http://www.downtothehire.com Helping managers make every hire count. Fri, 10 May 2013 12:57:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Down2theHire Podcast - helping managers make every hire count. Join Dave and Everett Reiss each week as they bring in an expert to talk about the latest small business hiring and recruiting issues and solutions that owners, executives, and managers must be aware of. Down2theHire Podcast no Down2theHire Podcast ev@downtothehire.com ev@downtothehire.com (Down2theHire Podcast) Copyright © Down to the Hire 2013 Join Dave and Everett Reiss each week as they bring in an expert to talk about the latest small business hiring and recruiting issues and solutions that owners, executives, and managers must be aware of. hiring, recruiting, small, business, small, business, hiring, human, resources, mid-size, businesses http://www.downtothehire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/down2thehire4podcast144X144.png http://www.downtothehire.com Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Weekly http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-5-of-5/ http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-5-of-5/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 12:57:42 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6453 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-5-of-5/feed/ 0 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-4-of-5/ http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-4-of-5/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 14:20:48 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6448 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-4-of-5/feed/ 1 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-3-of-5/ http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-3-of-5/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 14:41:44 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6441 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-3-of-5/feed/ 1 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-2-of-5/ http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-2-of-5/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 13:58:01 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6436 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes-part-2-of-5/feed/ 1 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes/ http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 14:53:31 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6426 http://www.downtothehire.com/tips-on-how-to-hire-an-employee-from-our-first-10-podcast-episodes/feed/ 0 http://www.downtothehire.com/hiring-for-social-media-positions-technical-fit-first-then-culture-fit-part-ii/ http://www.downtothehire.com/hiring-for-social-media-positions-technical-fit-first-then-culture-fit-part-ii/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:54:20 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6398 http://www.downtothehire.com/hiring-for-social-media-positions-technical-fit-first-then-culture-fit-part-ii/feed/ 0 community manager,facebook,facebook comments,hiring social media positions,negative customer feedback,nick eubanks,social media,social media jobs,social media manager,social media positions Last week on the Down2theHire Podcast, Nick Eubanks, VP of Digital Strategy for W.L. Snook & Associates – a digital holdings company, joined the show to discuss what he looks for when hiring for social media positions. Last week on the Down2theHire Podcast, Nick Eubanks, VP of Digital Strategy for W.L. Snook & Associates – a digital holdings company, joined the show to discuss what he looks for when hiring for social media positions.  Listen to Hiring Social Media Managers and Community Managers - Part I.  This week, Nick talks about the mistakes he's seen companies make when hiring for social media positions, and how he first wants to make sure candidates have the technical chops to do the job before worrying about culture fit. Mistakes companies make when hiring for social media The most common mistake Nick's seen companies make when hiring for social media positions is that they put a premium on culture fit at the expense of making sure their top candidate(s) is a technical fit. Nick says, "I think technical has to come first in my opinion.  The person can be a fantastic cultural fit, everyone likes them and they get along, and they believe in what the business believes in, but if they don't have the technical chops to do their job at the end of the day, they're not going to be effective." Nick gets the technical requirements out of the way up front, and then worries about culture fit later on in the hiring process. Small businesses need people who have the technical capabilities to complete the tasks and requirements for their job, which is far more important when it comes to getting new money in the door and growing a brand. How to make sure social media candidates are technical fits Nick gives social media candidates questions that forces them to think critically about business problems that they're going to have to solve for in their jobs. One sample question that Nick uses is: A customer leaves a very upset comment on our Facebook page about a recent campaign we ran.  How are you going to respond to this comment? For Nick, an immediate disqualifier is if the candidate says that they'd delete the comment from the Facebook page.  Nick believes that anytime a customer engages you on a social platform, it is an opportunity to create a positive experience and show that you care about your customers. These types of exercises provide key insights into how candidates think and react in social environments. Down2theHire Podcast no 5:36 http://www.downtothehire.com/hiring-social-media-managers-and-community-managers-separating-the-wheat-from-the-chaff-part-i/ http://www.downtothehire.com/hiring-social-media-managers-and-community-managers-separating-the-wheat-from-the-chaff-part-i/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:20:22 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6392 http://www.downtothehire.com/hiring-social-media-managers-and-community-managers-separating-the-wheat-from-the-chaff-part-i/feed/ 1 community manager,community managers,digital strategy,hiring community managers,hiring for social media,hiring social media managers,nick eubanks,social media manager,social media managers In this week's episode of the Down2theHire Podcast, Nick Eubanks, VP of Digital Strategy for W.L. Snook & Associates - a digital holdings company, joins the show to discuss how he efficiently hires social media managers and community managers. In this week's episode of the Down2theHire Podcast, Nick Eubanks, VP of Digital Strategy for W.L. Snook & Associates - a digital holdings company, joins the show to discuss how he efficiently hires social media managers and community managers. Social Media Managers versus Community Managers Nick defines the social media manager as someone who makes sure the brand is consistent across all social media channels - being sure the fonts, colors, logo, campaigns all have a consistent look and feel, and are error free.  In short, social media managers are content managers for social media. Community managers are focused on engaging with the people who are using and contributing content to the company's site and social media profiles.  The community manager responds to emails, comments, and questions, and drives the conversations that people are having through the relevant social media channels. Therefore, when hiring for community managers, Nick is looking for outgoing people, who have developed a clear voice and personality online that jives with the business. What is "doing social media"? Nick often wonders what people mean when they say that they can "do social media?"  If that means simply posting updates on Linkedin, Facebook, or Twitter then they probably don't know how to leverage these tools to expand a brand or grow a business. Nick points out that the key is finding social media managers and community managers that have actually managed and created profitable campaigns for businesses, organizations, or causes.  The most successful campaigns, Nick says, are when people have creatively solved a problem through either gathering information that is spread out across the web in many different places, or providing a more comprehensive view on something that has been only covered in bits and pieces up to that point. Also, tune in next week for Part II of our interview with Nick. Down2theHire Podcast no 7:49 http://www.downtothehire.com/wired-for-sales-what-to-look-for-in-your-next-sales-hire/ http://www.downtothehire.com/wired-for-sales-what-to-look-for-in-your-next-sales-hire/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:26:19 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6386 http://www.downtothehire.com/wired-for-sales-what-to-look-for-in-your-next-sales-hire/feed/ 0 80/20 rule in sales,assessing salespeople,attributes of salespeople,core value index,cost of hiring the wrong salesperson,cvi,developing salespeople,disc pofiles,hiring salespeople,jim allen,pareto's principle in sales,personality traits of salespeople Last week, in Hiring Salespeople - Part I, we discussed how Pareto's Principle applies to most sales organizations where 80 percent of the revenue is produced by 20 percent of the salespeople. - This week, Jim Allen, Last week, in Hiring Salespeople - Part I, we discussed how Pareto's Principle applies to most sales organizations where 80 percent of the revenue is produced by 20 percent of the salespeople. This week, Jim Allen, Founder and Principal of Value Based, Inc - a company that helps businesses build and develop their own sales organizations - joins the show to discuss how you can break through the 80/20 rule by more effectively recruiting, assessing, and hiring salespeople who are already "wired" for sales. What attributes do the most successful salespeople possess? Jim rattled off the following characteristics that we should be looking for when looking to hire a salesperson: Self-starter: When top salespeople get up in the morning, go to work, and are setting up their calendar; they're thinking "what can I initiate" or "what can I be intentional about today that would help open up, advance, or close a sales opportunity?" Competitive: This goes along with the desire to win that we discussed last week. Strategic and long-term thinker and planner: someone who sees past the immediate transaction and is looking to build valuable relationships with prospects, clients, and partners. Creative problem solvers: This is especially important for people selling complex products and services that take a while to sell and implement.  It is also important that they believe in and standby their creative solutions, even when facing objections from prospects or clients. Perseverance: Important for a salesperson to quickly get back up when they face rejection, or are even offended by prospects or clients. Confidence (arrogant-free, please!) Humility: Jim describes this as not thinking less of yourself in relation to others; but simply directing more of your thoughts towards serving your clients, prospects, or co-workers, instead of being wrapped up in thoughts about yourself and your own comfort. Empathy: Being able to walk a mile in the prospects shoes, or getting inside their heads, feeling their pain or discomfort that they're trying to solve for. Are successful salespeople born or developed? Jim believes that salespeople who are successful over the long-haul - 10 or more years - are born.  Jim's seen people succeed in sales for 2 or 3 years, but if they're not wired for sales then they eventually move on to areas more inline with their natural gifting and talents. Jim advocates using instruments like the CORE Value Index (CVI) or DISC profiles to assess whether candidates have the right makeup for sales.  Jim uses the CORE Value Index because it goes beyond behavior and personality and gets into what motivates and drives people.  Him and his clients have had really good success using the CORE Value Index to profile their top salespeople, and then using them as the standard for which to compare candidate CVI profiles to. How high is the cost of hiring the wrong salesperson? Jim estimates that the mistake of hiring the wrong salesperson can easily cost $300,000 to $400,000 when you're dealing with account managers or salespeople involved with going after and maintaining target accounts for technology companies.  First there's all the time and money spent hiring that person, but then you have to account for lost momentum, damaged relationships or relationships with key accounts that could have been more profitable had the right person been in place, and then all the costs associated with having to recruit, hire, train, and ramp up a new person to replace the mis-hire. Want to sponsor the Down2theHire Podcast, submit your request here?  Have a great idea or topic that you’d like us to cover, submit your ideas and questions here? Down2theHire Podcast no 10:59 http://www.downtothehire.com/two-things-you-have-to-know-before-you-hire-your-next-salesperson/ http://www.downtothehire.com/two-things-you-have-to-know-before-you-hire-your-next-salesperson/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:59:57 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6379 http://www.downtothehire.com/two-things-you-have-to-know-before-you-hire-your-next-salesperson/feed/ 1 Are salespeople born, or are they developed? This is the million dollar question, and on this week's podcast, Hiring Salespeople - Part I, we find out that they're born! How should this affect how managers and executives approach hiring salespeople? Are salespeople born, or are they developed? This is the million dollar question, and on this week's podcast, Hiring Salespeople - Part I, we find out that they're born! How should this affect how managers and executives approach hiring salespeople? Pareto's Principle is entirely applicable to most sales organizations where 80 percent of the revenue is produced by 20 percent of the salespeople. A lot of time, money, and effort goes into training salespeople, usually about a year, so it is depressing to think that these finite resources get used up on sales recruits who produce mediocre to poor results. How do you get your sales organization to breakthrough Pareto's Principle or the 80/20 rule? Accept the fact that not everyone can sell; and recruit, screen, and hire for the core-characteristics that make up successful salesperson.  Harvard Business Review showed  us that the most successful salespeople had to have at least these two characteristics when they answered the question, What Makes a Good Salesman?: Strong ego drive, meaning a deep desire to win, or competitive spirit. High on empathy, meaning that they are tuned into people's feelings, concerns, and fears. Next week, Jim Allen, Founder and Principal of Value Based, Inc, a company that helps organizations build and develop their own sales organizations, will be joining the show to further discuss how to build an effective sales team made up of salespeople who possess these types of characteristics. Want to sponsor the Down2theHire Podcast, submit your request here?  Have a great idea or topic that you’d like us to cover, submit your ideas and questions here? Down2theHire Podcast no 4:56 http://www.downtothehire.com/affordable-pre-employment-testing-options-for-small-business/ http://www.downtothehire.com/affordable-pre-employment-testing-options-for-small-business/#comments Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:53:34 +0000 Ev http://www.downtothehire.com/?p=6375 http://www.downtothehire.com/affordable-pre-employment-testing-options-for-small-business/feed/ 0