Subject: February Hire Score Newsletter

Welcome to the February edition of the Hire Score Newsletter. Thanks to all of you who referred your associates to the newsletter. Welcome to all the new subscribers (I hope I don't scare you away this month).

I have to start this month's letter with a rant. Things are just getting out of control and I can't take it any more. I just finished reading a couple of articles about sales, sales rep hiring and other related topics. What a bunch of crap!!

I will start with 3 pieces of bad advice about hiring. First, "talk the candidate out of the job to see if they will take no for an answer". How many times have I said interview behavior is NOT representative of job behavior? If you want to play games, pull out a deck of cards and play poker.

Next, some real estate guy said to ask the candidate to sell me your current house. Another real doozy! Why not say, "What was the most challenging home you have sold in the last year? What made the property challenging? Step me through the process you used. How did you position the house?" Enough said?

Finally, the advice was to call references on the weekend and leave a message that says to only call back if they have good things to say. If they don't call back you know the person is no good. It goes on to say that you will learn as much from those that don't call back as from those that do. If assumptions are the mother of all screw-ups, this is some kind of interesting advice.

No Tricks! No Games! No Gimmicks! That is my advice!

I am getting really tired of bad advice masquerading as useful information. I read an article about the three critical sales competencies: Sales Tools, Sales Process and Sales Management. If you don't get it, don't feel bad because this makes no sense. That is like saying a doctor's competency is a stethoscope. What are these people thinking?

I'm mad and I am not going to take it anymore. It is put up or shut up time! I have decided to create the definitive product on hiring sales reps. I am going to put my system, proven over 20 years, to the test. I am just finishing the product aptly titled, "How To Hire The Perfect Sales Rep". I have assembled, in one package, the simple step-by-step process I teach to my clients so they can win the war for sales talent.

This product is the culmination of everything I have learned, every technique I have used and every successful strategy I have put into practice. I am taking all the guesswork, all the mystery, all the myths and all the lousy advice and going to flush it down the toilet. If you will simply follow my process you will hire great sales talent.

Here is what I put in the product:

1. Performance-based success profile templates (you simply fill in the blanks and you are done)
2. Successful recruitment ad templates (fill in your company name & place them where I tell you and like magic you have great candidates)
3. More than 400 perfect interview questions (pick a requirement and you instantly have 10-12 great interview questions)
4. Sales reference checking questions (not that "tell me about Barry" crap either)
5. An objective evaluation matrix (no more guessing, just factual assessment)
6. A secret weapon that absolutely separates the eagles from the pidgeons.

And, I am including the single most requested item in the history of our company. You will get a video of me interviewing a sales candidate. No more guessing how, no more wondering if you are doing it right. Pop in the video and watch exactly how it should be done.

So there it is. I have been asked what gives me the right to put down other people's ideas. Well here is their chance to get even. I stake my reputation on this product. I will put this information up against any ever produced on the subject. This is the best that I can do and, you will hire great sales reps by simply following the step-by-step guide.

The product will be ready to ship March 15, 2002. It is going to sell for $297 and I will be launching a monster advertising, PR and marketing blitz for the product. But as always, you, my loyal readers, get first shot at the product (at a great price). If you want to reserve a copy send an email to salesrephire@selectingwinners.com before February 25th and I will hold you a copy for the price of $247. As I fully expect to sell out the first production run, I will not extend this deadline so email me now if you want to reserve your copy.

Back to the newsletter. The labor market has really switched from a focus of recruiting (finding good people) to selection (choosing the best person). The good news is that if you adopt a strategic approach to hiring, not much should change in your activities. You should always be on the lookout for talent and now is a great time to upgrade your sales force.

I was asked at a recent presentation whether or not this is a good time to be hiring sales reps. The answer is that this is the best time in the last couple of years to upgrade your sales staff. There is more talent available and it is more reasonably priced.

And, why would you not be looking for great sales talent? There was a study done by McKinsey and Company that showed that a top sales rep is 14 times more productive than an average sales rep. 14 times! If just one of your positions is upgraded or if you add just one top performing sales rep, you can reap a 1400% increase in productivity. I hope that is enough incentive for you to learn how to hire the best (reserve your How To Hire The Perfect Sales Rep now). So get out and upgrade your sales oraganization now.

Opportunity I've been hearing from many of you that the slowdown in the economy is affecting your business and you're not sure what to do about it. Since so many of you have expressed this same concern, I wanted to do something about it for you. I went to my good friend, Jeff Smith, "Chief Provocateur" for The Center For Personal Excellence, and asked him what he is recommending to his clients in similar situations. (Jeff is the guy I go to for strategic business advice).

For those of you who don't know Jeff, he is one of the clearest thinkers on business growth I've ever met. More than 1,100 CEOS, top executives, and business owners are using his proprietary "2X+1 System" to grow their profits to record levels despite the worldwide economic slowdown, so there's no question in my mind Jeff knows what he's talking about.

Here's one powerful idea Jeff shared with me when I asked him, "If you had 5 minutes to give a top executive direction in where to turn for growth in today's world, what would you say to him?"

Look for Kingpins:

Just as you are facing logjams that are blocking the growth of your business, the leaders of the lumber industry in Canada constantly deal with logjams as well. Adopting their Kingpin Strategy may be the key to unlocking powerful growth potential in your business.

Here's how:

The loggers know a few important things: Logjams are an inevitable part of their business. When they have a logjam, they never try to untangle all the logs; rather they look for one key log, called a Kingpin.

When they find the Kingpin and move it, often only a very small amount, it in turn moves the log next to it, which moves the log next to it, and on down the line until the logjam clears and the logs can float smoothly down the water again.

Apply this same mindset to your own business: Realize that growth usually occurs in spurts, followed by logjams. Rather than avoiding logjams, celebrate them as a part of the growth process, and look for Kingpins that will quickly and simply unlock your logjams and put you back on the path of rapid growth.

I then asked Jeff to give you folks some practical "how-to's" to implement.

He told me how he takes his private clients through a tightly focused process which helps them identify their Kingpins in the most systematic, scientific way, but you can begin this process on your own by asking yourself key questions such as: "What is the SMALLEST change I can make that will have the BIGGEST impact once made?" and "What area is the true logjam in my business?"

This is not always intuitively obvious. For example, sales may be stalled, and you could assume your salespeople are the logjam. In reality, it may be how you price your goods; it could be a key person in the production department who is slowing down delivery and therefore annoying your best customers; or it could be as simple as the way your product or service is positioned in your marketplace.

With the right guidance, any of these potential Kingpins could be fixed quickly and immediately free up your sales logjam. Getting everyone in your department or business looking for Kingpins is definitely one of the keys to succeeding in a slow economy.

Jeff has asked a group of 83 of the most successful executives he knows to join him at a Retreat... and he has asked YOURS TRULY to address all of them and share my latest systems for recruiting and retaining top-notch salespeople and other talent. And of course I said yes. I asked him if he would allow some of my top clients and subscribers to attend and he made a very generous offer for his upcoming "2X+1 Wealth Retreat" in Vancouver, April 19-20, 2002.

During The Retreat, Jeff will also be sharing the results of his recently completed Research Study in which he's precisely pinpointed the 3 most effective sales and marketing strategies for TODAY'S economic climate. In addition, he will be revealing for the first time ever, the Boundless Wealth Process which is the offspring of synthesizing the most effective profit growth strategies from more than 1,100 businesses who have been able to grow profits in tough competitive environments or slow economic times.

If you are interested in finding out more about the "Wealth Retreat" and whether you qualify to join us there, you can send an email directly to Jeff at stressfree@lvcm.com Just mention my name and this newsletter and ask him to send you the FREE information packet which will give you all the details you need to know about the "Wealth Retreat". I've seen the material he'll be covering there, as well as the caliber of your fellow attendees, so I HIGHLY recommend you join us in Vancouver.

And, if you qualify, believe it or not, it will be the LEAST expensive way you'll have to see me speak and personally ask me any question you want- as well as the perfect way to get your entire department or business 100% on track to a record year of growth, no matter what is happening in the world, the economy, or your industry.

Finally, don't forget to send me an email at combattraining@selectingwinners.com to reserve your spot for the training session with Tim Larkin April 5-6 in Las Vegas. If you have any question about this session, send an email to the address above and I will get you the information.

OK, interesting ideas and lot's of opportunities this month.

As usual, if you have comments or questions, send them to info@selectingwinners.com.