. We constantly use journey metaphors to describe the progression of our careers. LEAPJob uses the word "leap," because we are not only helping people to move forward – we are helping them to leap forward.

Experiential Marketing on the Web

Obama's Internet campaign will go down in history. Many pundits claim it was here that Obama really won this election. He expanded the electoral map by engaging young people who traditionally do not vote. He engaged them with the tools they are so comfortable with like YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Obama's campaign posted over 1,165 videos on YouTube! That is a staggering volume of media, and the public gobbled it up. In the final weeks of the election, Obama's YouTube page was the most visited page on the site.

The volume of content or the use of the Internet did not win the election. Rather the Internet allowed the world to experience Barack Obama, his brand, his values and what he could offer as President. Voters could experience Obama in an unbiased light, and participate in communities discussing his Presidency and what it means. This is the power of the Internet.

Look at how the Internet had the opposite effect for Governor Sarah Palin. Her big gaff interview with Katie Couric would have quickly been forgotten in previous elections. A few people would have seen it live, and then the pundits would have talked about it for a few days. Soon everyone would be bored and move on. But with YouTube, Palin's interview was replayed over-and-over-and-over again. Then Tina Fey, of Saturday Night Live, parodied the interview, which was hilarious, and both videos became viral. Palin's brand equity plummeted, as voters witnessed her inexperience. They didn't have to be told that she was inexperienced by the pundits, they saw it for themselves.

How does your company manage your customers' online experience? The Internet is where your customers form an opinion about your organization. This is where they decide if they are going to call or not, and even if they are going to buy or not. Tools like YouTube are amazing in a sales context, because it allows your customers to experience who you are and what your company stands for before they call. When customers have a positive experience online, the sales process is much easier because they have gone through much of the pre-purchasing activities on their own.

Converting Traffic

The Obama campaign took their Internet strategy a step further by asking for donations. Nearly three million individuals donated to Obama's campaign, and over half of those donations were under $200. The sheer number of people participating and donating to Obama's campaign gave him a lot of power. He outspent McCain in advertising and ground support in multiples in the key battleground states.

From a sales perspective though, he had millions of voters make a small psychological commitment to him. Each donation was a commitment. Put yourself into the donor's shoes. If you gave Obama's campaign money wouldn't you vote for him no matter what? Wouldn't you go out of your way to get your friends, family and colleagues to vote for him too? You made a commitment to him, no matter how small it was. A small financial commitment was enough to mentally and emotionally hook a person into the campaign.

Small commitments are very powerful sales strategies. Tom Hopkins, author of How to Master the Art of Selling, calls this the trial close. On your Website you can go a step further. Check out Salesforce.com. On virtually every page they are asking visitors to sign-up for a free trial. That small commitment gives Salesforce.com the opportunity to engage with their customers and to start the sales process. Every B-to-B website has a conversion point. It's the point where the customer needs a sales person to help fulfill the buying process. What is your conversion point in your sales process? How can you get your customers to make a small commitment to start the sales process?

The Proof is in the Results

Against all the odds, Barack Obama is the President-Elect of the United States of America. How about that? He leveraged a clearly defined brand, online experiences and many opportunities to engage voters in his campaign. He allowed not only Americans, but the world to feel as though they helped him get into the White House.

You can guarantee the next Presidential election will only build on the tactics employed by the Obama campaign, but so too will businesses. Obama's campaign used a set of tools and methodologies that are highly transferrable to business. He won by engaging people online. His message was clear, and he allowed people to experience him and his values online. You and I will likely not be the next President of the United States, but we sure can learn from Obama's marketing strategies.

*****

Jeremy Miller is a Partner with LEAPJob, a sales recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. LEAPJob recruits sales professionals and sales leaders for many of Canada's most recognized companies. Their clients range from the Top 50 Employers to smaller organizations building their first sales force. For more information on LEAPJob please visit http://www.LEAPJob.com.

Sales Layoffs Unlikely in This Recession: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

73% of sales people say we are headed for recession. In October, LEAPJob survey sales professionals on the impact of the market meltdown on their sales. The results were disturbing: 50% of sales people said their customers are deferring major purchase decisions; 40% said they have to use deep discounts to win business; and a third said their sales funnels are in decline. Sales people feel the economy sinking in their customers' behavior.

That being said, don't expect layoffs. The unemployment rate is still at a 30 year low. Companies today run very lean, and don't have a lot of people to let go. You won't see companies downsizing in order to manage their costs. The supply of good quality sales people is just too low.

View Jeremy Miller's interview on TV to discuss the survey results: www.LEAPJob.com/layoffs_unlikely_in_this_recession

Is Outside Sales an Endangered Species?

By Jeremy Miller

Our world is changing. Global warming is causing polar bears and killer whales numbers to decline. Human sprawl is knocking out major sections of natural habitat, which impact species like the gorillas and pandas. And now rising fuel prices and the growth of the Internet are killing off outside sales professionals.

Who would have thought we could ever see the end of the outside sales professional? They have been helping companies grow for over 100 years. They have introduced products, educated markets and grown companies through their efforts. They have been the driving reason for some of our greatest companies like IBM, Xerox and American Express. Many of our most successful business leaders started their careers in sales. Today outside sales professionals are in jeopardy.

Google has had a profound impact on sales. In just a few short years Google has taken control away from the sales professionals and given it to the customers. In a few keystrokes a customer can identify all of their buying options. They can read product reviews, get competitive pricing, find vendors and choose the best option without ever speaking to a sales person.

Google has replaced much of the front-end work sales people do. Customers aren't waiting for a sales person to cold call them. When they have a business challenge they go to Google to find the answer. When they want to compare their options and see which companies offer the best value, again they go to Google. Try this on yourself. When you buy your next car will you A, head to a dealership and ask a sales person what they have for you, or B, search Google and build your own shortlist. If you are like most, you will know exactly which car you want to buy long before you speak to a sales person.

The second major influencer for the extinction of outside sales professionals is the rising price of fuel. In less than two years gas prices have soared by more than 30%. The annual cost of a sales person who drives an average of 500 kilometers per week has increased by $9,620 per year. This may not seem like much, but imagine you had 100 sales reps on the road. That is close to a million dollar increase in the sales force's budget! Imagine if you directed that investment to more productive marketing efforts? Imagine you put that money into Internet marketing programs? Would you be better off? Most likely.

At a $1.40 a liter even sales professionals are monitoring their driving habits. In June 2008, LEAPJob, a Toronto-based sales recruiting firm, polled sales professionals on the impact of rising fuel costs on their driving habits. Over 50% said they have reduced the number of trips they are taking. This is a remarkable thing for a sales person to do, because it is their job to visit customers. If they are making fewer trips then they are seeing fewer customers. This will directly impact how they sell. They will have to be much more strategic in their sales efforts if they hope to hit quota.

The outside sales professional is being squeezed at both ends. Customers are circumventing the sales process by getting information on their own, and the cost to travel is forcing sales people to think twice about trekking across the city. Sales forces must become much more strategic about how they engage, support and sell to their customers.

Sales forces need to master the same web tools their customers have embraced. The obvious statement for any company is "be where your customers are." If the first place a customer looks for products and services is Google, well you better be in their search results if you want a shot at selling to them. If a customer's first impression of your company is your website, well it better be remarkable. The reliance on an outside sales force is a clear sign that a company's sales and marketing efforts are too dependent on very expensive sales resources. The increasing costs of an outside sales force means companies have to focus these expensive resources to where they will have the most impact such as product demonstrations, negotiations and strategic account management. Conducting business as usual is suicide.

It is safe to say that the cost of gas isn't going to suddenly fall, and that innovation on the Internet is going to suddenly stop. The forces killing off outside sales professionals are here to stay. Companies have a choice. They can embrace their new realities, or they can become conservationists and try to save another endangered species.

****

LEAPJob is a sales recruiting firm based in Toronto, Canada. LEAPJob recruits sales professionals and sales leaders for many of Canada's most recognized companies. Their clients range from the Top 50 Employers to smaller organizations building their first sales force. For more information visit www.LEAPJob.com.

Sales People Find the Silver Lining in the Market Meltdown

Sales people find the silver lining in the market meltdown

73.1% of sales professionals say we are headed for recession. Sales people are a clear indicator of the health and prospects of companies selling business-to-business services. There are fewer customers to sell products and services too, and their existing customers are deferring purchase decisions.

On Monday, October 6, 2008, LEAPJob surveyed sales professionals on how the market turmoil is impacting their sales. The results were very revealing for the health of North American businesses:

50.2% of respondents said their customers are deferring buying decisions.
30.1% of respondents felt revenue will decline in the next 6 months, while only 25.6% felt they could grow revenue.
33% of respondents do not expect to achieve their sales quota in the next 6 months, and 32.2% of respondents see the size of their sales funnel declining.
38.2% of respondents will have to discount their products and services to win sales.

"Sales people are a resilient group. Even though times look bleak they see a silver lining in all of this chaos," said Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob. The survey asked respondents to offer suggestions on how their company should combat a recession. Miller goes on to say one respondent wrote just one word, "Diversify." Diversification is a clear strategy for many sales people as they try to find industries and services where there are revenue opportunities. Respondents reported Healthcare (64.3%), Pharmaceutical (59.6%) and Information Technology (41%) are industries that will perform well in the next 12 months.

Creativity is a major theme for sales people to combat a recession, and here lies the silver lining. "Find more creative ways to cross-sell to existing customers, and look for talent that becomes available from other firms," wrote a respondent. In hot economic times people are selling as much as they can, and as efficiently as they can to maximize revenues. In slow economic times sales people have to look closer at their customers, and identify new and creative ways to contribute value. One comment suggested, "In order to be more competitive and not reduce prices, my recommendation is to explore additional value-added services. They cost you very little, but they are highly beneficial for your customers."

The fears of a recession are real. Even though sales people are buckling down and working harder, they are changing their personal habits. 55.7% of respondents will defer major purchase decisions for the time being. With such volatility in the market everyone is trying to mitigate their risks.

*****

Facebook in Business: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Facebook in Business
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Social networking is no longer for the teens and tweens. Business people are jumping on board too. Why? Because it is fun. It's like bringing the schoolyard back into adult life. You can connect with friends, colleagues and family in real time.

Jeremy Miller of LEAPJob, a Toronto based sales recruiting firm, speaks on TV about how businesses can embrace social networking. Jeremy discusses how people have embraced the technology because it is fun, but they still must be cautious about what they post. When you post on the internet, you are posting on the public domain.

View the TV Interview at www.LEAPJob.com/Facebook_in_Business

*****

Resumes That Sell - Writing resumes that hiring managers will read

Resumes That Sell
Writing resumes that hiring managers will read

By Jeremy Miller

Writing a quality resume is difficult. Essentially you are boiling down your professional experiences into a one to two page document. To help bring clarity to the process remember a resume is just a marketing document.

Write your resume for a targeted audience. What type of sales job are you looking for? A software sales resume is different from a sales manager resume. Why? Each role requires very different skills and experiences. Write your resume first to reflect the hiring motivations of your ideal job. Then tweak the resume for each job you apply for.

Chronological or Functional Resume Format?

We are asked frequently if people should write a chronological or functional resume. A functional resume simply describes what you do and your key attributes, while a chronological resume describes each step in your career.

Sales resumes should be chronological. More specifically they should be reverse chronological. Your current job goes first and your first job out of school (university or college) goes last.

Under each career heading try to write three to four bullets that describe your core responsibilities, and one to two bullets for your big achievements.

What doesn't need to be on a sales resume?

There is a lot of superfulous information that doesn't need to be on your resume. If you are trying to control the length of your resume throw out items like: experience with software applications, hobbies and irrelevant training courses. Remember this is a marketing document. Only keep the information that is relevant to your buyer: the hiring manager.

Also, you don't need to include your high school under education. Everyone went to high school. It's a given.

Choose a standard resume format

You don't have to reinvent the wheel for your resume. Microsoft Word offers great templates for resumes. Use a basic resume template with a simple design that is easy to read. That will reduce the hassles you face in creating a resume.

The key elements of a sales resume include:

Contact information
Objective
Experience (reverse chronological)
Education

That is basically all you need.

Ultimately the pen doesn't sell

A resume is a required document to find a job, but it is only a starting point. Think about it. Brochures don't win sales – sales people do. The same is true for resumes. You must hone your interviewing skills to win your dream job.

Sales managers are busy people. They don't have time to interview everyone who applies for their jobs. Take the time to write a great resume. You don't want to have one of those resumes that are rejected, because it didn't look good enough.

*****

Win Every Interview - Tips on how to present yourself in a sales interview

Win Every Interview
Tips on how to present yourself in a sales interview

By Jeremy Miller

Sales interviews are not interviews. They're sales calls. The first rule of interviewing for sales jobs is don't go to interview – go to sell.

Here's the good news. You already know how to sell. As a sales professional, you have all the skills. Questioning techniques, developing rapport and closing abilities are all second nature. Use the sales skills you use every day in your interviews. They are the skills an employer is buying. Show them how good you are.

Prepare for the interview

Do your homework. Before going to your interview you should be able to answer:

What does the company sell?
What is the company's value proposition? What sets it apart?
Why do their customer's buy from them?
How does your experiences and talents make you an ideal candidate for the role?

Interviewers like to ask, "What do you know about us?" They are looking for you to regurgitate their elevator pitch. You want to be able to rattle it off smoothly and demonstrate you are well prepared for the interview.

More importantly doing your homework allows you to deal with the unexpected. You never know where an interview will go. The better prepared you are, the easier it will be.

Tell your story

Prepare for the obvious questions. For each of your sales jobs you should be able to answer:

Ideal customer profile
The value proposition
Average size deal
Average sales cycle
The target buyer
Quota and quota attainment

Be confident in what you have done, and describe your experiences with authority. Take the time to rehearse your sales stories so that they come out succinct and accurate.

Suit it up

Ok, this should be obvious, but suit it up. Man or woman, dress to impress.

You may not wear a suit day-to-day, but interviews are a bit different. The first three minutes are the most critical in the interview. This is where the interviewer is developing their opinion of you. A suit is an easy technique to manage first impressions.

Don't forget to close

Whatever you do, don't forget to close. This is the most critical aspect of any sales interview.

As the interview comes to a close be sure to ask, "What are the next steps?" You can use a pre-close like, "I am very interested in this role. What is your assessment of me so far?" Then when the interviewer finishes ask for next steps.

Handling Objections

Some interviewers like to see how sales people dance. They will purposefully create awkward or difficult situations to see how the interviewee handles himself.

Don't get caught in these traps. If you feel the interviewer move into an argumentative conversation or begin to ask really difficult questions, just role with the punches. Don't let yourself lose your cool or get flustered.

The best way to diffuse a difficult question is to reverse it. If the interviewer asks a challenging question, reverse the question by asking the interviewer why it is important to them. Try to ask some pointed questions before simply blurting out the answer. You may discover that there is a hidden meaning or agenda behind the question.

Send a Thank You note

Don't under estimate the power of a Thank You note. Send one after every interview.

It doesn't have to be long winded or detailed. Express your appreciation for the interview, and reinforce your close for next steps. That is all you need.

A Thank You note will clearly separate you from the competition. It's amazing how many people forget to send them. Take the time to send a follow up note, and you will be that much closer to winning the job.

Sell, Sell, Sell

Treat each interview as if it were a very important sales opportunity. Use the same amount of time, preparation and follow through that you would use to win the big deals.

*****

Surviving a Recession: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Surviving a Recession
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

We are facing a bear market. As the North American economy slips into recession, companies need to step up and stay focused if they hope to survive. Too often companies turtle up and try to protect themselves. That's the wrong strategy. Be bold. Stand out. Let your customers know you are there to serve them, and be the first call when they are ready to buy.

Jeremy Miller of LEAPJob speaks on TV about how companies can survive a recession. View the TV interview: http://www.LEAPJob.com/Surviving_A_Recession

Falling On Deaf Ears - Conversations help your customers cut through the hype

By Jeremy Miller

"Blah, blah, blah, ROI. Blah, blah, blah, solution. Blah, blah, blah, leading edge. Blah, blah, blah, results." This is what your customers hear every day. The same old overhyped crap.

Every day people are inundated with marketing messages. Turn on the TV; do a search on the Internet; read a newspaper; watch a movie; drive down the highway. Everywhere you turn there is someone trying to catch your attention and get your money. It's rather annoying actually.

People have developed a simple defense mechanism to manage all of these marketing requests: tune out. That's right. Think for a moment. Do you actually watch TV commercials? Do you read the Google ads when you do a search? Do you try to strike up a conversation with a sales person who just cold called you? Probably not. No one has the time or the mental capacity to give their attention to all of these countless requests.

The same old marketing tactics are losing their impact. The moment someone realizes your goal is to persuade, motivate or sell them something, they become far less willing to believe whatever you have to say. They tune you out. So how do we avoid this inevitable freeze out? The answer is to stop pitching, and have a meaningful conversation with your customers.

Conversations are not new. People have been having them since time began. That is how we learn about each other, how we share ideas, and how we build relationships. People enjoy having conversations, but for companies conversations are scary. Marketing messages are clean, straightforward and one directional. Conversations on the other hand are messy. They require participation, involvement and sharing opinions.

If we boil it all down, companies avoid open conversations, because they don't want to offend anyone. They invest oodles of money carefully crafting messages that speak equally to everyone. The problem with a conversation is you have to share opinions, and sometimes your customers will disagree with you.

Disagreements are good. Consider your close friends and family. You have conversations, debates and arguments with them. Some are fun, and some are frustrating. But they don't jeopardize your relationships – they strengthen them. Getting to know these people at a deeper level and understanding what makes them tick brings you closer. It lets you know where you stand with them, and how you can effectively work with them in your life. That is the real power of conversations.

Let your customers know where you stand. Have a conversation with them. Now this does not mean that you throw caution to the wind and reveal your corporate strategy and competitive intelligence. Rather it means shaping your point of view, and discussing mutual areas of interest with your customers.

Dove, the soap and beauty product company, has done a masterful job engaging their market in a conversation with their "Campaign for Real Beauty." They took a stand. They said women come in all ages, shapes and sizes, and they are beautiful. What a powerful message! Their message was absolutely contrarian in their market. Up until then beauty products were always portrayed by tall, skinny models. Dove took a stance, and it paid off.

Let me put it simply. In one paragraph I referenced the Dove campaign. I expect you can already picture some of their ads in your mind. You can picture the images of women that come in all shapes and ages. You also have an opinion. You either love the campaign, or you are not a fan. Either way it has left its mark on you. My basic reference to the campaign jogged your memory, and if we sit down I bet we could have a real conversation on the ideas of "real beauty." Dove has broken through the clutter, and left its mark on you.

Now try Googling the "Campaign for Real Beauty." I brought up over 43 million hits. I didn't even check how many hits came up in the blogosphere. Dove's contrarian opinion got people talking. The conversation has gone far beyond the advertising and PR campaigns that launched the idea, and now it has legs.

That's the power of conversation. By getting your customers talking, and engaging them as people, you make your messages sticky. Your customers don't have to tune you out to defend themselves against persuasive messages, because they are participating in the conversation. They are asking questions. You are sharing opinions. They know where you stand. All the while you are building trust and rapport with your customers by speaking to them as individuals.

Conversations start with an opinion. We all have them. What does your company stand for? What knowledge or expertise do you have that could be meaningful to your market? What do you want to talk about? Pick some topics that are engaging and relevant with your customers, and strike up a conversation with them. See what happens. I bet you will find your customers responsive and interested.

*****

Selling in a Slow Economy: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Selling in a Slow Economy
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Entrepreneurs know a recession is coming long before the pundits start talking about it. They feel it in their wallets. They see it in the sales funnels. They see it in their customers' behavior.

A recession does not have to be crippling. It is a time of innovation and growth. While your competitors are struggling use this as an opportunity to make real inroads with your customers. By improving your sales, marketing and customer experiences you can emerge from this recession as the market leader.

Jeremy Miller of LEAPJob speaks on TV about how companies can stand out in a slowing economy. View the TV interview: http://www.LEAPJob.com/selling_in_a_recession

Googlizing Sales: The Web is changing the way we sell

Google has changed sales. Why? Access to information. Think about it. When did you get highspeed internet in your home? 2001? 2002? Prior to highspeed the internet was a powerful tool, but it wasn't fully embraced at all levels of our society. A site like YouTube could not have existed pre-highspeed. Could you imagine downloading a YouTube video clip on dial-up? With this new found speed, consumers and businesses have flocked to the Web as their primary source of information – regardless of the topic.

Access to information has had a profound impact on selling. The most obvious change has been on prospecting. Sure you can still cold call, but guess what your customers are doing? Their Googling to find products and services they want to buy. Mr. Customer is not waiting by his phone hoping you will call. He is on Google looking for an answer to his challenge. He will peck away at sites until one catches his eye. And if all the stars align he will call that company and request more information. If you had made a cold call at the exact same time he was searching for an answer you would probably get the lead, but chances are you didn't. Wouldn't it be much nicer to have the corporate website he found, and decided to call?

Having a website is only a minimum requirement. What is more important is being in the path of your customer's searches. The car companies are very astute in this arena. Not only do they have incredible websites for consumers to evaluate their cars, they also have a whole industry talking about them. You can read car reviews on Edmunds, watch videos on YouTube, read road tests on Car & Driver and read thousands of owner comments in the blogosphere. If you Google “BMW 5” you will find a plethora of information on the BMW 5-series in seconds. Most people buying cars today know exactly what they want and where they will buy it long before they ever speak to a sales person.

When a customer does find your website and is motivated to call, they are already extremely well educated. This means the window of opportunity to influence the buying decision is very short. You have to be on your A game when you're dealing with an internet lead. Why? Quite often the customer knows as much or more about the product as you do. When the customer does make the call they have an agenda. They have specific questions. They are looking for a buying experience that matches their online experience. Anything less and they will find another solution online – it's just that easy for them.

The internet is changing sales at an alarming pace. Google has been in use since 2000. Facebook was launched in 2004, and YouTube launched in mid-2005. Look how quickly these sites have permeated our internet usage and become tools in our day-to-day shopping habits. As sales people we need to adapt quickly to how the Web is influencing our customers' buying decisions.

Does your company have an internet strategy for attracting, engaging and converting searchers into leads? If not, get working on it. This should be a top priority in every company. The companies with the best web experience and the most internet chatter will fair best. In my organization, LEAPJob, we attract two new customers per week simply from our website. We haven't cold called for new business since 2005. This is money at your doorstep. Embrace it.

*****

Succession in Family Business: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Succession in Family Business
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Over 75% of family business leaders will retire in the next 15 years. Succession is critical for the growth and development of family business. Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob, discusses his experiences in his family business and how to prepare for succession. View the TV interview: http://www.LEAPJob.com/succession_in_family_business

****

Gas Prices Spike | Sales People Take Action

Gas prices are soaring! They have gone up 20% since January 2008 and 30% since June 2007. The rapid rise at the pumps is directly impacting sales people and their wallets.

In June 2008, LEAPJob polled 700 sales people on the impact of rising fuel prices. The results have been striking. Companies' car expense plans are out of date, and sales people are responding. We have seen a grassroots change as sales people have reduced their driving habits to deal with rising fuel prices. And based on the respondents' feedback, companies aren't even aware of it.

Companies have failed to keep up with the times. Over 65% of respondents said their companies have not updated their driving expense plans since 2006. This is amazing. The average price of gas in Toronto in June 2006 was 94 cents, and in just two years it has spiked to 131 cents per liter. A sales person driving 500 kilometers per week is now paying an additional $185 per week or $9,620 per year. A car allowance of $500 to $600 per month is light. It doesn't even cover the cost of gas!

Sales people have responded. Over half of the respondents have reduced the number of trips they are taking. This is a remarkable thing for a sales person to do, because it is their job to visit customers. If they are making fewer trips then they are seeing fewer customers. This will directly impact how they sell. By reducing their activity levels, sales people will have to be far more strategic in their selling activities if they want to achieve their quota.

What blew me away in this survey is companies still say, "It's business as usual." 70% of companies have not adjusted their expectations for how much sales people drive. Are they aware that half their sales reps are reducing their driving habits? Are they aware how their outdated expense plans are impacting their sales people? Companies really need to step up, and respond to the spiking fuel prices.

Gas prices are top of mind for sales people, and employers will see this when they try to recruit new sales talent. 78% of respondents said the driving expense plan is an important part of their total compensation. Sales professionals are negotiating better expense plans when they accept a job. They want to make sure the plan is fair, and they won't be paying out of pocket for an outdated plan.

I can only hope that gas prices stabilize, but the signs suggest they will continue to rise. If we continue on this trend traditional sales models are going to change. At some point it is going to be too costly to maintain an outside sales force. In 2 years we have seen a 30% spike in driving costs. If it doubles again, do you think sales people will still be on the road?

Highlights from the LEAPJob Gas Survey:

53.5% of respondents are reducing the number of trips or sales calls they will make, while another 20% are waiting to see if their employer will improve the expense plan to account for higher fuel prices.
61% of respondents said the price of fuel will have a direct impact on their next vehicle purchase.
Companies' expense plans are out of date. 65% of companies have not adjusted their driving expense plans in the past two years. 23.5% of companies have adjusted their per kilometer allowance, 4.6% of companies have adjusted their monthly car allowances, and 6.8% of companies have adjusted both.
Most sales people are waiting for their employers to respond to rising fuel costs. Only 28% of respondents are negotiating higher expense plans with their employers. 47.9% said they are not looking for a new job even though their expense plans were obsolete. That being said, nearly 25% said they will look for a new job over this issue, and 27.5% are on the fence.
78% of respondents said the driving expense plan is an important part of their total compensation. Expect new recruits to be negotiating higher expense plans.

*****

Gas Prices Hurt Sales People: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Gas Prices Hurt Sales People
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Since January 2008 gas prices have increased 20%. LEAPJob polled sales people to find out how rising fuel prices are impacting their careers.

Some interesting findings included:

65% of companies have not increased their driving expense plans since 2006
Over 50% of sales people are reducing the amount of trips they are taking
78% of sales people consider the driving expense plan an important part of their total compensation

View Jeremy's latest TV interview at www.LEAPJob.com/gas_prices_hurt_sales

Nobody Buys a Leader; They Buy Servants

Does your marketing literature proclaim that your company is a market leader? Does it say something like, "we are the leading producer of …" or something similar? If so, you're not alone. Proclaiming your market position seems to be the first lesson of marketing 101. Guess what? No one cares. Customers care if your solutions will solve their problem. If it can't, then all of these self-serving proclamations are not worth the paper they are printed on.

It's easy to proclaim that you are a market leader. Why? It feels good. It is reassuring and reaffirming to describe yourself as the best. If you believe you're the best, then theoretically other people should too. But take a moment and think about the last major purchase you made for your company or for yourself. Was the product's market position the first thing you considered in your buying criteria? Probably not.

We don't buy leaders. We buy servants. The accounting firm auditing your books is not a leader. They are servants. The CRM software you use to track your activities is not a leader. It's a servant. The car you drive on sales calls is not a leader. It's a servant. I can keep going, but I am sure you get my point. We buy when we have a need. The happier we are with our purchases is a reflection of how well the product served us and how enjoyable the buying experience was.

It's important to change the focus on selling to serving. Sales is inherently a form of leadership. You are selling a customer on what to do. You are persuading, demonstrating and motivating a buying decision in your favor. You are trying to lead your customers to you. It's time to stop navel gazing. These are me-centric notions. When you are selling it's all about you. Shouldn't it be all about your customers?

Try this on for size. Call yourself a servant. Your job is to serve your customers. Your job is to help them solve problems. When you reframe your position to a Servant Sales Person a whole world of opportunities opens up. It becomes easier to qualify your prospects, and weight which ones you can help most effectively first. It is easier to allocate your limited time and resources to the areas you can have the most impact. Becoming a servant makes you a better sales person.

We have all experienced great Servant Sales People. Think of those times that you have really enjoyed the purchasing experience. Common descriptors of these events are: the sales person found just what I was looking for; he understood me; it was fun. The sales person and the buyer were in sync. The sales person anticipated his customer's needs, and was able to proactively come up with solutions. Anyone who has bought suits, whether male or female, knows how beneficial a great sales person can be. They tell you when the clothes look terrible on you, and they find you ones that make you look great. This attitude and attention to your customer's needs can be brought to almost every product or service you sell.

Being a Servant Sales Person is not a menial task. The term servant is misleading, because it creates connotations of domination and obedience. This is definitely not the case in sales. If you want to hit quota you have to be proactive. You have to anticipate your customer's needs early, and be prepared to come up with resolutions quickly. To serve in sales is to anticipate, act and make your customer's buying experience enjoyable and painless.

It's easy to get caught up in a leadership mindset. It's where your ego wants you to be. I know my ego screams when I tell it I am a servant. It wants to win. It wants me to lead. But my customers want me to serve them. Being a servant is a very powerful position. The most influential person in the kingdom is the King's head servant. Why? Because the King relies on him. The head servant isn't persuading the King; he is helping him. If the King goes off in the wrong direction the servant will tell him. He may say, “You can cut off my head, but I think you are making a mistake.” This commitment to the King's success is where the servant's authority and trust comes from. This is the role you want with your customers too.

*****

Job Seekers Have Choice: TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Job Seekers Have Choice
TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Even though North America has been slipping into recession, job seekers have choice. The unemployment rate is at a 33 year low. There are more jobs than people to go around.

Jeremy Miller speaks on TV about how the job market is changing. How it will be easier for job seekers to find great career opportunities. And how it will be harder and harder for employers to attract top talent.

View the interview at www.LEAPJob.com/Job_Seekers_Have_Choice

A's Hire A's, B's Hire C's: Not everyone is cut out to hire a Star

Donald Rumsfeld nailed it when he said, "A's hire A's, B's hire C's." Hiring the best people is not a new idea. It is actually quite common. Especially since people like Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, proclaimed that good to great companies got the right people on the bus before they became great. The problem is not everyone deserves to hire A's. Hiring A's is a privilege. It comes with having a great brand, great products and great culture. This is the environment that attracts star sales people, because they can apply their skills to a company that will reward them accordingly.

That being said, if a company's brand sucks, products suck or culture sucks, why would a star sales person ever work there? Life's too short! These weak companies may be able to get the reps in the door, but good luck holding onto them. This job market is just way too hot and getting hotter still.

Twenty years ago companies with less than ideal selling conditions could still get good quality sales people. Why? Sales people needed jobs just like everyone else. Today is a different story. The unemployment rate is at a 33 year low, and continues to decline. This hot job market is giving job seekers choice.

Today, at LEAPJob, we don't see sales people that are chronically unemployed. Sure there may be a layoff every now and then, but any extra sales people that hit the job market are gobbled right back up in short order. The typical job seekers that we are working with are receiving multiple job offers. Companies want them, and they are willing to pay for their talents.

What is remarkable is the media tells us North America is in a recession. Jim Flaherty, the Federal Finance Minister, claimed that Ontario is becoming a "have-not province." If that's the case, the job numbers are showing a clear separation from previous recessions. In 1989 and 2001, companies shed their workforces in droves. The unemployment rates skyrocketed, and many sales people had to compromise their career choices in order to stay employed. Today sales people are gainfully employed even though the economy is stagnating. A slowdown in the economy is not providing more supply in the job market.

'B companies' are having a much harder time attracting A sales people. Let's not even consider the C and D companies. They don't stand a chance! This job market in a recession is difficult for employers, but let's consider how hard it will be once we move into a growth economy. If you don't have a compelling reason for sales people to join your company now – good luck.

To hire an A, you have to behave like an A. That means becoming your customers' first choice when they need a product or service you provide. This is by no means easy. Creating a first call advantage requires clear focus and commitment from all levels of the organization. The products must fit clear market needs. The brand must be engaging and fit the expectations of your customers. The sales people must promote all these values, and let customers know you have the best choice. And while you are doing this, you have to outperform the competition who is trying to knock you off your throne.

You may not get it right on day one, but that is ok. It is the commitment to get it right that counts. That commitment combined with passion and focus is what great sales people need to be successful. It is a lot of fun, and very rewarding to sell for an organization that puts these elements together. Why? Because the customers take notice, and the sales cycle moves smoothly. Sales people don't have to fight an uphill battle trying to convince people to buy a product that sucks for a company that sucks. They get to sell a product and a company they believe in. Even if the product has its faults, the commitment of the organization to get it right makes everything else ok.

Moving aggressively to have a winning product and brand is a minimum requirement for the new economy. Consider the demographics for a moment. By 2011 the first of the Baby Boomers will turn 65. By 2031 the bulk of the Boomers will have left the market, and there is no way to replace their contribution to the workforce. No matter what way you look at it, staffing is a major challenge for the next two decades. Only the best of the best are going to be able to attract and hire top sales people.

*****

Next Generation Leaders: A TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

Next Generation Leaders
A TV Interview with Jeremy Miller

In 2012 the first of the Baby Boomers begin to retire. By 2030 we could lose a third of the North American workforce. The way we hire, organize and attract talent are all about to change.

Jeremy Miller speaks on TV about how employers must begin working today to prepare their next generation leaders.

View the interview at www.LEAPJob.com/Next_Generation_Leaders

Everyone Makes President's Club: The motto of a great Sales Manager

Great sales managers take it personally. "Nobody is left behind. Everybody makes President's Club." This is their motto. Sure these phrases can be bantered around in meetings and interviews, but truly great managers live it, breathe it and believe in it. Their core values drive them to make each and every one of their reps successful, and to have their team stand out in the organization. Their values push them to be successful managers.

President's Club is the sales force's celebration of their achievements. These are the reps and managers with outstanding performances, and who exceeded their yearly targets. The rewards are often lavish. Many Club destinations include Hawaii, Cancun or even Beijing. The trips are filled with incredible activities, networking with other sales performers, and special training from inspirational speakers. These trips are memorable. It is a real accomplishment for a sales rep to achieve President's Club.

Reaching President's Club is daunting, as it should be. Typically sales reps have to achieve 125% of their annual quota to qualify, and in most organizations a well-tuned compensation system will only send 20% of the sales force to Club. "All my reps go to Club" is a stretch goal to say the least. A great manager may only send 40% of their team, which is one hell of an accomplishment. The important part here is the manager's commitment, passion and expertise to constantly inspire their team to shoot for the goal.

Where does this commitment come from? It's deeply ingrained in people, and resides in special sales people and managers. Many consultants and HR professionals claim that top sales people don't make great managers. I absolutely disagree. This view is too simplistic and flies in the face of decades of sales culture and history. The trick is finding those few people with the core values that believe, "Every member of my team will reach Club."

It is more than just one core value that makes a great sales manager. If that were the case it would be very easy to spot them early on in their career. Rather it is a combination of values coupled with refined skills that make up a great manager.

#1, They get the right people on the bus

Jim Collins wrote in his seminal book Good To Great, good-to-great leaders "first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats." The same is true for top sales managers. They know that not everyone has what it takes to achieve Club – so they get the people who will. Recruiting is a key skill for managers who focus on sending all their reps to Club. They invest the time to constantly upgrade the talent pool on their team. Obviously, the poor performers are managed off of the team. But the more challenging task is replacing the stars. As their top reps are promoted on to bigger and better things, the manager seizes the opportunity to find another diamond in the rough: a person with the potential to exceed quota.

Recruiting on its own is not the core value. The truly great managers have an ability to attract people "better than themselves." It takes a person very secure in himself to hire A's. The natural tendency for most people is to hire in their own image. This is not a sure-fire way to build a team with the talent to reach President's Club. Rather great managers hire for the needs of the team, the customer and the territory. They hire A's, and then work year-over-year to raise the bar to improve the definition of an A.

#2, They get in the muck

Great sales managers don't coach from the sidelines. They are in it with their reps. They are helping their reps identify the ripe prospects. They are making joint sales calls. They are all over their reps.

Selling requires interaction and participation with your customers. If the manager simply focuses on the metrics and the theory, the customer is lost in the analysis. By getting into the field with their reps, great managers are able to lead by example, transfer their expertise and coach to the situation. It is a very powerful learning environment.

To get into the muck day-after-day requires boundless energy. Again, this is a mark of a great manager. Not only do they do their own job, but they participate and support each member of their team. It is amazing to watch a top manager in action, because he looks like the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going, and going, and going!

#3, They groom for futures

Holding onto an employee for life is unrealistic. Highly talented sales people are constantly pushing themselves to bigger and better things. Trying to hold onto a sales person in order to achieve the team's goals is a travesty. Great sales managers capitalize on the time they have with their reps, and let them go when the time is right.

You will hear the pride from a great sales manager when they claim two more of their reps were promoted. This is a great accomplishment for the manager. They helped their reps hit Club, they helped them grow personally and professionally, and now it is time for them to graduate. The manager did their job.

Great managers are educators, mentors and motivators. It takes time, talent, skills and commitment for a sales person to exceed their quota. It is a long road, even when you break it out over twelve months. The manager uses this time to focus the reps on their goals, works with them individually to build skills and provides them a carrot – or a stick – to stay on track. It takes an ever-present manager to see the needs of her reps, and to give them the support they need to be successful. It also takes a secure manager to let top reps move on, even if it hurts the short-term team goals.

Putting it all together

Each trait on its own is not enough to achieve greatness. It is a combination of personal values, talents and skills that make up a great manager. But when they all come together it is a joy to see. You see it not only in the team's loyalty and commitment to their manager, but in their performance. Year-after-year the manager's team outperforms.

The most important job in any sales force is the frontline sales managers. These are the people hiring the reps, developing their skills and grooming the talent for the future. If each of your managers lives by the motto, "All of my reps go to Club," you will have one hell of a sales organization.

*****

Competing for Talent: A TV interview with Jeremy Miller

Competing for Talent
A TV interview with Jeremy Miller

It's a hot job market out there. people have choice. Lots of it.

Jeremy Miller of LEAPJob, a Toronto-based sales recruiting firm, discusses how employers must compete in this hot job market. It's no longer about putting butts in seats. Employers have to step up and deliver purpose and excitement to jobs.

View the interview at www.LEAPJob.com/Competing_For_Talent

Givers Gain: Creating conversations to engage your prospects

3% of your market is buying right now. These are companies issuing RFPs, bringing you in for demos and requesting quotes. If you aren't talking to these companies, you can guarantee they are talking with your competition. They have a need, and they will buy to satisfy it. You can spend all day looking for these companies in a buying state, which is the typical sales process, or you can catch their attention sooner. By changing the way you engage your prospects, you can be the "first call" when your prospects begin to shop.

Sales people spend their days searching for companies that are buying right now. These are the prospects with the highest potential of closing quickly, but they are also the most competitive opportunities. Considering how small your market of active buyers might be, prospecting for companies in this 3% state can be daunting. If you are targeting a list of 1,000 companies that fit an ideal prospect profile, then only 30 are buying at any given time. If you aren't in the right place at the right time you won't get the sale. No wonder cold calling is such a demoralizing process. It's all about getting lucky, but there is a better way.

97% of your market is not buying today. They may have made a purchase recently, their attention could be elsewhere or they are happy with the status quo. It is also possible that they will never be interested in your services. A third of your market will probably never work with you based on price, fit, service offering or some other reason. So that leaves 67% of your market that aren't buying today, but eventually they will be. Here lies the real gold.

Traditional sales and marketing tactics are not effective to engage a non-buying audience. The audience isn't buying, and they aren't listening either. People are bombarded with marketing messages daily, and to deal with this information overload they tune out anything that isn't relevant right now. So the real question is how does your company engage a non-engaged audience?

Givers gain. When you are engaging the top of your funnel a different kind of conversation is required. It's not about marketing – it's about giving value to your market when they aren't in need of your services. There are lots of ways you can engage your market in a non-selling fashion. Look to the big topics in the media such as the environment, childhood obesity and our aging population to get ideas. These are topics that companies can have a significant voice in.

Food for Tots (FFT), a contract catering service based in Toronto, created a conversation based on their core strengths. They provide healthy and delicious meals for childcare centers, nursery schools and preschool programs. They recognized they had much more to offer their market than just catering services. They are experts in feeding children, and have a wealth of knowledge they can share with their customers, prospects and parents. To share their expertise they created Healthylicious, a movement to provide children healthy and delicious meals.

Brian Crew, General Manager of FFT, likens the program to the Intel Inside campaign, "Healthylicious allows us to talk directly to parents. These are our customers' customers. Parents are looking for ways to feed their kids healthy and delicious foods, and we can share ideas they can bring into their homes. At the same time, they get to know the company who is behind feeding their children during the day."

Heathylicious is more than a marketing program. It is a tool for sales people. Crew explains, "The sales reps like it, because it gives them something to talk about other than catering services. It is a fun and catchy idea, and people can really get involved in the conversation." The Healthylicious conversations sales people are having with prospects and parents are not about selling features and benefits. They are about the children and their needs. It's non-threatening, and more importantly it is engaging.

Food for Tots recognized they needed more than typical sales and marketing programs to engage their market. They drilled down to their core values, and the words "healthy" and "delicious" came up time-and-time again. By focusing on elements that they are passionate about, they were able to bring that passion out in new ways to their market. The end result is they are providing content and education for free. The benefit for FFT is name recognition and a desire for parents to put their kids into childcare centers that have Healthylicious meals.

Creating conversations at the top of the funnel, like Healthylicious, is a fairly major undertaking. It draws on the creativity and efforts of people across the organization, but the sales force is instrumental in its success. As sales people we know what customers are talking about, and we can spearhead ideas to engage them. The program is sold internally by getting the whole organization involved to live the brand, but the hard ROI is in the leads. When your market is fully engaged in a conversation you achieve a lofty position: the "first call" when your prospects are ready to buy.

The first call is the best place to be in a buying process. You don't have to convince your prospects why they should consider buying your service. You get to help them frame the problem, and why your solution is the answer. If you play your cards right, you can even block the major competitive forces. Why? Because the customer has been paying attention to your organization and what it has to offer for far longer than the sales cycle. You don't have to educate them on the business or why it is a great organization. That's already done. Now you can focus on helping the customer solve a problem.

In our Googlized world, the competitive forces for our products and services are astronomical. Customers can decide whom they buy from and when. If they don't like a vendor, they can look online for alternatives. In order to compete companies have to engage their market long before their customers are ready to buy. When you give value to your market you will move beyond the 3% of companies shopping right now to the 67% of companies that will be soon.

*****

Googlizing Sales: A TV interview with Jeremy Miller

Googlizing Sales
A TV interview with Jeremy Miller

Sales as we know it has changed. Why? Google. Customers have access to more information then ever before. They are able to identify their needs, options and vendors without ever talking with a sales person.

Jeremy Miller, a Partner with LEAPJob, discusses how the Internet is changing the game of sales: www.LEAPJob.com/Googlizing_Sales

Personal Branding Sells: Leverage yourself for more income and more sales

It is far easier to sell a branded product. When you are the underdog, you have to compete that much harder to win against a strong brand. The typical sales tactics are to discount and to pile on value-add services. Either way, the cost of the sale is higher for an unbranded product. The same is true for people. Sales people that are well known in their industry with a strong reputation and referral network are a force to be reckoned with. Why? They have a brand.

Personal branding is a must for any professional sales person. Without one, you severely reduce the long-term value of your career. It won't matter if you have been in sales for two, ten or thirty years. Without a brand, the value you bring to business is largely based on how hard you work and what you produced in the last sixty days.

Sales people have a real competitive advantage in personal branding. One, we are trained how to position and package our solutions to best fit the needs of a market. Two, we are experts in presenting the core values of our products and services to get people excited about them. And three, we are promoters. We build awareness for our products and services, and help our clients choose our solutions. Essentially, we sell.

Use your sales toolkit to build your brand. The first step is to package yourself. Try your brand on for size. Say to yourself, "I am not just a sales person for a company. I am [insert statement here]." Did you pause to define yourself? Does your definition excite you? Do you stand out? If you are not happy with your answers then it is time to go to the drawing board. Michael Goldhaber wrote in Wired Magazine, "If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself, you won't get noticed and that increasingly means you won't get paid as much, either."

Packaging yourself is the most difficult part of personal branding. Why? Because you have to say, "No." You can’t be all things to all people, which means you are going to have to make choices and some of them will be hard. Go back to the core questions. What do you want to be known for? What is unique about you? What value do you bring to your customers? Use these questions to stimulate ideas and come up with a brand statement that describes who you are and how you will contribute value in business. When you can define your value proposition you can also define how you will get paid.

Once you know how you create value, you can move onto the fun stuff: promotion. Getting known is the reason to brand yourself. Wouldn't you love your prospects to call you, because they heard you were great? That sure beats cold calling. Since personal branding plays on your strengths, use your natural talents to promote yourself. If you are a great networker – network. If you are a great writer – write. If you are a great presenter – get speaking gigs.

Marketers like Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki have propelled their brands to great heights through their blogs. They have combined their writing skills with the ease of publishing a blog to build huge audiences. Beyond blogs, the web is full of great promotion tools. You can take your networking skills to LinkedIn or Facebook. You could even take your presentation skills and create a podcast or series of YouTube clips. If you aren't into the internet, get belly-to-belly with your audience. Attend networking events and other social events to let people know you are out there. It is really exciting to think of all of the options you have to promote your brand.

It doesn’t matter which promotion tool you use, as long as it is consistent. The value of promotion is through repeat exposures. When your prospects see your name over-and-over again you begin to gain top of mind awareness. That means when they are ready to shop for a product or service that you represent, you will be their first call. A sales rep with first call advantage is very powerful.

Personal branding is not a one shot deal. You will continue to refine and evolve your brand over time. Yet if you take the time to build your brand conscientiously it will be a powerful asset in your career. It will draw customers to you, making prospecting easier. It will draw employers to you, making job searches easier. It will draw internal advocates to you, helping you get the big promotions. The ultimate benefit of personal branding is income. When your career begins to move more freely you will have that many more opportunities to earn a substantial income.

*****

Relationship Selling is Overrated

Relationships are overrated. Yep, I am drawing a line in the sand, and challenging the hardened belief that a sales person's most valuable asset is his Rolodex. It's not.

Every year I get a birthday card from my accountant. Sure it's a nice touch, but it doesn't make me a more loyal customer. Golf games, lunches, jovial conversations are all great tools to make friends. It is fun to get to know someone. It is nice to get beyond the suit and tie, and find out what makes a person tick. But it doesn't speed up the sales process.

In our Sales 2.0 world, customers have choice. They are able to buy products and services that fit their needs. The power of the personal relationship can be overshadowed by the power of Google. If there is any doubt in a service provider, they can be replaced quickly. The relationship may delay the inevitable, but unless you have the best answer for your customers they will move on.

What can a sales person do to fight these competitive forces? Leverage their brand. Brand is a powerful concept, but is often a misunderstood term. It is not a logo or a name; it is how your market defines you. It is how your prospects and customers describe you. As sales people we are brand ambassadors. We help advocate and educate customers on how our products and services solve problems. If you can't clearly articulate the value of your service, that's a problem.

Too often sales people are caught selling on price and other superficial benefits, because they don't understand why their customers are buying. Asking and understanding why your customers buy is critical. When you understand how and why your customers derive value from your services, then you can further refine and tailor your selling activities to build on their needs.

Let me give you an example. In the past year, LEAPJob changed CRM software providers. We transitioned from a comprehensive tool that was used in multiple industries to one specific to ours. It was a painful switch. Not only did we have to deal with the high costs of implementation, data conversion and countless planning meetings, but we were leaving a vendor that we had developed personal ties to. We really liked them. That said – we needed a tool with very specific functionality that they could not deliver. We chose a new vendor that specialized in our industry, understood our business and provided us products and services that fit us.

The sales people from our new vendor were very focused. They asked us specific questions of how we ran our business, the types of customers we had, how we wanted to use the tools and what was compelling us to change vendors. The time they spent up front understanding us provided them the insight to present a focused solution that we were excited to buy. It allowed them to develop a compelling answer that allowed us to move away from a vendor that we had a relationship with, to one that solved our business challenges.

Sales people should always be studying their customers. Try a little exercise. Make a list of your top 15 customers and ask:

1. How did they find me?
2. Why did they choose our solution?
3. What problems or events motivated them to shop for a new vendor?
4. Why do they stay our customers?

Try to identify trends, and see if you can use this information to improve your selling activities. You can then take the list a step further. Rank your customers based on commissions – who have you made the most money from? Then rank these customers based on relationships – who do you enjoy working with the most? Often you find there is no correlation between relationships and profitability. This allows you to re-ask the above questions, and make sure you are being pragmatic about your answers.

You can build new and lasting customer relationships based on how they gain value from you. I am a firm believer that the more you know about your customers, the more effective a sales person you will be. By gaining the insight of why a customer is buying your products, you can tailor your selling efforts to fit their expectations. It's your ace in the hole. The customer will choose a vendor that fits their expectations, and they will be extremely loyal to the service providers that deliver on it consistently.

*****

Sales 2.0: Are you ready for the revolution?

Stand aside Solution Selling – Sales 2.0 is revolutionizing sales! Since the mid-80's solution selling has been the mantra to redefine business-to-business sales. It was a seismic shift from objection handling and always-be-closing tactics to a process of developing meaningful, win-win customer relationships. Solution selling offered a methodology for sales people to move beyond pushy tactics to consultative strategies.

That being said, solution selling is showing its age. The web has changed the game. We have access to more information than ever before, and we take it for granted. It's amazing how quickly we have adopted the power of the internet. Look back to pre-2000 – highspeed internet was virtually unheard of. A site like YouTube could not exist without broadband. With this power comes high expectations. Users are intolerant of poorly designed web sites, and have high standards for how they want to interact with a company online.

The sales and marketing tactics of the 80's and 90's are quickly becoming irrelevant. Why? Access to information allows customers to make well-educated buying decisions. Quite often the buyer is better informed than the sales person. With the power of Google, they can get as many proof statements as they require. This is not an article about why you should have a web site. Rather it is a bigger question of what everyone else is saying about your industry, your company and your services. This chatter is a road map for customers to find and evaluate your business. By using tools designed for Web 2.0 you can develop a customer experience that builds rapport, and allows them to engage your sales person when the time is right.

As customers have more control over the buying process their expectations of how they want to work with a vendor is elevated too. This is the crux of a Sales 2.0 approach. Solution selling is a methodology to help a sales person understand their customers and present their product or service in a consultative manner. Sales 2.0 goes a step further. It is an organizational methodology that tailors sales and marketing to fit the customers buying behaviours. Rather than putting the sales person as the center point of a sales process, it suggests that the sales person is an integral part of a larger customer buying process.

If Sales 2.0 is about connecting and engaging to the customers buying behaviours, then we must take a macro view of the sales process. To be successful you have to be very clear about your target market and brand position:

1. Who are your customers, and why do they buy from you?
2. How do your customers go to market and shop for solutions?
3. What triggers them to shop?
4. What are their options?

Obviously these questions cannot be answered by the front-line sales people. It is a broader organizational question that must be tackled at each and every customer touch point.

Just as companies are using web-tools to make more informed purchasing decisions, Sales 2.0 companies are using these same tools to engage their market. At every touch point web-tools can be used to increase your reach, stickiness, efficiency and customer experience. When put together they make sales people far more efficient and effective: they can sell more stuff. A buyer that has found your organization on Google is often a far better prospect than a company you just cold called. When someone engages you from your web site they have already initiated a relationship with your firm, formed an opinion and are receptive to entering into a sales dialogue. You face none of the buyer resistance that comes with cold calling.

Web-tools are easiest to connect to awareness campaigns, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. By understanding your customers' buying behaviours you can gain a great deal of efficiencies throughout your sales process. For example, companies are employing tools like WebEx, and other online conferencing tools, to enable the sales force to conduct product demonstrations virtually. This benefits both the sales person and the customer. The customer gains immediate gratification by seeing how this product works and allows them to get educated on its benefits quickly. From a sales perspective it is huge too. The sales process is dramatically reduced, because you don't have the delays and costs incurred by travel to book a face-to-face meeting.

There truly is no obstacle for a company to improve their sales process. From awareness campaigns to customer service – everything can be made more efficient and effective with modern web-tools. But, and this is a big BUT, you have to have a clear sales process that serves the customer buying experience. You cannot automate a system that does not exist, and you don't want to create a system unless you know it works. So getting into Sales 2.0 is not for the faint of heart. It takes a real commitment to understanding your customers, and to developing sales processes and tools that meet the needs of your customers' buying habits.

Sales 2.0 is not just another buzzword. You are going to hear a lot more about it. Every company is going to face the changing needs of their market. The early adopters of Sales 2.0 will be handsomely rewarded. If you are able to embrace your customers and develop an organization tuned to their needs, you can build a powerful sales engine that outstrips the solution selling approach. Sales 2.0 is the new mantra for business-to-business selling.

*****

When to Quit: Knowing the signs it's time to quit

Sales people change jobs. It's a given. We can look back nostalgically at our parents and grandparents, and think of a simpler time – a time when people worked for the same company for life. That world is gone. Today sales people change jobs every three to four years, and more often than not they are changing companies with each new job.

This is an interesting dynamic for sales people, and presents a real challenge for career management. When employees had the opportunity to work at a company for life, there was a well-defined career path. Now sales people have to plan and think through how each job will impact their career. We live in a world of choice, and this is wonderful freedom for people with a plan. For everyone else moving from one job to the next, each job can be a gamble. Will you move forward? Will you stay in the same place? Where will you be in five years? Either you can direct your career, or you will be at the mercy of employers and the job market.

Understanding the drivers that motivate change is critical. It helps you to understand how to manage each job and connect them together into a career. Since we are talking about sales careers, let's relate our jobs to a sales concept: 'the itch cycle'. One of my earliest lessons as a sales person was to identify the buying itch cycles my customers went through. This is the timeframe a customer goes through in between each purchase of your product or service. For example companies tend to replace their CRM software systems every three to four years, and they replace their ERP systems every five to seven years. Most sales people are trained to look for these itch cycles, but it's also interesting to note that sales people have internal itch cycles too.

Sales people tend to change jobs every three to four years. This is not a rule. Some people stay in a role for many, many years. For example in the insurance industry the longer a person builds their account base, the more money they will make. In this situation, the book of business is too valuable to give up to change careers. Yet in software, professional services or other transactional sales jobs, people are more apt to change. This change is important, because it forces the sales person to learn more and move to a higher income.

Let's look at this four year career itch cycle in more detail. As a sales person enters a new job, he knows the first year is a 'build' year. It's a time of immense learning and development. You have to learn the product, the industry, the value proposition and the stories that move a customer to action. Not only do you have to learn, but you have to build a funnel. That takes time too. Typically it takes nine months to build a full sales funnel. This make the first year costly. Depending on the value of an average sale and the length of sales cycle, the first year may only deliver 50% to 75% of the total potential income and revenues. There is a lot of inertia and complex tasks to overcome.

The second year is when a sales job is really fun. Your hard efforts pay off, and you get paid. In year two you fully understand how to sell your product, you have a full funnel and you can see the results of your efforts. The harder you work, the more money you make. This is a great year for a sales person. It feels good to pitch your product, and know that the customer is really buying into what you are selling them. That being said, year two is the climax of the job.

Years three and four are the dénouement – the story is coming to an end. Exceeding quota is a given. Not only do your efforts deliver sales, but you also benefit from the inertia generated in years one and two. Now customers are referring great prospects, your funnel is chocked full and you can pick and choose the accounts that will deliver you a quota busting year. So why are you starting to feel bored? Shouldn't these years be the most fun?

Success breeds complacency. When a top performer reaches his goals, he starts to look for the next challenge. For many people, their first inclination is to shake themselves out, put their priorities back in order and work a little harder. That may work for a little while, but the feeling that there is a better job out there eventually creeps back in. Everyone reacts to this boredom a little differently. Some people clash with management, others look for new distractions and some people find excitement outside of work. Whatever your derailer, be sure to know the signs and symptoms that signal it's time for change.

When people approach me in their job search I ask, "What is motivating this change?" The goal of this question is to understand what will be a positive step forward, and to help the sales person select the right job. What intrigues me though, is the similarity of people's responses. I hear motivators like money, no where else to go in the company, the industry is consolidating or there is a conflict with the boss. If you look at these reasons more closely, you can see the boredom and complacency trap is rearing its head. The sales person knows the job is coming to an end, and uses these drivers as ways to articulate why it is time to change.

There is nothing wrong with these motivators. They are all very valid. The key though is to look beyond the here and now, and consider four years out. You know that you are going to be looking for a new job in the next four years, so the questions to ask yourself when looking at the next job are, "Where will this job put me in four years? And what skills, competencies and experiences will it give me for the next job?"

You can no longer expect to work for the same company for life. Not even IBM or GE can make that promise to its employees. Career management must be owned by the individual. What do you want to be when you grow up? Ok, maybe you are grown up, so what do you want to have achieved ten years out? If you can define what your life is like in ten years and what you will accomplish, then you can look at how the next two to three jobs will get you there. It is a matter of connecting the dots, and continually using jobs to deliver experiences, expertise and income to satisfy your long term career ambitions. Don't just change jobs for change sake. Take the time to plan how each of your jobs fit into your larger career. This is the best route for you to achieve your long term goals.

*****

3 Times Quota: Choosing your prospects for quota-busting sales

Jim and Nicole each earned over $300,000 last year – more than three times the next highest paid sales person in their company. On a team of twelve reps, Jim and Nicole are stars. They have landed the most prestigious accounts, and gained access to prospects that no one else could reach. You can imagine that there is more than a little jealousy towards their success.

The rumors of their success run rampant: they have the best territories, they get the best leads, they were given the key accounts, they are the President's favorites. As much as the rumors occur, they are all false. On paper Jim and Nicole are the same as everyone else. They received the same training. They have similar industry backgrounds and sales expertise with the team. They had to find all of their own customers. They receive the same leads. They do not get special treatment. Jim and Nicole stand out, because they are great prospectors.

Lead generation is a constant discussion in any sales organization. Let's face it; even movies are made on the subject. Who hasn't seen the classic Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross scene when Alec Baldwin ripped into the sales team stating, "These are the new leads. These are the Glenn Gary leads. And to you they're gold – and you don't get them! Why? Because to give them to you is just throwing them away. They're for closers."

Jim and Nicole's organization is not Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, they actually provide the sales team leads – lot's of them. The firm buys cleansed lists every year, and the accounts are equally distributed among the team. In addition the firm has a targeted awareness program that generates regular call-in traffic. In every region, the sales people are presented with warm leads to chase and close. The sales people spend 60% of their time prospecting these leads with a goal to close one account per month.

Jim and Nicole are the exception. They do not accept leads generated by the company. They find them distracting. The two reps have taken a much longer view of their territories, and have narrowed down their prospects to 300 or so companies they would love to work with. These are the prospects they have been contacting consistently over the past five years. Jim and Nicole discovered early on that they could chase every lead in their funnel and still never earn $100,000. They were spending an inordinate amount of time closing small deals. By changing their prospecting focus, they chose to only hunt the big deals. Three large deals a year would allow them to exceed their quotas.

Prospecting is a real grind when you are just looking for someone who is ready to buy right now. In this situation, it is simply a matter of luck to be at the right place at the right time. Yet if you knew that by calling on a key account for two years would deliver 50% of your quota next year, wouldn't you invest the time and effort to land that account? Of course you would! Now, if you figured out all of the companies that could deliver such big numbers and only called on them, what would happen to your sales performance? Probably the same thing as Jim and Nicole: three times the earnings of everyone else.

Chasing the big game requires a strategy, a well cultivated database and consistency. Before making your first call, take a step back and look at your territory. You can't simply pick up the phone book, or open up your CRM, and start calling every company on your prospecting list. You need to understand what makes an ideal prospect.

Don't stop there. Continue by clearly articulating how your product or service delivers value; why one of your big prospects would buy your company's services; what events or situations would motivate them to shop for a solution; and how they shop and evaluate for similar solutions. You would hope your sales manager or the company would do this for you, but quite often they too don't know. Take the step and be proactive. Don't wait for sales management to catch up with you.

Once you have the criteria for where you can land the big deals, a list of ideal prospects, and why you have the right solution – it is now time to prospect. In this modern sales world, no sales person should attempt such a targeted prospecting effort without the support of a CRM database. Whether you are using Salesforce.com, ACT! or some other equivalent product, it is a "must have" sales tool. A CRM database will allow you to profile each of your prospects, and then track and direct your activities as you build a relationship. You will track each conversation, profile every contact in the organization, identify circles of influence and map out an account management strategy. By leveraging the power of your CRM database you can record and intelligently attack each of your customers until they are ready to buy.

Chasing the big game is not for everyone. It requires consistency and fortitude. Large purchases do not just happen because you called once. It requires a long term sales effort that proactively builds relationships throughout the account, and develops rapport to the point you will be the first call when the prospect is ready to buy. If you are calling on the same company repeatedly over two, three or even four years you have to make every interaction count. Every time you engage the prospect, focus on building credibility and delivering value. Manipulative sales tactics never work.

What Jim and Nicole do is not rocket science. They carefully select their accounts, attack them intelligently and work consistently to bring them onboard. Too often sales people and their managers get focused on the here and now, and the end result is a never ending complaint of "where are the leads?" Unfortunately the desire for an immediate sale causes many sales people to work tactically rather than strategically. By taking a step back to choose your big game, you can focus all of your efforts on acquiring quota-busting customers.

*****

Cheesy Prospecting Lines: Manipulation is not a cold calling strategy

Have you ever seen a guy trying to get a date with a cheesy pickup line? You watch the whole scene unfold. He walks up to the girl with nervous confidence, and taps her on the shoulder. She turns with both interest and curiosity. Then the words come out of his mouth, "There's something wrong with my cell phone ... It doesn't have your number in it." And that brief moment of curiosity changes to disinterest and a cold shoulder.

Cheesy pickup tactics don't work in the dating world, and they don't work in sales either. So why do recognized sales trainers like Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible, teach sales people lame cold calling techniques? Gitomer claims you will get 100% of your calls returned if, "You call them up on the phone. Leave half a message, pretend like you have been cut off and hang up." He goes on to give the call script, "Hello this is Jeffrey. 704-333-eleven-twelve. I was speaking with a couple of your biggest competitors yesterday. They were talking about you, and they said ... and you hang up." Supposedly the prospect will be so curious to hear the rest of your message that he will call back.

Gitomer even recognizes that his approach is not professional and claims exuberantly "But it's fun!" It may be fun, but do you really want to deal with the prospect who calls back? As soon as they figure out you've tricked them, they are never going to do business with you. The relationship is dead before it even gets off the ground. This has got to be one of the worst cold calling techniques I have ever heard. You might as well call up the prospect with a corny pickup line – it will have the same result.

For short term gain, you may be tempted to use one of these cheesy prospecting strategies to gain access to a buyer. You can manipulate your way past the gate keepers, and even get yourself in front of the decision maker. But now what? If you are selling anything that requires more than one call, you have just started off the relationship on the wrong foot. Now you have to spend every subsequent call trying to rebuild trust with a defensive buyer.

I don't expect to make a sale on the first call. I have two goals in a prospecting call. The first is to let the prospect know I am out there and the services we provide. The second is to set an expectation of what it is like to work with our firm. It takes time to initiate the relationship, develop rapport and build a value proposition.

Sales is a demonstration. The prospective buyer notices every behavior and interaction, and uses it as a litmus test for your company's culture, values, quality of service and competitive advantage. When a sales person uses a manipulative cold calling technique the prospect feels, "If this is how they train the sales people, imagine how bad their service is! I have to get away from this person."

I use a straight up prospecting approach. When I make a call, I tell the prospect right away why I am calling. For example, "Hi, my name is Jeremy Miller and I am calling from LEAPJob. I am calling today to introduce our services, do you have a moment?" It is direct and allows me to manage the customer relationship properly.

If I get voice mail, I leave a message with the same starting point and send a follow up email that mentions the voice message. The prospect knows exactly why I am calling, and the email helps provide a second point of access. People are more likely to respond with a short email than pick up the phone for a five-minute conversation. This approach is also successful, because I respect the people I am calling. Nine times out of ten, the prospect is friendly and tells me where they stand. They will request more information, direct me to someone else, ask me to follow up in three months or say they are not interested. If I get no response, I simply make a "To Do" to call again.

Prospecting does not need to be scientific. It should be simple, direct and honest. If you truly care about helping your clients, then each call you make has a purpose. It isn't simply about asking them to put their money in your pocket. You are demonstrating how you can help your clients and what it is like to work with your firm. When you prospect well, you get rewarded with faster sales cycles, smoother negotiations and plenty of referrals. Starting the sale off right makes all the difference in the world.

End Note: It may seem odd that I have directed so much attention on Jeffrey Gitomer. Much of his sales techniques and strategies are sound. Gitomer's cold calling techniques caught my attention, because he has a short clip on YouTube that is receiving a lot of attention.

*****

Sales Force Retention is a Myth: Turnover is a sign of a deeper problem

Employee retention is a top-of-mind management topic today. As it should be! With the boomers leaving the market and an already overheated job market, companies need to hold onto their top performers. A fully trained, engaged and productive sales person is a huge asset, and is potentially crippling to lose. But the real question is not, "How do we retain our top performers?" Rather sales managers need to look deeper to identify, "Why do I have a retention problem?"

A revolving door of sales talent is a symptom of a much deeper problem. Sales people don't leave jobs when their products are in demand, leads are plentiful and sales performance exceeds quota. They leave when the wheels are falling off the bus. When management starts talking about "improving retention," take a deep look at the sales environment.

1. What is happening to your market?

Coal miners used to take canaries into the mines to detect harmful gases. It was pretty grim. If the canary died, the miners knew they were in danger and to take action. When sales people start leaving, they can be your canaries – an early warning system of problems happening in your market.

When a market begins to consolidate or a product becomes dated, the sales cycle becomes even more difficult. It is harder to find leads. Customers stop investing the time they used to with the sales people and closing ratios decline. A shifting customer base can be a very demoralizing sales environment. Sales management tries to stay on top of the sales people to achieve their numbers, but the customers just aren't buying. It is a lose-lose situation for the sales people.

All is not lost. If management recognizes the changes in their market soon enough, they can adjust. At this stage it is key to recognize the problem is not the sales reps; rather it is a corporate, product development or marketing problem. Sales is being directly impacted today, but with the right product and marketing mix the sales team can return to a fun and rewarding environment.

2. What is their manager doing?

"People don't leave companies, they leave managers." This is a hackneyed phrase, but it speaks the truth. The front line sales managers are the most important people in a sales organization. They are responsible for acquiring, coaching, motivating and retaining the sales reps. When you have a bad sales manager, the damage can be deep and pervasive.

It does not matter how good the product is, how fast the company is growing or how much money the sales people are making. If the manager is making the reps' lives hell, they will leave. No money is worth the hassle.

Identifying bad managers is easier said then done. Often you don't find out until it is too late, but you can implement early warning systems. Tracking and analyzing sales metrics are a good starting point. Metrics provide the data to identify trends and problems. Is the manager achieving her sales targets? What is the employee turnover in the group? How does the team relate to the other territories? Sales departments are very accustomed to being managed to the numbers. By including retention and employee performance metrics, the executive team can manage beyond hard revenue goals.

Tom Peter's coined the term, "Management by Wandering Around" in his book In Search of Excellence. The philosophy is very applicable in a sales department. Executives and Sales VPs should make time to constantly meet with the sales people one-on-one. If the reps are facing a management problem, they will tell the senior management. It may not be overt, but if you are paying attention you will see the signs in a one-on-one session. They will articulate issues such as morale, micro-management, politics and other non-sales related problems. Do not overlook these comments; it may come to haunt you later.

3. Would you sell for your company?

Too often sales is boiled down to a numbers game. Management will say, "For every 'no' you hear, you are that much closer to hearing 'yes.'" Bull! Cold calling is the most inefficient lead development tool out there. Sales people can make calls until they are blue in the face, and still not have a qualified prospect. A "learn to love no" sales culture is no joy to work in. It is filled with rejection.

When an organization does not value sales people, the compensation plan shows it. The sales people are often paid 100% commission or an extremely low base salary. Management wants the sales people to be hungry. As the saying goes, "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys." It is very hard to attract and keep highly talented sales people when the company has no skin in the game. The compensation plan must be tuned to the market value of the sales people, and adequately compensate the reps for the value they bring to the business.

People may take a low paying sales job to start their career or when they are desperate. Yet when they find their feet, you can bet they are going to look for something better: a product that is easier to sell, better pay or a more professional work environment. In this labor market there are plenty of choices available to all levels of sales people.

Can turnover be eliminated?

Sales people go through a natural cycle in any job. The first year is typically a build year. This is an exciting time for a new sales rep as he learns the product, the market and how to sell it. In the second year the sales person finds his legs. He is achieving quota and reaping some of the rewards from the hard work he has done to date. The third year is a quota buster. At this point the sales person has mastered the product, the market and can easily exceed quota. It is a great time, but is also a turning point.

By the time sales people reach their fourth and fifth year in a role they begin to plateau. In this phase, they have mastered the job and complacency can kick in. The money might be great, but they could be bored and looking for the next challenge. At this point the organization should be looking to promote sales people, adjust their position or give opportunities for growth. Otherwise the sales people could leave. This might not be bad turnover and can be accounted for in the workforce plan.

On the other hand, if sales people are leaving in the first 24 months, this is a sign of a retention problem. Now it is time to look at your customers, look at your managers and look at your sales organization to determine if you have a much larger problem. Sales people don't leave great jobs; they leave crumbling ones.

*****

Sales People Don't Cold Call

Cold calling is described in heroic terms: beating a path to the prized customer; crossing the many obstacles and walls of protection to find the elusive buyer; wrangling and competing against the many other sales people pursing the same prize. After breathless battle and hard work the sales person wins his customer. His cold calling has paid off. He is a hero.

Too bad it doesn't work that way. Cold calling is an act of frivolity. In today's market, cold calling is the most ineffective lead generation tool out there. Just look at the numbers and it quickly becomes obvious that cold calling is a "get lucky" strategy. It takes 8.4 dials to reach a person, and 2% of all calls results in a meeting. If 30% of these first meetings convert into opportunities and a sales person closes 25% of these opportunities, he will have to make 1,000 calls to get 1 sale. If he is pounding the phones making 50 cold calls per day, he can get 1 winnable sale every 20 days. At this rate he can acquire 12.5 new customers per year. I am sure you can adjust these numbers to fit your business, but no matter which way you slice it the return on effort is terrible!

An average business-to-business sales professional earns $60,000 per year and up. Why would you pay someone that much money to cold call? It makes far more sense to provide the sales reps with "sales ready" leads. By feeding the sales reps you maximize their time, and focus their efforts to where they truly deliver value in selling: building the business case, helping customers evaluate the options, establishing rapport, negotiating terms and closing the deal.

You can look at the numbers and agree that cold calling does not warrant the time and effort it receives, but what else can you do? Cold calling is so ingrained in sales culture, that sales forces come back to it time and time again if marketing does not deliver the leads. Do not fear – there is a better way.

At any given time, only 3% of your market is ready to buy your services, but at this point your prospects are likely already engaged with you or one of your competitors. If a sales person is engaging an opportunity at this late stage the odds are stacked against her. The RFP has been distributed to several competitors, relationships are well entrenched and decisions are being made. Typically the only option to win the deal at this point is price.

The odds of winning a sale increase dramatically if you are able to engage a prospect much sooner in the sales cycle. By positioning the service well before a company is shopping, you gain a deep competitive advantage. Information on the company, the environment and its business challenges can be acquired. Relationships with key decision makers can be solidified. The service offering and value proposition can be established. By getting in early, you will be the first call when the customer is ready to buy.

Demand creation is a distinct function in the sales force. It sits in between marketing and sales. The demand creation team's goal is to introduce, engage and nurture the prospects until they are ready to evaluate a solution with a sales person. Demand creation is a process oriented function, and requires a great deal of phone work to be constantly engaging companies in your target market. The calls are not designed to sell, but rather to position your services for when the company is ready to buy them.

Sales forces are implementing demand creation functions for several reasons. The first is sales people do not have time to give both the prospecting and selling the time they each deserve. By separating the functions, the dedicated demand creation resources will increase the quantity and quality of activity happening at the top of the sales funnel. The added supply of leads allows sales people to be more effective, and work on solid opportunities with a high probability of closing. Demand creation is a distinct skill, just as selling is. By assigning the right people to each role, the company can improve sales performance, reduce costs and reduce employee turnover. The other primary reason is employee costs.

A key argument against demand creation is lead squandering. Since the sales reps are not generating their own leads, then they will not value the effort, money and time that went into getting them. This is a valid argument, but one that can be effectively managed with training and metrics. The demand creation team and sales reps must work in tandem, and constantly be tracking their activities and successes. By managing the conversion ratios to move a prospect through the sales funnel, management will have the data and intelligence on what is happening with the leads. Metrics are essential to an effective demand creation strategy.

Lead squandering is also unlikely when sales people are able to work on qualified, "sales ready" leads. A sales ready lead is a prospective customer that is fully engaged and ready to enter the sales process. These are the opportunities great sales people love. If that is all they had to work on every day, their job would be amazing. They could establish rapport, demonstrate options, block competitive threats and acquire the customers. They become far more effective sales people.

Companies who combine lead generation and selling to the sales people are doing themselves a disservice. When sales people are required to cold call to achieve quota, the company faces two distinct issues: a higher cost of sale and higher turnover of sales people. Yet when a company takes a keen interest in feeding its sales people, the opposite happens: increased revenues, improved sales force productivity, and an improved working environment. When sales people are enabled to sell more, it is a great environment to work in – everyone wins.

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Promote Your Best: Great Sales People Can Be Great Sales Managers

Michael Jordan is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of our time. From his initial career in college basketball to leading the Chicago Bulls to 6 championships, he emerged as one of the stars of the league with prolific scoring, slam dunks and his entertaining leaping abilities. Throughout his career, his super star profile has attracted other stars to him such as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant. Together their combined talents have delivered award-winning results.

Where would the NBA be if it had not promoted its stars? Not all top performing athletes make great leaders or coaches, and even some fail, but overall the team managers and top coaches are former top performers. In sales it's no different! Top performing sales people are your best source for great sales managers.

You don't have to look far to find articles, blogs or opinions that claim great salespeople do not make great sales managers. Does this viewpoint come from people who have never achieved quota busting performances year-over-year? Have they never taken the next career step to leading their peers as the sales manager? I believe common sense speaks louder than all these critics.

What are the advantages of promoting a top sales person to the role of sales manager?

People need room to grow their careers. For sales people, consistent performance in achieving quota, handling difficult sales challenges and conducting the sales process in a professional manner are important thresholds. Through time sales people acquire the stories and anecdotes of your company that facilitate the delivery of the key selling points of your products and services. Once a role or task is mastered, it's human nature to look for new challenges to build on their expertise and depth of experience. If a company decides not to promote from within then they may become the farm team for another organization that is willing to take the risk of hiring and promoting the best.

Corporate culture is embodied in new employees in their initialization period. It takes time to acquire, and even more time to arrive at the point where sales people can evangelize the corporate messages to customers. The role of a sales manager is to instill the brand messages and corporate culture into new sales reps, and to quality control the messages delivered by incumbent sales people to their customers. Sales managers that have been hired from within are much more effective in this area.

Top producing sales people build a reputation and profile for success. This creates an audience of followers from their peer group and the opportunity to lead by example. People gravitate to winners, just as Michael Jordan drew winners to his team. Everyone wants a piece of the success to rub off on them, or to inspire them to greater heights. Just imagine the morale of your sales team if you promoted the lowest quota achiever.

So which top performing sales people make great sales managers?

As a former VP of sales in a professional services company, the challenge I faced was to identify top performing sales people that could be groomed and developed for the next step in their career. The identification of the new branch sales manager was not based exclusively on their individual sales achievements.

Traits that make a person stand out for promotion include a clear adoption of the company's values and brand messages, the self-directed stamina to move forward to the next sales opportunity and their overall sales track record.

It is important that the top producer embraces the company culture and values and is able to espouse it to anyone they encounter. I also look for motivation from within; someone who is self directed and has the backbone to pick themselves up when they encounter a difficult sales transaction and can move on without being bogged down by the setback. Sales track record through good times and tough times is a key indicator for future success. However, you may find you have to compromise a little when you are launching a new business unit through a rocky start up period.

But there's still more that I look for with top performers. It is important that the candidate has the intellect to take on a new role. If the need to move their career forward is driven by external forces and not coming from within, then the promotion could be flawed. Without the complete buy in and the intellectual capacity to transition to a new role, the new sales manager may always be questioning and regretful of their decision.

Sales people love to sell. This is a process of listening to the buyer, discovering their specific needs, persuading them to your point of view and motivating the client to buy. Likewise sales managers should mirror this profile. I look for candidates that are open to sharing their expertise in an altruistic manner with their team: someone who is prepared to step into a coaching and mentoring role, someone who is willing to train rookies and mentor the pros, and someone who can take on a strategic role in closing business and achieving the collective goals of the sales team.

Identifying and promoting a top sales producer is best done from your own ranks. Take the time to groom people for a longer journey with your organization and reap the long-term benefits. Once you have identified your next great manager, then it's time to build a comprehensive mentoring and transition program to ensure success in their new role.

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Marcus Miller is the President of LEAPJob, a sales recruiting firm in Toronto, Canada. LEAPJob recruits sales professionals and sales leaders for many of Canada's most recognized companies. You can reach Marcus at www.LEAPJob.com

Hiring With A Map: Using assessment tools to hire great sales people

Behavioral assessment tools are common in today's hiring practices. Hiring managers lean on them hoping to discover a silver bullet – a tool that will tell them exactly who to hire and why. The problem is most companies do not use behavioral assessment tools accurately or effectively to make the right hiring decisions.

Consider a GPS unit for a moment. I get a kick out of watching my GPS plot my location as I drive down the highway. Seeing where I am on a map is interesting, but it does not offer me any real intelligence – it's just an arrow on a map. However the GPS quickly converts from a toy into a powerful guide the moment I program in a destination. When it knows where I am going, it starts barking orders on where to turn, which exit to take, how far I am from my destination and how long it will take me to reach it.

Just like the GPS, a behavioral assessment is a very interesting tool. It is always enlightening to see a person's natural traits, communication style, leadership style and personal drivers. Yet how does this information benefit the hiring process? It doesn't. An individual's profile on its own does not provide an indication if a candidate will be successful in the role. It does not demonstrate how the candidate compares with your top performers and where they differ. Using an assessment without a benchmark is the same as using a GPS without a destination.

To fully leverage the power of assessment tools, managers must measure candidate's results against a profile of an ideal applicant. The criteria for success already exists within your top performing salespeople. What traits do your most successful sellers have in common? What separates them from the B and C players? How do they use their natural strengths to achieve their successes?

David Lorenz, CEO of a mid-size software firm, struggled to define the makings for success within his sales team. "I hired top quality salespeople, but I witnessed over and over again an inability in most of my reps to get client commitment, regardless of their product knowledge," he explains. David invested heavily in training and coaching to equip each of his reps with the knowledge and skills to sell million dollar solutions. Yet only three of his 10 reps were able to consistently achieve quota and maintain average sales cycles of less than six months.

In order to develop a baseline and identify the gaps between his A players and the rest of his team, David had each of his salespeople complete a PDP Survey – a behavioral assessment tool. He was shocked by the results. "I had only a 12 per cent match between my top three sales reps and the rest of the team," he says. "No wonder these reps were struggling." By combining the assessments of each of his top performers he was able to determine the unique traits that made these reps so successful. Based on their behavioral attributes he created a benchmark of the ideal behavioral profile.

By defining the gap within his team, David was armed with the information he could act on: who to keep, who might be repositioned and who to let go. It also gave him a baseline to compare any future candidates to hire against. "I now use PDP to find people that will excel in our business," he explains. "If a candidate has less than a 70 percent match to our ideal profile I know that they will face an uphill battle." Yet a profile match is not enough for David. "We might find a person with a 90 per cent behavioral match, but if they lack the basic industry experience and sales skills they will still fail." He uses the tools to get beyond the resume and see if the sales person will succeed in his company.

Building a top performing sales team always comes back to the old accountant's adage, "If you don't measure it you can't manage it." Behavioral assessments on their own only provide basic information on people – you need an anchor to measure them against. The traits for success exist inside your organization. It is not about adopting someone else's generic profile as an ideal fit; it's about identifying and quantifying what sets your top people apart. Just as a GPS can become your co-pilot leading you to your destination, an assessment tool will steer you to the salespeople that will achieve your sales goals.

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Hiring Outside Your Industry: Using customer buying patterns to hire top sales talent

Sourcing sales talent from the competition is a tried and true recruiting strategy. The primary advantage of recruiting sales people from your industry is it expands your company's sales funnel by capturing new hires' Rolodex of customers and prospects. The next advantage is sales people from your industry already know how to sell to your customers. Finally, industry recruiting can dramatically reduce the cost and time of onboarding. Yet what do you do when the pool of candidates from your industry is sub-par at best? This is a challenge frequently faced by sales managers. The strategy to recruit from the competition does not improve the odds of hiring a star – rather it propagates mediocrity through inbreeding.

If you are facing a shortage of top sales talent to recruit from your industry, what do you do? For most positions hiring outside of the industry is not a major headache. Accountants, software developers and engineers are technical experts – people with clearly defined job skills that work within standard operating procedures regardless of the industry. Sure technical experts may need to have experience in the finance sector or the manufacturing sector, but these are huge industry categories that do not limit hiring managers. With a well defined job description and a little creativity HR can source talented techs. Sales on the other hand has a hidden variable: the customer.

In every industry customers follow predictable purchasing patterns. The predictability of customers' behaviors drives our ability to develop sales processes and sales training programs. It also provides the key insights to develop cross-industry recruiting strategies. Sales people are tuned to respond to their customers. By mapping the purchasing behaviors of your customer base you can identify similar industries where sales people are trained, experienced and focused on selling to a similar set of customer needs and behaviors.

How do your customers select your products and services? Is it a simple transaction based on price, or a process of needs assessment and hedging options? Software sales people thrive in the complex sale. Their solutions are intangible, impact multiple business units and are large capital expenses. They have a knack for uncovering the key challenges faced by their prospects and building a compelling business case to invest in their solution. On the other side, sales people in highly commoditized industries such as waste management, industrial products or office supplies are tuned towards canvassing for business. For them, sales is more of a numbers game to identify companies that are in a shopping mode. Their weapons of choice to influence the sale are price and convenience.

In every industry customers go through four primary buying stages, we call these Selling Dimensions:

The Awareness phase is the universe of companies that can be targeted. It is the process of how your customers become aware of your company, products and services. How do your sales people gain access to their customers? Typical awareness activities include generating leads, responding to inbound requests for information, cold calling, advertising campaigns and providing introductory information on your products. Traditionally much of the awareness phase is conducted by marketing, but it is critical to identify the point of handoff from marketing to sales and the activities the sales people undertake to fill their sales funnels.
The Pre-purchase phase is the traditional view of driving an opportunity through the sales funnel. What steps do your sales reps take to move a prospect to a customer? Are they working with existing customers trying to up-sell services? Do they take prospects through extensive discovery and value creation phases to build the business case to purchase? Selling activities in the Pre-purchase phase include explaining features and benefits, identifying customer needs, product presentations and comparing solutions with competitive offerings.
The Purchase phase is the steps a customer takes to make their final decision: choose the solution, negotiate and complete the appropriate buying commitments. In a tendering process the sales people may not have any influence on the purchasing phase, while in a more competitive environment the sales person might be negotiating heavily over price and deliverables. Many of the critical incidents for the position will be defined by how your customers make their final decision. Complex solutions and large ticket items may require detailed responses to requests for proposals (RFPs). The ability of the sales person to assess the customer's needs and clearly articulate the solution may be the defining factor in the customer's buying decision. In competitive environments sales people with high persuasive drive and a persistent approach may do a better job of managing the sale and blocking competitive threats.
The Implementation phase is the delivery and implementation of the solution. This is the stage that is most critical for the customer, because they bought your service not a contract. In defining the requirements for the position, what responsibilities do the sales people have with the customer once the contract is signed? In many organizations there is a defined hand-off from sales to operations, but in industries such as consumer packaged goods the sales people are constantly involved with the customer: monitoring inventory, developing joint marketing programs and performing market analysis.

The Selling Dimensions provide the foundational information to develop sourcing and selection strategies for sales talent outside of your industry. When you match the duties of a sales manager from one industry to the next they largely say the same thing: achieve objectives through others; recruit and retain top performing sales people; coach and develop reps to achieve their goals. You could also add in key elements of your sales environment such as the average size deal, length of sales cycle, method of developing leads and the size of the sales team. Again this is useful information, but the critical incidents that shape the sourcing and selection strategies exist in the Selling Dimensions.

Let's look at an example. The waste management industry is a well-established, commodity service. The industry grooms talent from within, starting with truck drivers and moving them progressively towards the top. The movement of people from one competitor to the next is one that facilitates comfort and security for all involved, and it breeds complacency. Sales managers bring along their baggage, pardon the pun, and innovative selling techniques never get implemented because they challenge the status quo.

To expand the pool of sales management talent in the waste management industry a primary critical incident emerges from the Selling Dimensions: density selling. Density selling, also known as route selling, is the process of maximizing customers on a specific truck route. A company can increase profitability by increasing the number of pick-ups for each of its routes. It requires sales managers that are strategic in their distribution of sales resources by developing blitzes, pricing strategies and competitive offerings to saturate a route. The challenge is identifying management talent with the strategic focus to operate in density selling, which could come from industries such as food vending services, cafeteria services or uniform rental services.

Sales managers are constantly trying to expand their pools of available talent. It makes a lot of sense to source from the competition, but if that is the only strategy it can be very limiting. You will be able to dramatically expand your pool of sales talent as well as sharply focus your sourcing efforts by matching sales skills to your customers' buying habits. Selling Dimensions provide a powerful roadmap to identify sales skills attuned to the purchasing patterns of your customers. They provide that critical layer of knowledge to develop behavioral questions, industry sourcing strategies and selection criteria.

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Compelled to Buy: Selling to Compelling Events

In January 2007 Blue Mountain Resorts laid off 1,300 workers. For the first time in the resort's history it did not have enough snow to keep open one ski run. Reporting on Blue Mountain's woes, the Globe and Mail stated, "temperatures are expected to be warmer than normal across the country all the way to March." This is a compelling event that has taken Ontario skiers by surprise.

Up until now the environment has been a tough sell. Why? There hasn't been enough tangible impact on the public to motivate change. Everyone knows the dangers of acid rain, global warming, depleting fresh water supplies and the like – environmentalists have been hammering on these issues for years. The public's interest in the environment is changing, because they are being directly impacted: no skiing in Ontario, crippling snow storms in the Northwest coast, Hurricane Katrina and massive sections of the arctic ice shelf breaking free. These events are motivating action. The environment is now the number one political topic on Canadian's minds surpassing even healthcare.

Today the environment is easy to sell – the public is being compelled to focus on it. Compelling events are the beacons or situations that drive people to act. Now the environment sells because the threat is finally real and tangible. Compelling events are very powerful marketing tools. They provide insight for product development, marketing, sales and customer support. By focusing on what drives their market, companies can target real business issues and provide service offers that solve these problems.

Selling business software solutions requires some of the most advanced sales techniques. The products are intangible, require extensive professional services and are expensive. A buyer should be facing significant compelling events to invest hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in these solutions. When the software supplier overlooks the compelling events driving its market, it creates an exceedingly difficult sales strategy. The product presentations seem too technical, discounts are too high and sales performance is spotty.

Sales people can't force someone to buy. A highly discounted solution might shorten the sales cycle, but it delegates all responsibility for the purchaser to solve his own problem. In this situation the sales person is simply a liaison that offers little to no value to the buying process. If the objective is to deliver value and solve real business challenges, price is not the motivator. Yet many companies are forced into discounting, because they do not understand the compelling events that motivate change. This results in bland products that look like everyone else, or worse, products that are developed with very limited market potential.

Let's look at a corporate example. rL Solutions is a rapidly growing company that develops software applications for hospitals. Their applications improve hospital efficiency, improve nurses' jobs, improve patient care and even save lives. The software has an impressive feature set, but that is not what is compelling hospitals to invest in their solutions. The compelling events driving hospitals can be very broad. They range from investing in a brand position to responding to competitive threats.

The Mayo Clinic invests in products that fulfill its brand promise. It is one of the most prestigious and recognized hospitals in the world with a reputation for quality of care. The Mayo Clinic's web site proudly proclaims, "You will see as many doctors, specialists and other health care professionals as needed to provide comprehensive diagnosis, understandable answers and effective treatment." They hold a very specific brand position as a premium service provider with the best specialists, tools and operations available. They invest in themselves to treat the most complex of illnesses.

Many hospitals invest in software based on reactionary compelling events. The American healthcare sector is very competitive. Excessive insurance premiums and patient attrition can cripple a hospital. A major lawsuit that reaches the media or the visibility of poor quality of care are compelling events that motivate the hospital to act. By investing in a new system, the hospital administration is attempting to mitigate the risks or perceived risks they face today.

A clear understanding of what motivates and drives the buyer to act is a competitive advantage for market development. Its impact is felt across the organization. Product development is charged with a set of challenges it needs to solve. Marketing must address situations its ideal customers are facing, and how they go to market to solve these problems. Customer service must transform itself to solve the problem impacting its customers, and to keep their customers operational. The sales force is provided a roadmap for the unique situations their products solve, where the customers exist in their territory and the strategy to help buyers select their solution.

"Solution" is a dramatically over used word. Sales people use it to describe anything they sell. Typically it represents the mix of product and value-add services. In reality a solution should be an answer to the compelling events a buyer faces. Compelling events are powerful marketing tools, because they force sales methods to shift. Sales reps at rL Solutions don't "close," they solve tangible issues of risk management and customer service faced by hospitals. Their sales reps are very proud of the solutions they bring hospitals and the knowledge that their products actually save lives.

Compelling events provide direction and energy for companies to sell tangible solutions. Michael Porter, author of Competitive Advantage, demonstrated in his theories of strategy that focus is a clear source of competitive advantage. But focus for the sake of focus does not benefit anyone. The compelling events that motivate buyers to action are the drivers. Ask any environmentalist what it has been like persuading the public to curb its wasteful ways over the past twenty years – an uphill battle. The environmental changes and extreme weather are compelling events that have opened up plenty of opportunities for companies to deliver products and services to make the world a better place.

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Success Breeds Complacency

Kyle Williams, a highly talented sales person, experienced the performance killing results of complacency. Kyle was a top performing sales person with a global services provider. In the first five months of his year he had achieved his annual sales quota. He was so far ahead of his peers that the next best rep was only 10% above his year to date quota. The compensation plan was ideally suited for Kyle at this point. His commission rate quadrupled to 16% of revenue, and he had the potential to earn a huge annual income. Did Kyle maintain focus and keep pushing at the same pace? Absolutely not. By hitting his targets and losing the competitive momentum to be "number one," he went into cruise-control for the rest of the year. In the end he came in second place, and lost the reward trip to the hard working rep that had been chasing him in second place the whole year.

Complacency is a business challenge that almost every sales force faces. It really bothers me when sales people rest on their laurels. They seem to think their past success will guarantee future performance, but that is never the case. Complacency is an intrinsic flaw that prevents people and organizations from pushing beyond the status quo to achieve exceptional successes.

The highs and lows of the annual sales funnel demonstrate the impact of complacency on a sales organization. Ironically a person's worst month or quarter often follows their best. Why? A person who has dramatically surpassed his perception of top level performance will take their foot off the gas to enjoy the ride. It is a natural human response to ease up when things are going great, and push that much harder when things begin to slip. We have a basic plane of comfort that we fall into, and complacency is the break that brings us back to center.

How could Kyle, a person with such obvious talent, get so complacent? His employer provided a well equipped sales organization: compensation accelerators, a prize for being the best sales person, rewards for surpassing quota by 25%, on-going recognition, product training, sales skills training, lead development and CRM tools. The problem for Kyle, and many people like him, was the package of motivators and sales support was still incomplete.

Many organizations fail to recognize that managing for results delivers the status quo. Sales managers can avoid complacency on their sales team by managing their sales people to behaviors and rewarding for results. Selling is activity driven marketing. Once Kyle reached his quota he had achieved his goal. His manager could not request more of him, because he had achieved what everyone else was still struggling for. Yet if Kyle was managed to activity levels, his manager could have helped Kyle maintain his pace and avoid the trap of complacency.

Managing for behaviors is easier said than done. It requires an organization to have absolute clarity in their sales process, with the measurements of the key activities that drive the organization's sales funnel. For example, a call-center tracks the number of calls a rep makes per hour and the amount of time the prospect is on the phone as direct measurements for the sales funnel. On the other hand, a software firm may track the number of product presentations to executive buyers per month as a clear indicator of the health of their sales funnel.

A customer's buying patterns provide the key indicators to measure sales activities. Purchasing patterns should be divided into four primary phases: interest creation, pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase. The interest creation phase is the top of the sales funnel; this is the universe of companies that can be targeted. Quite often interest creation is separated as a marketing function to develop corporate awareness and leads for the sales force. The pre-purchase phase is the traditional view of driving an opportunity through the sales funnel, and it is where the lion's share of management and sales activity is focused. The purchase phase is the step a customer takes to make their final decision: choose the solution, negotiate and complete the appropriate buying commitment. The post-purchase phase is the delivery and implementation of the solution. By defining the key activities that drive a customer through each phase, an organization can define the behaviors that are most relevant to managing sales performance.

For an activity management system to be truly effective, the funnel should be reviewed weekly with each sales person. This is a time consuming task for a busy sales manager, but it is critical to connect purpose and accountability to the sales reps' activities. When Kyle reached his annual quota he made the unconscious decision that he no longer needed to do the hard work of selling: cold calling, up-selling maintenance accounts and day-to-day grunt work. If his manager had worked with him every week on his funnel, and more importantly held him accountable to the lack of movement at the top of his funnel, Kyle could have avoided the complacency trap.

Activity management gets a bad wrap from both sales people and sales managers, because it gets abused. Rather than using it as a tool for motivation and performance, it is used as a tool of fear and micro-management. When tracking activities works against the sales people it will actually cause complacency. Sales people will fight the system when it is used as a way to whip them into shape. Rather it must be used, positioned and understood as a tool that is designed for the benefits of the sales people and that will deliver them results they can feel in their wallets.

Kyle learned a hard lesson by losing the top sales person of the year award, which was a first class trip to Hawaii. He failed himself and saw first hand how complacency devastated his sales performance. The key lesson Kyle took away, and has used as a motivator every year since, has been to focus on selling behaviors. Today Kyle keeps complacency at bay with each of his reps by focusing their attention on the activities that drive the funnel. Every week he works with each of his reps to focus them on their opportunities and teach them how the funnel is a motivator and a tool for driving performance.

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My Sales Manager Runs Around Like His Pants Are On Fire

Overachieving sales executives are revered, honored and compensated for delivering awesome results. On the wider scope, shareholders come to rely on year-over-year performance and profit improvements that are derived from continually driving sales up and streamlining operations. In this business model senior management sets goals that are based on a culture of over performance and over stretching. But there's a price to pay if overachievers are not properly managed. It is important to recognize destructive behaviors and to intervene with a solution to grow corporate performance for the long term.

Top performing sales managers may have operating traits that deliver the results, but undermine the organization's brand. Mike J., Senior Sales Executive with a major software firm consistently exceeds his individual objectives. To further control the outcome of his team he is driven to deliver the results for others through completing pending sales transactions. This style of sales manager is so caught up in not leaving anything to chance and distrusts his employees to deliver the results. The behavior is derived from a perceived need to rescue employees that are teetering on success, but in the end morale is undermined and trust is demolished.

An intervention with the sales manager, who completes the sales transaction, may be needed to impart expertise and training by demonstrating. When taken to the extreme, these activities lead to reduced productivity. The sales people find it is easier to let the boss do their work while they sit back and play a lesser role. This behavior stifles subordinates and the full potential of the sales team.

We encountered another fast rising sales manager whose behavior alienated everyone in the sales department. She had a long standing reputation for being an effective negotiator and a persuasive sales person. She always stood out by working hard and demonstrating aggressive results oriented closes. Last year management promoted her from an individual contributor to the sales manager, but it soon became apparent that she couldn't work with her new sales team.

Her caustic remarks, demanding style, arrogant and aloof manners alienated everyone. She had the inability to embrace other people's sales styles, and that led to mean spirited exchanges. Not wanting to face a complete meltdown in the sales team, management quickly reacted and created a solution everyone could live with. The problematic sales manager was transferred to manage special customer projects that required the efforts of a savvy senior resource to win difficult sales. They isolated her from dealing with the rest of the team while allowing her to pursue her business strengths. The sales team was given a new leader whose style was based on empowering others to achieve.

Another characteristic of the overachieving manager is taking short cuts. Circumventing processes, leaving people out of the loop and ignoring safety nets is fraught with many problems. Last year a Vancouver engineering firm hired 15 technical developers and product support specialists for a three-month ramp up in anticipation of a new contract. The size of the contract was significant and would have doubled their business. The President phoned the prospective company to setup a celebratory appointment for the final contract signing, only to discover that the whole series of events had been fabricated by the new VP of sales. By letting short cuts become the norm negative outcomes frequently prevail.

In an egocentric corporate culture that reveres the top performers, management faces the added challenge of keeping motivation across the team at a high and consistent level. There's only room on the awards podium to recognize the first place performer, but it takes a whole team to deliver the corporate sales objectives. The culture that celebrates everyone's achievements stands to build depth in the sales organization; no one is subjugated or shoved aside. Everyone is recognized in terms of their achievements relative to personal quotas and market conditions.

High achieving sales managers have an important role to play in the success of a company. It is important to know when to draw on this strength and when to rein it in. To transition from a destructive performance style begins with re-defining the corporate culture and leadership style. This entails placing emphasis on developing strong sales teams with increased capabilities and coaching versus a directive and pacesetting management style. The sales manager is pivotal in this transition, but how do you transform the overachieving managers?

Just ask them. People with high achievement orientation tend to like challenging projects that allow them to learn something new. Take the coaching approach and ask them to set a goal for themselves to transform their management style into a broader approach, one that influences and coaches others for success and increases corporate capabilities. Success will take time and a personal coach may be needed to guide the sales manager through the process of change.

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Selling to Savvy Buyers: The Impact of the Web on Sales Process

Access to information has dramatically changed the role of the sales person. You don't have to look far to see the impact of the Internet on a buying cycle. Consider the last car you purchased, did you use the Internet to short list and focus your buying decision? The majority of people buying vehicles are researching their options in detail on the Web: comparing models, reading product reviews, getting detailed quotes and choosing options. By the time the buyer has met the sales person the majority of the purchasing process has already taken place.

Access to information has leveled the competitive landscape. There are very few products or services entering the market that are revolutionary. The vast majority of products and services are either additive or just convenient for the buyer. Why choose one Microsoft business partner over another? When you look at the forest through the trees they are basically selling the same suite of services. Yet the skills, knowledge and focus of the sales person can make all the difference in the buying cycle.

Customers Demand Knowledge

Sure there is loads of information available on the Net, but what does that information mean to you? Savvy shoppers expect their sales people to be in sync with them almost immediately. They don't want to educate sales people on their business; they want the them to possess that knowledge. We call this "situational knowledge" – the intrinsic knowledge of a client's business, industry and processes. For example if you are selling into the Telco sector, situational knowledge might include the major competitive forces impacting the top tier providers, standard protocols, government regulations and the key customer segments.

Many sales organizations have addressed situational knowledge by incorporating verticals into their marketing portfolio. The Microsoft partners move beyond being a "body shop" to a value-add provider when they build targeted solutions for specific markets. Blending situational knowledge with your products and services is called "capability knowledge." Capability knowledge is the deep understanding of how your products and services solve problems within the specific context of the customer's business, environment and processes. Most firms approach capability knowledge from a generalist perspective by educating sales people on how the product works and its overall benefits. This level of knowledge is simply the baseline, but a savvy shopper that is already aware of the features and benefits wants to see how the solution will impact their unique environment.

The blend of a sales person's situational and capability knowledge is their business acumen. A sales person with limited business acumen can destroy high quality leads even before they have fully entered the funnel. I recently evaluated CRM software solutions for our business. With each product presentation I asked the sales person to demonstrate how his system would handle a specific situation that was unique to our business. What surprised me was the number of sales people that were unable to address my needs. In almost every case the sales people lacked the situational or capability knowledge to support requests outside of the general sales training program.

Busy buyers are saturated with options – no one has time to teach a sales person about his industry and environment. As a result business acumen is not an option. Every sales person must have the right mix of situational and capability knowledge to sell high value solutions, and to compete in a marketplace that expects products that fit specific needs almost immediately. This business acumen is a key competitive differentiator, because it allows a sales person to connect with the customer and help them visualize the solution in their environment.

Taking the Driver's Seat

The new context of selling has real implications for the sales force. An educated buyer means that they are entering much further down the sales funnel than ever before. The new entry point means that a rigid sales process and generic product spiel won't cut it. The CRM sales people that did best with us threw out their canned product pitches and focused on our business case. They knew we didn't care about how many years they were in business, their flagship customers or competitive differentiators; we had done that research prior to calling. We wanted to see our primary problem – our trigger event – demonstrated and resolved. If the sales rep couldn't provide the answer quickly we didn't need to go to the next step.

To focus the attention of the sales force, they must be taught to look for trigger events. A trigger event is the reason the buyer enters the sales funnel: a problem, an opportunity or a challenge they are looking to resolve. Trigger events are often confused with emotional events. The customer does not want to develop an emotional association with your brand or solution; they want the emotion that comes from purchasing and implementing the solution. To revisit the car-buying topic, the person that goes to a BMW dealership has very different triggers than the person looking for a minivan. The BMW buyer could be an upwardly mobile manager that is rewarding himself with a new car. He isn't looking to be sold a practical solution; he wants to buy a toy.

What triggers drive your sales funnel? Sales people's business acumen skyrocket when they know why a customer is drawn to the product, and the key areas that motivate purchasing behavior. Secondarily, what are the emotional responses the customer will gain from purchasing your product? Trigger events give sales people the roadmap to focus their presentation, lead their questioning and ultimately close the deal. It provides them the destination to apply all of their situational knowledge and capability knowledge to answer the customer's questions and to present real value in the buying process.

We have all dealt with sales people that did not get it. They are frustrating to deal with and detract from our impression of their company. Yet sales people that get our challenge, present to our needs and catch up to us in the buying process are a joy to work with. These are the people that help us to cut through the clutter of a knowledge economy, and present solutions that are tied to our end game. Sales people that possess strong business acumen are a primary competitive advantage in a knowledge economy. They turn products that look the same on the surface into solutions we want to buy – and more importantly need to buy.

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The 3 P's of Sales Performance: People + Process + Passion = Sales Performance

Sales is a full-contact sport. It goes without saying that people buy from other people, and there is really no substitute for this arrangement. Sales people have a distinct advantage over marketing channels, because they connect personally with their customers to translate the value of their products. If growth is your goal, then it makes sense to further invest in your sales force. The question is which sales investments will have the biggest bang for your buck. Sales performance has several moving parts that are best expressed in the equation: People + Process + Passion = Sales Performance. If any piece of the equation is missing or weak then revenue growth stalls. But as you improve each of the 3 P's the reverse happens: sales grow!

Start with the People

The Achilles heel for most sales organizations is the people. If you are going to make any investment in your sales force, start with your people. Jim Collins wrote in Good to Great, "Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products. It is one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep enough of the right people." I believe in Collins' statement whole-heartedly. When you upgrade the talent pool, especially in sales management, performance skyrockets.

Getting the right people on board is an overused and extremely subjective expression. What criteria do you use to define the traits for success? For sales positions, your customers' buying patterns provide key insights for uncovering your ideal sales profile. Your customers have real expectations for the personality, expertise and skills of your sales people. If the sales people don't have what your customers expect, then they can go to the competition to find the service and the experience they desire.

Don't forget that a sales force is a force. A larger sales force will sell more than a smaller one. A better trained and equipped sales force will sell more than a neglected one. Sales people that are hired, trained and coached to serve their customers' buying patterns have a distinct competitive advantage in delivering value to their customers.

Process is more than training

One of the most frustrating things to witness is a sales person fail. In almost every case I believe the system failed the person:

1) The wrong person was hired.
2) The person received inadequate mentoring, training and activity management to be successful.
3) The organization is stuck in its ways and has lost touch with its customers and market.
4) Management has a culture of egalitarianism and complacency.

Great sales forces are obsessed with achieving their goals. They obsess with execution. Process and execution are closely linked together, because it is in the company's hardwiring that allows each person on the team to pull their weight in unison.

Sales is activity driven marketing. The sales force gets paid for results, but it is the behaviors they do day-in and day-out that deliver performance. By examining and improving the operations of the sales force, management can greatly build upon the talents of its people and drive results. For example, to effectively upgrade the talent pool of your sales force you must clearly define the traits of success for each position. Concurrently the hiring processes must be evolved to source and select the people who will make a difference. These process improvements focus everyone to execute every single day.

Nothing happens without passion

When I quote "People + Process + Passion = Sales Performance" I cringe. The equation is the answer to developing a sales organization, but for some reason the word "passion" seems cheesy. Passion is critical. It is the glue that holds the organization together. It is the fire that drives people. It is the pursuit of perfection to continually improve processes. Without passion all systems and people are doomed to mediocrity.

Leaders have a primary duty – to be corporate evangelists. Evangelistic leaders take responsibility for pushing passion into the culture of their firm. Passion is the connection of a vision or a dream with a purpose. Once you sink your teeth into the purpose of your job, a huge source of energy and inspiration is brought into everything you do. Passion is infectious. Great managers spread passion throughout their team with fervor, zeal and anything else to convince their people and their customers of the value of the pursuit. Simultaneously passion provides the energy and purpose for every investment made in people and processes to return in multiples. You may get a return on training your people, but without passion it is not likely to stick for the long haul.

People + Process + Passion = Sales Performance

Sales forces are in the business to execute. Anything you do to improve the people, processes and passion in your sales organization will impact the growth and development of the entire company. It is a holistic process where no investment happens in isolation. The challenge is to identify which area of improvement will have the biggest bang for your buck.

I start with people. To quote Collins again, "The executives who ignited the transformation from good to great ... first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it." Once you have maximized performance by getting the right people on board set your sights on process. The goal is to evolve the sales processes and management systems to form a learning organization – an organization that adapts to the market, learns from its customers and sets a culture of execution. The pursuit for sales performance is exciting. I love it, because the results are tangible and you see them in your wallet.

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The Accountable Sales Manager

In recent conversations with senior executives we posed two questions. What happens when your sales organization fails to achieve their sales objectives? And, what is the root cause for the failure? The first question generated immediate off-the-cuff responses, but the second question led to deeper thought and inconsistent solutions.

Typically the response we heard for missed sales objectives was a litany of predictable reasons. Excuses ranged from changing market conditions, aggressive pricing from competitors or a lack of talent in the sales ranks. For the second question of the root causes for missed objectives we determined it stems from unclear organizational design.

As one executive pointed out, it is important to bring accountability to all aspects of your organization, including sales management. The executive went on to explain that sales managers are key resources on the front line of an organization that perform a pivotal role between the field sales resources and the organization. Historically the role of the salesman has been well defined. It addresses prospecting new opportunities, winning and closing customers and cementing customer relationships. In theory sales managers should provide a clear and complimentary role to the field sale representatives. The sales managers' role should focus on strategizing and developing new business, coaching and directing sales activities and expectations, and motivating through recognition and rewards.

So how do sales managers become unaccountable? From our analysis we identified four issues that impact the success of the sales manager:

Misalignment of expectations and rewards
Many organizations do not clearly express the activities they want their sales managers to perform. Typically the incentive plan expresses the overall sales objectives but misses the key elements that distinguish the role of the sales manager: coaching and developing people for performance, achieving revenue goals through others or creating and executing plans for business development.
Unclear job profile for the sales manager
The behavior of sales people strongly influences the role sales managers play in the sales cycle. The interplay may even be an adversarial role where coaching gets in the way and leads to infrequent or ineffective people development. The business process needs to take the time to work out how to use the sales manager effectively in a complimentary role.
Lack of training for rookie managers
Top performing sales reps are frequently promoted to sales management and left without any training for the skills demanded by the position. They are just expected to intuitively know what to do. Sales managers tend to stay within their comfort zone of selling but need to grow into achieving results through others, coaching rookie performance and reinforcing behavioral changes.
Burden of paper work and reporting
Time is a limited and fixed commodity. If the available time is chewed up with corporate reporting, paper work and internal issues, then there is little time left over for the core issues of coaching and mentoring sales resources. Sales managers need to focus on these difficult sales tasks versus putting them off.

Enabling sales managers to achieve optimum performance begins with setting the climate of the sales organization. The organization needs to be accountable for the sales culture. Clarity of roles and expectations for each person in the sales team means that people can take initiative with little direction. Another important topic is recognition, acknowledgment and reward for performing good work. Commitment to achieving challenging goals at all levels is the glue that ties the sales organization together. With the right sales culture in place the groundwork is set to address sales performance. But first the support systems are needed to provide the levers to manage for results and to streamline the sales process.

Support systems focus ancillary tasks into the hands of specialists, which alleviates burdensome detractors from the sales manager. Support topics include recruiting, sales metrics, sales tracking, strategic account management, CRM and training.

High calibre sales talent is an important ingredient for continued growth. Organizations need a well-developed process to identify and attract the right people on an ongoing basis.
Selling is a business process not an art. It is the actualization of the marketing strategy. Performance management metrics provide sales management with the information to influence behaviors and to better forecast sales results. The metrics track key selling indicators and compare them to individual sales efforts and objectives
The sales process runs on information systems. Opportunity management systems track sales activities from lead generation to closing the sales and CRM systems deliver account information on the historic customers buying process.
The process for managing key accounts can be burdensome and could be best handled by dedicated resources. Strategic accounts may require additional corporate resources to set in place the partnership between the key account and the rest of the organization.
Training and development enhances the skills of all incumbents through classroom or on-the-job delivery. Bringing a rookie sales person up to par quickly benefits the individual and the organization and mitigates low performance and unexpected turnover.

Accountable sales managers operate in a driven sales culture. They utilize sales performance tools and support systems that let them be most effective in their job. They are charged with achieving and growing overall sales objectives through others, they groom and develop new resources and motivate the team for high performance. This sets them apart and accountable to the organization.

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Mitigating Hiring Risk

Hiring the wrong sales people is an extremely effective method of burning up cash. A sales force can cost up to 40% of a company's total revenue. This is very evident in business-to-business markets where the lion's share of the sales budget is spent on sales staff salaries, commissions and expenses. Hiring the right sales people makes all of the difference in corporate performance.

For many people, hiring great sales people is considered an art. It's not. It is a structured business process that must be defined and maintained to effectively acquire and grow your most important assets, your people. Developing an effective hiring strategy is a 3 step process.

Step 1: Job Profile - Defining the traits for success

The majority of hiring managers enter into the interviewing process blind. They may be equipped with a job description, but the true characteristics of success in the position are not clearly defined. As a result managers look for archetypal traits of sales people without any indication of what defines success in their environment. Sure a candidate might be a go-getter, have great communication skills and a track record of selling above plan, but is that enough?

Hiring people is an emotional process. The first step to mitigating hiring risk is to develop a clear picture of success for the role. You will improve your hiring accuracy by 50% by clearly defining the critical incidents and traits for success in a position. A typical job description just does not provide enough relevant information to help a hiring manager go beyond the surface to what really matters for the role. The key component missing in a sales job description is the Selling Dimensions.

Each sales environment is unique. A customer's buying patterns provide key indicators to identify the duties and skills required for the position. Customer purchasing patterns should be divided into four primary phases:

Interest creation is the universe of companies that can be targeted. Does the position target a broad market requiring extensive cold calling, a narrow market reliant on relationships or a competitive landscape of companies switching from one vendor to another?
Pre-purchase phase is the traditional view of driving an opportunity through the sales funnel. What steps do your sales reps take to move a prospect to a customer? Are they working with existing customers trying to up-sell services? Do they take prospects through extensive discovery and value creation phases to build the business case to purchase?
Purchase phase is the steps a customer takes to make their final decision: choose the solution, negotiate and complete the appropriate buying commitments. In a tendering process the sales people may not have any influence on the purchasing phase, while in a more competitive environment the sales person might be negotiating heavily over price and deliverables.
Purchase phase is the steps a customer takes to make their final decision: choose the solution, negotiate and complete the appropriate buying commitments. In a tendering process the sales people may not have any influence on the purchasing phase, while in a more competitive environment the sales person might be negotiating heavily over price and deliverables.
Post-purchase is the delivery and implementation of the solution. Is the sales person involved in the implementation? Are they separated from the account after the purchase phase? Do they provide first level support to identify problems before they are reported to a technical support group?

By defining the key activities that drive a customer through each phase provides critical information for the selection process. It allows the hiring manager to have clarity on the type of experiences that are relevant to their selling environment.

Step 2: Behavioral Profile - Success comes from within

The makings of great sales people are in their internal programming. The components for a person to be successful in a role is 45% behavioral profile, 25% intelligence, 20% motivation and 15% skills. With that key insight it is critical to go beyond the resume to find what makes a person successful in a position.

Behavioral assessment tools are an effective method of identifying the traits for success. It is very common to incorporate an assessment tool like PDP, DISC or Myers Briggs into the hiring process, but if a candidate's profile is not compared to an "ideal profile" then the information is largely irrelevant. To develop an ideal behavioral profile, scan your top performers and group the common traits that these sales people possess. By developing an ideal behavioral profile an assessment tool becomes very powerful. It is used to focus the hiring process on the candidates with a 70% or higher match to the position's profile. The tool should not be used for final selection, but provide the baseline requirements of who should enter the shortlist.

Step 3: Structured Interviewing - Picking out the top performers

Interviewing is a two-way dynamic process. On the one hand you are marketing the opportunity, and at the same time you are qualifying the candidate for the job profile. Sales people are savvy interviewers. Just by reading books like Spin Selling, Strategic Selling and Selling to VITO, a candidate will be able to demonstrate an understanding of solution selling methodologies. They will articulate that they sell to "C-level," they use strategic account planning and they make 25 cold calls per day. The information will sound great in an unstructured interview, but this information is simply peripheral. It does not demonstrate any connection to the requirements of the selling dimensions listed in the job profile.

A structured interviewing approach that combines a variety of questioning techniques is most effective for sales positions. The basic structure is a reverse-chronological interview. Start at the point the candidate entered the workforce, usually after completing university or college, and move forward. Use the historical view to identify trends. With each position ask questions such as:

What were your responsibilities?
What was your starting salary and finishing salary? Be sure to break down compensation into base salary, on target earnings and actual earnings.
Why did you leave the position?

Use these questions to not only develop trends, but to see how the candidate reacts to the questions. In combination with the structured interviewing questions incorporate behavioral and situational questions to compare a candidate's track record and experience to the job profile. Behavioral questions are structured questions to identify a candidate's past career track record, while situational questions are experiential or "what if" questions. Use a set of up to five questions for every position to develop a baseline for comparing candidates to one another.

Putting it all together

An effective hiring process is systematic, objective and thorough, but it must also be fast. In a hot job market, top talent does not wait. Every company is competing for a limited pool of qualified candidates. The key to mitigating hiring risks is to bring clarity to the position. The job profile and behavioral profile provide human resources with the search criteria to build a pool of applicants, and the hiring managers with the selection criteria to consistently hire the right people. When the process is focused onto the right field of talent the hiring process moves from a gamble to a strategy. Organizations are not naturally equipped with effective selection skills. The onus is on the senior management team to implement best practices and processes for building top performing sales teams.

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Hunting With Arrows

One of the hardest and most trying parts of selling is capturing the attention of our prospects. I received a cold call this week from a young lady selling IT consulting services. I felt bad for her, the call was a disaster. She could not articulate any specific problems they could tackle, the types of customers they target or examples of how they had helped businesses similar to mine. Her employer had given her a list of companies to call and a value proposition of "we help companies solve their IT issues." Basically she was hunting with a blindfold and a butter knife.

Companies consistently fail their sales people, because they do not equip them with clear value propositions to hunt with. No one wants to prospect with a ubiquitous set of services. When sales people lack clarity in their offering one of two symptoms can emerge. First, sales people focus on existing customer relationships. It is much easier to go deep and wide in an account once there is rapport and understanding developed between the sales person and the buyer. The second symptom, which can be even more dangerous, is each sales person interprets the corporate offering and develops their own value proposition. Now your brand gets fractured every time a sales person engages a customer.

Why should I buy?

Most companies have a great product or service, but why should I buy? No customer wants to spend money, but they will make investments to solve problems. Developing your unique selling proposition (USP) should start by answering the key problems you solve in very clear terms. Buyers don't think in broad sweeping concepts, but in targeted issues that they can solve and push past. In the book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Al and Laura Ries relate the story of how ACT software defined itself as a "contact manager." When the Rieses first engaged Patrick Sullivan, then CEO of ACT, they asked him what does your software do? He responded, "Everything ... ACT keeps track of your calendar, your correspondence, your mailing list, and your expense accounts. ACT literally does everything."

Could you imagine trying to sell ACT then, a software package that does everything? I can just imagine the intro script, "Hi, I am calling to introduce ACT. We have a software package that keeps track of your calendar, your correspondence, your mailing list, and your expense accounts. Could I come by your office next week to show you how this software does everything?" How would you have responded to the sales rep on the other end of the phone?

ACT acquired its impressive market share and brand recognition once it brought clarity to its sales message. They defined ACT as a "contact and customer management for individuals and organizations involved in selling and other functions where management of contact details, activities and communications is critical." We can easily categorize it, define the problems it solves and when we should buy it. ACT is a contact manager. It seems pretty simple on the surface, but I am sure ACT struggled for a long time to find that level of clarity.

Triggers to move people to action

Finding your unique selling proposition is not about what you have to sell, but the problems you solve for your customers. The classic definition of a USP is a statement that clearly articulates what sets you apart and makes you different in the marketplace. The problem is it is focused on you, not the customer. When a USP is focused on your product or service you will see sales reps using lines like "total cost of ownership," "return on investment," and "improve efficiency." These might be great overall deliverables, but they are not enough to trigger a person to buy. To bring a prospect to action you need to identify specific problems that carry an emotional connection for the buyer, a trigger event. A trigger event is a problem or event a person is willing to take action to solve.

Why would a company switch from ACT to Salesforce.com? They might not be 100% satisfied with ACT, but it works. Yet if the company opened two new offices, the trigger event, ACT may no longer meet their needs. Now the company needs a web based tool that will easily integrate customer data across multiple offices. All the ROI messages would have gone on deaf ears prior to the trigger event, but the need for a web enabled contact manager is motivating the company to switch.

A complex solution like Salesforce.com may target a broad range of triggers that mean different things to different customers. This is where corporate focus is so important. Salesforce.com positions itself as an "on demand customer relationship management" solution. The clarity in their position provides the sales team with areas to focus on. They can develop selling messages for on demand sales force automation, on demand customer service, on demand marketing and with their AppExchange a broad range of on demand CRM bolt-ons. Each solution carries a different set of triggers that the sales team can use to target a specific customer segment.

Finding your unique selling proposition

Does your product or service commonly get engaged to solve specific problems? These are your trigger events. To define your unique selling proposition start by understanding your trigger events from the buyer's perspective:

What problem is the buyer trying to solve?
What options are available to them to solve it?
How will they shop for a solution?
What does the problem mean to the buyer emotionally?
How will your product or service solve this problem?

The purpose of the exercise is to define how a buyer categorizes your solution and the types of results they are looking for. When a sales person engages a prospect they should be able to quickly define their category and the key problems they solve. This allows them to set the stage for questions that will engage the prospect and help identify where they are in the buying process. If a sales person gets in when the prospect is in a shopping stage then they can get to work selling. Otherwise they will need to work with the prospect over a longer period of time to build a business case and develop the issue into a problem that is immediate and actionable.

Prospecting is fun for the sales team once they are armed with the messages that speak to a readily identifiable set of customer challenges. Sure they will still face a lot of rejection, but at least they know what they are hunting for. More importantly your sales people will have the tools and answers to help companies solve their problems. By giving your sales team the trigger events and value propositions to engage a prospect enables them to do their job: acquire and build great customer relationships.

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Psychic Income - Driving performance with more than dollars and cents

What drives sales people? Money right? Money is a major reason why many people enter the sales profession, but it is not the primary motivator for success in an organization. Psychic income is the answer. Psychic income is the least expensive and most rewarding form of compensation a company has at its disposal. Consider yourself for a moment. Do you invest forty or more hours a week in your job simply for a paycheck? Probably not. Psychic income is the satisfaction you acquire from the type of job you do, the customers you help, the recognition you receive and the people you work with. It is the higher value you get by belonging to something larger than yourself. Companies who are able to increase their psychic income will be better equipped to improve performance and retain their talent than those that do not create a personal bond with their employees.

When I first came across the idea of psychic income, I rejected it immediately. My reaction was, "not another feel good program for making sales people productive." I pay my people well, I treat them fairly, and we work hard to serve our customers. I pay my employees psychic income every single day; I just wasn't aware of it. When I put that realization into place, the lights turned on. In our business we are finding the employment market a highly competitive landscape. Wages are rising, competitive employment opportunities are numerous and our employees get solicited frequently, but they stay with us.

The key to increasing your organization's psychic income starts by connecting your employees with a higher purpose. People who are committed to a common purpose form a cohesive group. It is something that they can relate to with one another, and provides guidance for their actions. This phenomenon is very evident in the nonprofit sector, where pay is substantially below competitive market rates. Why does a top performer choose to work for a lot less money? Psychic income. A person might be attracted to a specific cause, or it could be more basic in their need to help a specific group. People join the Toronto Humane Society, because they want an opportunity to rescue and protect animals.

Starbucks is a company that has brought purpose deep into the organization, and created explosive growth as a result. Starbucks' employees, most of whom make relatively low wages, feel committed to its mission and being part of a "family." Their purpose is clear, to provide their customers exceptional gourmet coffee in a relaxing environment. The employees can easily relate to the goal, and their actions are gelled together to work towards a common customer experience. Try a little experiment, and randomly ask a few of your employees two questions: "What business are we in, and what are we trying to achieve?" If you receive differing answers from your people, then you do not have a corporate purpose that is clear and purposeful like Starbucks.

Every day you are competing for the attention and focus of your employees. Each employee must decide whether to satisfy their own self-interests, those of their peers or the interests of the overall organization. A sales person might ponder how best they can squeeze the comp plan in their favor, serve the customer or do what's best for the business. It is important that your people identify and work towards the same purpose. People are more likely to help others with whom they easily identify with. Consider the chaos created by office politics. Small cliques or departmental rivalry can subvert the collective good of the organization for the needs of their sub-group. By focusing every individual on the same goal, a common bridge is built and this drives collective action.

Putting yourself on the line or taking a risk for your company takes a lot of trust: trust in your peers, trust in your manager and trust in the company. An organization's people can be quickly demoralized and stop taking proactive steps when they feel their actions will be criticized or go unrecognized. To foster group identification and trust, managers must work hard to ensure that employees feel part of a family. The allegiance of family is clear, and we can all relate to the bonds we hold with our direct family. Many successful businesses try to emulate the power of family, by making their employees feel they are an integral part of an extended and caring "family business." The foundation of success in the family business is built on trust. When trust is present, individuals can have confidence that stepping forward to offer help to other group members will be reciprocated in the future.

To create a cohesive group focused on a common purpose requires strong leadership. The company's leaders must, themselves, exemplify the ideals of the broader organization and act as role models. Tracy Parzych, CEO of International Time Recorder (ITR), spends a lot of time focusing her team on the value they bring their customers. ITR is a leading developer workforce management solutions, and prides itself on going beyond the call of duty for its customers. Whether it is spending extra time with a customer to solve a challenge or working creatively to adapt their products for a unique requirement, ITR's staff is always at the ready. Parzych encourages and promotes these values by directing her management team on recognizing their employees' every time they go beyond the call of duty. People never get tired of hearing they did a great job, and when the culture is constantly pushing itself further and further, the power of the psychic income increases. Parzych creates corporate rewards that support the sales team in their effort to develop bulletproof customer relationships.

It is a privilege to work at a firm that pays dividends in psychic income. When psychic income is high, hiring must be more selective. You don't want just any person to join your firm, because a person with the wrong attitude can destroy the values and efforts you have invested. Involve your employees directly in the selection process. This allows them to have a stake in the success of every person who joins the firm. To ensure the success of this program your employees will require interview training and a clear understanding of the key attributes of success for the role. By involving your employees in the hiring process you will create benefits in onboarding, performance and retention. Every new employee will see how committed your company is to its people, and realize they are joining a special group.

At Southwest Airlines only three percent of applicants are offered positions. That is a lot of people banging on their door to get a job. Southwest is always held up on a pedestal as a company that has a great culture, great commitment to its purpose and great devotion to its people. They are a company that prides itself in aggressively compensating their employees with psychic income. Our knowledge of Southwest is not accidental. They want us to know about them, and they promote their culture and how elite it is to work for Southwest. Marketing your culture is very powerful, because it reinforces the actions of your employees and draws in people that share those same values. It also has the added benefit of drawing in customers that relate with your company's values and purpose.

The idea of psychic income is not new. Companies have always been looking for ways to improve performance and develop their cultures. Sixty years ago, Abraham Maslow created the hierarchy of needs. He concluded that once a person or a group satisfies their basic needs they will want more. If you only provide your employees a paycheck, then your people will be ripe for the competition to hire. Once you go beyond cash incentives you will find a number of very powerful and very cost effective methods you can use to compensate and satisfy the needs of your people. Satisfying the basic emotional needs of your employees is the psychic income that drives individual employees to exceed and be active participants in your company's overarching purpose.

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More Ways to Win - Instilling Competitive Rituals

All great performers have rituals. Rituals are often the key difference between an amateur athlete with lots of natural talents and a gold medal Olympian. Great sales people are like elite athletes; they too have rituals. They consistently do the right things: prospecting, managing their funnel, presenting value and closing. They manage their activities with precision. People often describe elite sales people as machines, because they just have a knack of consistently hammering out their calls.

Have you ever asked a sales person how many prospecting calls they make every day? The numbers I usually hear are between 20 to 25 calls per day. Yet research with technology firms show that an average large account sales person only makes 3 to 5 calls per day. That is a big gap! The result is inconsistent sales or missed quotas.

Prospecting is about turning the crank. Most sales people don't like it or avoid it, because it is just hard work with no immediate gratification. It's kind of like going to the gym on a regular basis. If we neglect our health and fitness we get fat, and if we neglect the top of our sales funnel we miss quota. By ritualizing prospecting you will take the sting and the effort required in picking up the phone to find companies that can benefit from your products and services.

Rituals are powerful vehicles of performance. Do you have "brush your teeth" written in your daily calendar? Probably not. You just do it. It's a ritual. There are plenty of rituals in your life that you do every single day without giving it a second thought: buying your morning coffee, kissing your spouse goodbye or going to your kid's soccer game. Rituals are the behaviors in our lives that are programmed. They are extremely powerful, because they pull us into action while conserving energy. In contrast, managed activities that require will, discipline and self-control are pushing you into action. They require forethought and energy to initiate.

Will and discipline are far more limiting than any of us realize. Even small acts of self-control expend a great deal of energy. Calling on self-control must be used very selectively. Think back to failed New Year's resolutions or goals that you shot for and missed. Many times we miss these goals, because they required a great deal of self-control for a prolonged period of time. The goal to lose weight by spring may start out with a nice new gym membership, a diet plan and maybe even a personal trainer. It goes great for about two weeks, and then something comes up. A late meeting and we miss the gym. Then another challenge and another, and finally we are back to our old routine and another missed resolution.

Building positive rituals is very similar to the process we use to strengthen our muscles. To strengthen your biceps or triceps requires subjecting them to regular stress and recovery. The same training regimen applies to building a ritual of effective prospecting. Timing and precision are at the core of building a new behavior. By determining when, where and how a behavior will occur, we will no longer have to think about getting it done. By taking the time to build your routine with a list of who you are going to call, when you are going to call them and what is going to be said will dramatically improve the probability of making your calls.

Roger, a very successful benefits consultant, has a rapidly growing practice. Roger makes 100 dials every week like clock work. He divides his business development time into three two-hour sessions per week. The ritual is very structured. Through trial and error he has found the value proposition, the number of dials and the steps it takes to maximize effectiveness of his prospecting. Roger explains, "I don't put much pressure on myself. I am doing these calls to build relationships for the future. The people I am calling today will be my active opportunities eight months from now." Roger doesn't have to think about making his calls every week; he just does them.

To get to Roger's level of prospecting doesn't happen over night. Too often people try to implement a new routine, but try to do too much too soon and inevitably fail. Change requires moving beyond our comfort zone, and is best initiated in small, manageable increments. Focus on one significant change at a time, and set reachable goals at each step of the process. If you haven't picked up the phone in two months and want to get into cold calling, it doesn't make sense to trying to call 30 people a day, five days a week. Your odds of success are far higher if you begin with a specific, but carefully calibrated prospecting plan. That might be making five prospecting calls between 10:00am and 11:00am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Then increasing the pace every subsequent week. Growth and change won't occur unless you push past your comfort zone.

Building a prospecting ritual may sound rather rudimentary, but look at the statistics. Marguerite McLeod, president of the Results Source – a lead generation and appointment setting firm, states, "From our experience it takes 8.4 dials to reach a person, and 2% of all calls return in a meeting." This part of selling is very much a numbers game, but is often pushed off for a variety of reasons: waiting for leads from marketing, servicing existing customers, going after the web traffic, or just chasing easy prospects. These sources are great for the immediate, but they don't generate long-term predictable results or sales people who consistently double their quota.

People often confuse rituals with time management techniques. Time management is an act of self-control, and does nothing to manage long-term performance or conserve energy. Ask an elite athlete how they manage their day, and you will hear a description of, "I get up. I eat. I train. I eat some more, and then train some more. Then I sleep." Eat, train and sleep is how they view their lives, but when you look more closely they operate in a series of rituals that gets them ready for that opportunity to show the world what they are capable of. Great sales people use rituals in much the same way. Prospecting, or failure to prospect, is the difference between an average sales person and a great one. You will know when you have achieved a ritual of effective prospecting when you automatically make your calls every week, but more importantly find the time to make the calls regardless of how busy your schedule is.

*****

Show Me Your Talent! - Evaluating Seasoned Candidates With Real Scenarios

Most people treat an interview as if it were an interrogation. The employer asks questions, the candidate gives answers. Seasoned candidates hide behind their interview "game face" and usually revise or interpret their past employment history to suit the questions. On the other side of the table the employer asks complex questions to hopefully reveal whether the candidate is right for the job. The process does little to determine the abilities of the candidate.

There is a more effective way to determine if a candidate understands the essence of the job and whether they have the innate skills, experience and personal attributes to achieve success. We have found role-plays can give insight into a candidate's technical skills and personal charisma while under stress. Role-plays reveal whether the customer service candidate can manage the irate customer, or if the sales candidate is persistent, persuasive and tenacious, or if the financial analyst can handle a curve ball that takes the interview in an unexpected direction.

Role-playing starts with an examination of the job. Every position has a core challenge or purpose, such as increasing revenue, improving account penetration or handling service issues. Based on the problems, quandaries or past scenarios that relate to these challenges you can formulate a real life role-play that demonstrates the candidate's modus operandi for dealing with these issues.

Role-plays can take the form of a brief scenario embedded in the interview or a full presentation scheduled for another time. In either case the candidate needs adequate time to prepare and to "get into character" Start by giving them a written overview that sets the stage for the encounter they will face, and invite them to ask any questions for further clarification. For extended scenarios, walk the candidate through the role-play and give them product information to take home to prepare with.

One of our clients, a major software vendor selling on-demand computer services, has a well-developed recruiting process. Prospective candidates first meet with HR and line sales managers for the skills qualifications. For the next step, selected candidates are invited to conduct a role-play web demonstration to close a set of C-level decision makers. Candidates are given a full packet of product information, a pre-package presentation and a written overview of the scenario they will encounter. They are asked to prepare a final presentation to close the new client for a major sale.

Key executives of the software company perform the various characters in the role-play through a link up with the on-line presentation. Additional information and scripts that are revealed during the presentation are worked out before hand. Every effort is made to make the candidate comfortable and free of distractions so they can focus on the role-play. We recommend that the players and applicant stay in character for the entire presentation, treating the situation as a realistic one. In the final evaluation the hiring managers are able to see how the candidate handles objections, the unknown, stress and technical competencies required for the position.

We have another client that has turned their entire recruiting process into the ultimate role-play game. This company hires top-notch salespeople who demonstrate aggressive styling. The recruiting process is designed to parallel the typical sales cycle where each stage of the process draws on the candidate to demonstrate the key behaviors, skills and knowledge of a senior business developer.

In the qualifying interview with the recruiter the candidate is told up front what to expect in the recruiting process and that the hiring managers will be playing the role of a buyer. The process starts with a discovery telephone interview with the line manager to determine the appropriateness of the fit. The onus is on the candidate to sell their skills and attributes, and to close for the face-to-face meeting with key decision makers. The next step is a structured interview with lots of selling and listening, ending with a close for the meeting with the executive buyer. At the executive level the agenda is once again a structured interview with a close for the offer and negotiation phase. At each stage the candidate must move the interview process along, handle objections about skills and experience and deliver the value proposition of why they are a good fit for the position. Our client has been very successful in identifying candidates who are excellent at closing, and who can drive the sales process to the decision maker.

Role-playing gets the interviewer away from vague canned answers to precise answers with a much clearer impression of experienced candidates. The body language and demeanor of the candidate reveal a lot more about the candidate's true level of comfort and abilities. The more fluid the role-play the better you will see how the candidate thinks with their assumptions and reactions.

*****

A Strategy for Recruiting: Turn Unused Resumes into Future Hires

Ever receive an email from a friend where the offer is too good to be true? Maybe it's a message promising endless happiness, good luck, fame and fortune but first you have to forward the message to your Address Book in the next 15 minutes. Just an Internet hoax letter.

Letters with false promises appear all the time. Companies have their own hoax letters that are sent to jobseekers and goes something like this:

Dear Job Seeker,
We regret to inform you that your application for employment was unsuccessful at this time. We will keep your resume on file and considered it for suitable roles in the future. Once again, thank you for your interest in ...
Regards,
Hiring Manager

Why send such a letter knowing that the probability of re-visiting and re-considering the resume is less than 1%? Maybe it brings closure to the current recruitment project? Or maybe it dissuades the job seekers from calling in for the status of their resume? Will the candidate re-applying to future openings knowing that the employer is unlikely to re-visit their resume? Everyone sees the truth. Today's job seekers are not naive to hollow letters with unreal offers.

The current strategy in corporate recruitment is to implement customer relationship management (CRM) principals to convert unused resume response into a valuable resource for future hiring. Through the use of Applicant Tracking technology companies retain resumes in a database and build in-depth workflow around managing and developing future candidates for future job openings.

The goal of a tracking system is to foster relationships with prospective employees, to categorize their skills for targeted selection and to deliver fast-response for identifying the best candidates for newly approved positions. The process is not warehousing resumes in a simple database and emailing job postings on an ad hoc basis. It's more sophisticated than that. The business process is aimed at engaging candidates and developing a relationship through targeted automated communications, informative newsletters, requests for updated resumes and announcements on additional company information.

The tracking system enables an employer to focus recruiting on specific target audiences, based on how the talent is categorized. Not everyone receives the same message and so the audience does not feel like they are being dealt with indiscriminately. Also the company is presented with the unique opportunity to gather additional information through individual on-line questionnaires. Hence companies can further short-list potential candidates based on skills and profiles.

Sourcing candidates for an Applicant Tracking System fits hand-in-glove with existing recruitment activities such as corporate job fairs, employee referrals, recruiting events and public job postings. An integral part of a tracking system is resume portal access, where resumes are entered by the job seekers through the corporate web site and stored directly in the resume database. Hiring managers and corporate staff have direct access for reviewing resumes directly from their desktop. No more faxing and circulating emails or paper.

Resume reading is getting easier. The latest versions of Applicant Tracking Systems automatically score resumes according to the specific Job Profile, making it easier to prioritize resume response. As resume response continues to grow for generic positions, the bandwidth to process them stretches as well. Large-scale recruiting projects become less tedious and hiring objectives are met faster. The effort needed to build and maintain an Applicant Tracking System is spread into continuous activities that are regulated and managed alongside other duties.

Timing is everything in recruiting. A full candidate search can be a lengthy process and an all-consuming task to reach the job offer stage. The hiring manager who is short-handed is anxious to acquire new headcount quickly and avoid having the job requisition re-deployed. Left on their own the hiring manager would quickly engage a third party agency to fill their requisition. With an Applicant Tracking System companies can condense the time by exploring a set of pre-qualified candidates, inviting them to apply to the position and responding quickly to the hiring manager with a low cost answer that doesn't bog down the recruitment process.

The applicant tracking process turns resumes into a valuable resource for future hires. It enables employers to market themselves to a specific set of potential talent or to pre-selected candidates they could be interested in hiring. A tracking system lets employers keep in touch with specific candidates and compress the time involved in acquiring talent when it's time to hire. Overall the system enables employers to handle large-scale communications in a targeted and personalized way.

Applicant Tracking Systems deliver long-term benefits. Companies experience improved caliber of new hires and a reduction in recruiting fees and costs. By taking charge of the candidate acquisition, employers can hire regardless of the market conditions for talent.

*****

Unstoppable Sales: Is your sales force design holding you back?

Every day sales people hit the street looking for opportunities to sell their wares and ultimately generate revenue for their companies. Some reps find new customers, while others develop sales opportunities with their existing clients. Classically these two activities are categorized into "hunting" and "farming." Depending on the sales person they are typically drawn to one of these categories of selling over the other. The sales person's behavioral profile and natural talents dictate their preference.

The question to ask is why do most organizations structure their sales reps by territory where the sales people are responsible for finding new business and growing existing clients? The impact of this strategy leads to the development of broad gaps of performance in the sales team. Hunting and farming a territory are two distinct activities, and by separating them you can improve sales performance by focusing your people on what they do best.

When sales people are categorized as hunters or farmers you will quickly see how their responsibilities, goals and attributes differ. Hunters immediately bring to mind our stereotypical sales profiles. These sales people find and secure orders with new clients, and once the deal is signed they move on to the next new piece of business. Hunters excel at generating and qualifying leads, making persuasive presentations and moving people to action. They are full of energy and possess high levels of endurance, which is necessary when the majority of people they first encounter are indifferent to doing business with them. In a sales organization the hunter is responsible for new business development.

Farmers pick up where the hunters leave off by continuing contact with customers and securing future orders. Farmers maintain relationships with existing customers, and often act as an advocate for the customer. They possess high product knowledge, and often proactively discover customer support issues before they fester. Within the sales organization farmers are sometimes referred to as "Account Managers."

When we look at hunting and farming as distinct positions it is very obvious how the ideal person for each role is very different. Yet for most firms these positions are grouped together. Momentum Corporation, a mid-market software vendor, faced this very challenge. They had experienced explosive growth in their first four years of existence. They were considered the dominant player in their market, and had quickly risen to exceed seven and a half million dollars in annual sales in less than four years. In 2003 Momentum began to plateau. Revenue growth was stagnant, turnover in the sales force was high and none of their reps could consistently perform quarter over quarter. Management was very frustrated.

Like most organizations, Momentum aligned their sales people by territory. The mantra was, "I don't care where the revenue comes from, just go get it." Sales people are primarily measured on revenue. In general, where revenue comes from is not closely scrutinized, measured or rewarded. As a result a company cannot easily control the activities of its sales people, because the reps will tend to follow the path of least resistance and go for the low hanging fruit. Momentum's reps were no different. They tended to focus on serving their existing customers, and had transitioned into a group of farmers. The result was Momentum's management could not trust or bank on the sales funnel. Revenue came in fits and starts, which made it very difficult to hire new employees or invest in research and development activities.

Momentum recognized that its growth was dependent on acquiring new customers. Their market was rapidly consolidating, and the barriers of entry for competitors were low. The answer was to separate the sales force into business development and account management. They did extensive research on each of their reps to identify the traits that stood out for the best hunters and the best farmers. They used a combination of behavioral profiling, skills assessments and reviewing the reps in action to understand the differences between hunters and farmers. Using this intelligence they developed new job descriptions and ideal behavioral profiles to rebuild the sales team and hire people to fit the new requirements. The pursuit paid off. Within eighteen months of this project they are on a new growth track, and increased sales by thirty-five percent in 2005.

The decision to separate hunting and farming into distinct positions must come from the top. The first step in the process is to clearly articulate the separation of revenue projections and goals into new business development and existing client development. Rather than stating sales targets for the following fiscal year will be "x," management should take the step to define the total goal and then build accountability into the system by stating what percentage will come from new business development and what percentage will come from existing customers. This step will clearly articulate if the quotas are realistic, as well as what skills and resources the sales team will require to reach their designated quotas.

As the roles are separated a new set of measurements are required to manage and motivate the sales people to peak performance. Revenue is still an important measurement, but it is also important to measure and review weekly activities and behaviors to ensure each of the reps will achieve their quota. When hiring new sales people it can take four to six months just to get them up to speed. This is a long time to invest in someone to find out nine months later they aren't going to cut it. The measures of a hunting role may be more concerned with suspects generated per week, the conversion ratios from prospect through to close and the ongoing activities required to achieve quota. Sales quotas are much easier to achieve when a sales manager proactively reviews and manages these activities weekly, because the reps are being managed to their behaviors. Everyone knows what is required to achieve success.

Momentum implemented strong business process to manage the distinct activities of their hunters and farmers. Hunters focused on building a constant pipeline of qualified prospects to close. The management team spends a great deal of time working with each of the business development reps to keep a consistent funnel, and to focus their activities to quickly qualify potential business and move it through the funnel. The farmers are measured under a different set of criteria. They are responsible for coordinating the software implementation, and are also managed by account driven objectives. Each account manager is responsible to build strategic account plans for their "A" customers, and they are measured on the achievements of each plan's objectives.

Separating hunting and farming into separate positions is a sound strategy, but it can only work with the right people. It is a complete cultural shift to renovate the sales department, because it transitions the team from a group of generalists into specialists. Many sales people do not survive the transition, and the sales team will look very different even six months after the strategy is implemented. The key job for management is to place the right people in the right positions, and get everyone who does not fit into the new structure off of the bus. Once the team is filled with specialists focused on clear goals, growth is unstoppable.

*****

Recruiting Techies Is Tougher Than It Needs To Be

A friend of mine who handles recruiting for a mid-sized organization, called me the other day to tell me, "Recruiting techies is tougher than it needs to be. There's got to be a better way". He went on to explain that his recruiting challenge is heightened by staying on top of the array of obscure technical acronyms and certifications by which techies are measured and qualified.

We discussed delegating technical recruiting and selection to the line technical manager. This approach can be successful if the manager is equiped and trained to conduct the full range of recruitment tasks, however the exposure for the company could be a flawed process that leads to hiring mistakes.

For a long term strategy, there is a process companies can employ that will help ensure that they choose the right technical person, even if technology isn't the HR staff's forte.

The strategy has three-parts.

Not surprisingly, it starts with writing a comprehensive job profile. Next comes the execution of a clear recruitment marketing and sourcing process to generate applicant flow. Finally, the strategy ends with the evaluation and selection of the right candidates through a structured interviewing process.

Comprehensive job profiles

A comprehensive job profile addresses a range of characteristics that define the elements for success and how the position fits within the organization. Ultimately, a targeted job profile provides a clear roadmap to execute the candidate search. The elements of the job profile are:

Level of supervision
What is the level of supervision that best suits the position? It can range from close supervision for entry-level jobs to general supervision for senior positions.
Scope and impact of the position
Who are the primary groups serviced by this position and what impact does this job role have on the wider organization? How can these benefits be measured? When will they begin to be felt? Identify the major projects or deliverables the role will accomplish in the first three, six and twelve months.
Problem solving and decision-making
Identify examples of typical and complex problems the person will resolve, and what problems are referred to the supervisor.
Major functions
What are the major duties and responsibilities, in order of importance, and what percentage of the new hire's time should be spent in each area?
Supervisory responsibilities
Will the person train and hire new employees, plan and assign work, handle budgeting, resolve grievances or conduct performance and salary evaluations? Include these details in your profile.
Technical knowledge, skills, abilities, and certifications
What is the technical knowledge required for the position, and at what level of effectiveness (basic, intermediate, advanced)? Give examples of how the person will apply the technical skills to problem solving. What abilities does the person have, such as verbal and written communications, and professional certifications?

Traditional job descriptions focus on the technology, tasks and duties, whereas a job profile addresses what it takes to accomplish the tasks and achieve the job outcomes. Do your homework to understand the position, its impact and the importance of related technology.

Sourcing and generating candidates

Get creative in sourcing candidates. The sources for candidates are endless. Always research, test and measure to determine which sources are worthwhile. You can generate applicant flow from your Web site's job postings and from public resume boards, but don't overlook the people you meet through professional associations, employee referrals, seminars, conferences and trade shows.

Smart hiring managers also use industry applicant tracking systems to create a database of potential candidates. You can track the performers that work for your competitors or candidates that could make a difference to your business in the future. Seek these people out and develop relationships with them through e-marketing. This database of prospective candidates is for your exclusive use in recruiting and the cost is low.

When you start a candidate search from scratch, the results are slow to yield worthwhile results. Budget at least three to six weeks for a new job search. Typically a candidate search begins with the hiring manager reviewing resumes received from postings on their web site or a public resume board. The first wave of responses are mainly from active job seekers whose resumes are under consideration by many other firms in the marketplace.

To move to a more time-sensitive mode, you could launch a Candidate Alert process of the public resume boards, such as Monster or Workopolis, to notify you whenever a job seeker posts or revises his or her resume. This brings you to the edge of the active marketplace, along with the commercial recruiters. You may find that the real results come from mining your own private database.

Here are the steps for building and sourcing in your own private database:

Drive traffic to the job postings on your corporate Web site.
Whether you are sourcing candidates from trade shows, employee referrals or the public resume boards, get the candidates to apply by reviewing the postings on your own company's Web site.
Qualify the applicants with competency questions.
Competency questions give you information not available on an applicant's resume and useful information for rough screening. Pose questions that deliver facts or measurable data and set a limit of four to eight questions. A barrage of questions will drive the respondent away. Try to keep the application process under five minutes.
Track and build applicant response.
You never know when you may want to hire someone and you need to build a relationship for that eventuality. Applicant tracking systems and applicant marketing is the best strategy of freeing yourself from hiring active job seekers.
E-marketing trumps E-cruiting
Implement a long-term strategy to brand your company as an 'employer of choice' versus a reactive recruiting strategy of shaking the bushes and hiring from the active set of candidates.

Sourcing is the most important step. First you make potential candidates aware of your job opportunity, you convince them to apply and then you assess them. The heart of sourcing involves creating a pool of great candidates to later screen and select.

Structured interviewing process

Interviewing is a two-way dynamic process. On the one hand, you are marketing the opportunity to work for your company. At the same time, you are evaluating and qualifying the applicant on the fit. The job seeker is going through the same process as they present well-rehearsed answers and size up your opportunity.

Engage and qualify the response for technical competency
The first step is to rough screen the resumes to select a handful of potential contenders. Engage the candidate with a phone qualification interview. Get the candidate to give you a 'thumb nail sketch' of their resume, and listen carefully and evaluate their interpersonal skills. Ask qualifying technical questions to amplify missing or sketchy information. Drill down on specific competencies to determine the depth of expertise and skills. The phone interview will take ten to twenty minutes to form a worthwhile impression. The phone interview also allows you to develop rapport with the candidate, which will alleviate some of their nervousness in the face-to-face interview.
Select based on job performance and cultural fit
Take a structured approach to interviewing for the evaluation and comparison of candidates against the job profile. Behavioral and situational interviewing provides an accurate view of what the candidate has done before and will do in the future. Have them draw out performance-based stories to gain insights into their operating styles, accomplishments, track record and areas of weakness. Use this opportunity to determine the cultural fit on whether it matches the values of your corporation. Save this assessment for the conclusion of the interview.
Confirm your view with behavioral reference checks
Reference checks are meant to verify information gained from the interviewing process and at times to gather insight on whether to proceed. Ask prepared situational questions to reveal operating style and business acumen. Ask for opinions and their insight on how similar problems were addressed. Rate the quality of the reference and the insight gained.

Technical recruiting requires a comprehensive job profile to set the road map, continuing on with a creative approach to candidate sourcing and developing your own database of candidates and then combining all parts of a structured interviewing process to yield the best results.

*****

Set Sail For Unbreakable Customer Relationships

The power and energy of a great brand is not in a well-crafted mission statement or an exciting marketing campaign; it is in the hearts and minds of your employees. Try a little experiment. Randomly ask a few of your employees two questions. What business are we in, and what are we trying to achieve? If you receive differing answers from your people, then you have an opportunity to extend and grow your brand. A company's brand is the sum of its customers' experiences with the company, both positive and negative. Every time a customer calls for help, interacts with your products and services, or hears about the company — you are developing your brand. If you are considering building a great brand, the place to start is with your employees.

Kind and courteous people alone are not enough. The defining factor is to tap into the hearts and minds of your employees, and to help them find meaning and purpose with their jobs. A person that does not find meaning in his job cannot deliver consistent, positive customer experiences. Either they don't know how to, or they don't care to. To help your people embrace and believe in your company's purpose and brand is a journey. Your company's strength is deep within the organization. It is the corporate DNA made up of the company's people, mission, values, culture and collective ambitions. The company's leadership must always be looking for methods to tap into this DNA, and to help their employees live and embrace what you are trying to achieve with your customers. A great way to visualize this process is to imagine your company is a boat sailing to an island on the horizon.

Everything your company does should be focused and tuned to reach the island on the horizon; it is your company's purpose. Your company's mission statement is designed to articulate your final destination, the island. Take a look at yours. Is it clear, succinct and purposeful? If not, scrap it. Too often companies create wordy statements that are vague and designed to appeal to anyone and everyone. Wordy statements don't say a thing. At the other extreme is the mission statement that has multiple interpretations. Imagine trying to travel to three different islands on the horizon. How can you expect to focus your resources and employees on these disconnected goals? Not only does this confuse your employees, but more importantly it confuses the market.

Great mission statements are motivators. They describe what your organization is trying to achieve, and your organization's reason for being. To be useful the mission statement should be clear and short. Your employees may not be able to recite it from heart, but everyone should be able to clearly state what business you are in, why you exist and what you are trying to accomplish. It will act as a beacon of light on the horizon to focus the attention and energies of your employees. This simple act alone will lay the foundation to bring meaning and purpose to your employees' jobs. By knowing why it is important to serve customers in a certain way, or why we must constantly drive costs down will guide the actions of your employees. Finding clarity and purpose is extremely difficult, but once you have it you will place a lighthouse on your island to help cut through the storms and fogs of your journey.

Identifying your final destination is only part of the journey, how you get there is just as important. The shoreline is your values, and if you do not respect and follow your values you will run aground and probably not arrive at your destination in one piece. If your mission defines what you are and why you exist, then your values will define how you will get there. Many companies have developed their value statements inline with the teachings of Jim Collins in Good to Great. Flip through the ocean of corporate web sites in the Internet, and you will find values of respect, integrity, communication and excellence. Funny enough those happened to be Enron's core values.

The process of uncovering values and purpose cannot be superficial. Values such as winning and getting paid may not make great advertising copy, but that could very well be what your company truly values. Every company has its own set of shared values that cannot be easily broken or ignored. Leaders must make it their responsibility to uphold the values of the company. Every time a value is ignored or broken you send a clear message to your employees, your customers and your partners that you are not serious about reaching your final destination; you will run aground.

On every ship you will find a compass. It is a powerful tool to tell you if you are on course, and which direction to take. A business's compass is its unique approach to your category or business. Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema in the book The Discipline of Market Leaders describe the compass as "value disciplines". There are three value disciplines: product leadership, customer intimacy and operational excellence. Is your company's strength in its ability to innovate and develop new products, is it your ability to create customer focused solutions or do you offer the cheapest price? By focusing on your core strength and setting your compass you will put a powerful decision making tool into the hands of every employee. To find your compass start with your best and most loyal customers, and build a long list of all the benefits you provide them as well as the areas you are differentiated in the market. Through this process you will see patterns emerge. Narrow and pare down this list until you identify the most important and singular brand differentiators. Just as a compass always points to north, your compass will help you navigate through the waters by focusing on a consistent customer experience, whether that be price, targeted solutions or product innovation.

The crew you keep will impact who wants to travel with you. The mark of a great captain is his or her ability to assemble a cohesive team committed and focused on accomplishing the journey. A crew that has the wrong talents or does not work well together may end up pulling the boat in circles. There is nothing more important for a company's success than hiring and retaining great people. It is a combination of bringing on the people with the talents, skills and values that are required to get to the final destination. The same is true for getting off the people that don't have what it takes to get to the island. One of the most frustrating things is to see a crewmember pretending to paddle. When you pull an oar through the water it creates little whirlpools that swirl around the paddle. If a person is pretending to paddle you can see the paddle gliding through the water with the momentum of the boat, but it won't be making any whirlpools. Get rid of those false paddlers, and use your mission, values and compass to focus the actions of each of your crew.

When your crew is truly engaged in the journey they will tell stories of where they have come from and where they are going. A story is a powerful tool to focus the efforts and energies of your employees. It provides context for the journey. Leaders should always be looking for new and creative ways to communicate the company's mission, values and why you are different to build the culture of the organization. Sales people and marketers are the typical orators of corporate stories, but don't stop there. Encourage storytelling throughout your organization to help employees know and be proud of where they have come from and where they are going. This will provide you with two key benefits: a close-knit culture and a group of committed marketers. Every time an employee interacts with a customer they will use these stories to guide their actions and provide context to what an outstanding customer relationship should be. It takes them beyond being kind and courteous to being committed and focused. Going beyond the call of duty.

A company that is conscious and focused on succeeding at its journey will stand out in the marketplace. It is a pursuit that most executives are aware of, but a daunting challenge nonetheless. You can control your marketing message and communications, but controlling the beliefs, actions and pursuits of your employees is like herding cats. When you and your crew commit to a final destination and identify purpose in your journey your customers will reward you handsomely.

*****

Attitude, Passion, Energy, Enthusiasm: Hire People Whose Attitude Stands Out

People with the right attitude make a memorable difference and deliver a unique payback. Last week I visited the local farmer’s market to buy fresh vegetables and fruit. Pears were in abundance. The smell of ripe Concord grapes floated from a few of the stalls. The color red was everywhere with the bushel baskets of large red peppers.

As I stopped at various stalls, I found myself spending more time and money where the salesperson made the shopping experience worthwhile. At some stalls I sampled sliced peaches or tore back the husks on the ears of corn and at others the salesperson shared tips on cooking or preserving. Conversely I found vendors that only wanted me to touch their produce with my eyes.

My buying process was directly influenced by the behavior of the sales people versus their products. Whether acquiring the basic needs of life or buying sophisticated commercial products, it all comes down to the people involved. Knowing that people make the difference, great companies hire great people who fuel their bottom line.

Hiring the best person is more than just filling a position with the right technical skill set and competencies, rather it is about acquiring the right people that will make a difference for your organization. Every employee adds value, but the loftier goal is to find people who will multiply their value.

Some organizations hire based on the position’s technical requirements and hope the new employee will bring with them the right attitudes and traits for building the organization. The ideal hiring process starts with evaluating whether the candidate has the attitude and passion that is connected to your corporate culture, team environment and values.

Hiring managers who take control of the staffing process get the outcomes they want. They know the attitudes they are looking for, and they don’t compromise. A clear sign of an improperly aligned hiring process is the hiring manager who asks for a pool of resumes and says, “I will know whom to hire when I see it.” The better approach is to determine up front the right job profile of skills and attitudes required for today and for the future. By starting the selection process with resumes to determine the skills needed, the manager has abdicated the opportunity of making hiring a strategic priority.

A great attitude in your employees is a major factor in differentiating your company. These people not only bring the skills, but they also bring passion and positive energy. What are the search criteria for people with passion? Passionate people stand out in many ways, they are the candidates that are energized, excited and are engaged in their job. People with great attitude typically read books for personal advancement or do voluntary over-time, and grab onto new opportunities for career advancement. They are on fire about their work.

Your employees are the marketers of your business. They speak and interact with your customers, suppliers and their fellow employees. Through your employees you build your culture for tomorrow, which means your employees have to share your values and vision. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, says the first step in building a great company is to get the right people onto the bus. The biggest difference between a good company and a great one is in the quality of its talent.

Build the habits to hire passionate people into your organization. The recruiting process should reflect the spirit of your organization in an up front and visible approach. The candidates that you are trying to attract to your company have many options and they are focused on building their career versus just getting a job. In the interview, help the candidates understand your corporate culture and how they can build their career and fulfill their personal mission. Interviewing is a two-way street so engage the prospective employee and let them see how their career could unfold. In the final analysis, hire people for their attitudes and recruit them for their skills.

Back at the farmers’ market, it all comes down to the attitudes of the people you meet and their efforts to create the right sales experience. That’s how I came home with a bushel of pears and enough red peppers to feed an army.

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Fishing For Whales: Identify Sales Performers

The 80 / 20 rule has become the ultimate justification for poor performance in sales. Sales management will often state phrases like, “80% of our sales comes from 20% of our customers,” or “80% of our sales comes from 20% of our sales force.” These are terrible odds! That means that four out of every five sales people should be doing something else. How do so many smart executives and experienced sales managers make so many hiring mistakes? The problem typically falls onto the company's recruiting practices: looking for the wrong people in the wrong places.

Early in my sales career I learned that it was just as easy to sell a large deal as it was to sell a small one, but I couldn't rely on the traditional sources of leads (ie. marketing) to provide me a consistent flow of “whales.” With my sales manager, we researched our largest customers and mapped out a profile of traits that were similar to each: size of business, number of employees, industries, key business pains and reasons for buying our solution. We developed an ideal customer profile, and within 6 months of this exercise I increased my average size deal by 500%. To eliminate the 80 / 20 rule in sales people, this same type of exercise must be completed to identify what is the ideal sales profile.

What makes a sales person a top performer? It's not training and it's not sales tools, although those are great investments for your top performers. It's what's inside them: empathy, persuasiveness, persistence, patience and resilience. These traits are the raw materials of great sales people, and they combine their talents with technical skills, product knowledge and experience to solve the unique problems of each of their customers.

Most hiring managers start out their hiring and recruiting efforts with an “I want list,” also known as a job description. A typical job description lists out experiences and skills, but at no time accurately states or measures what it means to be a great sales person in the role. The first step is to start with the results. How much revenue and profit must the sales person produce? What type of relationship will the sales person have with the customer? Is the position's objective to acquire customers or to develop and maintain existing customers? If you cannot clearly articulate what the person is going to achieve, then you have about as much chance of getting a great sales person as you do at winning it big in Vegas.

The nature of selling PC products to consumers at a big box store compared to selling enterprise servers to government is very different. The very nature of the sales cycle will dictate the type of person who will succeed in the role. All great sales people possess 5 key behavioral traits:

Empathy - Knowing what the customer wants
Empathy is the most basic ingredient of successful sales people. It is the ability to understand the needs of each prospect and to sell them the appropriate solution. Empathy is not a "soft" trait. It is the ability to understand how the prospect is feeling without losing sight of your objectives, to win the business.
Persuasive drive - The hunter's trait
For the best sales people, getting a prospect to say "yes" is the primary motivating force. It is a sense of accomplishment, it is an internal desire and it presents victory. Money is not the driver; rather it is the reward for satisfying the sales person's persuasive drive.
Service drive - The farmer's trait
Any sale that requires follow up or engagement with a customer beyond an initial yes requires service drive. This is the gratification that comes from receiving compliments such as "thank you" and "I appreciate your help". It is very easy to confuse service drive and persuasive drive during an interview, because a person with high service drive will try to emulate and present himself to get the interviewer's approval. The problem arrives when it comes time to hunt, the person with high service drive is not motivated to persuade, but is motivated to serve.
Pace - The internal clock
The amount of patience required to sell largely depends on the sales environment. A person with a high degree of pace is patient, methodical and consistent, while a person with low pace is urgent, driving and impatient. A hunting role typically requires a person with low pace to keep looking for those "yeses". While the person selling large enterprise solutions will demonstrate a higher level of pace, and be more methodical and detail oriented.
Ego resilience - Personal self-worth
Selling is a numbers game. As Tom Hopkins accurately suggests, great sales reps learn to love no. Ego resilience is the degree in which a person likes him or herself, and the ability to handle rejection. A person might have all of the skills and attributes for the position, but if they lack the resilience to handle rejection, they will ultimately fail. Eventually the baggage accumulated through defeat will force the person to give up.

No one person can be equally successful in every sales role; therefore you must determine what is the right mix of behaviors for your sales environment. We call this step, Job Modeling. It is the process of mapping the required behavioral traits with the key variables in the sales environment:

Frequency of closes (sales)
Lead generation
Nature of customers
Technical background
Support

Coming back to our example of a person selling PC products to consumers we see an environment that provides lots of opportunities to close, and plenty of warm leads with prospects that are not interested in developing a relationship. In this role we look for people who are dominant in persuasive drive, empathy and urgency (low pace). These sales people move fast, try to close often and keep pushing on to their next prospect. While at the other extreme the enterprise sales person may only close 2 or 3 multi-million dollar deals per year. This role requires higher service drive and patience (high pace), because the sales person must work very closely with the customer for a long period of time to develop the appropriate solution.

Developing a Job Model is most effective when combined with a behavioral assessment tool. Since the most important talents you are hunting for in a sales person are not readily visible, an assessment tool will help you uncover a person's inherent behavioral traits. A standard behavioral profile will provide accurate selection results and a method to measure all potential candidates with. Profiling your top sales people and blending their assessments into an ideal profile is the best method for creating the baseline. The baseline profile will allow you to compare potential candidates with your environment, and help you to assess if the person has what it takes to succeed.

Imagine what your numbers would be if each of your sales people were as good as your top performers. Not only would you be hitting huge numbers, but you would also reduce your operating costs, training costs and recruiting costs. One of the first things you will notice after developing an ideal sales profile is your source of sales candidates is no longer effective, but you will be armed with the information to go out and hunt for the right sales people. Even better, you will be better equipped to attract and hire these candidates, because you can sell to their unique needs and show them how they will succeed in your environment. Now that is an exciting prospect!

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Top Managers Focus On People For Outstanding Results

The challenge of transitioning from a solo performer to a manager is like moving from single life to life as a parent. The focus shifts from the individual to the needs of others, and it is a much steeper learning curve than anyone ever imagines.

In Marcus Buckingham’s book, First, Break All The Rules, he states, “A manager must be able to do four activities extremely well: select a person, set expectations, motivate the person, develop the person. These four activities are the manager’s most important responsibilities. You might have all of the vision, charisma, and intelligence in the world, but if you cannot perform these four activities well, you will never excel as a manager.”

Buckingham clearly indicates that the technical skills and knowledge that initially propel us up the corporate ladder are not the key attributes of a great manager. A few characteristics consistently emerge when observing a great manager in action. They aren’t trendy. They just seem to work.

Set clear expectations

Great managers focus on the end results, not on the steps it will take to get there. The fastest way to exhaust every moment in your day is by telling your people how to do their jobs.

Focus your team on the finish line, or the targeted objective, and paint a clear picture that everyone can “buy” into. Take the time to make sure each person on your team can visualize as well as articulate what the end result should look like and why. You may do this in a structured planning event, such as an annual goal setting meeting. Other times it can be an informal conversation about how to handle a specific challenge. Employees need to know what they are expected to do, and they need to have the room to execute the details in the way that makes the most sense to them. The hardest thing for many managers is to let go of their tight grip, and to accept that their employees will not do the job the same way they would.

The act of defining objectives, and giving your people the freedom to achieve the desired results delivers a powerful combination: empowerment, trust and ownership. By trusting and believing in the talents of your people, you help them achieve their full potential in the pursuit of the clearly defined outcome.

Find each person’s unique talents

Every role performed at optimum performance requires certain behaviors, feelings and skills. Talent is natural and it is innate; it cannot be taught. Great managers watch their employees to see what they do best. They talk with their staff about what brings them joy at work, what frustrates them and what really motivates them. Marcus Buckingham states, “One of the signs of a great manager is the ability to describe, in detail, the unique talents of each of his or her people – what drives each one, how each one thinks, how each builds relationships.” The great manager uses this knowledge to leverage the individual talents of their people, and to deepen the overall strength of the group to reach its defined outcomes.

Recognize their efforts at least weekly

Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! Humans are social creatures, and thrive on personal interaction and reinforcement. We want to know our actions are being recognized, and that we are on the right track. The quickest way to snuff out motivation and creativity at work is to ignore it. Notice the little things, and always be looking for an opportunity to give feedback. Performance reviews are a great way to examine annual targets, but outstanding performance is developed in your day-to-day interactions with your people. In conjunction with your annual reviews set monthly and quarterly targets to help your people achieve and be recognized for their on-going accomplishments towards the final outcome.

In the book Nuts, Jackie and Kevin Freiberg state, “Ownership isn’t about equity; it’s about bringing something to the table – ideas, skills, and talents that others value and appreciate. When people feel involved, they care more. The more they care, the more willing they are to assume ownership.” Through constant feedback and recognition you empower your people to take ownership for their actions, and to be confident they are on the right track.

Get to know your employees and show you care about them

Your employees have lots of options, and they could absolutely go work elsewhere, but they choose to invest their time and talents into your company’s success. Great managers take personal interest in the lives of their employees. They don’t pry, but they listen to the stories about their employees’ families and hobbies so they can get a better appreciation for their outside lives. Two-thirds of our lives are spent outside of the office, and the events and priorities outside of the office have a great impact on the performance inside the office. Employees who feel that they are part of a caring team are more committed to doing good work and staying on a job for a longer period of time.

Be open and truthful

Trust must be earned and deserved. One can love, hate or respect someone else without the other person doing or thinking the same thing, but the same is not true for trust. You and your employees must participate and reciprocate with each other to build this relationship of trust over time.

Building a trusting relationship with your team involves emotion as well as intellect. Talk with your people daily. Look for changes in behavior, the working environment and the overall mood in the organization. Always look for opportunities to communicate with your team. Keep your team up to date on changes that will impact them. Clear and direct communication is the foundation of a trusting relationship.

There is an often used quote, “People don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” By applying the characteristics of top managers, and focusing on growing the performance of your team will lay the foundation to your company’s success. Your leadership style is a key link for success by setting the tone and motivation for your team.

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It's All About Attitude: Hire People Whose Attitude Stands Out

Top performing companies are absolutely committed to a structured hiring process. By continually evaluating their hiring process and tweaking it for improvements, these organizations consistently hire the talent they need to win. Hiring mistakes are costly, but learning and changing to improve the process distinguishes leading companies.

Hiring the right person is more than just filling a position with the right skill set, rather it is about acquiring the right people that will make a difference for your organization. Every employee at your company adds value, but the goal should be to look for people who will multiply their value. Most organizations hire based on the position’s technical requirements, and they hope that technical people will automatically bring with them the right attitude and traits for building the organization. The ideal hiring process starts with evaluating whether the candidate has the attitude and passion that is connected to your corporate culture, team environment and values.

Managers who take control of the hiring process get the outcomes they want. They know the attitudes they are looking for, and they don’t compromise. A clear sign of an improperly aligned hiring process is when a hiring manager asks for a pool of resumes and says, “I will know it when I see it.” This is an example of not determining up front the right skills and attitudes required for today and in the future. By starting with the resumes to determine the skills, the manager has abdicated the opportunity of making hiring a strategic priority.

The right attitude in your employees is a major factor in differentiating your company. The best people not only bring the skills, but they also bring the right attitude. Your employees are the ambassadors of your business. They speak and interact with your customers, suppliers and internally to their fellow employees. With your employees you are building your culture of tomorrow, and your employees have to share your values and vision. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, says the first step in building a great company is to get the right people on the bus. The biggest difference between a good company and a great one is in the quality of its talent.

Recruiting is not a clandestine process of secret meetings and hyped information. A recruiting process should reflect the spirit of your organization with an up front and visible approach. An Employer Value Statement contains a memorable message that all interviewers and hiring managers present to prospective candidates. This process turns candidates into ambassadors for your company – it explains why you have a great place to work and your culture and spirit.

For best results the interviewing process should reflect a comfortable and professional style. Let the conversation flow both ways, and always look for opportunities to discover more about your candidate. You’ll get more this way than a process of closed questions or an interrogating grilling style.

Interview questions in combination with behavioral testing are powerful methods for understanding the real person. A prepared interviewer doesn’t leave questioning to chance or operate on an ad hoc basis, but takes the time to draft questions that are designed to screen for specific attitudes. Questions can reveal the candidate’s ability to blend with the teams and whether they possess a positive optimistic outlook you require. Situational questions reveal a candidate’s experiences into how specific related situations were handled. Go beyond the first response you may get from a situational question and use it as an opportunity to dig deeper. Ask for direct examples, and follow the answer with questions such as “what else” or “why.”

Multiple interviews bring multiple perspectives. Companies that operate with multiple interviewers, get a range of viewpoints and a solid position of knowing whether to proceed. At the same time consensus between the interviewers is expected.

Memorable interviews have a unique payback. Everyone you meet could potentially be a future customer or have influence over one of your customers. Not everyone will ‘fit’ your current hiring need, but everyone potentially can impact your customers and their buying behaviors. Do your interviewees walk away telling a great story about your company? It is your responsibility, as well as all hiring managers and recruiters, to articulate the values of your company to each candidate. Be open and honest with the candidate, and be sure to communicate your decision to hire or not to hire the person. Every person you meet is a relationship, and candidates must be treated with the same courtesy you would give to any employee or customer.

The process of building a great company involves knowing your corporate values and core purpose since these formulate the basis for your hiring decisions. The next step in hiring is to determine the skills and abilities you want in the new employee as well as the personality, passion and traits that will establish or enhance your culture from within. Top companies develop their competitive edge by the talented people that work for them, and their ability to consistently hire the people with the same attitude.

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Building Great Leaders: Training First-Time Managers

Jeremy Miller

First-time managers display a lot of enthusiasm, determination, self-discipline, and of course those key skills that earned them the promotion in the first place. Yet they face an overwhelming variety of challenges that they have not been trained or groomed for when first promoted to managerial positions. No longer are they responsible solely for accomplishing projects on their own; they are now evaluated on how well they build and mobilize a team to meet company goals. The challenge to transition from a solo performer to a new manager is like moving from single life to life as a parent. The focus shifts from the individual needs to the needs of others, and it is a much steeper learning curve than anyone ever imagines.

To be successful in their new role, first-time managers must be able to communicate, delegate, mentor, motivate, and solve problems on a team level – abilities that they probably had neither the opportunity nor the need to develop in their previous positions. When it comes to being effective leaders, first-time managers can only be as good as the support and training that the organization gives them.

Without adequate training, it's easy to make mistakes. Some micro-manage; some run into interpersonal problems; some fail to delegate. To help fledgling leaders avoid such pitfalls, first-time managers should undergo a focused training program tailored to each individual. No classroom program can comprehensively cover all of the skills a first-time manager must develop. An effective approach is to develop a program to meet the individual’s unique needs.

Where do I start?

What steps does your new manager need to take to reach maximum potential? Start with an assessment of the individual that combines past performance and upcoming responsibilities. The goal of the assessment is to gather insights into the individual’s strengths, weaknesses, behavioral tendencies, preferred work style, leadership skills and knowledge of the position. The assessment should not be conducted in seclusion. Involve the new manager throughout the process. The direct feedback and sharing of responsibility will help the manager take on ownership of the development as well as act as a valuable teaching tool.

During the assessment clearly define the expectations of the new role for the new manager. Often when a first-time manager is promoted they are not only hindered by lack of experience and training, but the lack of definition in their role and responsibilities. Work with the new manager to get a quick start, even before their first day, to help them find out as much as they can about the position, its history, the predecessor, the predecessor’s failures and successes and how they performed. Sharing experiences will help to arm a first-time manager with the lessons of the past, and encourage a smooth transition.

A new manager must learn to reshape the expectations of their staff, and work with the style and expectations set by the predecessor. It is a huge job to fill the shoes of a top-performing manager that has been promoted or moved on. Leverage the assessment to identify how the new manager will carve out their own style, successes and relationship with their staff. A fresh face provides the opportunity to bring in new perspectives and ideas; don’t let the past limit the potential development of a new manager.

Implement an action plan

Setting goals gives the program focus, and allows the manager and the executive team to track and measure results. Draw up an action plan that combines both corporate and personal goals that can be readily incorporated into tangible drivers and metrics for the new manager.

The action plan is the key for on-the-job training to handle the many skills a first-time manager must develop. Different skills such as delegating, coaching and setting team objectives are all key areas that should be incorporated into the action plan. In developing the action plan, incorporate plenty of opportunities for practice. Role-playing, simulations and application of a skill to the manager’s work environment are all vital techniques of learning.

Coaching & Development

Coaching can help new managers develop a personal style, recognize and clarify the actual issues they face on a day-to-day basis, and focus on real-life examples. Mentor the new manager with an experienced manager or an executive, preferably outside of the manager’s direct hierarchy. Coaching works best when meetings occur regularly; schedule the meetings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to ensure consistency and adequate knowledge transfer. The meetings should combine regular feedback and review of the action plan. The coach will help focus the new manager, provide motivation and immediate feedback to the day-to-day realities of the position.

Be aware of environments that reinforce bad habits. For example, if a coach comes to meetings late or cancels meetings because they are too busy it sends a negative message about the importance of punctuality and the value placed on employee development. Unexpectedly the training relationship could undermine the behaviors and lessons targeted for the first-time manager.

Reinforce Learning

Combine coaching with opportunities to reinforce learning. A few weeks or months after instruction on a specific topic, such as delegating, set a time to review the lessons and their practical uses. This can take the form of a roundtable discussion, an additional practice session or a set of questions that quizzes the manager on what they have learned. Constant feedback is key at all stages.

Don’t let learning opportunities slip by. Evaluate how situations are handled immediately. Use a crisis as an opportunity to discuss how the situation was handled, what was successful and how can we improve in the future. Real-time feedback is extremely powerful to develop the skills of a focused manager, and it gives the individual the necessary encouragement and feedback to develop skills without learning through trial and error.

Formal Training Programs

Combining your internal management development program with external training programs is an excellent option to extend your new manager’s learning experience. There are a variety of learning options that can be mixed and matched, depending on the manager’s needs – and the company’s resources. Classroom and e-learning courses can give an introduction to various management styles, strategies and tactics, and help develop foundational skills such as budgeting and forecasting.

It typically takes new managers 6 to 18 months to learn and appreciate all of the parts of their new role. First-time managers require a patient management team and mentors to survive the trial of the first few months and excel into the future. It is normal for first-time managers to feel stressed, confused and exhausted during the transition. A focused development program will ensure the performance of the new manager while growing your company’s talent pool and performance.

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New Hire Mentoring For Employee Retention

Wouldn't it be great if you had a Guardian Angel on staff, someone who provided your new employees with wise counsel and guidance on career paths, or on getting them going in the right direction with practical advice on how to approach their workplace.

Wouldn't it be great if that same Guardian Angel improved new hire retention, improved staff loyalty and increased employee productivity. And YES, you can have that Guardian Angel working for you through a Mentoring Program. Mentoring is no longer seen as 'nice to have,' as organizations scramble to find ways to develop and retain their workforce.

For the new employee, a mentor can:

Start them off on the right foot, show them the ropes and successfully integrate them
Help increase the employee's self-confidence
Teach missing skills and impart knowledge and expertise
Enhance professional development
Provide a conduit for issues

For the mentor,

A mentor-protege relationship can function as a two-way street, where the new employee may provide new information and fresh ideas for the mentor
Mentors may also receive positive recognition and reinforcement from their proteges, which can add value and satisfaction to their jobs
For the employer, the mentor can:
Add to new employees' understanding and perspective of the organization
Engender staff loyalty
Protect your investment in the recruiting process

To launch and run a successful mentoring program first requires the CEO's enthusiasm and endorsement, otherwise the program will be seen as a 'feel good' process and is less likely to be taken seriously. A well-planned mentor program can change your culture for the better, while a poorly designed one can create more problems than it's worth.

Successful mentoring just doesn't happen. Participation of the mentor works best on a voluntary basis and also, it is ideal to develop a selection of potential mentors so you can match the right profiles. Take the time to consider how a mentor can compliment your new employee's personality, professional experience and future professional development.

Training is an integral part of a successful program. By taking the time to train mentors, you set a clear understanding of expectations and their role. In addition training the mentee will pay off since they will have a similar expectation and understanding of the program. With this approach both sides can manage the relationship.

As a word to the wise, keep the program flexible between formal and informal events. The key benefits are derived from the one-on-one sessions. Too much reporting or bureaucracy will kill it, but at the same time use a structured process. Manage for results and have the program focus on real issues, challenges and specific areas of development. As a final comment, you may want to include the mentor in the employee review process as well in the annual career planning discussions.

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Branding: Have Your Workforce Speak For You

"Getting your workforce up to speed to deliver your corporate brand values makes the difference in your company's success", says Donna Hawkins, Vice President of Operations at LEAPJob, a Recruitment Process Outsource provider for small to mid-sized companies. By empowering your employees to deliver your brand values, you will differentiate yourself, and step up to the fact that customers have choices for products.

Hawkins has found from her customers that the traditional approach for distinguishing a product's uniqueness has all but vanished. Price, product features, promotion and position in the marketplace can no longer sustain products for the full product life cycles.

According to Hawkins, "My key customers have seen the elimination of global barriers and the growth of technical innovation, so now competitors can mimic and even upstage the functionality of the latest releases in less time than it took to define and create the original innovation. Not only can their competitors nip at their heels with look-alike products and services, but also companies can achieve equal exposure and visibility in front of customers in the Internet economy."

By focusing on corporate branding, companies build within their own workforce the capability of delivering a notable positive difference in the customer experience. In fact this is extended to all levels of the corporation. Hawkins reiterates that, "Everyone within must understand and believe in the distinction you are trying to provide; and it doesn’t stop there. All employees should be empowered to deliver brand values and the value proposition to customers."

Hawkins points out, "The strategy has included recruiting the right people at every stage and top-grading the organization to set your people apart from competitors. Employment branding means communicating the vision of the organization, and what it will take to succeed, it also includes how you expect the employees to deliver on that vision and finally, how employees will be compensated for helping the organization succeed."

As a reality check, Hawkins commented, "It is important for management to determine if the perceptions that your customers and your employees have match your brand message, and that as a corporation you can live up to and deliver on your stated and implied promises."

Hawkins believes "workforce branding can solve a variety of challenges without heavy spending. This success is achieved by follow-through on commitments, the quality of the workforce and their ability to deliver. The voice of the workforce speaks louder and stronger than anything else."

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Skating On Thin Ice: Strategy To Replace Top Performers

Business leaders have well defined plans for developing their corporate culture and growing their people assets. Yet it is just as important to develop a strategy for replacing key talent.

Since 2001, it has been an employer's market. Business leaders have learned to do more with less by focusing on top performers who can grow the business. Concurrently, management has reined in recruiting costs to further improve the bottom line and has squeezed costs by keeping salaries, benefits and bonuses under tight control.

The balance of power is beginning to swing away from employers with the current growth in the job market. The Conference Board of Canada has reported strong employment gains throughout 2004. In June the growth in Ontario and British Columbia increased the national job count by 25,000. With these strong growth figures active job seekers are finding work faster, and are finding more opportunities for career advancement. As the balance of power in the recruitment market swings away from employers, companies can quickly see their top performers being lured away. A small increase in salary or the prospect of more responsibility and autonomy may be enough to make people jump ship.

To prepare for the changing job market, business leaders must carefully consider who are their most valuable employees? To properly establish a short list of the "real" top performers, consider who would cause the most damage if they left today. For example if you were to lose the VP of Marketing, this could be serious, but what would happen if you lost your top sales person to the competition? The loss of revenue would be one thing; the gain in earnings for your rival would be another. Your loss could be doubled!

How well are you looking after your best people? You may think you are paying them enough to keep them motivated, but are you sure? Do you know how your competitors or companies who hire similar types of talent are rewarding the people in their organizations? More importantly, are your key people happy and motivated? Can they see opportunities to develop their careers? How do they feel about their managers and the way their department is run?

Start by developing a short list of your most valuable employees, and for each performer identify or discover what he/she thinks and feels about their job. It is a combination of logical and emotional input that makes a person tick. This is not a formal appraisal or an employee review, but rather informal and personal sleuthing to discover what your employees think about their jobs, their rewards, their prospects for the future and where they see themselves in 1, 3 and 5 years from now.

Having identified your top performers and building up an understanding of how they feel about their roles and rewards, the next question to address is two-fold. Have you fixed the issues in job dissatisfaction that you may have uncovered? Secondly, do you have a plan to replace them if they suddenly leave?

Developing a plan for replacing top performers isn't simply a matter of succession planning; it is more of a case of knowing your options, which may include re-organization of roles, re-deployment of key resources or direct hiring. The plan should include clear benchmarks, strategies for retention and replacement, business processes and on-gong actions to effectively manage the risks.

The process of developing replacement strategies for top performers is a very powerful tool for corporate development. Not only do you clearly manage your risks, you strengthen your core. The process clearly identifies the individuals who drive your company's success, and refines your knowledge and processes for retaining these key performers. At the same time, the process improves future hiring by providing a well maintained database and set of relationships with similar top performers that will have an immediate impact on your bottom line.

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Strategy To Replace Top Performers

If you ask a hiring manager to describe the "perfect candidate" to recruit they usually say:

They are a top performer in their job
They have excellent technical and team competencies
They excel at getting things done
They work at a major competitor

The best employees to recruit are probably the best workers at the company they already work for. They are probably well treated and are not actively looking for a new job.

Finding top employees and convincing them to become Active Job Seekers requires a multi-part strategy. In Seth Godin's Permission Marketing, he outlines a generic strategy of “turning strangers into friends, and friends into customers.” For converting top performers into active job seekers the process involves:

Name and resume gathering
Rapport building
Relationship recruiting

Name and resume gathering:
This is probably the easiest step. You first need up front research data that identifies the skills and experience you need, and the locations where top performers work. You will also need career postings on your web site and the public job boards. Next comes vigilance. You must be ready to respond to a candidate at the precise moment they are feeling vulnerable, or to be ready to engage in a dialogue at the point when a friend recommends that they "check out your web site" or they give you a call.

Rapport Building:
It takes time and frequent campaigns to build an on-going relationship with the top performer, where they look forward to and accept your efforts at providing information and education on the job market. The offers have to be personal, appropriate and frequent so they believe that your message has been selected for them. Information on what’s happening in the industry, on-line courses and lists of "the best companies to work for" are all examples for building this rapport.

Relationship Recruiting:
As efforts evolve, the top performer will either reject the process or grow and trust you to consider another employer that can offer them more in their career development. Timely phone calls make the difference in establishing the personal relationship. In addition this can lead to referrals of the targeted person’s friends. As the word spreads, the process grows.

A successful business process for recruiting the top performer typically takes 6 months lead-time to deliver results.

First you have to get the attention of the candidates with an attractive, realistic offer that appeals.
Next you need an Applicant Tracking process to manage the delivery of fresh, frequent and worthwhile messages. This involves the presentation of information such as industry trends, key industry surveys, and different career tracks. The approach is designed to build trust by not pushing job openings.
Finally use direct contact to build trust. Get in touch by phone. You will need a career section of your Web site that offers learning, information and graphics with sizzle, one that piques the candidate's interests and shows them that the individual matters.

By continuously putting efforts into recruiting and re-recruiting the top performers, you can maximize your chances of winning them over. Your efforts will be more than rewarded with an increased quality and performance of recruits!

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Just-In-Time Talent Acquisition

Jack Welch, formerly of GE, estimates that one third of his time was devoted to hiring ‘A’ players. Companies are changing their demands for top people and HR has to re-engineer its profile and strategy to align with the new core values and changes. If the strategy of the entire organization is to be the top performer in their industry, then each and every talent acquisition program must focus on performance improvement. The approach for transforming into a performance culture means bringing on a new model for human capital acquisition.

Historically HR functions have been reactive in nature. In the new world of recruiting, HR needs to adapt its approach to identify and cultivate new resources in advance of their actual need, or “just in time’. This means that HR must aim ahead of (not at) a moving target they want to hit. As the budget lays out the hiring plans, HR has to build the strategy to deliver on time.

Recruiting has two main components, first the continuous programs for the attraction and development of relationships with a wide-audience of potential candidates, and secondly the active phase of selection and evaluation of available talent for hiring. As hiring needs surge, internal resources are stretched, and the pre-acquisition programs are typically compromised. To combat limited resources organizations are moving to an outsourced solution to achieve the balance with just-in-time resources and the management of the varying demands of staffing.

Re-engineering any business process is a challenge since it involves not just changing the business practice but it impacts stakeholders and their personal involvement. Here are the specific items that are important for a successful human capital acquisition program. The recruiting functions must:

1) Align with the corporate business strategy to create a competitive advantage for the firm.
2) Fit in the company’s operating environment.
3) Offer both attraction and retention components.
4) Be communicated and understood by all.
5) Managed by a corresponding set of metrics to check if the strategy is meeting corporate goals.

And here are the strategies:

1) Apply continuous relationship recruiting vs. responding to open requisitions.
2) Utilize competency based recruiting to hire the best and brightest.
3) Your firm should stand out to candidates by utilizing web and technology tracking tools.
4) Make yourself an employer of choice.
5) Integrate recruitment and product development strategies.
6) Select candidates on future focus vs. past strategies.
7) Instigate continuous improvement for recruiting vs. a status quo approach.

The rapid changes in the business environment have facilitated the change and re-engineering of the HR processes. The new age of business requires a new set of skills, tools and metrics. The trend appears that HR recruiting programs will be developed and delivered faster. They will be more responsive and their ROI will be measured. Speed, metrics and just-in-time recruiting will be the keystones for future talent acquisition.

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Motivating Through Praise

What is the appropriate way for a manager to acknowledge the person doing the exceptional job? If the top performer goes out of his or her way to contribute to the department, sets a standard of self-initiative and enthusiasm and receives no recognition, it can potentially thwart those efforts. Even if they don't do it for the recognition, how does one acknowledge performance?

It seems counter-intuitive, but praise can be as tricky to deliver as negative feedback. Well-delivered praise is specific and thanks the person for what he or she did. If appropriate, it also ties their action to the goal. ("Thanks for working on your weekend. I really appreciate your extra effort on this project, especially since we're working to deliver the project on time.") There are other things to consider in the quest to boost esteem and performance. Praising involves the "where" and "when" and "why". For example, if a manager praises a few employees and ignores the rest, there will be problems. A manager who uses public praise of one employee to try to motivate the other employees is likely to see it backfire. Here's why

Praising must take into account:
The manager's intent
The amount of praise the manager gives all employees
The balance between private and public praise
The evolutionary stage of the team

The Manager's Intent
If the manager is simply trying to share the good news about a member of the group, so everyone can applaud and feel good for the person (as well as for the team's goal), the intentions are honorable and the group will respond well. If, however, the manager's intention is to use the person's success to shame or embarrass the group into better performance, it will fail. Sounding like a lecturing parent doesn't go down well.

The Amount of Praise the Manager Gives All Employees
If the manager is uneven in the amount of praise he/she gives, employees will notice. Even employees who don't need a lot of praise will smell a whiff of favouritism. Being consistent about encouraging each employee will prevent resentment if one member of the team is singled out occasionally.

The Balance Between Private and Public Praise
Some people are embarrassed when they are complimented in front of others. Other people like to bask in public acknowledgement. Smart managers make sure they mix it up. They mention the employee's good work in one-on-one meetings (i.e. when they are reviewing projects or giving a performance review), but also thank them for their good efforts within earshot of others. Finally, when there is a big achievement, it's acknowledged and celebrated during a group meeting.

The Evolutionary Stage of the Team
When the team is new, has a mix of seasoned and new employees, or is under stress, it's best to praise individuals privately and focus on the team goals and group praise when the team is together. The reason? In each of these situations, employees may feel insecure about their status within the group. As the group starts to gel and their confidence grows, singling out individual members of the team will be cause for enthusiastic applause.

By using common sense and a deliberate but appropriate approach to handling praise, managers will reap the benefits of a more productive team.

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Recruitment Outsourcing Builds Winning Teams

There has been a steady and clearly identifiable shift in the corporate staffing process. In the 90's recruiters capitalized on the Y2K phenomena, and heady hourly rates for contractors and opportunistic placement fees for permanent resources were the norm.

When staffing settled down organizations shifted emphasis from further spending on IT infrastructure and ERP solutions. Concurrently, companies placed a renewed emphasis on managing and containing staff acquisition costs while focusing on retention of core resources.

To achieve this, human resources departments corralled agencies into Preferred Supplier Lists or a single vendor. This approach generated varying degrees of efficiencies by using purchasing power to drive down costs. Yet it missed the key sustainable incentive of building a best practices approach.

What does the future hold as the economy increases and job market becomes more active? Are we returning to the battlefield of bounty hunter recruiting, where the value derived is difficult to measure, assess or justify? No! Organizations are focusing on their core business and applying outsourcing principals' to the employment process. This has meant organizations are converting fixed H.R. expenses into variable costs, while shared specialists perform essential tasks.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), also known as Employment Process Outsourcing (EPO) drives value through a more sophisticated approach beyond simple cost cutting measures. RPO delivers long-term additional value and a staffing solution that evolves to best-in-class'.

RPO impacts the staffing lifecycle at an early stage and continues to produce benefits, over and above the current in-house models. Companies that turn to an RPO solution are able to tap into new technologies, deploy recruiting specialists in the field, and utilize new reporting capabilities while reducing recruiting costs by 40%.

LEAPJob, a Canadian RPO, provides a full range of employment services, technologies and strategies. Companies partner with LEAPJob

To outsource the entire employment process
To handle specific staffing surges that exceed the capacity of in-house resources
To upgrade to a Best Practice approach
To capitalize on a flexible cost model
To conduct unique employment campaigns for technology resources
To realize a 40+% reduction in costs

Here's how it's done. LEAPJob delivers through:

Strategic project plans - LEAPJob meets with the stake holders to determine the right profile, the right source and the right selection and evaluation criteria
Trained industry resources - LEAPJob staff are trained and dedicated to the employment staffing process. We manage and execute every step of the process
Technology and Tools - Utilizing web and client-server based technology, LEAPJob offers up a repeatable business process that is geared for success
Complete metrics - LEAPJob tracks the data for process evaluation and practice improvement
Time and Materials Pricing - Clients pay for efforts and a usage cost for technical tools. The applicant database developed by LEAPJob during an RPO project is the property of our client. Our clients may hire as many candidates from their database as they choose to at no additional cost.

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Running Effective Meetings

Would you ever ask a staff member to get on a bus without a destination in mind and without a purpose intended? Of course not! Yet, every day, in companies across Canada, people are doing just that. They gather people into a room, close the door and drive around in circles. They call it a meeting!

How many hours a day do you spend in meetings? If you're like so many managers, a good portion of every day is devoted to bringing people together to plan, exchange information, solve problems, brainstorm and create new ideas. So, if we spend so much time in meetings, why are so many of them unproductive and real progress seems thwarted?

A well-run meeting is an art. The failure of most meetings is a lack of advanced planning and organization. Here are some tips to improve your meeting skills whether you are running the meeting or just sitting on the bus:

Set a clear agenda on where you're going
Each meeting should have a concise written agenda that is distributed in advance to all participants. The agenda should include a list of topics, identify the individual(s) responsible for presenting the information, and estimate a realistic amount of time to be spent on each item. Advise participants in advance if they are expected to bring pertinent information with them.

Create some rules for the road
Here are a few:

Meetings will start and end on time
Everyone will participate
Comments will be non-judgmental
No one will interrupt anyone else
Assigned tasks will be done on time
Questions will be asked to clarify
Confidentiality will be maintained

Who's driving the bus?
Every meeting should have a facilitator who is responsible for keeping the meeting focused and moving forward. A good facilitator will be objective and have the ability to tactfully prevent anyone from dominating the meeting. The facilitator should see that no one's contribution is attacked or overlooked. Sometimes the best facilitator is someone with no personal or emotional stake in the outcome of the meeting.

Keep a journal of the trip
Every meeting should have someone assigned to record the key information and outcomes of the discussions. Flip charts, overhead projector, or other visual aids will allow participants to follow agenda items and to maintain the group's focus. It is extremely important to list any items requiring additional action, including the names of the people involved and the date the action is to be completed. The record should also indicate how information will be communicated and co-ordinated between meetings.

Evaluate and improve
Post-meeting evaluations provide immediate feedback and indicate the effectiveness and efficiency of the meeting relevant to its objectives.

With careful planning and preparation, meetings can be a valuable activity in any business. By consistently reaching the objectives set, expectations for future meetings will remain high. Instead of dreading meetings, people will show up on time and be ready to roll.

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Managers Are the Key to Recruiting and Retaining Employees

In a study by the Wall Street Journal recent job changers were asked what factors were most important in their decision to take their new job. Here are their responses:

Open communication
Nature of the work
Control over work content
Job security
Stimulating work
Fringe benefits
Flexible work schedule
Advancement opportunity
Salary/wages
Size of organization

On closer examination, most of these factors are in the hands of the new employee's immediate manager. These are the perceptions the employees had from the interview process and what they thought they knew about the company before they joined the organization.

However, for established employees, here are the reasons people leave their jobs:

Lack of respect for the individual or for their contributions.
Stagnation and lack of growth and challenge on the job.
Poor communication about where the company is going, what they are expected to do and how they are performing.
No involvement or employee participation in decision-making.

Again, the most common reason for taking or leaving a job, is the manager. So how do companies create a meaningful, systemic change in the way managers lead? Here are some thoughts:

Stop promoting people into managerial positions simply because they have more seniority or because they are the best technical performer. Instead, identify the critical leadership skills that are needed and build these competencies into your promotion criteria, training programs and performance reviews.
Give managers the training and support they need to do the job. Few people are fully equipped to step in and manage a dynamic work group. They need skill training, support groups, roundtables to discuss common issues and a support staff who can help with tough decisions. They also need to have a voice in the policies they have to administer.
If your company has some poor managers who aren't meeting the minimum standards that are required, do something about them. Do it for their own sake as well as for their employees and the company. These managers usually know they aren't cut out for the job and are often relieved to be reassigned. Sometimes they need to leave the company altogether. In any event, don't look the other way and hope it goes away. It doesn't.

Managers are the key link between the organization and the employee. Invest in your managers and help them become successful.

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Management Basics Aren't So Simple

What do employees want? Is it more money, advancement? These are typical questions from new managers.

The answer is simple, as well as complicated at the same time. Simple because what people want is fairly universal, complicated because within those components is what motivates each individual.

For example, when it comes to the foundation of human wants at work, the Basics are relatively constant. Employees want to know:

How am I doing?
How can I grow and stay challenged?
How can I improve?
What is expected of me?
Where do I stand?

The manager who can answer those wants for each employee can create a healthy workplace, where people operate with full information about what is expected of them and how they are performing. The problem is that most managers don't execute these Basics very well and don't do them consistently. Like with most things, the simple Basics aren't that simple.

Most organizations have created the annual performance review process, which includes tools and events to help managers communicate these Basics. For instance:

After the performance review, many organizations expect their managers to have career development discussions with employees.
At the beginning of each year, most managers establish goals and performance standards with their employees.
Most performance review forms include a section on how the employee can improve.
Performance reviews are intended to let employees know where they stand.
Throughout the year, managers provide ongoing feedback.

But even with these tools, the process often misses the mark. Managers aren't always candid during the performance review and sometimes rate a below average employee as exceeding expectations. Why? Because they don't want to hurt their employees feelings, or because they haven't mentioned any problems all year and know they shouldn't surprise them at performance review time. Meanwhile, good performers are resentful because a poor performer is not being dealt with.

Attending to the Basics is one aspect, but individual motivation needs to be monitored. Exit interviews reveal some consistent responses across generations, professions and industries. The most common reasons people leave are:

Disrespect for the individual; feeling that their contributions are not valued
Little or no involvement or participation in decision-making
Poor communication
Stagnation; lack of growth and challenge in the job
Unclear expectations and little or no feedback

However, the direct feedback and response in the Exit interview can be a bit misleading. Employees may say they are leaving for a better opportunity, so managers should be reflective and analyze their contributions. They should ask themselves what they are doing about managing growth and challenge and whether they could have helped to expand the job into a new position.

Also, in the Exit interview, employees often say they are leaving for more money. Even if that is true, there is usually more that can be revealed. In many cases, employees leave because they don't feel appreciated or recognized. Rather then admitting that this is the main reason and sounding petty, employees comment on their pay.

Of course, people do leave for bigger and better things, but often are running from a job rather then running to a new job. In other words, if they were getting their Basic needs met, they wouldn't be looking for a new opportunity in the first place.

Managing people is not for the timid. Simple matters can turn into complex issues if not handled appropriately and adequately. But leaders who stick to the Basics will have motivated employees, less turnover and an overall pleasant environment to work in.

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