Better Hiring Today

Sometimes it feels like companies make a concerted effort to drive their top-producing salespeople out of the organization and into the welcoming arms of the competition. If you read that line and chuckle, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

After all the time and effort expended to locate, hire, and train top producers, why in the world do most compaines do things that make their top salespeople quit? In my opinion, companies don’t pay attention to the basic drivers/motivators for top producers. If your company has a hard time holding on to salespeople, it’s probably for one of the following reasons:

You’ve changed their compensation structure. And not for the better. The #1 cause of a disgruntled top producer is negative modifications to their compensation structure. With salepeople, the comp plan is a sacred covenant - everyone agrees that these are the rules. Top producers inevitable knock the ball out of the park, and management says, “Uh-oh. These guys are making too much money.” So they change the comp plan. The usual suspects are caps on commissions (ludicrous), reducing overall commission payouts (kills trust faster than anything), and taking away clients to give to other salespeople (all that hard work, stolen away). Please, don’t do this stuff.
They have an unhealthy relationship with their manager. This ususally happens when the top producer’s previous boss - who was awesome - gets promoted and is replace by a less-than-awesome boss who feels like they have to prove their worth by tinkering with everything that was working. I call this, “New Boss Syndrome.” It goes something like this: (1) New boss enters the picture, (2) new boss fails to take the time to build relationships with the top producers, (3) new boss says or does something to piss the top producers off, (4) new boss’ involvement actually starts to hinder the top producers’ ability to produce (read: mandatory attendance at excessive and pointless “sales meetings”), (5) top producer starts accepting headhunter phone calls, (6) they leave.
You’ve increased their risk. This risk may be caused by poor company financial performance, a merger or buyout, or an overall macro decline in the size of the market for the product or service that they’re selling. This one’s a bit more difficult to counter, and I mention it only because you need to pay twice the attention to top producers when a broad-based decline hits your industry. They begin to consider that move to Career X that they’ve always dreamed about.
These things are what headhunters are tuned to when calling your salespeople. If they perceive that one of the above is going on, they’ll zero in on your top producers like a missle.

The truth about top producers is that if their ego is sufficiently stroked, if they are fed with good marketing support, if their comp plan is solid, and if you get the heck out of their way, then they’ll be happily making your company money for as long as things stay rosy. If, however, you’d like to make you top salesperson quit and go work for a competitor, you’ve been taught how to do so.

Business owners and managers are tasked with getting the most possible productivity out of their team - it’s all about motivating and inspiring people to do their absolute best.  The Talent Review is a  tool that managers can employ to ensure that they’ve got the right people in the right jobs, and can really make [...]

Being from Chicago, where venturing outside during 7 out of every 12 months can give you hypothermia, it was a welcome relief this week to be in New Orleans for the Fortune Small Business Conference, where the weather has been fantastic.  The focus was on sales and marketing, and several of the speakers honed in [...]

Companies that consistently produce top recruiting results never do so by accident. That these firms tend to outperform their industry peers is the end result of a journey that began with putting the right people in the right seats. How do the successful managers of these leading companies build high-performing teams? By staying true to these five recruiting habits:

They follow a defined process. There’s no shortcut when it comes to selecting the right person for the job. Managers who produce successful hire after successful hire do so because they follow a proven formula, including:

* Writing a well-defined Job Profile
* Using an effective Candidate Work History form
* Conducting a telephone interview
* Conducting an in-person work history interview, followed by an in-person behavioral interview
* Personally contacting each of the candidate’s references
* Using a Candidate Scorecard to make objective yes/no decisions

They’re always recruiting. I’ll say it another way - they don’t let recruiting become an exercise in crisis management. Highly successful hiring managers don’t wait until they have an open position to being recruiting. They’re constantly tapping their networks, asking colleagues for referrals and staying in touch with top prospects from their competitors’ payrolls. When their company wins the next big project, they’re not scrambling for new talent and settling for average performers due to a time constraint. Lack of preparation in recruiting leads to bad hires, and they’re always prepared with available talent.

They take the time to define the role. Without a Job Profile that explains, in detail, the specific, measurable outcomes required of the person filling the role, the recruiting process will produce erratic results. Successful hiring managers take the necessary time required to think through these outcomes, and to define them in quantifiable terms against which candidates can be evaluated. They never say to a recruiter, “I don’t really have a job description written, but you know what I’m looking for, right?”

They include others in the process. Successful hiring managers know that it takes a team to make a well-rounded, informed decision about a new hire. They ask other members of the organization to sit in on interviews as note-takers in order to get outside perspective. These managers know that two sets of eyes and ears are better than one, and they ask for and listen to feedback on their interviewing style and effectiveness.

They don’t talk themselves into saying yes. Most importantly, successful hiring managers don’t hesitate to pass on candidates who are anything less than an top performer. They’d rather go for months without a key position being filled than fill that position with someone who’s less than perfect - because they know that the time spent managing that bad hire will more than wipe out the benefits gained from having someone mediocre in the role. Successful managers look to the Candidate Scorecard and make emotionless decision rooted in facts.

Successful hiring managers follow these five habits to generate recruiting results that lead to high-performing teams. Focus on developing these habits, and watch your results begin to improve overnight.

For many managers, the most challenging aspect of creating a job profile is understanding the relationship between compensation and candidate ability.  It’s an interesting paradox - nobody wants to overpay for work performed, but everyone wants an employee who’s at the top of their game.  Entrepreneurs and business managers dream of a perfect world where employees [...]

Here’s a summary of a recent conversation that I had with a regular client, who asked for some help with creating a Job Profile for one of his company’s new open roles:
Me:  So, tell me about what you’d like to see happen during the first 12 months of this person’s employment with your company.
Client:  [gives [...]

Read any of the books-du-jour out there that discuss hiring practices, and you’re guaranteed to read a chapter on “The Cost of a Mis-Hire.”  The general argument, according to these authors, is that the cost of making a bad hire isn’t simply the salary and benefits costs that were sunk  into the new employee who [...]

[Author's note:  This article is Part 4 of 4 in a series on hiring salespeople.  In Part 1 and Part 2, we discussed why hiring salespeople is so difficult, and what to look for when reviewing a sales resume.  In Part 3, we covered the proper approach to interviewing salespeople.]
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In Part 1 and Part 2, we discussed why hiring salespeople is so difficult, and what to look for when reviewing a sales resume.  Here, I’ll share with you the “rubber meeting the road” part of the process - the interview.
Sales interviews are a challenge to run if you’re not sure what to ask.  That’s why I recommend coming armed with [...]

In Part 1 of this series on hiring salespeople, we explored the various reasons why hiring salespeople is so difficult.  Here, we’ll discuss some tips and tricks for properly reviewing the resume of a potential sales hire.
All managers have made a hiring mistake at one time or another.  My experience in interviewing sales talent on [...]