Oh, what a joy work would be if only hiring sales representatives was as easy as firing them. No, before you ask, I don’t take some sick pleasure in sacking hard working employees, but I am a perfectionist and I find it increasingly difficult and time-consuming to find good, quality hires. To help you out, I’ve compiled a list of some of the do’s and don’ts I’ve learned along the way.

Do have a clear understanding of the job and the candidate before you begin interviewing.
Being unprepared for an interview reflects poorly on you and on your client. Not knowing the position’s specifics or ignoring the candidate’s resume and background could lose you the best potential hire for the job—and your reputation.

DON’T ask personal questions that are unrelated to the job.
Massachusetts, as well as many other states, have strict laws governing what topics are considered discriminatory and are off limits in an interview. Add in the recent identity theft scandals from Monster.comand others, and you can see why discretion is key.

Do remember that the candidate is the reason you have a job.

Treat every candidate with the utmost respect; they may not be the person who pays your salary or serves as your direct report, but they are a direct connection to your success or failure. The hiring pool is not as deep as you may think, and potential hires talk—make this work to your benefit by being upfront, honest and prepared.

DON’T try to intimidate a candidate into talking about the competition.

This may be the biggest “don’t” I’ve encountered. Do not, under any circumstances, try to make a potential hire discuss other job offers, interviews or recruiting firms. Focus on your client and the job you are interviewing them for—because that’s the only one that matters.

These are just a few of my suggestions for successfully hiring sales representatives. For more tips on what to do, and not do, when interviewing and hiring potential candidates, check out these informative articles, including one that specifically adresses hiring upper level employees:

Recruiting Do’s and Don’ts
Interviewing Do’s and Don’ts
Do’s and Don’ts for Hiring Managers
Hiring Do’s and Don’ts

Eight Key Leadership Strategies

Peter Drucker, called by BusinessWeek "the most enduring management thinker of our time," was asked in a Harvard Business Review article What Makes an Effective Executive?, Drucker said that, as different as effective leaders may be, they all follow eight practices:

1. Focus on opportunities rather than problems
2. Run productive meetings
3. Think "we" rather than "I"
4. Take responsibility for decisions
5. Develop action plans
6. Ask "what needs to be done?"
7. Ask "what is right for the enterprise?"
8. Take responsibility for communicating – listen first

What a great check list to track effectiveness. I would add to execute action plans.

Rate yourself in each category from 1 to 10. See any areas for improvements?

Source: Elaine Gagne, Engaging Change

Follow the Money

Americans can get a better look at their federal tax dollars at work on a new Web site that debuted in January 2008.

Assembled by the White House, the web site, USASpending.gov, lets taxpayers see who gets about $1 trillion in government contracts and grants. It’s searchable by recipient and by congressional district and has a place for users to ‘sound off’ with their comments.

It’s a small but important step toward greater transparency in government, which can only help deter waste and abuse.

Check it out at: www.usaspending.gov

Do You Know and Plan For The 3-R’s for Your Business?

Everyone is familiar with the 3-R’s from school – reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. This was our first introduction to an effective performance model. As proficiency increased in each R, performance was further enhanced. Effective performance models by their very design are a continuum that automatically raises performance to the next level.

Today’s businesses have their own 3-R Performance Model. This model hasn’t really changed since the early of origins of business enterprises. No matter what the latest business guru advocates, good business practices and most importantly the "bottom-line" always appear to return to these basic 3-R’s. For without Relationships, Referrals or Revenue, today’s businesses will not achieve current goals nor grow.

R1 – Relationships:With the Internet providing immediate access to unlimited vendors, products and services, today’s business owners must develop sustainable and loyal relationships. Current customer service research suggests that the cost to attract a new customer or client is 10 times greater than to maintain an existing customer. Relationships lead to the second R – referrals.

R2 – Referrals: Referrals according to recent research account for 84% of all sales. This research supports what our common sense tells us about human nature. We are more likely to believe a close friend and probably a not so close friend over the slick Madison Avenue advertising efforts.

Additionally, only 1 in 26 dissatisfied clients will share their dissatisfaction with the organization, but will be more than happy to share their ‘bad’ experience with others.

Referrals add value to the bottom line by reducing marketing dollars. You can’t ‘pay’ for referrals. Referrals are given free much like a friendly smile or a sincere handshake. R1 and R2 make R3.

R3 – Revenue: Without this final ‘R’ companies would not be in business. Revenue is the ultimate desired end result. When revenue grows, both the company and employees transition beyond surviving and transform into a thriving, high performance, results driven team where everyone shares a laser focus. Successful companies and individuals actively work the 3-R’s everyday regardless of their yearly achievements. Complacency for these individuals is not an acceptable attitude!

If your goal is to reach that next level of success, then maybe the first step is to ask yourself, do you know your 3-R’s? And the second step is to begin to construct a plan to help you improve your 3-R’s.

Source: Leanne Hoagland-Smith. Copyright ©2008 www.processspecliast.com

Tips To Make This Year The Best Ever!

Create a vision for your company A vision statement crystallizes what you want your company to look like in the future. It is a clear image of the end result. (Even though you may never really have an end)

Create a vision for yourself Describe your future the way you would like it to be. Avoid slipping into the negative of what you think your future may really be. Allow yourself to dream big. Now write it down!

Set personal and professional goals Set goals that will take you closer to your vision statements. Start with only 4 or 5 goals for each personal and professional vision statement. Make sure each goal is necessary and sufficient. Also, each goal needs to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, realistically high, and Time bound. And again, write it down!

Have fun I have never heard anyone laying on their death bed saying: "I wish I would have worked more." Take time for yourself, family, and friends. Enjoy life!

Do you need a top-performing sales professional to drive revenue?

If you don’t have time or money to waste searching for a top-quality sales person that drives revenue, Target Consulting can do the sales recruiting for you. You only pay us if you hire a candidate, and we guarantee the candidate for a limited time. Visit our Client Services section.

Call us for a confidential job search

Target Consulting Group Welcomes Diana Sands

Diana brings over ten years of recruiting success in the contract and permanent placement business. Over the last several years while in a corporate environment she has focused on hiring sales and recruiting professionals nationwide. Diana has held numerous staffing roles where she has partnered with a wide variety of clients in the high tech / IT industry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire. Diana will be launching our Texas Branch.

Boston 2008

History, Tradition, Excellence

30th Annual New England Association of Personnel Services Conference

April 17th, 18th & 19th
The Seaport Hotel
Boston, MA

www.neaps.org

The MAPS event with Maureen Sharib March 12th

Maureen Sharib, owner of TechTrak (www.techtrak.com), has been training top notch recruiters how to source the best quality candidates using not much more than a telephone and a note pad. Maureen’s special training series, "the magic in the method", has been nationally acclaimed and is well respected in the staffing industry.

To learn more about Maureen and "the magic in the method" training series, click on the following link: http://www.techtrak.com/

Are you in need of someone to critique your résumé? Or looking for someone to help you make your résumé stand out from all the rest?

Target Consulting Group Hot Jobs

Increase Business with Referrals Increase business by asking for a referral from an existing customer. Referrals are one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to market. Referrals have more impact than any other marketing strategy or advertising campaign because prospective customers rely on the confidence and trust that your existing customers have for you. A satisfied customer is usually glad to help you and can provide a strong testimonial for your company. This can open doors quickly for new customers. Candidate Referral Program Help a Friend and Earn $250 Target Consulting will pay you $250 for each friend that you refer who gets a job through our services. Client Referral Program Refer Target Consulting Group a client and we will donate $500 to a charity of your choice. Are you an HR or sales consultant looking to add value to your client with our service? Call us about our agent program at 888-511-JOBS for details. Call us at 888-511-JOBS for details. http://www.targetconsulting.com

*Your referrals are the greatest compliment you can offer our firm. If you know anyone that would benefit from Target Consulting Group, have them call us directly for a complimentary Strategy Session. Thank you for your generosity.