Breaking out of a Bad Sales Slump

Breaking out of a Bad Sales SlumpBreaking out of a Bad Sales SlumpIn his book Getting Started as a Freelance Writer, Robert Bly details his highly technical three-step process for getting out of a writing slump. Ready? Here goes Do SomethingDo MoreKeep Doing It While this strategy is designed for writing slumps, it works just as well to conquer a bad sale slump. Do Something When you have an unsuccessful day, its depressing. When you have an unsuccessful week, it can cause a feeling akin to panic. The longer a sales slump goes on, the stronger will become the instinct to stay in bed with the covers pulled over your head and avoid human contact. Since your sales manager probably wont let you do this, the next closest approach- and the one many salespeople adopt- is to avoid selling anything. A salesperson whos having trouble might bury herself in paperwork, take three-hour business lunches, schedule appointments an hours drive away to spend as much time as possible on the road, et c. The problem with this coping strategy is clear- if you dont sell, you wont make any sales. This is blindingly obvious to someone in a clear state of mind, but if youre mentally paralyzed from a lack of sales youre probably not thinking it through. Instead of avoiding sales situations, you need to seek them out as much as possible to break out of the slump. Try to hand off as many non-sales-related tasks as possible until you break out of the slump. For example, see if you can be excused from staff meetings and hand off paperwork to an admin. Do More If you would normally make 20 cold calls per day, instead make 40 or 50. Or you could simply decide to keep calling until you have five appointments, even if that means you spend ten straight hours on the phone. Talk to all your existing customers and see if you can upsell them new products, or ask them for referrals. Whatever sales activities you normally pursue, do mora of them- lots more. Now is also the time to try sales techn iques outside of your normal comfort zone, whether its sending out a direct mail package or launching a social networking campaign on Twitter. Do you have an account on LinkedIn? Hit up your contacts for referrals or even pitch them directly. Keep Doing It You probably wont see instant results on whatever strategies you adopt. If youre totenstill in panic mode youll be inclined to drop it and try something else. Resist the urge. Sales techniques rarely yield immediate results even in the best of times, and obviously, if youre having bad sales youre not in the best of times. Give each sales method a chance to work... a few days to a week at least. If youre still not reaping any benefits, then table it and try something else. And if you do start to see results on a particular strategy, do more of it Stubbornness and persistence are the keys to defeating a bad sales slump, and those are qualities most salespeople have in abundance.

MIT professor Cities not the land of opportunity they once were

MIT professor Cities not the land of opportunity they once wereMIT professor Cities not the land of opportunity they once wereCities have often been seen as a land of opportunity for those in search of higher wages and job growth. And for young, highly educated adults, thats still true. But for adults without a college education, its not completely clear if such a land exists anymore.When Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor David H. Autor presented research in Atlanta this winter, he seemed somewhat flummoxed by his own findings, which went against his original assumptions. As expected, he had found that it was a great time for young college graduates to flock to urban areas. But the same couldnt be said forthose with only a high school diploma or less.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreNo go for middle-skill workersIn fact, over the past decades, non-college-educated w orkers have been pushed into low-skill jobs when there was less demand for middle-tier positions and more highly educated job seekers were around to fill whatever clerical roles were left. As office administration, sales and production jobs have been mostly automated and mechanized, non-college-educated middle-skill workers have been kicked out of the fields they once relied on for a livelihood.Meanwhile, in urban areas, theres been a growth of managerial, professional and technical posts that offer a high wage, as well as an increase in low-wage, in-person service occupations. One might assume that, with the advent of so many new highly skilled jobs, workers who had occupied the middle-skill roles could move up the rungs for a better, more lucrative career. And among college-educated adults, thats exactly what happened.But those who did not attend college experienced the opposite trend. Instead of taking on newly minted, highly skilled roles, city dwellers with a high school diplom a or less were funneled into the low-paying service industry jobs that had cropped up, according to Autors analysis. They now fill positions in food services, cleaning, security, entertainment, hospitality and other industries that require little skill and promise almost no career development.And so Autor found the advantages that once came with living in a city have essentially disappeared for those who are not college-educated.There are new jobs being pioneered all the time, and Autor tried to answer whether those potential career paths could make up for the loss in middle-skill jobs and the uptick in college-educated young adults who are staying in cities after graduation. His conclusion Not really.Autor broke the jobs of tomorrow into three categories Frontier jobs, wealth work jobs and last mile jobs. Frontier jobs - such aswind turbine technicians and intelligence analysts - account for about 5% of the job market. Theyre high-paying and dominated by men as well as highly ski lled workers.Wealth work, in contrast, is dominated by women who are only slightly more educated than people in your average job. Some examples Exercise physiologist and sommelier.And then there are the last mile jobs - jobs that have been mostly automated but still require some work by a human being. Think underground utility cable locator. These are jobs that arent very desirable and wont last long, and theyre concentrated among people with a high school education or less, Autor found. Heres the jggeli Most of them are remote, so they arent even located in cities.Based on the analysis, Autor said he is not as sure that cities are the land of opportunity he once believed they were. They fill that role for a highly skilled workforce looking for career growth. But for everyone else, they promise very little.So much for concrete jungles where dreams are made of.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

How to tailor your executive-level resume for a job board

How to tailor your executive-level resume for a job mainboardHow to tailor your executive-level resume for a job boardIts so important when job hunting to know what youre looking for. If you dont, you could easily get swamped and find yourself tumbling down several rabbit holes in your quest for your next executive-level job. But what to do once you have narrowed down your search? Tailor your executive-level resume accordingly.Read on for our four top tips for how to tailor your executive-level resume for a job board.1. Executive-level resume keywordsThis tip applies to any resume writing you may do. You cant make the mistake of believing that only humans will search the job board databases looking for the ideal candidate and naively think that when they stumble across your resume, they will realize they have hit the jackpot. Life just isnt that kind.The majority of recruiters utilize the services of applicant tracking systems (ATS) to do early-stage resume sifting for them. ATSs fil ter out appropriate resumes that contain keywords and phrases that are pertinent to the job opening that employers are looking to fill.Therefore, your executive-levelresume has to be liberally, but naturally, filled with the right keywords and phrases to ensure that the robots zupflmmel it up and put it in the correct pile.To do this, hunt out executive level jobs that appeal to you. Read the job description and the ideal candidate description, then, highlight the keywords and phrases that the recruiter has used.Repeat these words and phrases throughout your resume, but be sure not to overdo it. You want your resume to read naturally, not look as if its just an amalgamation of appropriate words.2. Clarify your work historyThe type of jobs that youre applying for will want to see on your resume that you have risen through the ranks, and gained the appropriate and necessary experience, to qualify you for that executive level job.To demonstrate that you have this experience effectively , you will have to do the following for each positionInclude a brief overview of the role.Say why you were hired for this particular role, e.g., did you have specific experience or a certain skill set that made you stand out from the other applicants?If you were hired to turnaround a team or resolve certain challenges, include the starting position and what your end result was.Remember to keep it brief and succinct. You only have two pages of A4 for your whole resume, so include the key details and refrain from being overly verbose. Use short, pithy sentences, with the main points bulleted for ease of reading and understanding.3. Go big earlyThe purpose of your resume is to match the criteria set to the resume-filtering robots, and secondly to pique the interest of the recruiter to get them to want to read the entire thing, and then invite you for interview to find out more.The best way to hook their interest is to go big early. Dont leave your huge achievements and key skills until midway through the third paragraph. Open your resume with them.In your resumes objective clearly stateWho you are.What you bring to the table, your experience, any big name companies you have worked for and any great successes you have had. Dont shy away from your achievements, shout about them.What you type of executive-level job you are looking for.4. Focus on your leadership abilitiesBecause youre applying for executive-level jobs, you have to clearly demonstrate that you have leadership abilities. No one wants to hire an executive and then hold their hand while they figure out what they are doing.Make it clear from the outset that you are a great leader. In your key skills section give examples of times when you were an effective leader and the outcomes you were able to produce.Include any qualifications, hobbies, volunteering or personal experience that you may have that shows youre not just a leader in work, but are a natural leader in life too.Finally, remember that your res ume is the best version of you that you can be, so spell check, spell check and spell check it one more time.Resume-Library is the fastest-growing job board in the U.S. For more expert advice on job searches, careers, and the workplace, visit their Career Advice pages.Share Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments