7 mistakes managers make when hiring salespeople

1. Not being clear about the sales role!

Sales roles differ. Trying to hire a sales person without a very clear idea of what the job entails is like the casting director of a film auditioning actors without really thinking about the role to be played. You may see lots of talent but it may not be the appropriate talent. If you are clear in the sales role that is to be performed then you can be very clear in other areas as well. As an example if you were writing an ad to hire "hunters" vs. "farmers" ads wording should be different in order to appeal to their differing personalities and associated "hot buttons". You would interview them with differing concerns in mind, necessitating different questions and different "red flags" to address. I won't even get into how differently they might be managed if you were hiring one vs. another.

2. Not realizing that personality traits are like double-edged swords!

When it comes to our personality traits our strengths and weaknesses are like two-edged swords. Many managers don't seem to realize this when they are hiring sales people. Their description of ideal candidate attributes is often a listing of qualities that just do not exist in any one person. For example, "hunters" are very independent. If you are hiring this type, how realistic is it to also want that person to follow procedures and rules? I see many, many examples of these kinds of "conflicting" descriptions. Analytical extroverts do not exist! Nor do independent team players! Figure out what the job requires and then think about the kind of personality one needs to perform the job. Be very conscious of these "conflicting" criteria. Try to think of the "flip side" of the trait that you need in order to understand the "down-side" of that trait. Avoid making a "shopping list" of desirable traits. The bigger the list the greater the chance it is unrealistic.

3. Mistaking sociability for assertiveness!

Outgoing and sociable applicants tend to appear to be assertive. Some are but many definitely are not. Sociable types are in their own arena when being interviewed. They know what to say and what you want to hear. Interviewers are at a serious disadvantage when interviewing this type of person. It may not be that much of an issue if the sales job does not require a high level of assertiveness. On the other hand if you are trying to hire "hunters" then these highly sociable but non-assertive types can really fool you. Remember, high sociability is one thing and assertiveness is another, but high sociability looks like high assertiveness.

4. Placing too much emphasis on the interview!

Interviews are tools; as are tests, reference checks and role-plays. They all perform specific functions directed towards making better decisions, so use them all. It is human nature and consequently common for interviewers to place an inordinate emphasis on the impressions they gain during interviews. With some applicants "what you see is what you get" so things will work out anyway. There are a couple of other situations though that you should be attuned to. The first is what we address above-highly sociable people. Remember, these people are very good at knowing what you want to hear. Another scenario is when you are interviewing people who are introverted. It is quite likely that your sales positions require extroverts. There are some sales positions; particularly more technical sales roles that are a very good fit for certain more introverted type people. The point is that introverts are out of their arena when being interviewed and therefore, do not come off very well. Some of them though, could be "diamonds in the rough". Take the time to look beyond the interview when interviewing this type.

5. Failing to see things from the applicant's perspective!

This covers a lot of ground. An example might be hiring someone to sell on straight or largely commission who will barely survive for the first several months. Ask yourself if you would do it. Another example might to hire someone who is overqualified for the position. They may have the ability to do the job but if they are overqualified they may see the position as beneath them and therefore not use their abilities to do the job. Other examples would relate to how the person "fits" what the job requires. If the applicant is very independent and the job is very structured you really are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Not a good idea! As a general guideline if you are pretty sure the applicant sees the position as a great opportunity, that is a good thing.

6. Not being consistent with the questions you ask and the tools you use!

It can be difficult to weigh the various strengths and weaknesses of job applicants. Inevitably comparing applicants is like comparing apples to oranges. Don't complicate the task further by being inconsistent with the questions you ask and the tools you use. Try to do the same thing with each job applicant. Create as much consistency in your methods as possible. Whether it is the same questions, tests, role-plays or other tools, just try to do the same with each person. If you can, find 4 or 5 questions that you ask each person and come up with some rating system to use during the interview that you can refer to later on.

7. Doing all the work!

You learn things about the applicant with your eyes and your ears and not when you are doing all the talking! Get the applicant to do the talking and "performing". In addition to the standard questions you should ask of all applicants have them take part in some simple role-plays. Have the applicant sell you the pencil (or stapler, chair etc.). What about having the applicant role play a phone call to you to get an "appointment"? How about getting them to do something after the interview such as an "assignment". Specify a deadline of say 4pm on Friday afternoon. Have each one email you a one pager on why they are the best person for the job. This simple "assignment" will tell you a lot about each. Best of all they are doing all the work!

David Pearce is the President of Salestestonline.com Established in 1986, Salestestonline.com is North America's #1 provider of web-based sales testing. Visit http://salestestonline.com for information.

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Virtual Office : A New and Innovative Way to Run Your Business

St George’s, Grenada, 08/27/08 – Before you invest your time and money in searching for the right outsourcing company, be sure that the company adheres to strict service guidelines and regularly performs checks to ensure that the work quality is not compromised. Also keep in mind that the company you choose adheres to confidentiality and is a trusted establishment that is committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality and security of your information. The company that can deliver quality performance and was chosen by many is the Caribbean Virtual Office Inc. This company is driven to provide stellar, reliable and affordable business support services and solutions to their clients. They help you save money, resources, get more free time to focus on your clients and your business, and provides a first class service. Since November 2007 they have been providing viable solutions and support to businesses and has already gained a solid niche in the outsourcing industry. To better understand how they operate, Caribbean Virtual Office offers consultation services and showing you how they can help your business through careful planning. Whatever your field of business the diversity of their skills are sure to prove beneficial to you. For more information: http://www.caribbeanvirtualoffice.com or contact mail@caribbeanvirtualoffice.com Phone: 806-853-9154

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Community Assumptions And Business Responsibility

Social responsibilities lay in business framework Most people think of business simply as a way to generate money. While this may be a primary motivating factor for some, it also carries many underlain responsibilities. Business owners become part of the infrastructure of the community. They supply a service or product which fills a need of the community.

The common bond linking community and business lies in each others realization of shared assumptions. Business realizes they fill a need, desire or fixation of the community and the community realizes who their contributor is. While community can survive without business, business on the other hand cannot exist without community. No community is self sufficient and no business is customer free.

Business must develop social programs and policies that can be seen as responsive to social expectations, but not necessarily limited to socially demand. A firm having social awareness is in tune to its customer’s requirements as well as its’ viewpoint.

There are three main driving forces between business and society:

1. The idealistic outlook: primarily relates to principles and social responsibility, 2. the institutional outlook: Its’ expression of social responsiveness 3. the organizational orientation: primarily relates to policies and management of social issues.

There are four Basic Models of Business Relationships 1. Humanitarian - adhere to principles of compassion and reinvesting into the community 2. Ethical - adhere to principles of honesty and decency 3. Legal - adhere to all laws and regulations 4. Economic – adhere to making a profit.

While a certain responsibility lies in being a good corporate partner and citizen, the most fundamental business responsibility is that of economics. The primary reason for being in business is to make a profit. Business exist for generating revenue for the business and in so doing, provides revenue for its employees. All other business responsibilities are based or established upon economic assumptions which is the responsibility of the people in charge. Without this statement the prognosis of future success becomes nothing more that arguable considerations.

While plotting a course of action, businesses are expected to operate within the framework of societal law, thus carrying the burden of legal responsibility. Likewise, legal responsibility is restricted to the “letter” of the law, while the “spirit” of law is reserved for ethical reasoning.

Next, businesses are expected to have an ethical responsibility which is defined as “any and all activities or practices which are either expected or prohibited by society members even though they are not written into law.” Ethical classifications are further separated from legal activities by use of negative definition: ethical responsibility relates to those social expectations and norms not yet codified into law. In the same line, philanthropic responsibility designates those areas of voluntary social involvement not specifically prohibited or demanded of companies because of their economic, legal, and ethical responsibilities.

Business also carry as a philanthropic obligation to contribute to its community. This responsibility is discretionary in nature and seen as an investment in future growth. Even though this is not a requirement it is a necessary and sufficient obligation that socially expects from responsible businesses.

Theoretical Assumptions

If the economic role of the business is reduced to the narrow emphasis of profit it then could become blinded to making of contributed economics. This posturing leaves out the need for community relations.

There is another scenario to consider which is in contrast to the ordinary view, the so-called separation thesis. This is when businesses focus either on profits or social concerns but not on both. This rises a question of debate that businesses can not only be profitable and ethical, but they should fulfill these obligations simultaneously. Can a business be profitable and disconnected from community? In today’s world, franchising brings business into a community while being completely detached from community needs.

The clear-cut separation of business from community raises the problem of coexisting within a harmonious environment. Even though a business may appear to be separated the burden of responsibilities still apply. The business provides a tax revenue as well as product, service and employment. There are interwoven responsibilities which represent the stimulus for economic considerations.

The social pressures imposed on today’s business are decreasing in importance, whereas economic and legal responsibilities are a requirement and ethical practices are vaguely expected, charitable contributions although desired, are completely voluntary.

A good business citizen, while striving to fulfill all its responsibilities, will actually apply the necessary priorities to secure its status in the community.

Businesses have a responsibility that goes well beyond the demands of law and common morality. They set as examples of good moral judgment and community responsibility.

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Career Courses: Catering to the Demands of Rising Economy

Right from the early life of a child, parents and other people in the family and friend circles tend to shower innumerable advices as to what career will be best for the child in future. Parents come at a conclusion and start inculcating all the ideas about the selected career in child's mind. This happens with ignoring the fact that whether the child is even a bit of interested in the chosen career for him or not. Well, this phenomenon is rooted in the fundamentals of our educational system. But emergence of absolutely new disciplines, behaviors and fields and their employment generation capacity is changing the existing mindset of the parents very fast.

When the major economies of the world are getting liberalized, wide scopes have been generated for employment. New economies have accommodated new and unique work fields. Large scale of commercialization has helped in the new type and business with a change in the definition of the business itself. That is why when we hear career courses in Graphology, Actuary, NGO Management and Brand Management , we just start wondering at the new concepts and their utility.

To cater to the rising demand from the market, educational planners and institutions have introduced a large range of career courses- a course that is the base for establishing your career in particular field. Most important feature of these new career courses is that they suit the varying interests of today's youth. They give the youth a respite from the shackles of the conventional vocational courses. Some career courses that will increase your interests in trying for new things are in Forestry and Wildlife, Industrial Design, Industrial Safety Management, Insurance, Linguistics and related fields, Marine Engineering, Animation and Cartoons, Audio-Visual Media, Alternative Medicine, Nano Technology, Hair Styling, just to name a few.

An aspirant needs to be vigilant on some fronts though. He is expected to choose a college, university or institution that is genuine and is equipped with adequate infrastructure and training facilities. A proper affiliation and accreditation of the institute where the intended career course is to be pursued is also a significant thing.

For detailed information on proper career courses, please visit indiaedu.com

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Increasing Productivity through Flexible Working

Flexible working is increasingly being seen by businesses in the UK as a way of increasing productivity as well as improving work life balance for staff.

Research by BT indicates that flexible working can lead to a 15% increase in productivity. With the credit crunch, jittery consumers and mounting fuel costs putting businesses under intense pressure, ways of increasing productivity are in the spotlight.

Flexible working is leading to increasing productivity for a number of reasons.

Firstly, flexible working means that an employee teleworking from a home office can save time travelling to and from the office each day. At least some of the time saved on travel is usually spent actually working instead. And of course, if they are not going to the office, the employee can also save time getting dressed up and so on. Many people who work flexibly from home hit the computer as soon as they have fallen out of bed, still in their pyjamas!

Of course, avoiding a stressful commute also means that people start work when they are feeling fresh and this is likely to improve performance.

Secondly, flexible working allows people to work whenever they are at their personal peak. So if you are at your best early in the morning, you can grab that time to work, If you are at your best late in the evening, then that is when you can choose to work, increasing personal productivity.

Thirdly, flexible working staff tend to be more motivated and loyal to their employer. Most appreciate the opportunity to juggle work around their other commitments and interests and enjoy feeling trusted by their employer. This improved work life balance leads to a greater sense of motivation. Also, with flexible working, work is judged by your boss according to real outputs - regardless of how many hours have been spent 'working.' So employees are more likely to focus on delivering those real outputs. What's more, being clear about the exact outputs required from your work tends to lead to increased job satisfaction and motivation as well.

And, of course, in a peaceful home environment away from the buzz of the office, it is often easier for employees to focus on the job in hand, especially for tasks that demand sustained concentration.

Some employees continue to feel a sense of guilt that they are not in the office and there is a tendency to overcompensate by working even longer hours. This needs to be nipped in the bud as for some people this can lead to a real difficulty in 'switching off' and some may end up suffering from stress. In fact, contrary to what people may often think, the problem of staff not switching off is far more common than the problem of staff skiving.

Another big boost to productivity is that absenteeism rates are lower when flexible working is in place. This is because there are many days when an employee may be feeling a little under the weather or, for example, have a cold and feel unable to face the journey to work and a full day in the office. But they may still be perfectly able to work for at least part of the day from a home office or garden office, with a steaming mug of cocoa at their side.

Similarly, flexible working employees do not have to take time off when they have a domestic appointment, such as a visit from the plumber or a home delivery. Without flexible working, they may need to take a whole day off work. With flexible working, domestic appointments such as these need take only a few minutes out of their day, leaving the rest of the day for work, increasing productivity.

Staff retention rates are higher in businesses that have embraced flexible working practices and so is the proportion of women who return to work after maternity leave. So this reduces the need for the business to train up new staff, with losses in productivity in the meantime - quite apart from the thousands of pounds of costs involved in recruiting and training new staff.

But it is not just working at home that tends to lead to increasing productivity. Using technology to cut down on travel to business meetings is a great way of saving time as well as costs. There are many instances where a business could use video conferencing or a telephone conference call instead of a face-to-face meeting.

Using technology to work on the move is another huge boost to productivity. Using a WiFi hotspot or a BlackBerry to connect to the internet for email or to connect to the office Virtual Private Network means that downtime can be turned into productive time.

Through grasping the opportunities now presented by technology, work is increasingly what you do rather then where you go. And businesses can enjoy increasing productivity as a result.

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Online Career Colleges

At times we come at crossroads in our life when we need to decide which path to choose so that it enhances our careers. At times we think that online career colleges are not right for us but if you look at the scenario practically you would find that the online career colleges, most of the times, are best options available for enhancing your career.

But before you register yourself in any online career colleges you need to answer some questions. If the answers to these questions are mostly yes then you should opt for any of the online career colleges. These questions are:

Would you want to be ready for a great career quickly? Do you feel that the courses offered by the traditional colleges are uninteresting? Whether your preference lies in doing hands on work than reading books? Are you interested in going for a cost effective program?

If the answers are ‘yes’ then you should opt for a degree from any of the available online career colleges.

Definition of online career colleges: Online career colleges are those which are known for offering degrees or certificate programs which would let you have a career in your field of interest such as art, accounting, computer, healthcare, media, interior design and many more.

Advantages of studying in online career colleges

There are various advantages of studying in online career colleges and these are:

a) Maintaining both work and study together: If you are a full time employee then you might not be interested in going back to the classroom again and lose your salary; the online career colleges are therefore the ideal choices for you because they do not require your physical presence and you can study as well as carry on with your professional duties. b) Opportunity of spending time with your family: If you enroll in an online career college, then you can study while sitting in the comfort of your room while enjoying yourself with your family members. c) New curriculum, interactive classes: It takes lots of time for a traditional career college to adopt a new curriculum but this is not the case with the online career colleges. Therefore by enrolling in an online career college you can learn latest concepts and findings immediately d) More student interaction: The classes of the online career colleges are mostly interactive and therefore you are free to interact with all the students who are present globally and know their views as well as express your own views. In this way you can gather valuable information regarding your area of study e) Getting the help of expert faculties: The faculties that you get in these online career colleges are always experts in their own fields. In these online career colleges you might get the opportunity of having the guidance of an expert researcher in your field, attending whose class was a dream of yours. f) Learn in your own speed: No matter what type of a learner you are; slow, average or fast, in a traditional career college you have to go with the pace of the other students. But in any online career college you are given the advantage of learning at your own pace. If you feel like you can go through the study materials as many times as you want. g) No need to drop a class for handling business emergencies: This is the biggest advantage of any online career college. You do not need to drop a class if you are stuck in the office attending an important meeting. You can log onto your online career college at any time you feel like.

All these advantages have made online career colleges the places where people flock to get a certificate in any career enhancing course.

To know more you can check the site http://www.topeducationguide.com

Top Education Guide is a comprehensive directory of online career colleges, universities, career schools, trade schools, vocational training and degree programs. You can quickly search through our database of online and campus college locations to find the right degree program best suited for advancing your professional goals. Start searching today, find a degree, and discover a rewarding new career.

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Developing the Right Resume and Attitude for an Uncertain Economy

There is no doubt that our current economy is a little scary to say the least. Companies are laying off in mass numbers while gas, food, and energy costs are reaching record highs. It can be very difficult to maintain sanity in the midst of such uncertainty, let alone think about finding a job. But with responsibilities like bills and family always present, one must learn to keep pushing forward.

If you’re trying to find a job in our unsettling job market, you may feel less than excited about your prospects. However, you can find a job…and a good one at that. You just have to develop the right attitude, and an even better resume.

Make Yourself More Marketable

With layoffs on the rise, more people are competing for the same job. So in order to make yourself more marketable, you’ll need to perfect your resume. This means, no spelling or grammatical errors. You’ll also need to make sure your skills stand out above the rest.

One way you can do this is by conducting thorough research on the company and position to illustrate how you can enhance their goals. When describing your skills, try using action-oriented words like designed, marketed and researched, instead of phrases like “responsibilities included.” And also focus on specific achievements, like how much money you made at your previous company, and on which projects, to help employers assess your skill level.

Consider Economic Growths, Declines, and Specific Regions

Before you even apply for a job, it’s good to look at which business areas are growing, which are declining, and how your region is fairing economically. For example, a May 2008 Newsweek article reported that finance and accounting, engineering, technology and science are seeing growth, while construction, manufacturing, and automotive seem to be declining. In the same article, it noted that Midwest jobs may be on the decline due to its strong construction focus, while cities like New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Dallas may see a rise due to their professional focus.

After you conduct your research, if you find your field isn’t negatively impacted by the economy, you may still want to conduct more research to learn details such as whether managers and administrators, or hourly employees, are keeping or losing jobs. And if things aren’t going so well in your industry, you might consider a slight career shift, such as moving from software development to hardware networking, or even switching cities. That is if the prospects for long-term employment seem more promising.

Maintain the Right Attitude

In this economy, it is important to keep a positive attitude about your career prospects. Because the fact of the matter is, if there is a job available, someone must eventually fill the role. So why couldn’t it be you? You are just as qualified for the job as you were before the economy worsened. So try not to let the economy’s current state negatively affect your job search.

Under stable conditions, getting on track career-wise requires strong determination. But in a weak economy, it takes more. So take time to perfect your resume, conduct extensive research on your field, and keep a positive attitude. You will see that despite the economy, you’ll be able to thrive.

About the Author:
Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. Compare the top resume writing services in the industry at http://www.resumelines.com

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