Why James Bond Would Make a Great Sales Professional

Having recently watched James Bond’s SkyFall (again) it got me thinking how James Bond would make a great sales professional, his confidence, professionalism and ability to get the job done under any circumstance could make him a great Field Salesman.

Bond would have a licence to sell and here’s why he would be the best in his field:

Preparation – He is prepared for any occasion, each mission planned from the very beginning. He always has a Plan B in case things don’t go his way and would use this same preparation with every sales meeting, knowing how he was going to close before he stepped foot in the door but have a contingency plan in place for any given moment.

Looks the Part – Bond takes pride in his appearance, his dress is immaculate no matter the occasion. He would be the sharpest dressed person in the room and would instantly impress a potential client. It’s always a good start to a meeting when you walk in with a fresh pressed suit on; it instils a winning mentality and confidence. 

Confident – Bond always remains calm and confident until victory no matter what obstacles are put in his way and always gets the girl no matter how much they try to resist. Whether it be what he is wearing or how he approaches women, Bond’s confidence would come across in any sales meeting and each client would be putty in his hands.

Prepared to take risks – Life is a balance of taking risks and being cautious but Bond takes more risks than most. He makes his own luck by taking calculated risks, he doesn’t worry about rejection and he steps out of his comfort zone but often comes out on top. As they say nothing ventured, nothing gained. Bond makes his own luck.

Ahead of the curve – Bond always has the best gadgets, whether it is an exploding pen or a laser cutting wrist watch he is always ahead of the curve. As a sales professional Bond would no doubt have the latest I-Pad and smartphone ready for any sales meeting or reacting to social media.

A Winner – Bond has a winning mentality and never settles for second best, he always comes out on top. He would be the example to follow within any sales team and would be an inspirational figure ready to close any deal on the front line.

Written by Liam Oakes

Liam is the Office Manager at Aaron Wallis and has been with the company for 3 years after having a career with the RAF; Liam has helped hundreds of Sales Professionals secure a new Sales role and ensures that Aaron Wallis runs smoothly.

Liam.oakes@aaronwallis.co.uk

 

www.aaronwallis.co.uk

Twitter - https://twitter.com/aaronwallisliam

Google+ - https://plus.google.com/+LiamOakes

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AaronWallisSalesRecruitment

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/liam-oakes/4b/536/403

My Dream Premiership Sales Team

I was in the process of making a couple of changes to my Fantasy Football Team the other day and it made me wonder what players would make the best possible sales team.

So, I think it’s only fair that I am the Chairman and the first thing required is to find the best Managing Director to manage my company.

Managing Director/Manager (Brendan Rodgers) – To have an excellent sales force I need an excellent manager. An excellent manager will inspire the rest of the team to be better. He may inherit average salespeople, but over time will nurture, develop and motivate until the entire team is excellent. Brendan has proved in the 2 years he has spent at Liverpool that he has the skills required in an MD, his subtle and successful man management of Luis Suarez, his expert coaching of Jordan Henderson and his nurturing of young talent the likes of Raheem Sterling.

Finance Manager/Goalkeeper (Peter Cech) – I want to know I’m in safe hands when it comes to company finances and by having the ever reliable Chelsea keeper as my Finance Manager I am confident I can let him get on with the job.

HR Manager/Centre Back (Per Mertesacker (VC)) – My HR Manager needs to be a team player, supportive, highly organized and able to communicate effectively. Per has all these skills in abundance. He came close to taking the captains armband but a strong vice-captain he is likely to be.

Sales & Marketing Director/Centre Back (Vincent Kompany ©) – I need my Sales& Marketing Manager to lead my team, he needs to identify opportunities and develop tactics and be able to take the tough decisions when necessary and as Captain of my team Vincent Kompany is the perfect man for the job.

Sales Administrator/Right Back (Seamus Coleman) – A good Sales Administrator will be able to support the Sales Manager and provide assistance to members of the sales team. Coleman shows a constant desire to get forward and support the attack week in week out which lands him the right back slot.

Sales Manager/Midfield Playmaker (David Silva) – My Sales Manager is my key player, the vital minority that produces more than the rest of my sales force, he has the natural talent and flair to get results, Silva oozes class and would raise the games of all around him.

Northern Regional Manager/Centre Midfield (Steven Gerrard) – A strong link between my Sales Director and my field sales team keeping things ticking over. Gerrard has a wealth of experience in the field and can drive the performance and growth of the team.

Southern Regional Manager/Centre Midfield (Yaya Toure) – Another very influential figure within my sales team, Toure is a winner and a charismatic leader in the field and can drive his subordinates forward.

Business Development Manager/Striker (Luis Suarez) – My top performer delivering consistent results well above target, Suarez puts in the extra hours to make things happen and would be a key player within my sales team.

Field Sales Rep/Right Wing Forward (Mesut Ozil) – The primary focus for my Field Sales Reps is to be able to find and create new opportunities and build on current success, Ozil has proven throughout his career he can find the gaps and create chances to close the deal.

Field Sales Rep/Left Wing Forward (Eden Hazard) – I want my Field Sales Reps to be above average with the right attitude and aspirations to be the best, Hazard is all of this and more. He has the skills and attributes to progress far is a future Sales Manager.

Graduate Internal Account Manager/Left Back (Luke Shaw) – The youngster within my team, still learning about the company but showing great potential Shaw is already showing a maturity beyond his years and I see him going through the ranks within the business and becoming a key player.

So here’s my line up as a football team:

Manager –Brendan Rodgers

Goalkeeper – Peter Cech

Right Back – Seamus Coleman

Left Back –Luke Shaw

Centre Back – Vincent Kompany (Captain)

Centre Back – Per Mertesacker (Vice-Captain)

Centre Midfield – Steven Gerrard

Centre Midfield – Yaya Toure

Attacking Midfield – David Silva

Right Wing Forward – Mesut Ozil

Left Wing Forward – Edin Hazard

Centre Forward – Luis Suarez

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and if you’d make any substitutions!

Written by Liam Oakes

Liam is the Candidate Manager at Aaron Wallis and has been with the company for 2 years after having a career with the RAF; Liam has helped hundreds of Sales Professionals secure a new Sales role and ensures that Aaron Wallis runs smoothly.

Liam.oakes@aaronwallis.co.uk

www.aaronwallis.co.uk

Twitter -https://twitter.com/aaronwallisliam

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/AaronWallisSR

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/liam-oakes/4b/536/403

Recruiting Cheap Could Be Costly

You've all heard the saying “you have to spend money to make money” and this is more often the case when it comes to your sales staff. I come across businesses quite often that either want to recruit sales staff on “Commission Only” or a 8k basic, 150k OTE!!!, however this mentality could actually cost you more in the long run.

Commission Only – It may seem like a cost effective way of increasing your sales team but very rarely does it work out that way. It can work in some industries, and is normally only when the salesperson can be compensated quickly upon making a sale, however it is not the case with the longer and more common sales cycles, complex sales where it takes time to build your pipeline and win the bigger deals. Going down the “Commission Only” route costs you time and that time is going to cost you money.

Low Basic, High OTE – It can be tempting for companies to go with the low basic, high commission strategy. This strategy will almost certainly cost you more. Getting the remuneration plans right is not simply paying the lowest basic you can get away with paying, if this prevents you from hiring the best talent you need to compete and win, it’s an expensive sales force. You can put in a lot of effort, time and money without producing results.

A top salesperson will not want to work for either of the above, they want the security of a good basic package whilst having an uncapped commission scheme to really motivate them and drive them towards the bigger deals. This doesn't mean you should pay any price for the talent you need, getting the right talent requires the right recruitment process. You can’t build a professional sales force without making the necessary investment. The cheaper you are investing in your Sales force, the worse your sales will be.

Get your recruitment right first time, choose your recruitment partner carefully and it will save you time and money.

Written by Liam Oakes

Liam is the Office Manager at Aaron Wallis and has been with the company for 3 years after having a career with the RAF; Liam has helped hundreds of Sales Professionals secure a new Sales role and ensures that Aaron Wallis runs smoothly.

Liam.oakes@aaronwallis.co.uk

www.aaronwallis.co.uk

Twitter - https://twitter.com/aaronwallisliam

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/AaronWallisSR

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/liam-oakes/4b/536/403

Was Life Better For Teenagers Growing Up In The Eighties?

“Do you wish you were a teenager growing up now instead of in the 80’s?” This was a question my fifteen year old daughter asked me recently and I found myself answering “No!” without a moment’s hesitation, as despite the technological advances that in many ways have made our lives easier, in so many other ways I think life as a teenager was better 30 years ago.

Today’s teenagers cannot make mistakes in the same way that we used to, no longer are they able to wake up after a party and cringe at the events of the night before in the privacy of their own bedroom. Now they are likely to wake up to every embarrassing detail being shared on Twitter and Facebook for all to see and comment on.

It is little wonder  that the Pastoral Care Officer at my daughter’s school now spends 90% of her time dealing with issues arising from social media -  all it takes is an unflattering photograph or video to be posted and before you know it some poor unsuspecting girl is being branded ‘ugly’ (or worse) for all to see. As parents we feel completely unprepared for handling these kind of situations, in our day it might have been a few nasty comments behind your back but now the humiliation (even by total strangers) is all so public and children growing up today need to be incredibly strong  to rise above it.

The result of this is that teenagers may feel that they have to be ‘on their guard’ when they start socialising which is something that we never had to worry about and in some ways is very sad. I am glad that I was able to grow up at my own pace, make mistakes and learn from them, knowing that the only person who would really know about my past was me (or those I chose to tell).

“So what else was better about growing up in the 80’s?” my daughter asked me. Well the job market for a start. I left school with ten O’ levels and two A’ levels and decided I wanted to work in a bank. I applied to Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds and Midland bank and was offered jobs at all of them, it was simply a case of deciding which one I liked the best. Even my friends who went to Uni came out with no debt and the promise of a good job at the end of their degree.

Now the competition is so fierce, even to get onto a good degree course, that the best Universities are looking at GCSE results and wanting students who are high achievers in all areas of life. The pressure to make the right choices, right from Year 9 when you are choosing which GCSE’s to study, is intense as it could affect your whole future in a way which we never had to worry about thirty years ago.

Even if you can get a decent job after completing your degree (rather than ending up working in a call centre or on a supermarket checkout), what are the chances of you ever being able to afford to get on the property ladder? We had to save hard for a year or so in our early twenties to be able to buy our first flat (it cost us £46,000 and we needed a £2300 deposit) but I never remember feeling concerned that it was something we couldn’t easily achieve.

Recently my nephew was able to buy his first home after working and living at home with his parents for many years, his flat cost £183,000 and he needed to save a £9150 deposit. For many young graduates coming out of University with thousands of pounds worth of debt and little prospect of walking into a well-paid job, the likelihood is that they will either be living with their parents or renting for a very long time.

So whilst today’s teenagers can download music instantly (rather than waiting with the cassette player on record on a Sunday night), view photographs instantly (rather than waiting weeks for their films to be developed at Borehamwood) and have information at their fingertips online (at the expense of learning to conduct research properly using a book), I would far rather have grown up in the 80’s as I think our generation had the kind of start in life which has given us the skills and work ethic to go out into the world of business and be high achievers .

The Tides They are a Changin'...

I’ve been in recruitment long enough to see several cycles of it being an ‘employer-driven market’ and a ‘candidate-driven market’.  We’re in a really interesting situation at the moment where employers think they ‘still hold the cards’ whereas the truth is that good candidates have a wealth of opportunities at their fingertips and truly are the ones that are ‘calling the shots’.

Particularly, in London, which let’s face it is an economy in its own right, the ‘fight for talent’ is as ferocious as it was in those heady years of 2004-2007.  We have seen candidates register on the Monday and be placed in a role before the week was out, and the majority of our candidates at a final interview stage have two or three opportunities to choose from.  In addition, we have also lost out on a couple of opportunities as employers dragged their heels in confirming the offer details in writing.

So what can employers do to ensure that they hire the best talent to their required timescales?

1) WORK TO A PLAN: A free checklist to ensure a well thought out plan is executed can be found here: http://www.aaronwallis.co.uk/Recruitment-Plan-Template.aspx

2) LOOK OUTSIDE THE OBVIOUS: I’ve spent the last five years trying to educate employers that recruiting from a competitor is not a great long-term move.  Think of it logically – would you move from ‘Company A’ to ‘Company B’ for exactly the same role for perhaps a few more quid?  It’s unrealistic.  So, employers need to look once again outside of the obvious.  In sales, it’s all about ‘routes to market’ – if someone sells a product through distribution, they will be able to sell your product, with product training, through distribution.  If someone sells a product into retailers, they will, with training, be able to sell your product into retailers.  If you are willing to flex on a candidate from an aligned company, you can then look for far greater qualities like i) can they sell, ii) are they a team fit iii) do they have the potential to develop in my organisation.  Subsequently you can target candidates from a pool of several hundred rather than ten to ensure you recruit the right person for your business.

3) YOU ALSO HAVE TO SELL AT INTERVIEW: Ensure that you sell your business, your role and the opportunity to candidates at the first-stage  interview.  More advice and a video on the ‘Importance of Selling to Candidates’ can be found here: http://www.aaronwallis.co.uk/how-to-not-lose-the-best-candidates.aspx

4) MOVE QUICKLY PART ONE: Arrange to meet your selected candidates within a few days of the CV being received.  If you meet someone at first interview that you want to move forward to the next stage then ensure that it happens within five working days.  I appreciate that everyone’s diary is busy but with the ability to Skype and so forth your director’s availability should no longer be an excuse.  If this is just an impossibility and the delay is going to be more than five days, then add an additional telephone interview stage in-between the first and second meetings.  This will keep the momentum going and ensure that the candidate remains engaged into your recruitment process.

5) MOVE QUICKLY PART TWO: Regardless of your company policy a successful applicant will expect a bullet pointed overview of the offer within two days.  Like yourself,  all sales people like decisive people!  Request that the candidate agrees in principle to the offer in writing by return.  If there is a delay in the response, you could be looking at a problem, but at least you will know about it sooner rather than later.  Then work with the recruiter, or the candidate directly, to get the start date confirmed as soon as possible and attempt to reduce the notice period to get them into your business sooner.

6) THE BIGGEST FALLACY OF ALL WHEN RECRUITING: “Well if he wasn’t prepared to wait three weeks for the final interview to meet with our very busy Managing Director then he evidently wasn’t the right candidate for our organisation”.  You can justify it to yourself all you like but good sales candidates want to work for well directed, decisive and driven organisations that know what they want, where they are going and what they need to get there.  This is now a candidate driven market again and you need to follow the above steps.

Hope that this helps to ensure that you do not lose out on the best sales talent

Absolutely Bloomin Fabulous

Every time I call one of my longstanding clients, I get an unusual, yet uplifting, answer to one of life’s most mundane and often insincere questions.  I ask him, like everyone does, almost on autopilot, “How are You?"  He always responds “I’M ABSOLUTELY BLOOMIN FABULOUS!” He says it with such zest and authenticity that it genuinely takes you by surprise, and it’s a great tonic.  

So, last week after many years of laughing and joking about it, I asked him why he responds so bombastically and the response was more insightful than I imagined. 

He said, firstly, that it made him personally feel positive, good about himself and reenergised. 

He then said that it also seemed to have a positive impact on everyone whom he came into contact with and regularly sparked conversation (like the one we were having!).  And, as a hands-on Sales Manager himself, this obviously this had a favorable impact as people remembered him. 

But the thing I found most enlightening was when he said, “look, I’ve got my health, food on the table, a roof over my head, a wife and kids who love me, and I live in a Western democracy.  I reckon I’m one of the luckiest 2% of the people in the world alive today." 

He said that every time he found himself seething that he has to wait four minutes to queue to fuel his car or that the Sauvignon Blanc is priced incorrectly in the local shop, he has to reframe his mind to say to himself “if this is the worst thing that’s happening to me at the moment, then I’m a very, very lucky man."  

I wish I could pull it off with his authenticity, but I’m going to try - “I’M ABSOLUTELY BLOOMIN’ FABULOUS!”

Oh, How Sales Has Changed, Or Has It? Have Your Say!

I conducted my first short sales survey back in 2001 around the ‘changing face of sales’ and it and came to the conclusion that a 1970s salesperson was seen as ‘gregarious, loud, a networker’; a 1980’s one was ‘brash, materialistic and a buy low-sell high type’ yet the 2000’s sales professional was ‘a solution provider that was consultative and adds value’!  If I was to run the same survey today I wonder if the sales professional of the two thousand and teenies would be ‘a connecter, a ‘forum maven’ and total tweet’!

The survey I conducted back in the heady days of 2007 was, as you would expect in boom time, tales of high performance, progression and advancing remuneration.  The subsequent survey, in 2009 was a dark mirror in contrast.  Talking to people in business it has been an interesting four years since then; a time of uncertainty and optimism but most of all change. 

It’ll be fascinating to see what stories the 2013 survey springs up and ‘d be really grateful to anyone in a sales led career if they’d take ten minutes out of their day to complete the survey.  Unlike most, I hope anyway; it's thought-provoking and doesn't have any particular agenda other than to  take a snapshot of the UK sales industry to compare  to previous years and indeed against future years. 

It is 60 questions, only five of them mandatory, completely anonymous and securely stored on the servers of one of the biggest survey providers on the planet. 

So please take part in the 2013 survey and HAVE YOUR SAY!

The survey can be accessed here or by visiting: www.survey2013.org

Take Part in the 2013 Sales Survey

LAUNCH OF THE SALES SURVEY 2013.

The world of sales is changing at a faster pace than at any other any time.  We're all LinkedIn to Twitter and utilising our time to achieve sales success in a way unimaginable to sales professionals of just a decade ago.  If we contrast our roles, motivators and core to only four years ago I think we’d all agree that the shift has been huge. 

It’s been four years since we held our last sales survey and it was conducted in the undoubtedly tough times of Summer and Spring 2009.  Now in a market with hints of optimism and a whole heap of new sales and marketing methodologies to add to our sales arsenal, we are launching the survey again to gauge how sales people are truly thinking.

TAKE PART IN THE 2013 SALES SURVEY

We have partnered with the ISMM and several other sales organisations to invite over 50,000 sales professionals to take part in the 2013 Sales Survey.  Our aim is to get response from over 1000 sales people across all levels thus giving us a true and accurate snapshot of what it is really like to work in sales in 2013.   The research will feature in the autumn / winter edition of the ISMM's Winning Edge magazine and other media.

If you take part in the survey, we’ll send you the results, prior to them being launched to the media, so you can stay up-to-date with what’s happening, what’s winning, what’s important, what’s not, working hours, holidays, money – all sorts.

The confidential and secure survey is authoritative research, and previous survey information has been used by leading business schools such as the University of Portsmouth. It takes around ten to fifteen minutes to complete and of the sixty questions, just five are mandatory.  In past surveys most participants commented on how enjoyable, and thought provoking, they found completing the survey.  The questions are designed to be a mixture of work-related and life-related questions, and we hope that you enjoy completing it.

TAKE PART IN THE 2013 SALES SURVEY

To thank all entrants we will enter you into a draw to win an ‘ultimate experience’ - a choice of over 100 experiences ranging from a 30 minute 'Tiger Moth' flight to an overnight golf break for two to a racing experience in a Lamborghini.  You will also receive a free ticket to the launch of the survey on October 17th at the Successful Selling Conference 2013, Ricoh Arena, Coventry.  This will be presented by Toby Perkins MP and will take place in Hall 4 adjacent to the main conference.

Access to all of the surveys from the last seven years can be accessed here: http://www.aaronwallis.co.uk/sales_industry_statistics.aspx

To TAKE PART IN THE 2013 SALES SURVEY simply follow this link or visit www.survey2013.org

Thanks for taking part,

Rob Scott

Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment

Follow us on our social networks…

Twitter: www.salestweeting.com

LinkedIn: www.robscott.info

Facebook: http://facebook.com/AaronWallisSR

YouTube Channel: www.salesrecruitment.tv

Aaron Wallis Blog & News: www.salesvillage.co.uk

It's Tough to Pick the Winners

Getting recruitment right is tough.  We’ve all made ‘bad hires’ at some point in our careers be that the ‘dishonest hire’, the ‘under-performing hire', the ‘culturally wrong hire’ or the plain ‘ineffectual hire’.                      It’s never easy to ‘spot the winners’ but there are management tools out there to help increase your chances of making the right hiring decisions. Recent research from the CIPD shows that personality profiling is used in just over one-third[i] of recruitment processes.  Aaron Wallis is offering you the chance, at no cost, to investigate refining your own recruitment process by introducing personality questionnaires. Personality questionnaires are designed to strip away the interview facade of potential employees and help you to build a top-performing team.  Our interview profile is a validated and powerful eight-page report that addresses essential traits in the workplace (see image for details of the traits).  We think you’ll agree that it will provide a clear, simple and easy to follow guide that will help you conduct a structured, more insightful and professional interview. This is a simple invitation with ‘no strings attached’.  We’d simply like you to sample the Aaron Wallis service so that we can learn more about your business and help get recruitment right for you. To take advantage of this opportunity and to claim your complimentary interview aid simply click here and complete the short online form.  Within one working day, we will then contact you for a five-minute  consultation to set that up for you.  The resulting report will be delivered straight to your mailbox. You may wish to take the questionnaire on yourself to see how powerful it can be or perhaps even on a forthcoming interviewee. So put us to the test and see how Aaron Wallis can help you to ‘spot the winners’.  We look forward to hearing from you, P.S. If you’d like us to set up more than one personality questionnaire just let us know.  A link to a sample guide can be found here: http://ittybitty.bz/free-interview-aid P.P.S. Aaron Wallis offers the most inclusive recruitment service in the UK backed by a 12 month rebate scheme – click here to find out more [i] Personality questionnaires were used in 35% of recruitment processes in 2011 (down from 44% in 2010) CIPD, A Barometer of HR Trends and Prospects 2011

Aaron Wallis Increases Advice Library to Over 500 Articles

We’ve always been pretty proud of the advice that we offer across www.aaronwallis.co.uk which we believe to be the most comprehensive, freely available advice offered by any recruitment agency. 

We’ve just undertaken a massive overhaul of the Advice Library which now contains over 500 articles, each written by industry experts, covering every imaginable business area from sales and marketing to finance to taxation to doing business in other nations.

To access it’s simple – follow this link:

http://www.aaronwallis.co.uk/client_advice_library.aspx

Then either drop down on the theme that you’re looking for advice upon and hit search and it will bring up every topic in the category.

 

Alternatively type your query in the search box and the search engine will chose the articles it feels most relevant.

We hope that you find it useful.  If so please bookmark or post to facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn using the user-friendly buttons on the page.