"To learn this language, to do it the right way, the only way, means to travel to the source. To cross the Narrow Sea, ford the Rhoyne, turn on my laptop, and log onto LivingLanguage.com."
The Maester Learns Dothraki, Week 1: The Baby Steps Of A New Language Warrior
Saturday, October 18, 2014
The Maester Learns Dothraki, Week 1: The Baby Steps Of A New Language Warrior
Top Personality Traits All Managers Should Hire For
Bad news: There is no magic formula for hiring a top sales rep, a top marketer, a top anything. Every company and market is different, and department leaders need to find candidates that fit in with their specific environment and goals.
However, the good news is there are some characteristics that I want in all of the sales reps I hire, regardless of the environment. These attributes don’t paint a complete picture of the perfect candidate for every team out there, but if I have a team full of sales reps with these four characteristics, I’m confident we’ll find a way to win.
(Although I talk about sales reps in this article because I hire sales reps, these characteristics are incredibly valuable for employees on any team.)
1) Coachable
Coachability is the desire and ability to take feedback and get better. It's a characteristic that is growing in popularity amongst hiring managers, and for good reason. If you find someone who is coachable, you can do almost anything with that rep.
For example, consider a rep is great who is great at building rapport but lacks negotiating skills. If that rep is open to coaching and has a burning desire to get better, you can work with them and shore up their weakness.
The one thing that can’t be coached? That would be coachability. A rep either has it or doesn't. And for those who don’t, a sales leader will never get anything more out of them than what they're getting today. When the pressure turns up and territories shrink, this rep will be unable to rise to the occasion. Hiring reps who are coachable means your team’s talent will always be growing, and that your sales force will be able to adjust when new market conditions require new skills.
2) Curious
This rep wants to learn more about everything and use that knowledge to get better at their job and helping customers.
Why does this matter? People who are genuinely curious won’t have to pretend to care when digging into customers' problems -- they actually will care. This rep will be following the right blogs, know a ton about your prospects' business challenges, and not be shy about asking questions. And curious people usually ask the best questions.
As an added bonus, the curious rep will also help you optimize your sales efforts. By learning about marketing, product, support, and everything else at your company, they become aware of gaps in your process and areas for the team to improve. Great leaders know this feedback from the trenches is invaluable in the quest for constant improvement.
3) Driven
You have to want it. Lazy people need not apply. There are going to be some long, hard days in any sales job, and I need a person who is committed to being the best rep possible and helping the company be the best company possible.
Vince Lombardi once said, “If you’re not fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired with enthusiasm!” Driven reps come in every day with the passion to win. They’ve shown this desire in previous jobs as well as outside of work. Regardless of what they do, they're determined to be the best at it.
Driven reps not only keep their managers on their toes, but they also provide leaders with a bench of future managers who can step up as the company grows. They get their current job done and work hard to position themselves to get the promotion.
4) Smart
This is last on my list, and for a reason. I’ll admit, not every product or service needs smart sales reps to sell it. No offense to Dwight at Dunder Mifflin, but reps selling low-priced, commoditized products don’t need to have an MIT degree to be successful.
But with power shifting in favor of the buyer, this is a trait that is becoming more important. It’s no longer just about pushing hard to a close, and ABC pep talks. Today, teams needs reps who can understand the prospect’s situation and partner with the buyer. They need to co-create the buying plan and path to move forward.
To do these things, a rep needs to be smart and agile. They should be able to digest a playbook but also know when it’s necessary to adlib or challenge.
Every company is different and needs to find the candidate profile that works best in its particular circumstance. That said, I’ll take a team of coachable, curious, driven, and smart sales reps into the field with any product because even if that’s all I have, I like my chances.
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Top Personality Traits All Managers Should Hire For
Amazon and Google: Friends, Enemies or Frenemies?
Reports show Amazon is Google's biggest search advertiser, but the online retailer is reportedly developing its own ad program to rival Google AdWords.
Amazon and Google: Friends, Enemies or Frenemies?
McDonald's Cannily Limits Access To The McRib This Year
The cultishly beloved sandwich will not — repeat, not — be available nationwide.
McDonald's Cannily Limits Access To The McRib This Year
New Program Will Test Air Traffic Control for Drones
How do you keep small drone aircraft safe in the world’s busiest national airspace? One idea is to have them use cellphone networks to feed data back to an air traffic control system made just for drones.
A startup called Airware is working with NASA on a project exploring how to manage the swarms of commercial drones expected to start appearing in U.S. skies. The four-year program will create a series of prototype air traffic management systems and could shape how widely commercial drones can be used. Airware’s main business is selling control software and hardware to drone manufacturers and operators. Read more…
More about Tech, Gadgets, Us, and Drones
New Program Will Test Air Traffic Control for Drones
#NHLFaceoff: The wait is over
The moment hockey fans have spent months waiting for is finally here. Tonight, the @NHL drops the puck on another season with the #NHLFaceoff. While the action plays out on the ice, follow along with the best hockey in the world on Twitter.
Join the hockey conversation
The best way to stay connected is to follow @NHL for highlights, score updates, analysis and behind-the-scenes photos and videos. You’ll also want to jump into the conversation with #NHL, #NHLFaceoff and matchup-specific hashtags, such as tonight’s opening slate of games: #TORvsMTL, #BOSvsPHI, #CGYvsVAN and #LAKvsSJS.
You can find all of the @NHL teams on Twitter here.
And you can find NHL players on Twitter here.
#IsItOctoberYet, a fan-generated hashtag, became a rallying cry for hockey fans everywhere awaiting the puck to drop on a new season. When the calendar flipped to October, @NHL posed a new question to hockey fans:
Follow @NHL official broadcasters for all the action on the ice
In Canada, Rogers (@Sportsnet) takes over the broadcasting rights for the @NHL. Tweet “@Sportsnet #schedule” to get an instant reply Tweet, then select your favorite team and download the entire NHL schedule on your phone, to never miss a moment. @Sportsnet will also send out one custom hockey highlight per day. Follow along with the @Sportsnet opening night conversation using the hashtag #PuckDrop.
In the U.S., hockey returns to NBC. Follow @NHLonNBC and @NBCSports to stay connected to the hockey action. Look out for custom videos, player selfies, #RivalryNight and visit the NBC NHL All Access site for all things social.
Most-followed and -mentioned NHL teams and players:
If it were solely up to Twitter followers, here’s how the top @NHL teams would rank:
And here are the most-followed @NHL players:
These were the most mentioned @NHL teams during the off-season (since July 1):
And these were the most mentioned @NHL players during the off-season (since July 1):
Join the conversation, cheer on your favorite @NHL teams and Tweet to @TwitterSports who you think will be the last @NHL team standing.
#NHLFaceoff: The wait is over
User Experience and Persuasion
User Experience and Persuasion Roundtable
This event is now fully booked - if you would like to add you name to the waiting list please do so here. Should there be any cancellations we will be in touch.
Note: This event is exclusive to Econsultancy Enterprise subscribers.
The User Experience and Persuasion Roundtable is your chance to share knowledge, experience and best practice on the issues, trends and developments around User Experience and Persuasion.
Attendance is limited to 12 - 16 attendees, with discussion chaired and facilitated by Econsultancy to ensure all participants get the most from the session.
Agenda
The agenda for the day is very much driven by those attending - your priority areas and pain points.
Potential topics on User Experience and Persuasion will be added to the website shortly.
User Experience and Persuasion
User Experience and Persuasion
User Experience and Persuasion Roundtable
This event is now fully booked - if you would like to add you name to the waiting list please do so here. Should there be any cancellations we will be in touch.
Note: This event is exclusive to Econsultancy Enterprise subscribers.
The User Experience and Persuasion Roundtable is your chance to share knowledge, experience and best practice on the issues, trends and developments around User Experience and Persuasion.
Attendance is limited to 12 - 16 attendees, with discussion chaired and facilitated by Econsultancy to ensure all participants get the most from the session.
Agenda
The agenda for the day is very much driven by those attending - your priority areas and pain points.
Potential topics on User Experience and Persuasion will be added to the website shortly.
User Experience and Persuasion
Webinar: Digital Excellence - What It Is and How to Get There
The speed of change in technology has never been faster. Twenty years ago, ecommerce didn’t exist: this year, consumers will spend $1.5 trillion online. It has only been seven years since the first iPhone was released; yet in many markets today, more than three quarters of the population has a smartphone, using this as their key device for connecting to the internet.
So how do companies need to adapt to this rapid pace of change?
Join senior research analyst Andrew Warren-Payne, as he talks about the significance for companies in achieving digital excellence to get ahead. Using case studies and examples of best practice from around the world, he will explain the four key ingredients to achieving digital excellence and show that companies that get there outperform their peers on a number of fronts.
Time & Date:
Wednesday, 5 November 2014
1pm – 2pm GMT +8 (Singapore, Hong Kong, China) / 4pm – 5pm GMT +10 (Australia) / 12pm – 1pm GMT +7 (Bangkok, Jakarta) / 2pm – 3pm GMT +9 (Japan, Korea)
Webinar: Digital Excellence - What It Is and How to Get There
Weekend Favs October Twelve
Weekend Favs October Twelve written by John Jantsch read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week.
I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from Flickr or one that I took out there on the road.
photo credit: Keith Allison via photopin cc
Good stuff I found this week:
Five degrees – App that lets you make short, personal introduction videos – cool networking application
Funnel Optimizer – tool that lets you show subscribers a different call to action than sign up form
Qaster – tool that surfaces Q and A tweets for any search topic you supply
Weekend Favs October Twelve
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