It says Telesales or Field Sales on the advert. Is it the job for your future?
Let's discuss whether mastering the telephone and / or the motor car (to get to a face-to-face) is your ticket to future sales success...
0 CommentsJobs & Career Information
Online video job applications
Organisations looking for candidates to fill sales positions could find the costs and time spent finding the right person 'cut dramatically' with the introduction of video-based applications via the web, according to the founder of a new website. (Update from July 2010).
2 CommentsRackham on recruiting successful sales people
At a 2007 masterclass held at Portsmouth Business School Professor Neil Rackham offered a number of insights into the sales recruitment process. Brian MacIver comments with some updates.
7 CommentsSALES VACANCY ADVERT OF THE FUTURE?
Climbing a career ladder has always been a tricky business, even when that career path was fairly well laid out and the requirements for getting on to each next rung was clear. But what happens when the ladder you're on isn't even leaning against the right building? ModernSelling.com explores the future and looks at who the sales vacancy adverts of the future might really be trying to find...
0 CommentsKIA LAUNCHES GRADUATE SCHEME
With the economy and the jobs market still in the doldrums, car-maker Kia Motors (UK) is set to capitalise on the large pool of university talent which has become available by launching a graduate training programme. The Hyundai-owned marque, which also claims to be Britain's fastest-growing automotive retail brand, is offering 12-month contracts in sales, marketing, after-sales and other areas of the business.
0 CommentsSTUDENTS GRADUATE TO RUN OWN BUSINESSES
Two enterprising Salford graduates are getting a headstart in the fiercely competitive jobs market by setting up their own businesses.
0 CommentsAIFA SEARCHES FOR NEW LEADER
Financial services professional body the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) has begun the search to replace outgoing director-general Chris Cummings, who has left to become chief executive of TheCityUK, a new body set up to promote the UK-based financial services industry.
0 CommentsFSA CONFIRMS ADVISER QUALIFICATIONS
As part of its continuing policy of distinguishing between sales and advice, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published the final list of qualifications retail investment advisers will need to pass before 1 January 2013.
0 CommentsHARRODS COMMITTED TO INVESTING IN SALES FORCE
From this month staff at upmarket London department store Harrods will be able to study for a degree in sales. The retailer has revealed it is to offer a two-year BA honours course to staff as part of a plan to boost career prospects.
0 CommentsHAYMARKET BUYS MEDIA SALES NETWORK
The Friday Pint – a network of websites and events for commercial media professionals – has been sold to Haymarket Business Media. Sites, including media sales jobs and media sales jobs UK, will be merged with MediaWeekjobs.co.uk to provide the ‘most powerful online resource for both jobseekers and recruiters alike’.
0 CommentsHERE COME THE GIRLS!
At just 24-years-old, Anneli Thomson has become the youngest associate ever throughout Sandler Training’s worldwide network of 250 offices.
0 CommentsBIG RISES FOR INVESTMENT BANK SALESPEOPLE
Question – when is a massive City bonus not a massive City bonus? Answer – when it’s a stonking great pay rise.
0 CommentsNOT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY SAYS ASDA CEO
A top retailer this month advised new graduates to ‘follow your heart, not your head’ when he received an honorary degree from the University of Salford.
0 CommentsAVON CALLING NEW GRADUATES
In the current economic climate it’s tough finding a job if you’re one of the 40,000 students who graduated this summer: many will struggle to find work by the end of the year.
0 CommentsSALES PAY AND BONUSES ON THE UP
With both basic pay and bonuses rising, salespeople are amongst the best-paid employees in business, according to The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s latest Croner Sales Rewards study unveiled on 9 June. Sales professionals are paid more than colleagues in marketing, finance and human resources (HR) at most levels of seniority.
0 CommentsFIT-4 PREDICTS NEW HIRES' SALES SUCCESS
Recruiting salespeople is often a hit-and-miss affair with performance in prior roles no guarantee of success in the next demanding job. However, a new assessment programme claims to be able to revolutionise the way we recruit salespeople by benchmarking potential new hires for optimal performance in any given sales role.
0 CommentsHIRING A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT YOU FANCY
How shallow are we! When it comes to hiring staff, Britain’s employers are more concerned with looks than qualifications, according to the results of an ‘under-cover’ social experiment.
0 Comments4 QUESTIONS TO ASK A HEAD-HUNTER
Let’s face it, we all feel flattered when we get a call from a head-hunter, but it pays not to let our enthusiasm carry us away. Be cautious and find out as much as possible about the agency, the prospective position and the employer before committing to a meeting. And remember, the grass is not always greener….
0 CommentsWHAT KEEPS A SALES PERSON?
Buyers strongly value account managers with tenure, stating that it can take a year or more for a new face to get up to speed with both their own and their clients’ business, advises technology consultancy IDC.
0 Comments
RECRUITMENT
PEOPLE SKILLS
0 CommentsConsidering a move from sales – how about recruitment? It’s not all that big a leap, suggests GILL BELL.
If you are motivated by targets, and the personal success which comes with achieving those targets then you’ll find that a career within the recruitment sector will present similar opportunities to those available in a more traditional sales environment.
A good recruitment consultant has to be self-motivated with the desire to succeed as well as the maturity to realise that success is directly proportional to effort – all of which are attributes that salespeople will be able to identify with. However, in our sector, it’s crucial to recognise that it’s not just the individual sale which is important, but the whole cycle. While a sale can be a one-off in our marketplace, within this business the key to long-term success is in building relationships.
SALES TEAM PERFORMANCE
Can you really clone top sales performers?
0 CommentsJeffrey Bean asks whether trying to clone our top performers is possible or even desirable.
Research into individual performance within company sales teams of all types and sizes suggests they can, in general, be divided into three performance bands:
- the top 20% who consistently perform at 130% of target or above;
- the bottom 20% achieving at 30% of target or less; and
- the balance of 60% who are solid and put in an acceptable performance that across the group averages out at around 85% of target.
HIRING TIPS
HOW TO INTERVIEW FOR A SALESPERSON
0 CommentsSelecting the right salesperson is one of the most important functions the sales director has to fulfil. Too often it is approached in a casual and unprofessional manner, while the consequences of recruiting the wrong candidate are costly, damaging and time consuming. Paul Sloane offers some simple techniques to help avoid that problem.
What are the two most important abilities that a salesperson needs? There has been extensive research in this area and the answers are clear: the two most critical factors for a sales person are the ability to ask questions and the ability to listen. Both of these capabilities can be tested at interview, yet most interviewers miss a golden opportunity to check for these skills.
Here are some tips to help you when you are next interviewing a candidate for a sales position in your company.
SALES MANAGEMENT
IT'S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE
0 CommentsSales managers, what exactly what do they do? Here, with the help of a few mini-case-studies – a couple of which will be very familiar from the television show the Apprentice – we provide a quick guide to what a sales management career is all about and where it might lead as you progress.
Their role is all about communication – with colleagues, customers and the team – as well as leadership, and meeting targets
Sales management is also increasingly a graduate profession, though there are plenty of opportunities for entry at all levels of academic qualification and an increasing number of vocational degree courses for employees already into their careers.
CV FRAUD
WOULD YOU LIE TO GET A JOB?
0 CommentsWhatever, you think of The Apprentice and the general calibre of the candidates, this year’s eventual winner Lee McQueen was seen as a generally likeable fellow with a passion for sales and self-improvement.
However, the incident where he was caught lying (albeit in a minor way) in the week 11 interviews has understandably sparked controversy.
STAFF RETENTION
HIRE PRINCIPLES
0 CommentsJackie Cobley of Accelerate counts the cost of sales team turnover.
Every organisation is responsible for attracting, recruiting, developing and retaining their greatest asset – the people; but nowhere is the success or failure of a new hire more keenly felt than in sales – where revenue figures and performance speak for themselves.
Balancing act
It’s a fact of business life that all organisations have a degree of employee turnover. However, when a sales person leaves – new or experienced – it creates a difficult balancing act in terms of managing not just workloads and staff morale, but also how to handle delicate customer relationships. Rather than risk compromising a sales situation with someone who is considered – rightly or wrongly – no longer motivated enough to do a good job, businesses often impose ‘gardening leave’ on employees who have resigned.
How do you fill the vacuum quickly before the relationship or a sale is jeopardised?
SALES RECRUITMENT
GLOBAL RACE FOR SALES TALENT
0 CommentsTop sales talent – it’s more critical than ever, yet is it harder to find, asks Andrew Dugdale?
McKinsey & Co recently released a couple of reports that make interesting reading for many sales leaders today. In its 4th Quarter 2007 Survey of Business Executives Views on Economic and Hiring Trends, MCkinsey found that expectations of inflation have risen sharply, as have expectations that economic conditions will deteriorate over the next half year.
Nevertheless, many executives say they are going to continue to hire more staff and plan to raise investment in recruitment and training in the near term.
Given these two apparently conflicting views, it is reasonable to expect that the pressure will be focused onto the sales teams in the drive to generate larger revenues and profits than ever before. Yet this all has to be achieved in the face of a deteriorating economy.
RECRUITMENT FOCUS
THREE ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR RECRUITING A QUALITY SALESPERSON
0 CommentsWatch out for our forthcoming interview with Michael Page International regional managing director OLIVER WATSON. Meantime, here are his three tips for recruiting the best person for your team. With quality salespeople in relatively short supply, it’s vital to make the right choice.
One: obtain demonstrable proof of a salesperson’s track record.
That track record needs to be investigated; it needs to be probed and it needs to be referenced (with clients if necessary). ‘There are an awful lot of “deals” that have been done by salespeople out there that either haven’t been done or they were part of a team of ten that once did a deal, or that deal was phoned into an organisation…’ Use robust techniques to verify a track record. For instance, ask to see a candidate’s P60; one of the best ways to find out whether a person has hit a target is to see what they earned. Note that this works in certain environments; it doesn’t work for everybody.
INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE
INTERVIEW 'FAUX PAS': TOP TEN THINGS NOT TO SAY AT INTERVIEW
0 CommentsGraduate recruitment and sales training specialist Pareto Law has just released its top ten list of job interview howlers, which they call interview ‘faux pas’ (how very French! – Ed).
From the graduate who only came to the interview because his mum told him to, to the hopeful who brought along his swimming medals as evidence of his potential, the list offers a useful guide to what not to say or do in an interview.
PEOPLE SKILLS
DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT
0 CommentsLooking to get ahead? Nobody likes boasting, but you shouldn’t be ashamed to let colleagues or prospective employers know who you are and what you bring to the table.
1 Self-promotion
Products need to be promoted – think of yourself as a product you are taking to market. Network hard.
Create a list of people to whom you can promote yourself regularly. Why not send them periodic updates of your accomplishments, articles that might interest them, notices of events they might want to attend, notes of congratulations… but don’t get too cheesy. Build a relationship and you’ll be at the forefront of their minds when a vacancy comes up.
FOCUS ON CHANGING ROLES
DEATH OF THE SALESMAN?
0 CommentsThe salesman is dead. Long live the 21st century sales professional, says ModernSelling.com’s editor Nick de Cent.
In 1949, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman, relating the story of the downfall of Willy Loman, an aging salesman beginning to lose his grip on reality.
Drawn from the ‘hail fellow, well met!’ school of selling, Loman was a typical bag-carrier, relying on his native charm to make friends and influence people. He was on the road for long hours but kept closing deals.
GETTING THE JOB
HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT CV
0 CommentsMunir Mamujee of m2r says that taking the trouble to hone this most personal of documents is time well spent.
Ok, it’s time to rewrite your CV (curriculum vitae – latin for you life story – Ed). You may view this as an extremely tedious and mundane task that only merits a very short amount of your time, but this attitude could seriously jeopardise your career prospects!
RECRUITMENT FOCUS
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION - HOW TO RECRUIT A TOP SALES PERSON?
0 CommentsRecruiting and retaining excellent sales staff is a process that perplexes the most experienced of managers. Get the mix of characteristics versus skills right and you have a Godsend that will boost both your business and your reputation. Get it wrong, and you may be stuck with an expensive loose-cannon.
Joanna Sayers investigates.