Our family experienced an unexpected loss this summer. As you might expect, most people want to help but often do not know how or what to do. I remain personally heartened by the many meaningful gestures by so many people. One of these people took me to dinner, making a statement that has stuck with me. She said, “I’m not going to say to you, call me when you’re ready, because you won’t.” Instead, she took responsibility to find the right time and avenue to connect and follow up with me.

I believe there is a correlation with this approach and business development efforts. Creating the right target list is important, along with being organized and having the resources you need readily available, to make a difference.

The key is for you to take responsibility and consistently reach out to create the opportunity to communicate voice-to-voice, or person-to-person. Decision makers are busy, so if you are not getting through, keep trying at different times. Talk to someone in the company and find out if there is a better time or number to call. When you connect and have gained permission to continue the conversation, be confident and share what other similar decision makers find valuable with your services. Most importantly, ask questions and listen. If the timing isn’t right, ask them to suggest a better time to connect and follow up with a calendar invitation.

If you leave the ball in someone else’s court to call “when they’re ready,” you may not be the one who is there when they are ready. Part of building and keeping strong relationships is staying connected.

Most business and sales leaders are focused on finishing the year strong. Some are just focused on finishing the year without being in the tank. Regardless of where you fall, you can look to your sales leadership and your sales team for the answer.

If your team is not positioned to finish the year above plan, the reason may be one of these:

1. The excuse many are quick to express: I never really bought into our team goal, it was unrealistic. You don’t want this to be the reason because it is essentially saying that you have little control over your ability to come in at or over plan.
2. You’ve been able to overachieve in the past by winging it. Who needs a plan? If you’re not where you want to be, the answer is you do! Successful sales reps and teams start with the end in mind and work backwards to define the plan down to daily activity goals.
3. You have a plan and it’s dependent on each member of the team performing at their peak. If this didn’t happen, you’ll be able to identify the weak link(s). When you do, ask yourself if you contributed to their low performance by not setting them up for success, failing to provide them with the right tools and training, or not being available for improvement coaching, encouragement, or recognition of small wins.
4. You failed to effectively lead your team. While this is a tough reason to acknowledge, the good news is it puts the solution under your control.
5. Finally, you may not have the right team in place. While the talent market is tight, especially for top sales talent, we know how and continue to place great additions to our clients’ sales teams.

If you’re looking for different results in the upcoming selling year, JESSI Search is here to partner with you to find and hire strong sales reps and sales leaders. We are connected to some of the best and brightest sales training and consulting resources, if that’s where your needs fall. Check in and tell us how you’re ending your year and how we might assist you with an “out of the park” 2018 selling year!

My father continues to attest the little things get you ahead in life. You might say there are two kinds of people, those who pay attention to the little things and doing them well and those who believe you get ahead in life by cutting corners. I’m a believer that cutting corners catches up with you in the long run. And that the extra effort pays off when doing something completely and well.

When partnering with our clients to secure the best hire, some little things we discuss include:

•  Investing the time to uncover and define what makes your organization unique and great, allowing you to approach the candidate market with your best attraction campaign.
• Involving multiple people in the interview cycle so that you gain different perspectives and the candidate gets the opportunity to have a more complete perspective of your organization.
• Using an assessment tool as part of your search process.
• Keeping the candidate engaged, what we call “warm” in our industry, during the entire process. This includes initial communications through the selected candidate’s start date.
• Ensuring an on-boarding plan is in place. More of our candidates are asking about prospective employers’ on-boarding process when considering joining their organization.

When coaching a candidate, we identify the little things that can set them apart. Some of these include:

• Developing a brief statement describing their attributes and experience so they can share it regularly with individuals who may be able to help network them into companies that fit their career goals.
• Networking with individuals who can introduce them to the hiring manager or HR leaders. This helps move your information to the top of the stack!
• Making sure there is consistent communication with individuals they’ve engaged with during their search process. Candidates who are lax staying in touch send the message that they have weak interest. I’ve said to candidates before that I didn’t think they were interested in an opportunity we discussed because they didn’t stay in touch with me.
• Tracking their entire search campaign to keep on target.

These little things often make the difference between securing the best hire and getting the offer for your dream job.

Personal accountability is a trait valued by every organization and a trait every employee desires in their employer. It is too common for a hiring manager to make an enthusiastic hiring decision only to experience the candidate’s evil twin shortly afterwards. So who is accountable in these situations? Perhaps both but if you are the hiring manager, you have to wonder, “What did I miss?” Ask yourself, “Is it possible I let my emotions override evidence and reason?” Emotions appear uninvited and can easily influence actions and decisions. Strong emotions create urgency and invite impulsive decisions. Good feelings and likeability are important but must accompany facts that the candidate aligns with the role based on their relative experience and evidence of accomplishments.

Just as good employees are accountable for their actions; good employers are accountable for their decisions. It may be worth considering whether your last hiring mistake was an emotional decision or a rational one. Asking your favorite ‘tough’ questions may derail the interview. Instead, ask questions that will provide examples and evidence of the skills and competencies you need, and then run your ‘gut’ check.   Don’t be that hiring manager who insists “I’ve made my decision – don’t confuse me with the facts.”

In a tight job market you want to move quickly to capture the ideal candidate. It is easy to dismiss negative information when the candidate demonstrates other attractive and advantageous skills and competencies. You will make the best hiring decision by considering if and how you will manage any negatives that appear during the interview process. Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Some people do change, however many only claim they have changed.   Explore the areas of concern with compassion, empathy and caution. It is important to maintain the candidate’s self-esteem, so acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes. The best candidates are not defensive, and instead will take responsibility for their mistakes and have examples of what they learned and how they grew from the experience.

After fully considering a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, not only will you make a well-informed hiring decision, you will also be able to customize on-boarding to the candidate to maximize their initial effectiveness, value and excitement in their new position.

Recruiting offers the opportunity to help companies through growth and change. JESSI Search works with leaders at the best of times and during the most uncertain times in their business. This experience provides a look into different leadership styles. Some are truly admirable, gaining great results.

JESSI Search enjoys growth led by new, returning and referred customers. The change and challenges of recruiting offer the chance to reflect on the best leaders and styles, especially during challenging times.

An example of a long-admired leader is quoted in Christina DesMarais’s piece in Inc.com titled “23 Things These Successful Executives Do Every Day, No Matter What.” Tamra Ryan, CEO of Women’s Bean Project, a social enterprise that provides women a way to learn transferrable skills by producing gourmet packaged foods, shared “Ask ‘I wonder’ questions several times a day.” She describes this as, “I wonder if we could…I wonder what would happen if…I wonder if it might help to… Starting with ‘I wonder’ assumes I don’t know the answer, and pushes those around me to think differently about a problem, open their minds to another approach, and leads to innovation.”

Many of the items mentioned in this post are interesting and impactful. You may want to check it out, as well: “23 Things These Successful Executives Do Every Day, No Matter What.”

Tamra’s approach really resonates and gives me inspiration to ask my team “I wonder” questions, such as: I wonder where our business will be in 2018 if we expand into a new industry segment? I wonder if it might help to add recruiting leadership? I wonder where our next company get-together should be?”. “I wonder how we can better serve our clients?”

Take a minute to ask yourself and your team, “I wonder….?” Or, find a couple of items that strike you and try them out!