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Actual for You - The Myth of the Natural Born Sales Wonder
Don't you just hate job interviews? Or perhaps you don't! I know I do. Well, it's not so, much the interview itself as the fear of the unknown questions they have prepared. I bought a book once on how to answer job interview questions and although it was a useful confidence booster, it did little to improve my chances of getting job offers. A one-to-one interview is a lot less daunting than a panel of interviewers, and for the type of jobs I go for these days, it's the panel brigade that I'm confronted by, and trying to answer job interview questions from a pack of high flyers is no
One of the biggest problems is that companies h
Would you ever give a nine year old the keys to the car and send them to go pick up their younger sibling from school? Of course not, there are some things in life that are just unheard of. Unfortunately in business, especially in Network Marketing, people are sent out to “drive their business vehicle before they have come of age.”Network marketers, both novice and expert, should not be sent out to acquire customers and recruit a downline without the proper mlm training. It should be illegal! The most successful people in business usually have received some type of training o
1. Personality researchers assume that people are predisposed to sales and that there exists an ‘ideal’ sales personality. From experience alone you will know people of widely different personalities in sales who are both successful and unsuccessful. Indeed many unsuccessful salespeople join other companies and become successful, whilst successful salespeople leave to further their careers elsewhere only to subsequently become unsuccessful.
In many of the sales forces I examined I continually came across inconsistencies in personality amongst the top 20% of performers. In particular, most of the personality profiles would lead you to believe that successful salespeople are confident and goal orientated. My own findings showed that top salespeople are generally less confident internally and certainly more insecure that their lower performing colleagues. This is borne out by top performers in other fields. Insecurity appears to come with the territory of high performance. Perhaps it’s the uncertainty of not knowing how long this high performance level can last? Yet, when I attempted to apply this factor into a personality inventory I found the same low correlations as exist in all other inventories.
In addition my own research clearly established that each company has its own ‘personality’. In some cases, getting on with the boss’s assistant and his/her favoured henchmen is a greater contributory factor to longevity of employment than a supposed sales personality. This leads me to the next point.
2. Hardly any company buying personality inventories conducts sufficient internal research in order to validate the instrument they are using. When I conducted my own research I applied an instrument to a) all existing salespeople in the company b) all applicants, and c) all new joiners, over a 24-month period. I also attempted to keep in touch with applicants who were unsuccessful in their application.
I drew up a profile of unsuccessful and successful internal salespeople and divided these between new starters and existing staff. I examined the profiles of applicants who were offered a job and those that were rejected. I monitored the sales results of all salespeople against these profiles over a two-year period. Lastly I compared these results with demographic data to look for significant correlations. After two years the profiles of successful and unsuccessful salespeople were close enough to be identical. I also examined in detail all of the inventories on the market and found the same low correlations.
One of the biggest problems is that companies ha
First and foremost, 99 percent of people who are starting out on the web are not going to become rich overnight. So, most importantly have some patience.Make a market plan. Outline the specific actions you intend to carry out to interest potential customers and clients in your product and/or service. Remember you must develop a plan to persuade them to buy the product and/or services you offer.Research is going to play a key role in your success. Research everything! Research your product market, your target market, anyone your hire, and anything else that yo
In many of the sales forces I examined I continually came across inconsistencies in personality amongst the top 20% of performers. In particular, most of the personality profiles would lead you to believe that successful salespeople are confident and goal orientated. My own findings showed that top salespeople are generally less confident internally and certainly more insecure that their lower performing colleagues. This is borne out by top performers in other fields. Insecurity appears to come with the territory of high performance. Perhaps it’s the uncertainty of not knowing how long this high performance level can last? Yet, when I attempted to apply this factor into a personality inventory I found the same low correlations as exist in all other inventories.
In addition my own research clearly established that each company has its own ‘personality’. In some cases, getting on with the boss’s assistant and his/her favoured henchmen is a greater contributory factor to longevity of employment than a supposed sales personality. This leads me to the next point.
2. Hardly any company buying personality inventories conducts sufficient internal research in order to validate the instrument they are using. When I conducted my own research I applied an instrument to a) all existing salespeople in the company b) all applicants, and c) all new joiners, over a 24-month period. I also attempted to keep in touch with applicants who were unsuccessful in their application.
I drew up a profile of unsuccessful and successful internal salespeople and divided these between new starters and existing staff. I examined the profiles of applicants who were offered a job and those that were rejected. I monitored the sales results of all salespeople against these profiles over a two-year period. Lastly I compared these results with demographic data to look for significant correlations. After two years the profiles of successful and unsuccessful salespeople were close enough to be identical. I also examined in detail all of the inventories on the market and found the same low correlations.
One of the biggest problems is that companies h
Should I use a recruiter is a common question that people ask themselves when planning their next job search.As a recruiter, I can suggest a few ways that we can help you with your job search:They can expose you to jobs that you wouldn't otherwise have known about.They should "sell" your skills and background to their clients which can help get your foot in the door when you might otherwise get ignored if you'd applied directly to the company on your own. They should help you prepare for interviews with their clients.
In addition my own research clearly established that each company has its own ‘personality’. In some cases, getting on with the boss’s assistant and his/her favoured henchmen is a greater contributory factor to longevity of employment than a supposed sales personality. This leads me to the next point.
2. Hardly any company buying personality inventories conducts sufficient internal research in order to validate the instrument they are using. When I conducted my own research I applied an instrument to a) all existing salespeople in the company b) all applicants, and c) all new joiners, over a 24-month period. I also attempted to keep in touch with applicants who were unsuccessful in their application.
I drew up a profile of unsuccessful and successful internal salespeople and divided these between new starters and existing staff. I examined the profiles of applicants who were offered a job and those that were rejected. I monitored the sales results of all salespeople against these profiles over a two-year period. Lastly I compared these results with demographic data to look for significant correlations. After two years the profiles of successful and unsuccessful salespeople were close enough to be identical. I also examined in detail all of the inventories on the market and found the same low correlations.
One of the biggest problems is that companies h
When you are planning to call a reporter for the first time, it can help to imagine that you are a phone solicitor (albeit one with terrific, useful ideas).When phone solicitors call you, you don't want to hear a long explanation of their product. You just want to know the basics so you can make a quick decision and get back to work.That's why, in a first call or contact with a reporter, keep it short and sweet. Have one or two story ideas – no more – ready to convey.Don’t try what I call the "shotgun approach" — firing away with seven or eight ideas in the hope tha
2. Hardly any company buying personality inventories conducts sufficient internal research in order to validate the instrument they are using. When I conducted my own research I applied an instrument to a) all existing salespeople in the company b) all applicants, and c) all new joiners, over a 24-month period. I also attempted to keep in touch with applicants who were unsuccessful in their application.
I drew up a profile of unsuccessful and successful internal salespeople and divided these between new starters and existing staff. I examined the profiles of applicants who were offered a job and those that were rejected. I monitored the sales results of all salespeople against these profiles over a two-year period. Lastly I compared these results with demographic data to look for significant correlations. After two years the profiles of successful and unsuccessful salespeople were close enough to be identical. I also examined in detail all of the inventories on the market and found the same low correlations.
One of the biggest problems is that companies h
Yes, you can fill a workshop when spending is down and buyers are wary. If your topic is clear, your marketing materials well-done, your product solid and your title catchy, success shouldn’t be tough. The fact is that people are as hungry as ever for the inspiration and stimulus a workshop provides, even when they’re nervous about money. And even though most bum economies recover over time, you may find the following tricks helpful enough to keep using even in good times!1. Tailor the workshop to the economy. In other words, acknowledge the problem. So if your workshop is about
One of the biggest problems is that companies have no way of knowing whether those they have rejected would have been successful or not
3. All purveyors of personality inventories warn against using the results in isolation, stressing that they must be seen as part of a total process. In all cases where personality inventories were being used as part of a selection process I observed a disproportionate credence being placed on the results of the inventory. Sales managers have a tendency to believe in instruments which are seen to be academically accredited, and which absolve them from making incorrect selection decisions. It should be said however, that in processes where the only mechanism for deciding future potential is an interview, managers were generally wrong in 50% of cases. Even so, despite the guidance to avoid ‘gut-feeling’ on interviews, I found that ‘gut-feeling’ proved more intuitive at pre-guessing success than any inventory.
4. The greatest problem with personality inventories is that the candidate completes them themselves. I recall a quote from John Hillier (Chair of NCVQ) who said – ‘I can convince myself that I am in control of my weight provided I do not go anywhere near the scales’. The tendency to either lie or exaggerate is strong in salespeople wishing to make their biggest sale – employment. Most inventories contain a few questions, which they say are ‘lie detectors’. Once again, I found that many salespeople know which these questions are and therefore learn to avoid making exaggerated claims about their ability in the questionnaire, only to save that exaggeration for the interview. Many managers when interviewing, lack the skills to explore these exaggerated claims.
5. A question - if these inventories work, why have they not reduced labour turnover and failure, and increased success? They haven’t.
6. An observation – some of the best salespeople I have ever met are those selling personality inventories!
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