For GenX and GenY, the work is defined relative to the Task, not based on the Time Spent

I had the opportunity to hear Tammy Erickson speak about the future of the workforce (Confab Conference, 11/29/2007).  Tammy is co-author of Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent .  In her book, Ms. Erickson and her co-authors explore the world of work and the expectations of each of four generations (Traditionalists, Boomers, Gen X, and GenY).  The authors identify a seismic shift that is starting to happen in the workforce as Boomers move into semi-retirement and leadership positions are held by Xers and Yers. 
Tammy says Gen Yers are happy to do the work but cannot imagine taking 60 hours to do it or committing to the face-to-face posturing they see being done by elder generations.
Time to rethink the jobs to be done:  How do we revise and redefine our Telesales jobs to ensure that we are prepared to respond to the GenY candidates who will be looking for a blend of work and life outside of work? Fascinating stuff.  We need to embrace it now in order to define jobs in the near future.  Check out Tammy Erickson’s blog on Harvard Business Online.

Hiring Telesales people requires an understanding of your current position

Point-by-point comparisons of the candidate’s experience to the position you are hiring to will create more successful outcomes.

A complete understanding of the position you are filling is an essential part of the hiring process.  Now, that might seem obvious but it is (or perhaps it is not) surprising how often an attractive candidate is hired and is later to be found incompatible with the job.  And this after there has been the usual investment of time and energy to get the Telesales person oriented, acclimated, trained, supported.  All Telesales managers can point to at least a few of these hires over the course of a hiring lifetime.

Dave Kurlan, in his blog ‘Understanding the Sales Force’, gives an ever-too-frequent example of a sales person hired with sales experience that is incompatible with the new, current position. 

So, how can you stack the deck in your favor?

Start with a complete understanding of the position you are hiring.  And write it down. Make sure the interview tests for comparisons to the attributes and characteristics of your job profile.  Assign the components to the each stage of the interview (pre-screen, initial interview, follow-up meeting, etc.) in order to end the process with a complete comparison.  And be sure to check in mid-process to ensure you are on track to compare every point.  Of course, this is Telesales, you can always call the candidate to get a response to any unanswered categories if you find the interview team has not filled in every category. 

Continue here to see the Telesales Position Checklist for Interviews.

Does your Telesales Incentive Plan need an overhaul (or are you looking to implement your first?)?

Greg Brown offers some practical advice in his work.com ‘Guide to Sales Incentives’.  His best advice?

Make the program simple. Easy to understand, easy to measure, easy to track.  Provides the incentive to get the job done without having to get bogged down in the details.

Promote it, promote it, and then promote it some more. Leverage the program to the hilt by referring to it constantly.

Track progress publically. This ensures accuracy but, more importantly, it taps into the competitive juices of the Telesales people.

Be sure to have the rewards on hand. Make it real and make sure your reps trust the program by rewarding in a timely fashion.

Don’t let your telesales reps give up, keep dialing the C-Level prospects until…

In a survey of 205 b2b marketers and a review of the results of thousands of telemarketing campaign records, TeleNet Marketing found that it took an average of 7 calls to connect with C-Level prospects and that it took up to 12 calls to C-Level contacts before daily call returns started to drop off.  The full survey results are presented on Marketing Sherpa, reference article 30060.

Recommendation:  Tell your reps the results are in the numbers.  And be sure that they are armed with targeted voicemail scripts which give the prospect a compelling reason to return the call.

Using Management Checklists Points Out Important Focus Areas

There are so many moving parts to Customer Service and Telesales organizations that it is good to work with some standard checklists.  www.justsell.com has a number of good ones that can be used as is or customized to an organization.  Check out the Sales Evaluation.  It is designed as a self-evaluation tool for sales reps but could easily be used by managers.  The Customer Service Checklist is a good, basic start for a new Customer Care department.