Most professional sports teams have scouts. These scouts are constantly on the lookout for talent. Most of the time these scouts are engaging potential talent long before they are ready for the big leagues. In fact, often long before they even need them.
The one thing that these teams and scouts know is that they will always need top talent if they want to win.
Who are your scouts? Are you engaging potential talent before you need them? Is this important for you to win?
Over the last few years I have asked hundreds of CEOs and key executives, “When do most companies start the hiring process?” Rarely do I hear anything other than, “When they need someone.” Then, how long does it take to hire a person? Most believe that can take between 2 and 4 months. At which point the hiring manager is so desperate that they are pretty much willing to take the proverbial, “Cream of the Crap.”
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hiring top talent, Interviewing, Retaining top talent, Sales, sourcing top talent
I’ve been looking at what’s going on with internet commerce these days and how folks are dealing with the explosion of websites, blogs and users. I’ve come to realize that for many practical reasons the cost of SEO (search engine optimization) has put it out of reach for many small businesses. It’s an overstatement to say that SEO is dead, but it is definitely dead as far as most small businesses are concerned. The good news is, we don’t need to do more than the basics SEO work to thrive because internet marketing has changed.
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Blogs, Communication, Marketing, Sales, SEO, Social Networks
I came across a recent article from a person who is a sales trainer (no names to avoid embarrassments and conflicts) and who seemed to have suddenly awoken to discover that consumers and businesses are no longer buying the way they used to buy. “Gosh,” I thought, “where the heck have you been?” On the other hand, the comments made the point that I and others have been making for over a year now – maybe close to two years, namely that things have changed and they aren’t coming back.
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Communication, Growing Edges, Leadership, Management, Sales
I’ve mentioned in several posts that the world of sales (for non-commodity products) has changed. The consumption minded market is not going to return any time soon. We need to build trust, and so the title for this post. Demonstrate that you are willing to work to generate new money or save me money before you gain from our relationship. Otherwise, it smells like “BS” and I’m not buying.
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Growing Edges, Leadership, Management, Sales
If you’ve been following the posts on this blog, you will recognize the similarity between the comments I have made about the art of networking with the comments made on the sales process. The sales skill ladder has four rungs: Product Base Selling, Solution Based Selling, Consultative Selling and finally Trust Based Selling. As I’ve mentioned with respect to sales, the first three rungs are salesperson oriented. The fourth rung is truly, genuinely, authentically client focused. We have the clients best interest at heart. It’s the same for networking!
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Communication, Growing Edges, Networking, Sales
Yesterday, I got on my soapbox concerning networking etiquette and what I believe networking really is all about. And that is building trust and long term relationships. I mentioned that it is a long and difficult process. It is also highly rewarding.
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Communication, Growing Edges, Networking, Sales
I’ve managed, somehow, to develop a network of colleagues who will often refer folks to me for many different reasons; potential clients, business owners, and increasingly executives in transition. This economy has become very challenging for everyone.
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Communication, Networking, Sales
I remember several company leaders making the statement that “In the long run, there is no long run.” This was said in the context of getting everyone to feel a sense of urgency around making the numbers for the month or quarter.
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Leadership, Management, Sales
An Economy Driven Sales Reset
It is my opinion that the present economic situation is best described as a “reset in values” rather than arguing over whether or not it is a “recession” or “depression.” We may well see a generation of people whose values are redefined by their experiences during these times much as we have seen the depression generation’s values.
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Leadership, Management, Sales
Shocked and disoriented is probably the best way to describe how companies and salespeople are feeling lately. Virtually everyone is husbanding cash. Nobody wants to be “sold” anything. People still want to buy, but only when and what they want, not what someone else wants them to buy. Now what?
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Leadership, Management, Sales, Shaping the Corporate Culture
