Directory Submission – Automated v/s Manual submissions

Directory submission service is a specialized service and not a simple data entry job as most people think.

Keywords:
Search Engine Optimization,seo,directory submission

Directory submission service is a specialized service and not a simple data entry job as most people think. Directory submission requires precision knowledge of SEO and the skill level comes into play when a limited space is available for submission. Most unskilled or non-seo submitters tend to crop the latter part of the description if its too long without knowing that most times it hurts the campaign and the entire purpose of directory submission is lost by that very SIMPLE looking crop.

A skilled Directory submission service provider will always have 2 sets of the description and anchor ready before he starts submission. This factor is entirely lost while doing an Automated submission. Exactly why one should never try using an Automatic Submission. I believe that manual submissions done precisely taking care of the best available category. The match-making process is best done with the HUMAN factor.

There are very few directories that allow Automated submission and most have a verification code entry to prevent such process. The Automatic softwares miss out on these directories which comprise of a majority of the total web directories.

Also noticeable is that directory submission looses its purpose if submitted to the wrong category – either it is rejected by the moderator or if listed, does not help with the Search Phrase. A wrongly listed website will not pull its weight with the Keyword linked to it. Rather it’s a wasted effort.

If you need to know more about Directory Submission Services – kindly contact the author’s website.

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Make Your Business Effortlessly

How file-hosting can help making your business.

Keywords:
File hosting, file sharing

“Free Your Time”

Of course, information rules the world. Modern man deals with e-information. But many inconveniences are waiting for him. If one wants to work with business papers at home, it’s necessary to copy all the files on flash drives or CD beforehand. But copying can be too annoying if the number of files and essential applications is enormous.
And if your business requires sharing files with customers, employees, partners, or consultants it’s even more difficult. If you need to gather input from several people on the same document then file hosting is irreplaceable. If you have employees who travel, work in branch offices, or work from home, only file hosting can provide easy access to all the necessary data and files.
By the way, even businessmen have spare time occasionally. And everyone wants to have his or her favorite songs, movies and home video on hands, but not to drag it all over the place. With file hosting there is no need to use snail-mail, or cut big files in parts in order to attach it to e-mail.

“How does it work?”

There are many file hosting servers on the Net. And you can choose one by yourself. We’ll mention one of them – OxyShare.com. The founders of this site say that they wanted to create a server that would be as close as possible to business requirements. Practical persons don’t need to waste their time on registering or watching annoying commercials. A plain design disposes one to working. The only thing, which is optional – is to choose a file and click upload. After that you obtain the link for this file and can host it or share it. More importantly, the OxyServer uses a foolproof method of data hosting and guarantees that all data and files will be preserved.
All files that you upload to OxyServer are accessible 24/7 from any Internet-connected hardware. So if you are tired of delivery failures because your E-mail attachment is too large, or of maddeningly slow E-mail downloads, then file hosting is your choice.

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Self Monitoring Systems Are Good For Recognition

Performance Management is coming under critical fire because the complexity of some of the processes is beginning to over-ride the fundamental principles. However, as Hogan Armstrong knows, elements of Performance Management work well for both employees and managers. Hogan is an IT Service Engineer for a large multinational organization. He spends the majority of his working life away from his home office but his Self-Monitoring System lets both him and his manager know how h…

Keywords:
employee, recognition, employee recognition, motivation, employee motivation, rewards, staff rewards

Performance Management is coming under critical fire because the complexity of some of the processes is beginning to over-ride the fundamental principles. However, as Hogan Armstrong knows, elements of Performance Management work well for both employees and managers. Hogan is an IT Service Engineer for a large multinational organization. He spends the majority of his working life away from his home office but his Self-Monitoring System lets both him and his manager know how he is performing.

Any personal objective important enough to be included in a performance plan should be measurable in one way or another. One of Hogan’s principal objectives is:

“To follow up each service call after two working days to check system functionality and customer satisfaction. Where problems are revealed, I will take responsibility for immediately reporting the fault and initiating a remedy within 24 hours.”

This can be tracked objectively and simply. Hogan keeps a register of service calls, customer follow-up calls and Emails on the network that he can refer to and update. His manager also has access to the file at any time. Although some organizations have sophisticated Customer Relations Databases that contain this information and even flag up calls to be made each day, a simple paper system or spreadsheet can work just as effectively.

The main guideline here is that these objectives are agreed and so your team-members ought to be motivated to monitor their own progress throughout the year. If objectives are important, which they should be, there ought to be a Self-Monitoring System for each objective that makes up-to-date information easily available to whoever needs it in the organization.

In companies where Performance Management is well established, individuals and teams take great pride in displaying their Self-Monitoring Systems. To them it is a form of publicity. “If we are good at what we do, then everyone should know and there is more chance of us being recognized as key contributors to the organizational goals.”

In one clothing manufacturer’s buying department, they were suffering from greater than average sickness absence. The manager knew this but the buying team was not aware that it was a problem. Now, because the manager recognized that sickness absence and managing the workload around this was his responsibility, he undertook to display a measure of “lost days” for his department. The chart simply had an anonymous line graph showing the number of days per week lost to sickness. Two weeks after displaying the chart, keeping it updated and not doing much else, the lost days in his department reduced to zero and stayed pretty much that way.

This manager was originally very skeptical about Performance Management. After this experience he said “Surely if you pay attention to anything, it gets better”. Absolutely right! And by displaying the “Lost Days” chart he was broadcasting to his team that sickness absence was a key issue for him as a manager. Without talking to him about it, they changed their behavior and helped him to meet his objectives.

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History of Infomercials

It all began in the 1980’s. Ronald Regan was president and one of the many controversial things he did in that office was to deregulate the TV industry. Why did he do it? Well, as a conservative Republican he lived and breathed by the “free market rule,” which stated that the government didn’t belong in business, and businesses should live and die by the success or failure of their own practices and market forces.

Keywords:
Infomercials, Infomercials History, Infomercials and Direct Response, Exercise Infomercials

It all began in the 1980’s. Ronald Regan was president and one of the many controversial things he did in that office was to deregulate the TV industry. Why did he do it? Well, as a conservative Republican he lived and breathed by the “free market rule,” which stated that the government didn’t belong in business, and businesses should live and die by the success or failure of their own practices and market forces.

At the same time, cable TV was just starting its expansion into the American television marketplace, and that opened up a huge broadcast venue which simply didn’t exist beforehand. Anybody with any experience in the broadcast industry was starting his own channel and pretty soon cable channels were commonplace. The most successful channels at the time were religious based channels which were basically used for fundraising purposes. There were literally hundreds of them, from local, small time reverends and ministers with dubious backgrounds, to nationally broadcast spiritual and religious shows, utilizing well-known religious figures.

At this point, two things happened. For one, many of the young, fledgling channels and networks who counted on ad revenue to keep themselves afloat attracted less than stellar ratings and starting going under. And at the same time, the religious channels started to realize that their fundraising efforts were failing miserably in the late evening and wee hours of the morning.

Cheap broadcast space was born! And enterprising businessmen, more like vultures than saviors, swooped down and began to chew on the dying carcasses of the young cable industry, buying up blocks of cheap, late night, off peak broadcast time and running 30 minute or 60 minute, inexpensively produced commercials refashioned as entertainment programs.

Pretty soon there were infomercial superstars. Celebrities, as well as a cast of unknowns, found fame and fortune in the newly created infomercial industry. There was Jane Fonda who captured lightening in a bottle with her exercise tapes simultaneously boosting the video business along with the infomercial business. There was Ron Popeil, who marketed every gadget and device people didn’t even know they needed and made the switch from printed contact to electronic contact so successfully he’s still doing it today. And there was Kenny Kingston who made the Psychic Hotline into one of the largest businesses in the world without even having anything to sell! Only in America and only in infomercials could such overwhelming success happen so quickly.

Soon, everybody with an idea was trying to come up with the next big thing. As is always the case with any new industry, immediately following the initial success there comes a huge wave of imitators and innovators trying to cash in. And as always happens – most fail. There was such a huge crush of wannabes flooding into the business that production rates skyrocketed and broadcast time became more and more expensive and less and less available. Almost overnight, the infomercial industry went from nothing to today’s enviable haul of billions of dollars annually. And that’s just in America. Successful infomercials, like Hollywood movies are translated into foreign languages and played all around the globe especially when they are celebrity driven.

The newly created infomercial industry was the precursor to the Home Shopping Network and QVC which are essentially 24 hour mini infomercials, product driven, price driven and celebrity driven. And now we have The Infomercial Channel – 24 hours a day of infomercials. Gone are the days of loud mouthed hucksters, snake oil salesmen yelling into the camera, hawking the latest “it slices! it dices!” home improvement device. Today, infomercials are slick, expensive and if they work, highly profitable.

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Getting Results With Viral Marketing

Are you looking to find out how so many big companies are so successful? It’s a mystery to many people, but making your business what you want it to be might rely on this.

In order to remain successful on the internet, creativity is necessary. Since so much competition is going on, you should be on the cutting edge of attracting traffic to your site. Even if you’ve got an awesome product or a great web site, people won’t even know you exist if they can’t find your site. Th…

Keywords:
viral marketing,viral trafficking,viral,marketing viral,internet marketing,marketing

Are you looking to find out how so many big companies are so successful? It’s a mystery to many people, but making your business what you want it to be might rely on this.

In order to remain successful on the internet, creativity is necessary. Since so much competition is going on, you should be on the cutting edge of attracting traffic to your site. Even if you’ve got an awesome product or a great web site, people won’t even know you exist if they can’t find your site. Thus you won’t make lots of profit. Your work could go to waste.

There are hundreds of techniques used in e-marketing. One of these is called Viral Marketing. Viral might sound unpleasant, but you can imagine the virus in this case to be your product. It spreads like a virus… fairly soon, everyone has heard of it or experienced it.

Viral advertising raises the general population’s awareness of your company. Companies rely on the theory that if people find the web site pleasurable enough, they will pass it on for their friends and family to see. The consumer promotes the site for you, and it is completely free. All it takes is a cool game, a funny video, story, etc… Any point at which your product is mentioned can be considered good publicity.

Viral trafficking has become a widely accepted form of advertising because of how cheap it is. Instead of being spam mail, it relies on the individuals to send the product on themselves. If you receive an email from someone you know, you’re not likely do delete it. Some companies offer incentives for passing on the viral marketing message. It’s a small price to pay for having it sent to thousands of people.

The biggest perk perhaps to viral marketing is the amount of familiarity your site receives. You begin to see lots of traffic that are all potential customers. With a bit of creativity, you can reach a huge number of people and let them know your site exists.

Many sites are getting beginning to see the effectiveness of viral trafficking. You can’t afford not to use it. If you use it alongside SEO techniques, your web site could be unstoppable! Once you generate a buzz or hype about your site, many people will visit just out of curiosity.

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Work and Preparation Equal Success and Confidence

You have decided to start your own business on the internet. The first question is what do I do? What kind of service do I offer or what product do I sell.

What field are you knowledgable in? What do you have to offer others? Am I qualified to help others?

Most everyone has the knowledge and ability to help others. The problem is that most do not have the confidence to share that knowledge. We question ourselves and the abilities that we possess.

Keywords:
marketing,internet,internet marketing,work online,online success,marketing success,internet marketing success,online business,ezine,ezines

You have decided to start your own business on the internet. The first question is what do I do? What kind of service do I offer or what product do I sell.

What field are you knowledgable in? What do you have to offer others? Am I qualified to help others?

Most everyone has the knowledge and ability to help others. The problem is that most do not have the confidence to share that knowledge. We question ourselves and the abilities that we possess.

Years ago when I was in the United States military, I learned some valuable lessons about people. The majority of people are content to follow. There is nothing wrong with this and the world needs followers as well as leaders.

The world also needs leaders and the confidence that goes with that role. To be a successful leader, you must have the confidence in your own abilities. And to be successful in the marketing world, you must be a leader.

You must have the confidence that you can help others and have the ability to convey that confidence to them. You must possess the knowledge to allow you to portray this confidence to your clients as well.

If you cannot convey this confidence to your potential customers, you will have a very difficult time being successful in any type business. People come to you for help, you must project a sense of confidence or you have little chance of attaining that success.

A few years back when I was in the advertising business, a client told me one day that I seemed so confident that the ad campaign I has just written would be a rousing success. He asked me how I could be so confident when we had yet to even test the campaign?

My answer to him applies to almost any task or any field. I told him that I was confident because I had spent many hours studying the market that we were targeting. I had also spent many hours looking at other ads, both successful and unsuccesful. I had then spent a lot of time putting together the campaign and when I finished, I went back and spent even more time ensuring that everything was just right.

The key here was preparation. I was totally prepared and felt like I had exhausted every possible means to ensure that the ad campaign was the best that it could possibly be. How could I not be confident.

It reminds me of school. When I spent the time studying, I always felt confident when test day arrived. The times that I did not spend the time studying, the confidence was just not there, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself.

Back in those days, confidence seemed to come because you were driving the fanciest car on campus and everyone looked up to you. Or you were the captain of the football team or the head cheerleader. At that point in life, most looked up to you for the wrong reasons. Well, I am here to tell you that those things mean nothing in the today’s world.

You have the ability to start your own business and turn it into a successful venture. What does it take? You are going to have to have the confidence to pass along to others. How do you acquire this confidence? Well, it does not come because you are good looking, popular or inherited a million dollars. It comes from work and preparation.

Do you have the ability to make it happen? Of course you do. The question is, are you willing to put forth the time and effort that it takes. Success and Confidence take work and preparation.

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For Homebuyers, Pictures Tell a Thousand Words

This article describes digital photography techniques for taking pictures of home interiors and distributing the photos to real estate clients using email and web sites.

Keywords:
real estate, photos, photography, interior, marketing

Homebuyers are using the Internet as their primary means to search for homes. How have real estate agents responded? By providing low quality photography of the houses they are selling. Wrong! Realtors still don’t seem to understand that marketing a home properly always includes first rate photography. High quality digital photography should be a major component of every real estate agent’s marketing efforts. An agent’s goal in photo marketing is to provide a quality collection of photos showing home exteriors and interiors for both buyers and sellers. These photos are used for listing presentations, flyers, emails, multiple listing services and agent web sites.

There are many excellent cameras on the market. It’s important to choose one that takes quality photos in almost any kind of interior lighting. Visit a quality photography store and talk with a knowledgeable salesperson. At a minimum, the camera must take wide-angle photos and work with an external flash or “slave flash.” Another useful accessory is an easily adjusted tripod.

Once you have purchased your camera, here are a few simple tips to get you started:

• Wide-angle, wide-angle, wide-angle. Use a wide-angle lens. For most interiors, you’ll want to take in the largest possible area of the room.

• Decide what part of the room is most interesting from a visual standpoint and make that your focus. You want to photograph the most appealing areas of the room and compose your photo so that these key areas are emphasized in your photograph.

• Eliminate excessive clutter. A famous photographer observed that photography is “ten percent creativity and ninety percent moving furniture.”

• Keep vertical lines vertical. It confuses your viewer when vertical lines are tilted. Also try to keep horizontal lines parallel to the top and bottom of the frame. Finally, keep your camera level and don’t tilt it up or down.
The main problem in indoor photography is lighting. The built-in flash of the digital cameras simply isn’t bright enough light up an entire room. However, there is an easy solution called a “slave flash.” A slave flash has an electric eye that senses when your built-in flash fires, and then the slave flash fires at the same time. These flash units are usually battery powered, and run from about $75 up depending on the brightness and features. You can find them at your local camera store, or do a search on the Web for “slave flash” and “digital camera.”

Another potential problem is the red-eye reduction feature. You’ll either need to turn this feature off or purchase a flash unit that can work with it. Some of the slave flash units are designed specifically to work with cameras having red-eye reduction and will fire at the right time, but it’s usually easier to turn the feature off on the camera.

There are a number of other things that you can do to improve the lighting of your indoor photography. Turn on all of the lights in the room. A low cost solution that you may want to consider is buying one or two clamp-on flood light units from a home improvement store and bouncing their light off the ceiling in darker rooms. Be sure to open all curtains to allow as much natural lighting as possible, but try to avoid shooting directly into a window where glare may overexpose your photograph.

After you have taken your photos, a mistake often made by agents is sending photos to clients via email that, in terms of file size, are much larger than need be. Your client is not going to be happy if they use a modem to connect to the internet and you send them twenty megabytes of photos!

There is an easy solution to this problem. Microsoft has a free program named Image Resizer that is included in PowerToys for Windows XP. Image Resizer enables you to resize one or many image files with a right-click and reduce the file size to one tenth its original size and still provide an excellent image. You may download this program by going to the Microsoft download web site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Rather than send photos directly to clients, you may also choose a photo sharing service like Shutterfy.com to create an online album. To share photos, go to Shutterfly and open an account. The various screens will guide you through uploading your pictures to its web site. Then you can send an email to your client with a link to the online Shutterfly album.

If you follow these simple suggestions, you’ll be amazed at how much improvement you’ll see in your interior photos. A well-taken picture is worth a thousand words.

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Top Five Most Used Pop-Up Displays For Trade Show Exhibiting

When it comes to portable trade show displays the most common type on the market today is the pop-up, expandable-frame style; surprisingly it has been around for over 15 years. The first models had a flexible fiberglass frame with aluminum channels bars and rollable fabric that was attached to the framework with magnets. Over the years the basic design has not changed but the materials, sizes and weights have made pop-up displays less expensive and easier to transport to trad…

Keywords:
trade,show,display,exhibit,booth,tradeshow,advertise,advertising,marketing,presentation,pop-up,

When it comes to portable trade show displays the most common type on the market today is the pop-up, expandable-frame style; surprisingly it has been around for over 15 years. The first models had a flexible fiberglass frame with aluminum channels bars and rollable fabric that was attached to the framework with magnets. Over the years the basic design has not changed but the materials, sizes and weights have made pop-up displays less expensive and easier to transport to trade shows than ever before.

Today’s frames expand to larger sizes allowing a full 10-foot wide exhibit to be transported in a relatively small case. Most 10-foot pop-up displays weigh less than 90 pounds in their case; this typically includes the fabric, lights and vertical bars. Pop-ups come in a variety of sizes with a number of different options to give consumers greater flexibility when planning for their trade show booths. Within the industry there are 5 common types:

1. Standard Pop-up Displays
2. Photo Mural Pop-up Displays
3. Fabric Mural Pop-up Displays
4. Commercial Pop-up Displays
5. 3-D Style Pop-up Displays

1. Standard Pop-up Displays – The most common pop-up available, Standard Pop-ups are generally a 10-foot wide, curved design. They are made up of a light-weight aluminum frame, individual aluminum, PVC or steel channel bars, Velcro fabric panels (Frontrunner or Prelude), and a thermo molded shipping case with wheels. The case can usually be converted into a podium and most pop-up packages also include two 200-watt halogen lights. The price range for the Standard 10-foot, Curved Pop-up runs $995-$2995 depending on the vendor.

2. Photo Mural Pop-up Displays – This display is just like a Standard Popup but has photo mural panels instead of Velcro fabric panels. Photo murals have a greater appeal as they have powerful large-format graphics that attract attention. Photo Mural Pop-ups are more expensive because of the photo panels, but still are just as lightweight and portable as Standard Pop-ups. Be aware, there are many types of panel printing offered for this type of pop-up which will change the price dramatically, from the most expensive DURST LAMBDA to inexpensive ink-jet processes. Prices run from $2195-$5995 depending on the vendor and the print process selected.

3. Fabric Mural Pop-up Displays – A Fabric Mural Pop-up display offers the large images of a Photo Mural Pop-up without the cumbersome set up procedure. The fabric mural is pre-attached to the frame, making set-up much easier than the Standard or Photo Mural Pop-up and they weigh less than half of what a Standard 10-foot Pop-up weighs. The fabric usually gets wrinkled during transport but this can be remedied by stretching and steaming. This pop-up comes curved or non-curved and can be transported in a lightweight nylon bag or a hard shipping case. The print process needed for Fabric Mural Pop-ups is important as they are generally viewed as a lower quality graphic than what is found on Standard Pop-ups but this is not always the case depending on the vendor. Prices for these pre-attached models with fabric faces run $1695-$4995, depending on the vendor and print process chosen.

4. Commercial Pop-up Displays – Less common because they are more expensive, Commercial Pop-ups come in different shapes–straight or curved–and in many widths. This display is built to be sturdier and can take far more abuse than the standard pop-up making it a good choice for companies that travel and exhibit often. There are only a few brands that may be labeled “commercial” as the tendency in the marketplace has been to make pop-up exhibits lighter and less expensive to own. Commercial pop-up displays typically include a heavy weight frame with nylon connectors, folding steel channel bars, Velcro panels (Frontrunner or Prelude), and the choice of 1 or 2 thermo molded shipping cases with wheels. Prices generally run $1795-$3495 depending on the vendor.

5. 3-D Style Pop-up Displays – These are the newest entries to the pop-up market; essentially, they are the fabric style, pre-attached, graphic pop-up with a twist. 3-D Pop-ups come in different shapes, from square to round and even trapezoidal, and have graphics attached to the framework to give a three dimensional effect. Because the graphics are already on the frame, set up of a 3-D Pop-up is simple and quick. The graphics are also easily removable and replaceable making updating the display less costly than creating a new display. 3-D pop-up display prices run $995-$8995 depending on the shape, numbers of graphics and print process used.

As you can see, there are a lot of choices and many things to consider when selecting a pop-up display system. What is most important to keep in mind is how often you will be using the display. This will help you decide how durable you need the pop-up display to be, how easy it should be to set up and how lightweight it should be for transporting from trade show to trade show.

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How Can Press Release Increase Web Traffic?

Publicity is indispensable to run a business, whether your business is located at the market center or on Internet. When a business has little or even no budget to promote, “Press Release” is the most advantageous method to promote business.

Keywords:
Search Engine Optimization,basic SEO tips, finding search engine companies, improving search ranking

Publicity is indispensable to run a business, whether your business is located at the market center or on Internet. When a business has little or even no budget to promote, “Press Release” is the most advantageous method to promote business.

Writing press release has become a prominent way to drive targeted web site traffic. In fact, if you are not writing press release you are missing the best way to boost targeted web site traffic to your website.

Online press release provides considerable platform to reach massive online community. A well-prepared press release would attract journalists and is also well optimized for distribution to targeted audience.

The following are the three effective ways to increase targeted web site traffic via well-drafted optimized press release.

• Press Releases can create hundreds of back links to your website. Via publishing press release to many news wire services on the Internet, will get links from high-ranking web sites, as these sites tend to be highly ranked sites. Additionally, press releases will be picked up by other sites too that have the similar content which creates even more links pointing to your site.

• Generating the links around the web towards the website increases its page-rank automatically. Since the page rank goes up the higher site will be ranked in the search engines. As a result, more traffic will be driven to the website from the search engines.

• Regular press releases distribution about the website will emboss a brand name at the forefront in minds of the people. Keeping a business in front of the public is one of the best ways to promote business and press release is a great way to do so. The more often the website appears on the net the more it perceived as an expert in its niche.

How to draft excellent press release:

Beginning should be solid: Remember to make your title and initial lines cover, what you want to express. The remaining part of your press release should depict the detailed information.

Use product name repetitively: Repeat placements of the name of your service or product to make it eminent. For example write “Search Engine Optimization” instead of writing “SEO” this would make your product name much popular.

Draft it for Journalists/Media agencies: The media agencies and journalists would grab your press release and publish it in their publications; they may slightly edit your press release.

Consider viewer’s way: You should consider to whom you are targeting your press release, and what is their interest. Think, if you were a part of audience, would you like to read the press release you have written.

Make your press release appear practical: Point out real facts of your company/organization, as readers are already so scholar enough to find out ‘what’s true and what not’?

Make your story that includes real facts: Avoid untrue examples and add-ons. If you find the content using much-added extras, make it natural and real. Your press release should be in active voice, not passive. Verbs in the active voice make your press release live.

Use only sufficient words: Avoid using superfluous adjectives, extravagant language, or unnecessary expressions like “The most powerful”. Tell your story with lesser words, as verbosity distracts from your content.

Avoid usage of terminology: However, a limited use of terminology would be allowed if required, if you aim to optimize news release for Internet search engines. The finest technique to communicate your press release is to speak neatly, using regular language.

Keep away from too many exclamations: Too much usage of exclamation point (!) may harm your press release. But, if you have to use an exclamation point, use only one.

Get company permission: Companies are very self-protective about their recognition and credibility. So, get written permission before putting in any information or quotes about the company.

Company Information: The press release should include a short description of company, which depicts your company, products, service and a brief history of company.

Now you have find press releases as one of the best ways to boost targeted website traffic, consider using press releases as another tool in your marketing toolbox.

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Selecting Salespeople From Outside Your Industry

There is an old saying in the computer world that dates back to the days of mainframes and terminals. These early computers cost tens of thousands of dollars and there were a handful of competitors in that market space. The dominant player was IBM who was often the highest priced option even though the competitive solutions were fairly similar. IBM’s market-leading position created a security blanket for buyers that developed into a common phrase – “Nobody was ever fired for …

Keywords:
sales recruiting,hiring,sales hiring,salespeople,recruiting,assessment,Select Metrix

There is an old saying in the computer world that dates back to the days of mainframes and terminals. These early computers cost tens of thousands of dollars and there were a handful of competitors in that market space. The dominant player was IBM who was often the highest priced option even though the competitive solutions were fairly similar. IBM’s market-leading position created a security blanket for buyers that developed into a common phrase – “Nobody was ever fired for choosing IBM.”

Unfortunately, this conventional wisdom permeates sales hiring today. “Nobody is ever fired for hiring salespeople from within their industry.” Sales is one of, if not the toughest positions within a company to successfully fill. Many companies struggle even with internal sales candidates. What hurdles do salespeople present to hiring?

First, consider hiring for a different position, say a computer programmer. The first hard skill assessment is how well the candidate knows the programming language. The programming language is the same (.net, java, C, etc.) no matter which company employs the programmer. The expertise of their skill set can be determined through a comprehensive interview. Usually a skilled programmer will still be considered even if they do not possess direct industry experience in the hiring company’s market. Their computer programming skills are transferable.

Successful salespeople have a blend of hard and soft skills that are difficult to define and even tougher to measure. Companies often incorporate “self-starter,” “motivated,” “team player” and other buzzwords into their employment ads without clearly defining what traits are most important to the position. Many times these traits are merely window dressing as the company naturally gravitates to candidates with direct industry experience. The assumption is that the candidate knows how to sell in our market so they will be easier to manage.

This is a flawed approach. No matter how intricate your market or complex your product or service, teaching someone how to sell is far more difficult. Companies hire salespeople to sell. The company’s focus should be on finding specific sales talents.

-SALES PROCESS-
The method by which a salesperson maneuvers a prospect into a customer is essentially their skills of the selling trade. This process is far more important than their industry experience. Experience simply shows you where they have hung their hat over time. Sales process is the far better predictor of how they will perform for your company.

Some process-oriented topics to pursue with sales candidates:

-Have them walk you through their standard sales process.
-What does a good prospect look like in their current role?
-At what point do they attempt to close a prospect?
-How long is one sales cycle? What do they do to try and shorten that cycle?

Strong sales candidates are able to explain how they acquire new leads, how they qualify them and how they close them. This process should be wrapped around their company’s value proposition. Pay close attention to theoretical answers as opposed to experiential answers. Theories are for science. Real-world skills are for sales. As long as the hiring company has clearly defined their sale, they are able to ascertain if the candidate’s skills are transferable to their sale. This information is far more valuable than assuming sales skills based on past industry experience.

-QUALIFYING-
If overall sales process is the first piece of the puzzle, qualifying ability is second. Successful selling pivots on the salesperson’s ability to qualify opportunities and discover the prospect’s potential. Obviously there are other important aspects, but none supersede the skill of efficiently determining a prospect’s need, budget, timing, decision process and alternatives.

The key here is to look for similarities between your typical sale and the candidate’s abilities. Topics to address:

-What is their current company’s value proposition and how do they put it in play?
-What is the typical buying process for their prospects? How do they navigate through that process?
-What are the 3 most common objections they have to overcome? How do they respond to them?
-How many competitors do they have to beat to get the deal? Who is their toughest competitor and what adjustments do they personally make to beat them?

Focusing on qualifying topics like these provides a fairly detailed picture of their qualifying abilities. A sales candidate with strong, transferable skills will clearly stand out. At this point, we would recommend assessing the strongest candidates to objectively measure their qualifying skills and aptitudes including empathy, self confidence, problem solving and listening ability. The sum of this data would identify candidates who have the potential to exceed expectations at your company.

-UTILITARIAN MOTIVATION-
86% of the top-performing salespeople in any market, industry or geography share a common motivation – a desire to receive a return on their investment of resources (money, time, effort, etc.). These salespeople are driven to utilize resources to accomplish results while gaining a measurable return on that investment of resources.

Successful selling requires people who can efficiently determine which prospects will provide the greatest return proportionate to the effort. This utilitarian drive is ideal in selling. A strong salesperson is constantly sorting the puzzle pieces of information they have gathered during the selling process and seeking out the remaining pieces to either close the deal or find a new prospect.

Hiring salespeople who do not have the utilitarian motivation is high risk to say the least. Other motivations include a desire to help people, become an expert, be in a position of power or establish rules for others to follow. All of these motivations have a noble purpose, but they are not the primary motivation behind the vast majority of successful salespeople.

Sales process, qualifying ability and a utilitarian motivation are 3 fundamental aspects for which to screen salespeople from outside of your industry. The finer points can be assessed for overall fit once these 3 areas are identified. Candidates from outside your industry bring different ideas and approaches while not being constrained by stereotypical sales approaches that can permeate a specific industry.

Clearly the ideal candidate has strong sales abilities and direct industry experience. Yet, too often companies become intoxicated with a marginal, but industry experienced, sales candidate in spite of their deficiencies. There is a liability to hiring only from your industry. Instead, hire for talent first and avoid the experience-only trap that leads to recycling mediocrity.

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