Filtered Index

If you’re like most in the IT sales space, you’ve probably read enough about sales to write your own how-to book. But while most of the sales literature out there focuses on what you should do to increase your chances of success, there’s perhaps too little emphasis on the kind of classic blunders that are virtually guaranteed to sink even the surest of sure things.

You’ve carefully cultivated a major deal from the first cold call all the way through to the contract negotiations. With meticulous attention to detail, you’ve crossed each ‘t’ and dotted every ‘i’. Now, with the finish line in sight, your client has come down with an acute case of cold feet and has a few last-minute concerns that need to be addressed before the deal can proceed.

If your firm has been lucky enough to build up a readily recognizable brand image and reputation, this has probably been the result of an extended process based upon a combination of both hard work and savvy marketing. If you let one of these elements fall by the wayside, even for a little while, it may be tough to regain lost ground later on.

For many managers at smaller and medium-sized firms, the jack-of-all-trades role is like second nature. When there are only a few high-ranking decision-makers on staff, it stands to reason that managers are at risk of getting tasked to the max. Now that many companies are facing uncertain economic conditions, it’s likely that the productivity demands on most managers will become even more pronounced.

Over the last decade or so, the trend of requiring prospective employees to undergo evaluations, assessments, and screening procedures before being offered a job has varied according to industry and prevailing market conditions.[...] Although research has generally shown that pre-employment screening tends to improve the quality and duration of employment for new hires, these assessments can be costly.

Researchers who study organizational dynamics have found that most workplace teams tend to move through cycles of high and low motivation. Today, with many industries facing tough realities and the economy faltering, it’s no wonder that some employees may be having a hard time working up their enthusiasm.