Sales Career Tips
6 Career Tips from Your Future Self
By Alex Bender, Sales Consultant at Treeline, Inc.
Focus on what you want and work backwards from there
1. Quality of Life
Many people do not think about the effect a job will have on their quality of life. What will the opportunity cost you? Will you be able to spend the time you want with friends and family? Will you have the ability to take that vacation you have been waiting for? Is that hour and a half commute going to beat you up after 6 months…how about after a year?
2. Money isn’t Everything
Individuals are frequently sold on compensation and can be blinded by the salary. This will get you into trouble. Make sure to live below your means and put more emphasis on challenging yourself professionally within an environment you love and as a result, the money will come.
3. Avoid Impulsive Decisions
This is a tricky one. How often do you say “yes” or “no” without knowing or understanding the details of the question? Make sure you know exactly why the question is being asked and what you are being told. Also, make sure you qualify the sales opportunity by asking qualifying questions.
4. Admit your Mistakes and Learn from Them
In order to become a leader in any industry you have to learn how to push the boundaries. Often, pushing the boundaries leads to making mistakes. Successful people know how to learn from their mistakes and move on.
5. Ask for Help
This one is two sided. When was the last time you had to ask for help? Was it a while ago, if so, maybe you are not pushing yourself? One key attribute for your continued happiness is to avoid the mundane. If you are truly pushing yourself you will inevitably be in a situation where you need help. It may not be the easiest thing in the world for you to do, but learning and mastering this will make your life easier.
6. Don’t sweat the small things
The fact is that in today’s world we are all very busy. Our work and personal lives have blurred and our days can be quite hectic. It is easy to get consumed and get stressed by the small thing i.e. traffic, computer problems, kids, wife, husband, coworkers, etc. If you can keep your cool and not let the little things bother you it will pay dividends.
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The Millennial Generation: What are they looking for in a Sales Career
Millennials: What is your long term plan?
By David Demelo, Division Manager at Treeline, Inc.
Millennials, often referred to as Generation Y or Generation Next, are entering the job market at full force. Traditional values deemed important such as, job stability, salary and a record of success are still relevant to this generation. However, more than previous generations they have a sense of self entitlement, competitiveness, and a desire to find the next “big thing.”
Living in a volatile and un-predictable market has molded a generation where change can occur at any moment. In the past ten years, the job market has changed so frequently that staying at one organization for an entire sales career is no longer a reality.
So, do Millennials have a long term plan? Previous generations put a lot of weight on the reputation of the company and job stability. The Millennial generation differs because they no longer have this luxury. Former well known and reputable organizations are closing their doors on a daily basis and are being replaced with start-ups.
How do Millennials create a long term plan?
First, Millennials have to be aware of disqualifiers when applying for their ideal jobs. Hiring managers are selective, but in this job market they are more selective than in previous years.
As a recruiter there are always objections that individuals face while looking for a new job in sales such as, having direct experience, their location, the companies culture and of course money.
Don’t make this mistake: Leaving a sales job because a new opportunity promises more money. Now, don’t get me wrong, the more money the better, but does it make sense to leave a firm after 3/6/12 months for a few thousand dollars? OF COURSE NOT! You may not realize it now, but in the long run you will be labeled as a job hopper. Hiring managers look for job consistency and a proven record of success at one or two companies. Therefore, Millennials need to find a company that will allow them to grow and learn within the organization.
Here are two questions to assist the millennial generation when making the right decision in a long term career plan:
- What do you want to do with your career?
- If you can not be a Manager, Director or VP right away, then what can you do to get there?
- For an example, you want to break into software sales and you do not have any experience. Success follows this longer term journey and path: Business Development Rep à Inside Sales Repà Account Executiveà Enterprise Repà Manager etc.
Here is my advice for you: Times have changed and what you have done in the past and the decisions you make can and will have an impact on tomorrow. So before you leap for a few more bucks, make sure you have a plan and know where you want to go! Good luck!
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Sales Hiring: The Tables Are Turning
Sales Candidates are in High Demand
By Kathleen Mauriot Division Manager at Treeline, Inc.
As we examine who are clients are looking to hire, it all boils down to the same basic criteria: inexpensive top talent with the perfect skill. You may laugh, but it is true. This is an interesting market and companies feel they are in the driver’s seat. To some degree this is accurate, but as an executive search firm exclusive to sales, we have noticed that the tables are turning as we roll into the New Year.
The world is flooded with the unemployed sales person who is desperately looking for their new gig. They will typically take every interview that comes their way. So, if you are looking to fill your calendar with interviews, no doubt you will be successful. However, filling your calendar with “A” candidates will require a different plan. “A” candidates are in high demand.
Just over the past week multiple companies have called Treeline looking for an introduction to top talent. The market is starting to explode and talent is being sought after like we haven’t seen in a long time. These candidates are being perused on a daily basis and they now feel like they have a bit of an upper hand. However, you can still find and hire them. The question is “are you willing to pay them?”
Consider these two scenarios: do you hire the sales representative with the perfect skill set who will have little to no ramp up and start generating revenue quickly OR do you hire the sales representative with a close skill set who you may need to dedicate initial training to get up to speed? The deciding factor may be compensation; the job market overall is sluggish, many companies believe they can take advantage of the economic times by offering a lower comp. The mindset of many is “take it or leave it.” In other words, “if you don’t want the job there are ten other people who will.” There’s definitely 10 other people, in fact there’s a thousand other people… the wrong people. That’s ego talking. Put it aside. Do not take that mentality, especially when you are filling a revenue generating role. Your goal as a sales manager is to fill that seat with a sales representative who you believe is going to drive revenue and help YOU reach your number. Don’t undercut a talented sales representative who brings all the pieces to the table. They will get insulted and walk from the offer. You’ll be back to the drawing board, which takes time and time equals money.
If compensation is a major concern, choose to hire the sales representative with a close skill match. You may be able to offer a slightly lower compensation package in exchange for the additional training needed to perform the job.
No matter what scenario you decide, make it a win-win for everyone. As a corporation, you will gain loyalty and commitment from your employees.
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Sales Resume Advice
Ask A Recruiter
By Chris Simone, Vice President at Treeline Inc.
Dear Recruiter,
I recently started searching for a new sales opportunity. I have one year of experience working at a fast paced and rapidly growing software company. I like working in the technology industry, but I am looking for a position with more growth and stability within the company. I am a hard worker and make between 70-80 cold calls everyday. I have received advice to add numbers to my sales resume. However, does it really help to include a bullet expressing that I make 70-80 cold calls a day, considering I am only making three sales per week?
Dear Candidate,
The accomplishment summary section should simply include bullets with accomplishments expressed numerically; this is what sales hiring managers will see first when they give your resume a ten second scan. The short bullets can express numbers and percentages about activity, revenue, results (including quota and goal attainment), conversion, and ranking. Together, they cause the reader to perceive you as someone driven for success in sales. As an entry level sales person and recent college grad, this is very important to express in this job market.
Calls per day, even if only 40 per day, makes the point that you were not just waiting for the phone to ring; you were going after it. Three deals a week could be perceived as a healthy conversion rate (unless the average first year rep typically closed many more per week than three). It seems good to me… A ratio of calls made to appointments scheduled could be another healthy metric to express. Success in sales at the entry level is about attitude, consistent effort, process, and conversion; this is the lens through which hiring managers are scanning resumes.
For example, the “Business Development Representative” role can add a lot of value to a candidate’s resume. This is a typical entry level sales role in growing software companies; BDR’s respond to inbound interest but also make outbound calls every day. The conversion is calls to prospects generated and defined. These prospects are handed to the more senior inside sales force to close. After twelve to twenty four months in a BDR role, you would be a candidate for a technology inside sales role based on success achieved in the BDR role.
Again, there are many types of numbers you can add to your resume to create favorable positioning while remaining truthful.
Hope this helps.
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Sales Holiday Hiring
The Misunderstanding of Holiday Hiring
By Michael Smaha, Consultant at Treeline Inc.
Most job seekers have the misunderstanding that hiring stops at Thanksgiving and that “no one gets hired until after New Years.” Why do job seekers believe this misconception? I’ve heard countless times companies are less likely to hire new employees because of “the holiday’s.” When I hear this, I wonder, do you think that employers are so busy with office holiday parties, gift exchanges, or dancing on conference tables to hire good talent? The answer is, of course not. The reality is that hiring around the holidays has nothing to do with the holidays themselves.
Hiring around the holidays has everything to do with 3rd quarter results, which ironically just happen to be finalized within the first two weeks of November for most companies. When 3rd quarter numbers are looking as dismal as grandma’s holiday fruit cake , that’s when company finance departments try to defer expenses until next year in order to boost current year profits as much as possible. By using the tactic of a hiring freeze, companies effectively limit the amount that annual profits miss expectations/forecasts/budgets etc. On the other side of the economic fence, in profitable years, when companies are ahead of their goals, hiring doesn’t freeze – the exact opposite occurs.
In strong years, hiring efforts accelerate during the holidays, because hiring managers are under pressure to hire before year’s end. Here’s why:
If a hiring manager has been given the green light to hire on a new sales member this year and has not found the right candidate yet, that hiring manager realizes they only have until December 31st to hire. Once New Year’s hits, that hiring manger has to re-justify the position and have that headcount re-approved by the Finance department. Going through the re-approval process isn’t just a pain in the neck for hiring managers … but they have a risk that an unfilled position might take away another position the hiring manager wants to be approved.
So here’s the real deal – there are just as many companies hiring at this time as there are companies putting on the brakes. In November, Boston was recognized as the second best metropolitan area in the nation for open positions across all verticals (especially technology where we are seeing a huge surge). This should be extremely refreshing to hear for current college graduates and people looking to switch their careers for a fresh start in 2012. So in closing, don’t let the “Holiday Excuse” hold you back or discourage you from looking for better and brighter opportunities.
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Personality Tests
Personality tests – do they work for sales people?
By Dan Fantasia Treeline Inc. President and CEO
Over the past 5 years we have seen an increase in personality tests. There are hundreds if not thousands of personality tests out there and they vary greatly. The one thing for certain is that they all believe they are the correct test to help identify the right person for your team. Reviews vary and the usefulness of these tests depends on many uncontrollable variables. There is always the potential for dishonesty and deception when sales professionals pining for a position take these types of test. Sales professionals are excellent at using their sales skills to qualify and position themselves appropriately. They are also excellent at finding the right solution for a problem.
Some companies rely and trust personality tests to help with each hire while others question the validity of the results. It is very difficult to predict a good hire from a sales prospective. For instance, a candidate receives a great score, but after looking at critical information (ie. sales stats: sales size, quota and W2) their job performance proves to be disappointing. This is where the challenge lies. Given the nature of sales professionals and their creative social personalities these uncertainties can cause misinterpretation of the data.
Do you think personality tests for sales professionals should be given the boot?
While some employers have a strong conviction regarding the use of personality test, I don’t. We hire hundreds of sales people every year and our research has found that they don’t work. We have analyzed similar hiring companies and how they move through the interview process with talented sales professionals.
Our findings are very interesting. We have found that while one company rejects a candidate based on unsatisfactory test scores the other recognizes the candidate’s potential. While one company passes on the candidate the other has a different perception and hires what they consider to be their next top producer.
We have followed the success of those candidates and they do exactly what we thought. They fight for the top slot on the sales force. They work hard and have something to prove and rely on themselves to get the job done. These sales people have risen to the top and are top producers.
This is why I have trouble with personality tests. We see them fail and see top producers get passed by. The troubling piece is that many of these companies that pass over true talent don’t realize it. They have no access to data that show that their process is broken and as a result of not they never truly understand how to hire talented sales professionals. Instead they believe that the personality test validates their “strong” hiring process and the perception that their sales team is top notch. This methodology can be unhealthy and very deceptive. Many of these companies could be missing incredible hiring opportunities.
I say, give them the boot. What do you think?
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4 techniques to hire “talented” sales people
Why companies struggle to hire “talented” sales people
By Dan Fantasia, Treeline Inc. President and CEO
Hiring “talented” sales professionals is not easy. Hiring a top producer in today’s market is incredibly challenging, very time consuming and it requires a significant amount of effort. Companies struggle to hire because the playing field is far more competitive than expected. The negative news, high unemployment rate and unstable political environment has given many managers a false perception surrounding the ease of hiring. I can assure you that hiring talented sales professionals requires a new strategy.
4 techniques to hire “talented” sales people:
1. Get in sync with your target audience.
Hiring managers are out of sync with their target audience. Sales representatives today are more in sync with social media and connecting with hiring managers through their own social network. Most top producers are not actively searching for new opportunities. They don’t apply to jobs, they don’t spend time reading advertisements and their entire selection process is based on recommendations. They look and consider companies based on reputation (www.glassdoor.com), executive team and employee satisfaction. If you are a hiring manager and your company is not investing in connecting with top producers through social channels and working to constantly build brand equity then you should not expect a robust pipeline of talent when looking to hire. You must invest the time to connect and brand your company as a great work environment that offers healthy, sustainable career progression. Get in sync with the talent pool and build a strong brand identity with them. Connect socially and consistently communicate this message to them.
2. Define what key attributes make up a top producing sale professional.
Which attributes make up your top producing sales representative? This is a daunting exercise but critical to perform. When considering key attributes focus on professional traits as well as the more elusive personality traits. Start by analyzing your current environment and study your top producers: understand why they are “A” players in your organization. What are they doing to be top producers? Then look to understand where they built their skill set to learn these traits. Is it from specific companies that they worked at in the past or from the different life experiences (i.e. international travel, academic success, athletic scholarships, overachievement, etc.)? Once you have uncovered these attributes identify those candidates that share the same attributes and interview them. Build a pipeline of candidates that meet this criterion and you will have a strong pipeline of talent. Don’t be overly critical of resumes because they will not share full insight into what a candidate has to offer your team. This is hard work and you must read between the lines when interviewing candidates. Prepare questions that identify the characteristics you care about and help spot talent for your team.
3. Sales talent is not easily spotted on a resume.
If you are in sales you know how important time is. You also know how to fill a pipeline and qualify good opportunities. When you are recruiting talented sales professionals, it is important to know how to quickly scan a resume and immediately use social sites to assess talented professionals. Having a strong understanding of the key attributes you are looking for in your next hire will save you time and resources. Expect to build a pipeline of qualified candidates and then invest the time needed to interview and qualify good candidates. Having a plan in place while interviewing candidates and recognizing what questions you should ask will help you understand the full capabilities of each candidate. Expect to read between the lines and prepare to ask good questions to uncover the proper skill set. Top performers are difficult to find and difficult to move in today’s uncertain market; once you qualify strong talent do not delay. Talented sales professionals always get concerned when there is a delay in the hiring process, ALWAYS. No matter what they tell you and no matter how patient they are with your process if it is slow there will be concerns. Since talented sales people understand the sales process, stalling will definitely cause concerns and you should consider yourself lucky to make a hire. Don’t waste time and effort in an extensive interview process if you are not ready to hire.
4. Avoid uncertainty.
Never be ruled by fear when making a hiring decision. You have a process in place and you know how to hire and what you are looking for. If you have doubt and wonder whether the sales person is going to be successful then don’t hire her/him. If you recognize that the candidate is talented from your interview process, but you are concerned that they are missing something else then hire them. You have to decide whether to take a risk on that person. That risk can be reduced with a longer ramp up period or more extensive training. The point is that retaining and sustaining talented sales professionals is hard work. If you endeavor to foster and sustain a high-output sales culture, you will have to take some risks. Those risks should be calculated. If you have the opportunity to hire an “A” player that has minimal industry experience do it. They will fight to be number one, work extra hard to ramp up then scale your sales force for success. Your team will become industry leaders and will be that much more committed to your company and your methodology.
Understanding the intricacies of your sales force, and what makes a top producer, is fundamental. Learn to identify “talented” sales professionals and believe in your ability to train and ramp them up. Hoping that your competition will produce top representatives for your company is not a sustainable strategy. You have to groom top producers for your company. Now it is critical to figure how to do it. Hiring is your responsibility and will require many hours of work, but it will be worth it at the end of the year when you are hitting your revenue targets. This is the time to ramp up for 2012. Carpe Diem!
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Ask A Sales Recruiter
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
By Dave DeMelo Senior Consultant at Treeline, Inc.
Dear Dave,
I recently found out that the company I’ve worked at for the past four years is going to be restructuring and making changes in the sales department. While I’ve been contemplating moving on in my career I hesitate launching my search for a better sales opportunity. I am a top producer and doing very well where I am, however the restructuring of my department is concerning. I decided that it’s time to actively search for a new sales opportunity.
I realize that the upcoming holiday season might have an impact on my job search. Do you think that I should wait until after the New Year to start introducing myself to hiring managers and networking with my colleagues, or should I start now?
Should I stay or should I go?!
Great question! This time of the year can be quite hectic and if you cannot fully invest yourself in your job search than it might be a better idea to stay at your current job and see what happens to your sales department. However, if you are committed to your job search, have the time and you’re willing to put in the hard work that goes into finding a new sales opportunity then start making some introductions.
Don’t let the holiday season deter you from putting yourself out there. Companies are hiring in record time during this time of the year; they need to fill headcount by the end of the year and are seeking top talent to fill the pipeline for 2012.
Since you are still employed and will be taking time off it is a good idea to organize your job search and time your interviews accordingly. Since no two companies have the same hiring process it is crucial to uncover the steps of the hiring process and have an approximation of when they will hire.
It all starts with you. Are you ready for your job search? If so, qualify each opportunity. Changing careers is a risk, but if you put in the time and effort you will be rewarded. The holiday season does have its challenges, but as long as you are open, up front and ask the right questions you are bound to find success in your new sales opportunity.
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Hiring Sales People: What’s more important Skill or Spirit?
Should You Hire For Skill Or Spirit?
By Michelle Randall Expert Blogger at FastCompany.com
Companies spend a huge amount of time and resources crafting business strategies. Even so, most of these strategies end in failure.
I saw one company spend half a million dollars and hundreds of employee hours implementing a new strategy, only to admit that it wasn’t working. They had to spend even more money and lay off employees trying to put things back to the way they were before. The next time the company tried to introduce a new strategy, it was met with considerable employee resistance.
If employees don’t buy into a strategy, it’s doomed to failure from the start. After all, strategy doesn’t execute itself. People execute it. This is why it’s vital to integrate strategy and people.
Because people represent the potential of the business, high-growth companies need high-growth employees. Employee development is the key ingredient in breaking through to the next level of growth. Employees have to develop new skills that allow them to perform at higher levels so that they can quickly deliver on the potential of the strategy and the company itself.
While it’s certainly possible to hire for new capabilities, there are tremendous benefits of promoting from within. Just a few benefits include: retaining technical knowledge; honoring the informal, social fabric of the organization; and fostering the culture of the company.
Employee development needs to be included in both strategy creation and execution. There are two main ways to assess people and their development: skills and spirit.
Skills are things that can be trained. A leader can be coached on how to become more influential and engage their team to achieve great results. An employee can be trained technical skills such as engineering, accounting, and marketing that they need to do their jobs really, really well.
Spirit refers to the “soft” skills that can’t be trained effectively. You have to hire for them. These are hard to find but are necessary for a company to function smoothly.
One of these skills is teamwork–the ability to put the needs of the group ahead of personal desires. Another is heart, as in “put your heart into it.” This describes true commitment and passionate engagement. Employees with heart take ownership of their jobs and go the extra mile.
One of my clients, a growing manufacturing company, got a huge order that had to be delivered on a rush basis. Everyone at the company had to pull out all the stops to get the job done on time.
Two women working on the manufacturing floor had the idea to make posters to keep track of progress. These were updated several times a day so that everyone could see how close they were to completion. The posters helped keep everyone motivated, and with a lot of extra effort the order was filed with zero errors.
The two women demonstrated both teamwork and heart. They were promoted to management positions shortly afterwards.
Too often, companies hire for skills without enough consideration for spirit. When that happens, you end up with a bunch of wonks who can’t work together. There needs to be a balance between skills and spirit across the entire company.
This same balance needs to exist within individual senior managers. A VP of global marketing at a IT company recently asked me about this. He told me that one of his senior managers had great skills and was a decent leader, but he wasn’t showing any heart–he just didn’t seem to care about the company. The VP said that the manager’s bad attitude was starting to wear off on his entire team.
My reply was clear and simple. I told him that if the manager’s heart wasn’t in it, there were two options: move him into a purely technical position or let him go. Senior managers are a microcosm of your company. They are the role models for other employees. As such, they need to have both skills and spirit.
Integrating strategy and people accelerates the potential growth of any organization and is critical for high-growth companies.
Randall, Michelle. “Should You Hire For Skill Or Spirit?” Where Ideas and People Meet. Fast Company, 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. <http://www.fastcompany.com/1793369/hiring-for-skill-or-spirit>.
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Distractions in the Workplace: How do you “Ignore the Noise”?
“Ignore the Noise”
By Sean Cashman Recruiter at Treeline Inc.
“Ignore the noise” These words are plastered on the locker room walls of the most successful NFL football teams in the game. This phrase is at the top of a list of best practices that have been proven to help the team to be the best at what they do. For the players inside that locker room, it helps them be the best NFL football players, but this practice can be applied to you and if you can effectively execute ‘ignoring the noise’ on a daily basis, it will help you to be the best at what you do.
You might be thinking, NFL football players have a lot more noise to ignore than typical professionals. I disagree. Granted, their noise consists of national and local media coverage. They have to deal with enduring the ins and outs of the 17 week NFL season. Other than the physical demand of the game and the fame that goes along with being a professional football player, their ‘noise’ is just like our noise. They have family, friends, bills, errands, chores – all the various parts of our lives that demand our attention and time.
As professionals we have to work through our own noise every day; get the kids to school, fix the dish washer, paint the bathroom, dinner with the in-laws, your college buddy’s out of town wedding, and the list goes on. I am not trying to say that these parts of our lives are any less important, but when you are trying to work, these pieces make up your ‘noise.’
Now, I am not trying to give you anxiety about getting your ‘to do list’ complete. Instead, my point is that all the things I listed can be considered ‘noise’ disrupting your professional life. While, you have to keep these things on your radar and recognize that they are there, you have to ignore that noise when you are working.
You have to focus on the job. You have to ignore the ‘noise’ and get to your goal. At the end of the day, the ‘noise’ will still be there. You must not let it impair your ability to effectively do your job the best you can.
Learn to ignore the ‘noise’ and focus on the task at hand and you find that you be more efficient with your time and improve your results. This will ultimately lead to more time to deal with your noise.
How do you ignore the noise? That is something that you are going to have to figure out for yourself. The first step is to recognize it is there and will distract you. You will have to figure out how to work past it and ignore it.
My advice is to keep a “to-do” list. Prioritize your list of and don’t be afraid to include even the most mundane task. Accomplishing a task on the list often motivates you to keep on going. Another way to stay on track is to reward yourself. Often I find myself getting distracted at work and thinking about the ‘noise’ at the end of the day. However, if I reward myself for all the hard work I did that day I will stay on track. Lastly, while the ‘noise’ can often distract you from work it can also give you a reason to work harder. The ‘noise’ usually includes responsibilities that you have as a father, friend, husband, wife, etc. Remind yourself that your hard work will pay off in the end.
In the comments section, please share some of your best practices that help you ‘ignore the noise.’ I am sure it will help your fellow professionals.
In the meantime, get out there and play like a champion!
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