Archive for February, 2011
5 Common Mistakes In Hiring
Do you know the biggest mistakes employers make in hiring? One of the biggest challenges we find is that sales professionals and business owners think they can find somebody who is both peopleoriented and great on followthrough and detailed work.
The five common mistakes employers make in hiring are:
I need a body right now.
The manager hires out of desperation and it is common when the manager finds himself overwhelmed. Maybe somebody just quit or the manager received a number of leads and does not know how to get the transactions closed or tasks accomplished.
Hiring close family friends or referrals without any evaluation.
We have known a client for a while who continues to hire her close friends and family members without evaluating whether they are the best fit for the position.
She finds it difficult to motivate and get any worthwhile performance out of these employees. Teamwork is a struggle and she seems frustrated. She feels that there is a magic bullet which will solve her problems.
Unless she starts hiring the person who is most suitable for the position instead of using nepotism she will always have this challenge.
Unfortunately I have been guilty of this as well and it cost me money time and relationships.
No process to screen candidates.
Most sales professionals and managers are quick decision makers and do not have the necessary patience to do the due diligence before hiring people. It sounds simple but it is hard for people who pride themselves on their quick thinking and decisionmaking ability to slow down and go through all the steps necessary to get wellqualified people.
Why is this attitude a major business risk? Just using your gut feel to make a hiring decision is not a smart idea. Again most managers are not trained in this skill.
Hiring the candidate who is just like you.
This individual reminds you of yourself when you were younger. You have a good gut feeling about this person.
Many managers tend to hire a person with whom they feel comfortable. Of course you like people who are like you or remind you of yourself. If the candidate is too much like you then why are you hiring your clone? It is rarely a good idea to hire your clone.
You hate to do the work that you should be doing.
Let us say that you hate detailed paper work and you are poor in following through. You feel that all you need to do is to hire somebody who likes that work and is competent at it and your worries will go away.
Do not make that mistake. Before you hire such a person learn the basics of that job for two reasons. One reason is that the person who walks in to do that job will definitely need you to give her orientation and training before she can be productive. Secondly that person’s style of work will differ from your style by necessity. If you cannot appreciate her role and how she functions you will be a poor manager.
About the writer: Minesh Baxi is the coauthor of “Stop Hiring Losers”. Do you have the right employees in the right position? Listen to one hour live recording and get first two chapters of the book “Stop Hiring Losers” free at http://www.StopHiringLosers.com
WinWin Negotiations Have Become A Must Have
Win/win negotiations used to be a goal to achieve. Now they are a necessity. Current times actually demand a win/win approach if you want a durable agreement.
Offerings have expanded not retracted.
You have more and more parties to choose to partner with. If one party doesnt worry about your interests you usually have the ability to choose another who does. Choices have expanded on so many levels. Now if an agreement doesnt meet the needs and wants of each of the parties you need just pick up a phone or surf the internet for someone else to fill the requirement.
The market is demanding customized solutions
Look at sales training. Scripts are out. Formulaic procedures to show benefits and push standardized offerings have been replaced by consultative selling. Consultative selling focuses on customized requirements and meeting individual needs.
Forcing agreements doesnt work for the long haul
So many people say they understand the need for win/win but then diligently fight against it. They dont share information. They compete instead of attempting to problem solve. They dont make the first offer and they posture a position that is unrealistic. This attempt to conquer or a win/lose approach no longer works if you want to build longterm relationships. Applying force going to someones superior and attempting to just deal with decision makers does not fit in the current professional environment.
Win/win agreements are more durable
Remember what win/win stands for: it is an attempt for all the parties involved to get a better agreement for all by collaborating to meet each partys interests. If the other party feels like its interests are represented or they made a bad deal they may try to sabotage it or look for your noncompliance. People are far more likely to support something they created.
While win/win is an easy concept to intellectualize it can be difficult to actually implement. It may be up to you to remind everyone involved about the shared reasons you have to participate in the agreement or venture. You may need to help the others achieve their results before ensuring you receive yours. In the end you want an agreement people will support have loyalty around and encourage.
The differences between influence and traditional negotiations
Many professionals have to influence others internally to receive data supporting materials accounting information and implementation help. These internal departments or teams have many people who are requesting the same type of information or support. For example a benefits plan representative may rely on a partner outside the company like a financial advisor or insurance broker to sell the plan to a clients human resources professional. This same benefits plan representative may need marketing materials from the marketing department to support the sales arm and then different information to inform the clients employees once the plan is selected. The representative may need to coordinate the efforts of the IT department and the client companys technology department to ensure the technical requirements are met. There may be a training arm for implementing the plan customer service functions and of course billing to ensure payment. Most likely that benefits representative is under a strict time frame and can only rely on good graces past dealings wit and an ability to influence to get those resources aligned correctly.
Like the benefits representative your success can depend on whether you can influence those people to process your requests first or at a high enough level of quality. You have no power over them and do not want to go around them if possible because you must continue to work with them in the future.
Another common need for influencing is when your company has a partner or partners who are part of your supply chain. Perhaps they are distributors or take your orders or provide your customer support or service the equipment you manufacture. Once again you do not have control over these other organizations performance and they may have competing pulls on their time. However it is imperative that you persuade and partner effectively to do your job. Influencing effectively may be the only way to enhance performance with these partners.
Anytime youre working together to promote each other or need to access shared resources youll see a need to influence. With the amount of people who are outsourcing services to other companies locations and even countries the need to improve persuasion and influencing skills has never been greater.
About the writer: A recognized authority on negotiations workplace issues and persuasive communication Linda Byars Swindling is an author television expert a former employment attorney and a Certified Speaking Professional. As a chair for Vistage International the Worlds Largest CEO Development Organization Linda has more than 2000 hours as a CEO advisor and facilitator. She can be reached at lindalindaswindling.com or 9724163652.
Why Start An Online Membership Site?
People are willing to pay for online content. In fact the “Online Publishers Association” said that payfor content is emerging as a hot revenue model. Business content personals/match making and entertainment are the hottest niches. But even smaller niches like DVD authoring sports coaching marketing services and dieting are producing profits.
You can sell subscriptions for online content with your own membership site? Selling online content by way of a password protected website has become big business. Not only is it fast to set up but the startup and running costs are minimal. Work from home entrepreneurs and big businesses alike are tapping into this newfound revenue source. Less than nine percent of online users currently pay for online content. This means the market is wide open for the savvy entrepreneur. Paying for content in 2004 was more than 5 times what it was in 2005. Thats a whopping 500 growth! Those who capture the market first in their niche will have the obvious advantage and its an international market so anyone can play.
One of the great things about starting a membership site is you can take your hobby specialized knowledge or profession and turn it into a profitable business. Your challenge will be finding exclusive content. You can start it part time but it will likely develop into a full time business. Planning for and setting your site up for autoresponders automated signups credit card processing automated cancellations etc is all part of a successful membership website. Starting and running a membership site can be a lot of fun and very exciting however you need to know whats involved in setting one up and then managing it effectively.
This whole process can seem a bit daunting. However as complex as this seems many companies offer a low cost easytouse software solution. This makes it possible for almost anyone to start and market a membership site at a very low cost.
About the writer: Revolutionary Business System
