Hiring Solutions

It’s a mystery to many leaders how company cultures are created. The truth is, they begin during the inception of the company. As employees, leaders, customers and vendors come and go, the culture is unconsciously fine-tuned by everyone.

Most leaders believe their culture is a mystery and they have no responsibility for it. What they fail to understand, they create the culture, deliberately or by default, based on their decisions and mindsets. For example, if a leader is unwilling to rock the boat to resolve any issue, this mindset naturally becomes ingrained in the culture and others will follow suit in order to keep their jobs.

Transforming your culture for true growth requires a strategically crafted vision to support and sustain the company’s new direction. And, a true leader can see the big picture, handle the small details, and engage others along the way.

Now, for the million-dollar questions, How willing are you to lead this transformational process? Or, are you simply going to allow whatever happens to happen?

Leading Transform for True Growth

Build on What Works. It requires a lot of conscious thought, strategic conversations, persistence and belief for transformation to successfully occur. Remember, it’s a process, not an event. Build on what is working by consistently building on its strengths. Perhaps more important, hire a trusted business advisor to keep you focused and vigilant when handling the status quo.  (According to a recent study,* only about 8% of executives surveyed are capable of guiding their organizations through transformation.)

Develop Strategic Insight. Set aside the time-consuming and costly common approach of repeating of the same old processes, believing they are new and different. (Note from author, after working with 100’s of companies, this is more common than you realize.) Real transformation requires questioning the elephants in the room that are ingrained in the fabric of the culture. This part can be very difficult since it requires open dialogue and real leadership – moving people out of their comfort zones. Bring in an objective and strong facilitator to lead the conversations. Stay on point and don’t delve into the blame game.

Engage Your People. For true growth, your employees must consciously and whole-heartedly support change. This can be scary for them when they don’t know what to expect. Engage at every level within your company. Remember to keep talking with your customers, vendors and communities too.

Hire the Right Team. The biggest challenge for companies is developing a team that supports the new vision. Often the old guard will not support “new” ideas. The added challenge is new employees will usually succumb to the old culture in order to be liked, accepted, and keep their jobs.  Use qualified assessments not only for hiring new employees, but to also train, coach and manage current employees. This will support the cultural changes you need to make for sustainable growth.

Make the Difficult Decisions. Many leaders base their decisions on the old mindset, forgetting the newly develop strategies. These require having conversations and looking in the new direction. Work with your trusted business advisor to talk you through the pros and cons. With focus and consistency, the culture will naturally adjust over time.

As a leader, you are responsible for your company’s culture (whether you want to or not), so create one that supports true growth.

* Study conducted by David Rooke of Harthill Consulting and William Torbert of Boston University, 2016.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she is laser sharp at identifying the leverage points that will take a business and its team to the next level of performance and success. Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com. Contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at http://SeibCo.com/contact .

One of the most important jobs as a boss is to ensure employees are given the tools they need to readily do their job well (e.g., laptops, project guidelines, workplace policies, company core values, annual goals, etc.). However, in our busy world, we fail to ensure our employees’ readiness to handle certain responsibilities. We forget they may lack experience and discretion due to limited people skills, poor planning abilities, or an inability to base their decisions for win-win-win outcomes (e.g., company, employees, customers, vendors, etc.).

This lack of managerial awareness on your part will allow for mistakes or roadblocks for everyone, including upward mobility in your career. When problems occur, they will eventually (if not immediately) devastate profitability and morale when not resolved appropriately. It’s important to address problems as they happen. Better yet, prevent them from occurring.

Prevention is Key

First and foremost, use scientifically validated assessment tools for hiring, coaching and managing your employees for success. Studies have shown employees that fit their work responsibilities have greater communication effectiveness, are more likely to know when to ask for guidance, and have an interest in ensuring their decisions are in everyone’s best interest. [Contact http://SeibCo.com/contact for more information.]

Second, ongoing training is critical. Most people benefit from ongoing training since the potential mistake or issue becomes less conceptual and they benefit from the experiential role-playing. It helps them clarify how to handle difficult situations and cautions them on what they share with others. As the boss, it’s very important to reinforce the training and set an example.

For example, the biggest problem in many companies is that everyone gossips. Unfortunately, employees can be so busy talking on their cells or with the person seated across from them, they forget people seated at the next table in a coffee shop or co-workers seated on a nearby bench in the company’s lounge are listening in. Remind everyone that certain information is not to be discussed (due to HIPPA, non-disclosure agreements for new products, employment laws, etc.). They also need to be responsible for where, when, why and how they share certain data with others (e.g., don’t forget to include a caution regarding emails, texts, and social media venues).

Third, encourage questions. Do not be fooled into assuming theft, harassment or safety violations won’t happen. When challenges happen, and they will, having prepared yourself and your employees in advance is critical. Encourage questions and provide training for different types of situations or issues, along with reviewing the expected protocols to follow. This will make a positive difference when something does happen and everyone is operating from the same page to get it resolved.

Fourth, finesse is necessary.  Empower your employees to handle basic disagreements on their own. However, when the issue is delicate, it is your job to step in and resolve it for win-win-win outcomes. Don’t put off addressing situations based upon how you feel, or your inability to make a decision. Failure to do so will create disgruntled employees and potential lawsuits. Talk out alternatives with your business coach, mentor, and/or attorney to broaden your perspective. Then, meet with a select few executives to reach a resolution.

Now you’re ready to take the actions required to prevent potentially costly mistakes and ensure win-win-win outcomes for everyone.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for a myriad of business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com) and It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com and contact us!

Many of you would probably say, “Ridiculous!”

• Does it take several phone calls to get in touch with you?
• Does it take longer than 24 to 48 hours for you to respond to messages or emails?
• Do you often use the excuses “I’m too busy” OR “I don’t have the time?”

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have a problem. SeibCo’s Law of Poor Customer Service states: The longer it takes for you to return a call or respond to an email, the faster the issue will grow exponentially. If this continues, your customer will go to your competition and your reputation will be tarnished.

What Can You Do?

Treat your messages with reverence. They are the life blood of your business. Voice-to-voice conversations are key – don’t rely on emails or sending customers or prospects to your website for answers. Respond promptly. It’s a great way to stay in touch, build important relationships and provide additional value. Actual conversations also are a great way to up-sell and cross-sell any additional products and services they don’t realize you offer.

Believe all clients are important. Ranking clients based on their revenue to determine who you will contact first is a losing game. While a BIG client is important, so are your other ones. Keeping every client happy is important and may require you to think outside-the-box to ensure everyone’s concerns are given top priority.

Value your meetings. Continually canceling or rescheduling, not being prepared, and not taking responsibility for ensuring current and potential clients feel valued, are good excuses for them to seek out other vendors. Happy customers buy more when they feel important. Remember, actual conversations are the best way to uncover their needs.

Listen and be present during the conversation. Too often when we’re in meetings, we’re busy thinking of other things we need to do, or other conversations we need to have. 100% active listening and probing will help you uncover a real issue and your ability to resolve it to the customer’s satisfaction. This new awareness can also help you resolve other clients’ concerns and be more active in doing so.

Blitz them with great customer service. Don’t forget your customer service people need help too! We falsely assume, with devastating results, that everyone knows how to be a good representative of the company. Get into your people’s mindsets and you’ll realize they don’t know how to handle different challenges or how to behave in unusual situations. Many will not have the confidence to ask for help and will simply look for a new employer. Use a qualified customer service assessment to understand their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Train all of your people to be on the same page, and work together for the benefit of every customer.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2010-2016

Do you need an objective, inside look at the behaviors and motives of yourself and others when interacting with customers? Contact Jeannette Seibly @ http://SeibCo.com/contact

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com) and It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com.

Great sales people fit their jobs. They love what they do and they do it well, making a positive difference for their clients and their company.

After talking with several business owners and consultants that manage great sales people, here are the 4 top attributes they mentioned (yes, this is not a scientific study – feel free to add your own top beliefs).

1. Listen and be present in all conversations. This is one of the most important aspects when selling your products and services. Stop multi-tasking, eliminate distractions and listen. Engage your full attention in the conversation by being present and actively listening. Trust you will know how to respond. Listen to learn and probe for additional information before offering ideas. You will be amazed by what you uncover that can help your current and prospective clients.
2. Know your products and systems really well. Having an ongoing interest in learning about the products you are selling and how they are processed through your company is critical. Knowing the in’s and out’s help you understand how to get the best deal for your client and keep them. Because you are well aware of the legalities and other nuances of using your products and services, you can ensure your customers are buying the right product to fit their needs cost effectively. Also, this knowledge places you in a better position to facilitate upselling and cross selling of other products.
3. Have persistence. Not everyone is ready to buy when you’re ready to sell to them. Stay in communication, send them periodic articles or other note-worthy gems is important. Show up at networking meetings and seminars, stay in touch on social media and give at charity events are also important ways to build and maintain a strong network.
4. Develop great relationships. It’s important that you develop great relationships with your clients by becoming a resource for them to ask their questions and get the right answers. Always follow-up and follow through on what you promise. That is how you build credibility and trust before and after the sale! Learn how to brag about what you’ve done for them in a business-savvy manner – this is particularly important when cost-conscious buyers are looking to stray. (http://Time2Brag.com)

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com) and It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com.

Many of us think we can easily spot someone who is not telling us the whole truth or is fabricating the facts. We believe in the myth that we can look into people’s eyes or watch their body language to know whether or not they are telling the truth. Unfortunately, we only have a 17 percent chance of getting it right. As business people, we need to get real about spotting liars. It’s important to be on the lookout to ensure that as we grow our companies with new hires and strategic business relationships that we’re not relying on half-truths or fabrications. Doing so will negatively impact our bottom line and sabotage win-win-win outcomes.

3 Ways to Get Real – and be responsible for getting to the truth

Look at the Facts. Too often we base our decisions on how we feel during an interaction. Or, we fall victim to the story they are telling us. Reality is, many liars are really good at assessing others and telling them what they want to hear.  To combat this, ask for fact-based information and verify this information before believing it and relying on it.

One entrepreneur hired a sales coach simply based on the person’s promise to help her launch her new product. She believed in what he promised to do. Here’s what happened: the launch never occurred and the coach disappeared.  Instead of checking the person’s credentials upfront, after the fact, she found out he was an accountant. She is now working a full-time job to payback the bills incurred during the failed launch.

Get Agreements in Writing. Gone are the days of making an agreement based on a hand-shake. Too often, when having conversations, we’re not on the same page.  As a result, misunderstandings occur and things are not as they seem. Negotiate before signing any documents. Take the time to read the entire document before signing it (even the fine-print.) It’s pay now or potentially pay later.

Use Honesty-Integrity Assessments. About 79 percent of job candidates stretch the truth or embellish jobs, education, and salaries on their resumes. Relying upon background checks to tell you the whole truth does not work. Many employers don’t prosecute for theft or verify work history or education. (Note: White collar theft of money, proprietary information and data is the fastest growing group.) Use a direct-admission tool* and ask the candidate the questions contained in the report to determine truthfulness (yes, still conduct background checks, work and education verification and drug screens).

The key is to get real with yourself and your ability (and inability) to spot people that are lying. Learn how to use probing questions to get to the truth when hiring employees (use qualified assessment tools*), and when selecting vendors and developing new business relationships (use good business practices).

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

*When hiring, use the Step One Survey II® a honesty-integrity core value assessment that measures attitudes toward Integrity, Reliability, Work Ethics and Substance Abuse. This tool provides direct-admission information about a candidate’s past employment, employment-related issues, illegal substance use, theft of time/money/property, and computer/internet/email abuse. The online report delivers a forecast of how well the candidate will blend in with your culture and workplace climate. There is also a Distortion notification if candidates are not being forthright in their responses. For further information, contact Jeannette @ http://SeibCo.com/contact

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com.

Top sales performers sell up to six times more than their average team members. They fit their jobs and are business savvy when building relationships, facilitating the buyer’s decision-making process, and delivering as promised. Also, they have taken the time and have the interest to learn how to use the company’s products and services correctly. Hiring and developing top sales performers create winning sales teams — they make the difference between an adequate bottom line and a great financial outcome.

4 Actions to Create Great Sales Results

Disregard Old Myths. Too often we hire for perceived job skills and fire for poor job fit (aka low performance).  Many sales managers still rely upon their gut to determine a candidate’s ability to sell their product or service. When hiring, many sales managers are seduced by a candidate’s verbal ability to talk the talk or believe younger candidates have higher energy levels than older people. As a result, sales managers fail to hire the right people for job fit. They also lose top performers who want to work on winning teams.

Take the time to discover the true costs of your hiring mistakes and conduct a performance analysis on your current team. This information will provide clarity on where you need to focus your attention in order to create a winning sales team and a great bottom line. (Contact SeibCo for the complimentary tools http://SeibCo.com/contact)

Job Fit is Key. Use scientifically qualified assessment tools to accurately assess job fit. Can the sales person sell? How will they sell? What will they sell? These tools will make all the difference in hiring the right person and providing coaching information you can readily use. If they don’t fit the job, you cannot change and fix them. Knowing this information up-front saves you countless hours and training dollars.

Studies have found that assessing for thinking style will correlate to more than 50 percent of a person’s success. The other success factors depend upon a combination of core behaviors (Can they prospect, engage and close?) and occupational interests (Are they willing to stay informed? Are they willing to do the right activities?). All three are essential and will provide a clear snapshot of the whole person and his/her ability to sell your products and services, profitably.

Utilize On-line Due Diligence. Use an on-line application process, knock-out questions and core value assessments to attract more of the best candidates. Before conducting face-to-face interviews (which take a lot of time), conduct initial phone screens and use job fit assessments to determine their sales strengths. These initial simple steps will save you a great deal of time, money and energy in the long run. And, these steps will save you from hiring the wrong person who looks the part, but has no interest in doing the work (e.g., prospecting, presenting, clsoing).

Focus on the Whole Picture. Metrics are important and can help you gauge the effectiveness of your sales team. However, this will not tell you the whole story about your team’s results. Investigate: Are your sales people following your system or do they need retraining? Does the system need to be tweaked? Are they generating enough of the right leads? Are they getting in front of the decision makers? By utilizing the coaching information from the qualified assessment tool, you can provide the laser-like clarity required to develop and train with precision.

Smart companies understand that job fit is the number one reason they are able to create winning sales teams and great bottom line results. The million dollar question is, are you ready to enjoy exponential sales growth, while having fun? (http://SeibCo.com/contact)

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com).  Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Sales managers are the facilitators for their companies’ successes. They were hired or promoted to elicit the best from their sales teams and achieve the ultimate goal of win-win-win (customer-company-salesperson). These money-makers impact the bottom line on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, all too often, sales managers don’t realize the impact of their management styles. Instead of focusing on everyone winning, they unconsciously zap their teams’ morale by: 

• restructuring commissions to meet required sales margins,
• failing to handle conflict appropriately,
• being unwilling or unable to sell,
• not motivating their sales teams’ during the natural ups and downs.

Sales managers … it’s 2016 — time to change the game and play to win!

It starts with these 3 strategies to stop zapping and create win-win-win outcomes

Focus on Winning. Many times entrepreneurial type business owners and sales managers are too busy thinking about the next product or service they believe will be the winning game. Unfortunately, they fail to focus on what needs to be done today, the play, to create long-term and sustainable winning outcomes that impact the bottom line. These environments make it difficult for their salespeople to succeed. The key is to design real goals and take the right actions to achieve the intended results. It also requires everyone in the company managing the details required for great customer experiences to keep the promises made.

Hire the Right People the First Time.  A good sales team is comprised of good sales people. Sounds simple doesn’t it? But, it’s not. Hiring someone to sell long-term care to a grieving person caring for his or her aging parent takes a completely different skill-set than someone selling drill bits to a manufacturing purchasing agent. Also, hiring someone from a competitor does not mean they will succeed in your culture.

Hiring mistakes are usually made when the company doesn’t have, or the hiring manager fails to follow, a strategic hiring system and use a qualified assessment product. When hiring, too often they rely on “feel good” assessments that have face validity but lack required predictive validity. Why is this important? Qualified tools reveal whether or not the person can sell, and how and when they will do so – allowing the sales manager to see the whole person. (Not just the person that interviewed well by saying the right things and looking the part.)

The reality is, what is not seen is far more significant than what is seen when hiring and managing team members to win!

Balance Coaching Style.  When sales managers are single-minded and only focused on the numbers as the number one sales tool to motivate others, it’s no surprise that sales fall. Winning NFL teams focus on making the plays that cause the score to move upward to win the game. They don’t manage or coach from the score alone. When your team feels misunderstood and unappreciated, they are unwilling to take responsibility for their sales results. It’s important to treat them as people and not just numbers. Focus on coaching them to develop their skills in lead generation, lead conversion, delivery and customer-care quality to ensure win-win-win outcomes.

Great sales managers are continually creating win-win-win environments. They are aware of the natural ups and downs sales teams and individuals experience and do their best to not zap them. They hire the right people, clarify processes, train their teams as winners and are fearless in supporting overall success.

Remember, great sales people are NOT motivated by negative management styles. If your management style needs to be UPGRADED, now is the time to hire a coach! Get clear about “why you get the results you get” and then, take the time to modify your attitudes and behaviors. Coaching a sale team that feels appreciated, understands what is expected and is adequately rewarded, is more productive and supports overall success. Contact Jeannette today @ http://SeibCo.com/contact to determine your “why” and answers questions on how to motivate your team.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com) and It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Many start-ups and young businesses today use inconsistent or arbitrary compensation practices. They do this because it’s hard to know when realistic financial incentives get the job done or attract the right team members. Even well-established companies have bosses that give out financial (and non-financial) incentives without understanding the impact these gestures have on the organization as a whole.

As the boss, your inconsistency in compensating people appropriately will develop mistrust in your management style, diminish loyalty and weaken the desire to work hard for you. It can become a no-win situation that needs to be addressed quickly. A Gallup study (2015) found 50% of employees leave due to bad bosses. The bottom line is, when employees don’t trust their bosses’ to do the right things the right way, they quit their jobs.

Money is not a prime motivator!

Many employees have the false perception that money will indeed motivate them! The truth is, money doesn’t motivate people to do more or improve their job performance. Great bosses, job fit and appreciation are key motivators when done right!

Develop good employees into great performers and keep them

Hire for job fit. Poor job fit is the number one reason employees don’t produce great results, even though they may appear to have the technical or interpersonal skills. These employees rationalize their mediocre performance on extrinsic factors, including the amount in their paychecks. Additionally, your top talent is more likely to leave when there has been a lot of turnover, or they continually have to work around those coworkers that aren’t doing their jobs well. It’s important to use qualified assessments and due diligence tools to ascertain a person’s ability to fit the work requirements and company expectations before you hire them.

Set clear expectations. Start on Day One by providing each new hire with an up-to-date job description, 180 Day Success Plan*, and an internal mentor. (For those companies with critical goals, hire an external business advisor for key employees.) Keep all employees focused on the right things by involving them in strategy creation, goal setting and focused action planning. Quarterly, use a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment to help identify areas for improvement, keep employees focused on the right things and provide spot-on training insights. Keep these processes separate from your annual compensation adjustments.

Keep your promises. When you offer financial incentives, be prepared to honor them. Performance will diminish individually and collectively when you are unable or unwilling to fulfill upon these promises. Consider offering non-financial incentives that are meaningful for the whole group (e.g., pizza Friday, company-wide recognition, movie passes, etc.).

Focus on performance results. When managing your employees and team for results, it’s wise to include individual stretch goals to help each person excel beyond their perceived performance capabilities and internal beliefs in themselves. Use non-monetary and monetary incentives for each person, and the team as a whole, based upon the completed metrics for each milestone.

Your key to developing good employees into great results-producers requires you to consistently and frequently share the goals, appreciate employees individually, acknowledge the team as a group, and objectively measure progress. Then, compensate them well with monetary and non-monetary rewards.

*180 Day Success Plan – How do you create them? Get your copy of “Hire Amazing Employees” available at BizSavvyHire.com

For information on using qualified assessments, contact http://SeibCo.com/contact  

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Jeannette Seibly is laser sharp at identifying the leverage points that will take a business and its team to the next level of performance and success. Her unique combination of strategic and tactical people and business experiences includes being execution-oriented, customer-focused and business results-focused. She has guided the creation of three millionaires and countless million-dollar results for companies and not-for-profits. She is an innovator who loves producing amazing results with and through others, on time and within budget, as a team.