When hiring a sales professional in the technology arena, there are only two essential criteria for evaluating a sales candidate.

1) Can they sell?

AND

2) Will they sell?

I suggest the following strategies to get the answers you need to hire IT sales talent.

First, use a proven sales assessment tool to evaluate a candidate’s natural behavioral style and match the results to the competencies necessary for sales success in your industry and your sales culture. If a candidate’s profile does not match, do not hire. They probably can’t or won’t change. If the risk is high, walk away.

Next, evaluate their willingness to sell through a comprehensive behavioral based interview process. Sales people sell, and that is exactly what they are doing in an interview. They are selling themselves. Without expertise to dig deep below the surface answers provided by many sales candidates, you will be fooled most of the time.

Smooth talkers do not always equate into great sales people. If you are sensing a smoke screen, move on to other candidates, no matter how “likeable” he or she may be.

Setting realistic sales quotas are important to the success of your sales compensation plan.  But, how do you determine the right quota amount ?

Ask yourself the following questions to formulate quotas that work.  

1) What was the amount of your new account sales in the past 12 months?

2) How many properly qualified opportunities can a salesperson manage at one time?

3) What is the length of the average sales cycle?

4) What is the average close ratio?

5) How much is the average sales transaction?

Once a realistic quota is determined, set stretch goals and a commission plan that rewards your sales team for going the extra mile.

Expect 2010 to be the year of musical chairs as employees begin to jump ship for better employment opportunities.  The aftermath of a recession is employee disengagement.  Unfortunately, your key players won’t tell you they are dissatisfied until they are walking out the door.  As well-performing companies start to cherry pick top talent, it begins a chain of employee turnover events that will affect many companies.

72% of employers restructured or laid off employees since the recession began in 2008.  The effect has been a significant drop in employee commitment and loyalty.  Engagement has dropped 23% among top performers.  And, more than 40% of top performing employees reported that pay and benefit cuts have had an adverse impact on work quality and customer service according to a Watson Wyatt survey.

One simple and cost effective way to keep your employees engaged is to offer professional development training. iLearningGlobal is an example of an excellent web-based training tool that offers employees ideas on marketing, sales, service, and business strategy all in a motivational fashion.  Take proactive steps today to foster improved employee engagement.

Do you know what a “hidden paycheck” is? You are in good company if you don’t. According to a study by George S. May International, less than 50% of business owners are aware of the term.

A “hidden paycheck” are expenses you incur as an employer that don’t show up on your employees’ paystubs. These employment costs (benefits) include:

Health benefits
Sick, personal and vacations days
Workers compensation
Social Security and Medicare
Educational reimbursements
Disability insurance

Paul Rauseo, George S. May’s managing director says, ” It is hard for employees to value what they don’t fully know or understand.”

Consider providing your employees with an annual detail statement of all expenses relating to their employment. Once they see the real costs of employment, they may have a better appreciation for the commitment you have made to them.

What would a hidden paycheck reveal in your company?

At what point does a start-up or a small business need HR?  In my experience many small businesses feel comfortable as long as their payroll company is handling payroll reporting properly.  Yet, as the business grows, the need for standardization in managing people develops.   Policies on vacation, sick time, harassment, dress attire and much more begin to surface.

I’ve heard clients use the term “HR Lite” to express their internal HR structure.  Basically, they don’t want rules to stifle their growth culture.  Plus, by nature, true entrepreneurs avoid rules and regulations.

What HR issues do you face as a small business that concern you?  If you were to build an “HR Lite” package of services for your business, what essential services would you need most?

Hiring top talent does not just happen miraculously.  It requires a diligent effort to first define job performance expectations and then to source candidates based on this criteria.

The following 4 steps will increase the odds that you will be successful in hiring above-average performers:

1) Identify what characterizes a high performer.  Is it quantity of output, amount of time spent, number of defects created, or is it the amount of revenue their group has generated?   Identify the benchmarks that will you measure top performance.

2) Once you have agreed on the quantitative measures, identify current employees who are top quarter performers. Spend time with them and develop profiles for each of the high-performers.  Try to find out two things: what one or two characteristics distinguish them from poorer performers and what, if anything, do they have in common with each other.

3) Find out where these high performers are located. This is necessary so that you can target your sourcing and advertising toward them.  One of the most useful ways to collect information is to ask incoming new hires for referrals and for general information.

4) Find out what will entice these potential high performers to your organization. Through discussions with the high performers you currently have, it should be possible to put together attractive recruiting messages. By focusing on what attracts high-performers, you will also discourage those who are not so good.

Source: http://www.ere.net/2006/04/26/what-is-talent-and-how-do-we-measure-it/

In defiance of common thought, the level of skills required for a given position does not define “A” from “B” players. Entry-level does necessarily mean “B” player. Lack of a business degree does not necessarily mean “B” player. Lack of specific industry experience does not necessarily mean “B” player. Define positions based on what works now for the business and use this as the basis of “A” performance. Small businesses may not be able to afford top talent, but that is only if your definition of top talent is not accurate for their business. Refine top talent by identifying top performance expectations based on the parameters that the business owner establishes.

In 2009, we witnessed a year of mass layoffs.  In 2010, be prepared for another wave.  Yet, this wave will be different.  This wave will be voluntary . . . a mass exodus of employees who have lost faith in their employer.

A recent survey of American workers conducted by Harris Interactive revealed:

• 77% are not satisfied with the strategy and vision of the company and its leadership.
• 48% of workers are not satisfied with the relationship they have with their boss.
• 66% of American workers are not satisfied with their compensation.
• 76% are not satisified about future career growth opportunities at their company.

What workers are telling us is that even during a recession, just having a job does not equate to job satisfaction.

These survey findings suggest that companies seeking to retain their employees when the recovery begins should start by addressing three key areas of dissatisfaction:

1. Compensation
2. Career growth paths
3. Retention efforts.

Better to love your employees now, or be prepared to watch your top talent leave in 2010. 

I often hear from business owners that they don’t have “time” to get a new employee up to speed.  Excuse?  Not at all.  The reality is that business owners are extremely busy. 

Based on staggering statistics that 22% of staff turnover occurs in the first forty-five days of employment, it makes perfect sense to delay a hire if you don’t have the time to onboard an employee properly. 

Yet, most companies continue to hire new employees without providing effective training or mentoring.  New employees are often told they need to hit the pavement running.  Why?  Because the owner or hiring manager doesn’t have time to work with the new employee to get them up to speed.  

Have you ever heard the quote by John Wooden, “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”    

Here are 3 things you must do if you want to hire people who can “think!”

1) Accept different ways of doing things.
2) Trust others to get things done.
3) Get out of your own way.

Last week I consulted with a client who is hiring her first professional manager. Currently most of her employees are “Task Masters.” Tell them what to do and they will do it, and do it well.

But, what if you don’t know what you want them to do? What if you don’t have the expertise to direct someone in a specific functionality, such as IT, accounting, marketing, or perhaps even sales? What if you know what to do, but you don’t have the time to drive the initiative.

At some point, business owners need more bandwidth. They need employees who can think and act like they do. Yet, your talented team probably won’t do things exactly how you might do it. But, if you get to the same end result, does it really matter if they do it a bit differently?

Letting go of doing it “your way” is the tough. Letting go of “control” is even tougher? Letting go of your “ego” . . . you know, the one that feeds off being the “smart one” in your organization . . . well, good luck on that one.