Talent Acquisition

AVERAGE SALE IS ONE METRIC THAT CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR BUSINESS SURVIVING OR NOT AFTER CORONAVIRUS SHUT DOWNS. SO WHAT NOW?

It should come as no surprise to anyone that while the “reopening” of the economy is hopefully in its early stages, there are a lot of people who will still be hesitant to go out and shop for anything other than absolute necessities. Some will be flat out scared. Other than doing everything you can to reassure potential customers that your business is doing everything possible to protect their safety, there is little else you can regarding their emotional state before walking into or calling your business. You can, however, do a great deal to control their emotions once in your store or on the phone asking about buying from you.

Part of this will be done in a customer service context which is certainly very important. Equally, if not more important, will be how the reduced number of customers you’ll have the opportunity to sell are managed in a sales context. And a key metric that you are able to influence is average sale. This metric will be key to making up for part of the impact fewer customers will have on your business as you pull out of shut down mode. Pushing higher margin items will amplify the positive impact higher average sales will have on your business.

So, how do I increase average sale you might ask? It’s actually quite simple, though not easy. First and foremost, you need to have the best possible sellers taking on the mission of pushing average sale metric. You will need to make them aware of what products are high margin and/or good upsells related to what the customer is planning to buy. Superstar sellers will rise to the challenge if they are well compensated for achieving the goal.

My first job out of college, somewhat to my parents’ dismay, was as a waiter in a touristy seafood restaurant on the downtown waterfront. I learned a lot from that job! I was not the best waiter in the place, but I consistently had higher tickets than the others because I knew that, for the most part, I was going to earn 10-15 cents on every dollar I sold to the diner. Same thing works no matter what the business. If the seller is a real seller and understand what’s in it for him to push that average sale, you’ll both benefit.

These are anxious times for all of us but one thing I’m sure will help your business crawl out of the shut down more quickly is a team of REAL SELLERS who can take their orders knowing there is a big reward for them once the mission is accomplished. And there are more REAL SELLERS looking for jobs right now that there have been in the last decade or more.

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On Easily Creating a Sales Recruitment System

Video Rant #7 You Are Doing Step #1 of Sales Hiring Absolutely WRONG!

If you’re over 45 and you started in sales management, you’ve hired salespeople. What are your initial thoughts when somebody you hired walks in and tells you they’re leaving?

First thought, for many, is to flash back to the good old days where we’d put sales help wanted ads in the local newspaper. Or maybe you’re a multinational global company. So you advertise in the Help Wanteds in the New York Sunday Times’ Business section. And you know for SURE that for most advertising options, the number of salesperson leads you’ll get is limited.

So, the Sunday New York Times business section help wanteds. That’s where I first applied for a job. Back then, you applied everywhere you could. You typed a cover letter, mailed your resume to everybody.

I think that’s the model that managers still have in mind when they look to hire a salesperson. You KNOW you have limited leads. Maybe if you’re super clever, you can buy access to resumes…

Your plan is to spend YOUR precious time with the few leads you get to be sure you pick the right one. And is EXACTLY the wrong direction.

Very intelligent people don’t get our Advanced Hiring System. You know why? Because they’re thinking, “What do I need that for? I’ll just interview them.”

Most sales managers, especially older ones, just don’t really understand why or how publicizing your job opening has changed so radically. That ad you place these days has WAY more competition from a gazillion other companies trying to find people who can really sell, all because of that interwebby thing. The days of one ad in the New York Times Business section are gone forever.

Remember, selling is a unique set of mental strategies that 85% of the population cannot do AT ALL. And only 3% of the population do it really well. Whether you sell, cellphones, cable, water treatment, insurance, whatever – it doesn’t matter. You’re competing for a VERY limited pool of special applicants. If you don’t make your ad BETTER than everybody else’s ads, then you’ll just get a bunch of second-stringers to apply. And then you’ll wonder why your sales team is so mediocre.

Anybody who’s ever had a successful business, anybody who’s ever had great salespeople working with them KNOWS it’s those GREAT salespeople who really move the needle. Most of your sales team just stays in their comfort zone. They get mediocre results, and they accept it. GREAT salespeople look at selling like a Rubik’s Cube. They try every approach necessary, until they finally solve it.

But most of the people YOU hire never really try to figure out where the prospects are that could really benefit from your product or service. They don’t focus on finding GREAT prospects that nobody is really calling on. ONLY the 3-percenters do THAT. And those guys may not even be in sales right now. But THOSE are the guys who will boom your business.

They say there are 600 million people on Facebook at this moment. If that’s right, then 3% of 600 million is 18 million people. That’s 18 million people who would pass our testing, with the likelihood of becoming your #1 salesperson. Just one or two of those guys would TOTALLY turn your business around. So how do you get THOSE PEOPLE to pay attention to your offer?

It all comes down to … how do you articulate in your ad that THIS is the real deal? How do you describe your opportunity in the most favorable light? MOST ads, it’s like they try to limit the number of applicants, so they don’t have to process so many. They look at LinkedIn profiles or résumés to figure out who to invest their recruitment time with. They don’t want too many applicants, because THAT would be a real pain in the butt.

100% WRONG STRATEGY!!! You need a SYSTEM to screen applicants on the FRONT end, so you don’t have to do it manually. And #1 in your system is to write an ad that sells YOUR opportunity to the personality style YOU want to hire.

We’ve put together our Big Book of Job Ads. It’s dozens and dozens of actual ads our clients have used to find and hire super salespeople. What a copy? Give me a call. I’m Alan Fendrich.

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How the Creator of the Lie Detector Test Can Make You a Sales Hiring Wizard

There’s no doubt that salespeople “puff” up the benefits of their products. It’s good selling to amplify the positives. And there’s not a thing wrong with it.

But liars are not puffing, they’re lying. They are attempting to mislead.

With our SalesMatrix™ profile when a sales applicant tries to lie, our test nails them.

We then send our clients a note that we call the “Flag Page.” In it we  point out the applicant is lying.  Sometimes the applicant is under stress and not handling stress well. We point that out too.

The Lie Detector test was designed by a Harvard psychology professor. And now our tests have built that little “liar” function into them for you.

From time to time, clients chose to ignore the Flag Page. It’s their choice. We warned them but “they really liked the applicant.” So they hire them.

The results can be disastrous. One applicant turned out to be on the National Sex Offenders list. I don’t have to tell you how poorly that played out in today’s environment.

Another applicant got hired and was totally disruptive in the office. They said their leads were no good. The company product needed improving. It wasn’t their fault that no one would buy anything. When our client finally let them go, this Flag Page applicant sued them for discrimination on their way out the door.

If you’re sick and tired of fakers and smooth talkers, give us a call at (757) 251-0064. Or book a strategy meeting with us at meetwithalan.com. We’ve been helping sales-driven companies spot the real sellers for 20 years. Let’s talk.

 

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