Teaching an old Lion how to jump through hoops!

Part of my role with the Construction News and Report Group of Companies is recruiting new sales staff for covering our many different regions. The process of screening is different then what I had experienced anywhere before, but it is something that I myself completed when I was originally hired back in 2007.

The process which I can not divulge in complete details is set up to allow people to demonstrate their true knowledge of what we do and produce measurable results. The purpose is to weed out the candidates that are great fictional writers with resumes and find a truly great sales person.

I am finding that candidates under the age of 40 are happy to take up the challenge and demonstrate their skills. The other side of the coin is I am finding sales professionals over 40 take offence to our process and have heard the term "Jumping through hoops!" used several times.

How do I encourage these potentially great employees to play the game and take a leap of faith and do what they may think is below them? Most could probably pull out a Rolodex of business cards and demonstrate their ability to sell rather quickly, however like a fine wine they expect to be appreciated based on the vintage of their grapes or really in this case their experience.

The publisher and the owner of the company always asks the same question when these great candidates come along, "Why are they no longer there?" I am guessing in most cases performance slipped either based on the changes to environment or industry where they came from or more likely you can remove a higher ranking individual and with the savings in salary hire two people to replace them.

I posted the question to my publisher today about how we could handle these candidates differently. I proposed he take them on and coax them to demonstrate their skills. I think their may be an opportunity for establishing rapport better based on the amount of grey hairs on their heads as well as overall career experience.

How does your firm/company handle the hiring process when dealing with an older candidate?

Good times at the BCA BBQ

This past Friday I got to cook up 100 or so steaks at the Annual Barrie Construction Association (BCA) Members Day BBQ. In the small print when you become the newest (and youngest) director you have to do the cooking. Can't wait to do some hazing of the new directors in 2011, lol.

Of all the work I did last week the 3 hours of running the grill at the BCA I actually accomplished the most. I had the opportunity to talk with Anita Stacey the President of the Barrie Construction Association about doing a profile on her for our February issue looking at Women in Construction. Soon afterwards Tara Christensen the President of the Niagara Construction Association stopped in to introduce one of there reps in the area. I also had the chance to talk with her about a profile as well.

I als had the opportunity to speak with another customer while there to set up a new 12 month advertising contract for our GTA Construction Report. A lot accomplished in 3 hours, but nothing that was high pressure. Just in normal conversation the seeds I had planted in an earlier email or phone call naturally came up to discuss. In this age whee virtual seems to have replaced the majority of travel I would have had to ade 10 years a go, in person meetings now seem more effective especially in a setting at a Construction Association where everyone is a member.

Do you say "Thank you" enough?

Do we say "Thanks" enough any more?

One of the first things I started doing many years ago when dealing with clients was always to send a little "Thank you" card to all my clients via snail mail. I started this when I was 10 years old as a newspaper carrier and continue to do it today.

Oddly enough the past few months I have received either an email or phone call back from my clients saying "Thank you" in return that someone still does that kind of thing. As we have moved more to technology simple things like a lunch meeting, general follow up calls or even letters have been replaced by an email, even dreaded birthday cards are now being sent electronically.

I remember on my birthday the excitement I had waiting for the mail to arrive to get a card (I was hoping to get a $10 bill as well, lol) and I still see the same excitement in my children's eyes when they get mail. A simple "Thank you" note by mail is a nice break from electronic communication and a very easy way to make sure you clients have your business card and know that you do appreciate their business.

A "Thank you" note is a simple way to add a personalized touch with your clients and makes you stand out from your competitors.

Ontario Construction Report September 2009 Issue

GTA Construction Report September 2009 Issue

Publishers View Point

Where did the summer go? In the haze of the many golf tournaments I attended and construction events the summer slipped away almost as quietly as the “economic down turn” did.

I am not saying we will not have a few more days of summer weather to enjoy between now and the end October as I am sure a few companies are still struggling to recover. But as the colder weather moves in the hotter economic environment is fast approaching.

I recall this time last year people were waiting for the Canadian construction market to burst and when it did a lot of companies were preparing to go bust. Being in the newspaper and publication business I talked with a lot of people who were looking to be very cost conscious in 2009 and watch every penny that was spent. Early this year many people were waiting for work while others were busier then ever, why such two very diverse sides to the status of the economy?

The answer seems easy to see now. The busy companies were the ones who invested in training and development of their employees. They generally exceeded their customers’ expectations rather then just meet them. They were leaders in their field in one or more area. These areas included technology, networking, marketing and customer satisfaction. I like to think of the past year as the thinning of the herd. Like in the animal kingdom a lioness hunts down the weak and young prey first before they go for the strongest of the group. With a market that was so overwhelmed before everyone had work simply because the jobs needed to get done. When there was less work you could no get the best to do the job vs. the rest.

Now a lot of the younger or weaker companies that have survived had learned a few things from this little crisis we are leaving. Be innovative, in everything you do. From marketing, hiring, and retaining staff to nurturing your existing client base. Companies are looking at how they attract new customers and how to stand out from the rest. Today’s new environment means understanding social media and realizing the days of the yellow pages being enough to get your name out have disappeared.

How did you survive the past year? Did you seem a boom or bust in your business? What did you learn and how did survive or in some cases flourish? Share your story with me and we could do a profile on your business.

Testing Online Sales Tests

Part of my role with the Construction News and Report Group of companies is recruiting of new sales reps for our regional publications. Even before we do an in person or phone interview a candidate must qualify themselves as a leader in the field of advertising sales. This involves an initial questionnaire to gage their understanding of what we do and looking for some educated answers. This simply weeds out people who are not actively looking for employment.

The second tool used during the interviewing stage of qualifying a potential rep has been the use of a Online Sales test by sales test online.com Which too date has worked pretty well. We have only ever had one person who failed the sales test get hired on by taking "no" as answer and finding another way to demonstrate their sales skills at no cost to use. Now sales test online.com takes less then 5 minutes to complete and we quickly get a report card to share with the candidate that we can evaluate for a few key areas where we like to see score of 7 to 10 on. A very simple test but not inexpensive as a screening tool.

I am now looking for other online sales test to review and started a great discussion on Linkedin.com that generate some interesting options that I will explore.

Have you used online sales tests in your recruiting?

If yes, which ones have you used?

Which ones did you like and which ones did not meet your requirements?