We took time out to talk about why our clients keep coming back to us …

In my blog posts and articles I talk frequently about the disconnect between what businesses want to hire to drive sales growth – the ‘A’ players (the top 10 – 15% of sales professionals within their market / compensation level) and what they all too often hire – the ‘B’ and ‘C’ players.

It’s true that the ‘A’ players tend to be highly successful wherever they go, and also that they don’t tend to move jobs very often. However, rarely does someone have a perfect career track record in sales – even the very best. Continue Reading

With shareholder value directly linked to growth the pressures on businesses to deliver sales growth is a constant. Enabling this growth is therefore one of the key priorities for all senior managers – or at least it should be. It’s not just the responsibility of the Sales Director or VP to deliver the numbers – every function has a part to play in this. Continue Reading

Working for a PLC during my early thirties I landed my first role in managing a sales team. I’d been with a company they acquired, had a good track record of hitting my numbers and delivering new name accounts. That seemed to qualify me as the logical candidate to take on the leadership role. Ah… that common fallacy that a good salesperson will make a good sales manager!

No interview, no assessment just a new title, a pay rise and a much, much bigger number to deliver…. oh and a team of around 20 sales people to lead. Bring it on I thought, I’m sure I’ll do a great job. Continue Reading

I hardly ever get any sales calls at work. It’s different at home – we get plenty of annoying, completely untargeted and totally unprofessional calls selling kitchens, double glazing, solar panels, etc. However for the purpose of this article I’m talking about B2B sales calls at work. Continue Reading

Prior to entering it myself I had a very poor view of the recruitment sector. This was based on my experiences as a hiring manger and also as a Consultant working with businesses to transform sales effectiveness. What I saw were agencies that had little to no idea about the role I was looking to fill, who didn’t take the time to really understand my needs and were focussed on getting me CV’s in the quickest possible time so that they could get their fee – quality didn’t really seem to be a consideration. Continue Reading

Recruiting and retaining good sales people is part and parcel of driving revenue. Managing and motivating them takes experience, dedication and energy. Even when your sales team is happy it’s inevitable some of them will want to move on. More money, different products, a management position. Changes to the status quo can also makesales people review their positions. Either way, at some point, you’re going to need to replace them and recruitment mistakes can be very costly

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Never underestimate what you can learn from checking the references of someone you are thinking about hiring and never get so enamoured by a prospective hire that you don’t bother to make reference checks part of your hiring process.

Here are some of the most insightful things we have learned from checking sales candidate references. Continue Reading

Online recruitment is a  numbers driven fickle, fickle world. How many of you have seen a position you’re well qualified for, registered, uploaded, ignored the ‘due to high number of applications’ message and ten minutes later got a call from an enthusiastic sounding recruiter? If you’re lucky you will have got through to an interview before your recruiter went on radio silence. Often, the optimistic chat about how good a candidate you are is the first and the last interaction you’ll have.  The reason you’re not getting great job opportunities isn’t you, it’s your job seeking strategy. Continue Reading

Most people have had times where they’ve hated their job, it’s normal when the balance of what we like to do and we don’t like to dois loaded the wrong way. Sales and Business Development are high pressure roles. Tough times can definitely take their toll. Long hours, getting stuck in airports and at train stations missing special occasions, managing difficult clients, months of work nearing a close and then falling at the finish line. Throwing in the towel and walking can be hugely tempting. There are reasons you shouldn’t throw your toys out of the cot, why you should plan your resignation. Continue Reading