Tag Archives: sales

Understanding the “Ying and Yang” of a Sales Career

Professional Guidance, Uncategorized, , , ,

We all know the reasons why we chose a career in Sales.  Maybe it was because people told us we have the “gift of gab”? Maybe it was because we had all the traits that are required to do the job . . .  Empathy, Focus, Optimism along with a healthy ego? Maybe we liked getting up in the morning and dressing nice, presenting a confident image to the world. Maybe because your day is never boring—it’s filled with anticipation and excitement, usually generated from opportunities that you seized and acted upon. And there is the financial aspect. The harder that you work, the more money that you make. Because you provide revenue to companies, you reap the financial rewards. But what if that is not the case?

In some sales positions, the sales profession is hired to sell to a target audience that is meager or in a market that is saturated with tons of salespeople selling the same product, or maybe even a better one. Sometimes you’re trying to sell to Enterprise level in a region that has few companies with enough people to even qualify. Or sadly, sometimes, the product being sold has grown so fast that client support is lacking, and soon, there is so much negative conversation among your prospective clients, that you cannot overcome bad PR and sell to anyone.

In those situations, what do you do? Some experts say to get fresh air and sunshine, eat better, get more sleep, and exercise when things are impossible. Some say an important thing to do is to stop commiserating with coworkers about what is not working. Instead, spend time with friends that are always incredibly upbeat and positive. Call the other sales reps in your company who ARE having success, listen to how they do it.  Visiting family is also a great way to remove yourself from the situation for a while to recharge and gain new perspective. Also there are so many online courses now—many free—that will help you feel empowered and that you are doing something constructive for your future, just in case. The top four online education tools are Udemy, Coursera, edX and Clarity to name a few. There even courses on Groupon now as well! And Linkedin has also teamed up with Lynda.com to offer easy access to courses for its members. Also, this is a good time to work on your resume and Linkedin profile as it will give you a good feeling to see your accomplishments in black and white.

If ultimately, your current sales career cannot be salvaged, the truth is sometimes sales opportunities are just not a match for your region or your strengths. In that situation, it’s time to connect with contacts from your past and make new contacts in the sales arena that specialize in sales and sales management so that they can better match you with a more lucrative career where you can excel.

A career in sales will always be a desirable move as it will allow you to earn high income levels quickly, gain valuable life skills—such as self-motivation, presentation, interpersonal and negotiation skills and offers autonomy for those that like freedom and not be micromanaged.  It also offers the opportunity to build a huge network as you are forming your business relationships for sales. The larger your network, the easier your future will be to both sell to new clients and also to network for better job opportunities.

A Hollingsworth, Metro Team Resources – http://www.metroteamresources.com

Metro Team Resources Appoints Scott Johnson as Senior Search Consultant for new Midwest Satellite

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New York, NY, July 15 2015 – Metro Team Resources, LLC (Metro), www.metroteamresources.com, the national recruiting and executive search firm, recently announced the appointment of Scott Johnson as Senior Search Consultant.

Johnson brings 15 plus years of successful sales experience and an expansive network in several industries including HCM/Payroll, Insurance, and Financial Services.  Prior to joining the MTR team, he was a Sales Director with Maxwell Health providing Benefit Enrollment technology to Benefit Brokers across the Midwest and the prior 8 years were spent in inside  and outside sales roles with leading companies such as Oracle, ADP, and Ameriprise Financial.

Johnson’s network in the areas of Payroll, Talent Management, Employee Benefits Administration, and Insurance will make him a great asset to any organization looking to recruit quality employees in addition to being a great resource to candidates.  He brings significant first-hand experience to the candidate process and is eager to share his knowledge and passion for helping individuals find their perfect career fit.

Johnson joined the MTR team after finding lucrative careers through Jeff during the last few years. Scott explained  “After being a sales candidate myself, I felt MTR brought such a significant value proposition to not only me as a candidate but also to the organizations they serve by way of MTR’s experience in the industry as former sales or sales leaders themselves. This was invaluable  . . . I felt working with Jeff would be a great match for my skills and my passion to help others succeed.  It doesn’t hurt that the MTR team has top quality individuals.”

Johnson currently lives in a suburb of Minneapolis MN and when he is not busy chasing after his two young boys, he is spending time with his wife, enjoying the outdoors —fishing, golfing, or playing and coaching hockey.  He is also a die-hard sports fan and is passionate about the Wild, Gophers, Twins, and Vikings.  If you just want to talk about some sports and fishing in addition to your career goals, he is your guy!

Please contact Scott Johnson at sjohnson@metroteamresources.com or 612-590-8573.

Diary of a Reluctant Remote Sales Professional

Professional Guidance, , , , , , ,

This is for all us who woke up at the crack of dawn, put on the news to hear how traffic was progressing, ironed a fresh long-sleeved button down shirt, found the perfect tie and then pondered the best route for our commute. You jumped into your car thinking, “Do I have time to stop for coffee?”, “Oh no, is there road work again?”  “I need to stop for gas, I’m getting low”.  Finally after fighting crazy rush hour, you arrive at work. Coworkers greet you with enthusiastic “hellos” and “how are you doing today” small talk.

You ask a friend how she’s feeling because you know that she had surgery over the weekend, then head down the hall to ask another coworker how the kids were this weekend, as she has her husband’s step-children visit every other weekend…. Your day turns into a whirlwind of chit chat with coworkers that pass by, clients and vendors that visit the office that day, as well as the joy of finding out that Beth make her famous cinnamon coffee cake which was just placed in the kitchen.

It’s 1pm now and you’re starving. Two of your associates just mentioned they were going to Joe’s Pizza so I guess that’s as healthy as it gets today. You arrive at the Pizza place, with everyone engaged in conversation about their family drama, work drama, good dinners that they had at Le Sur that weekend and upcoming vacations. After stopping at the bank, you head back. It’s two o’clock and you have some conference calls scheduled in the afternoon so you run down to the conference room. Soon it’s 6pm and you’re back on the highway heading home. Taylor Swift is singing on the radio and you’re calling your kids to see how their days were. Half hour later your home and life is good. That was then.

Then fast forward after living this scenario for over 15 years and a new exciting sales job presents itself. They are Headquartered are in North Carolina and the best part the recruiter boasts is that “you’ll even be able to work from home”.

That brought visions of taking sales calls on a hammock out on the lawn with a gin and tonic. Maybe even catching an old episode of House on TV at lunch.  No such thing happened. It’s more a life of waking up naturally (hey there’s no commute and I can be ready in 5 minutes), eat breakfast at home—there is even time to cook oatmeal—then walk three steps into a spare room/new office and start your day. No need to shave; and shorts, a t-shirt and sandals are the new wardrobe if there are no appointments. The only words I can use to describe the change in my life is . . . “Culture Shock”.  And maybe “Solitude”. Gone are the days of camaraderie and office friends, now it’s strange people I’ve never met who live in 5 different states that call once a week.  I sit in a room with a view of my backyard all day. I am proud to admit that I can recognize every type of bird–They even have names. Chris the Cardinal, Billy the blue jay and of course those crazy starlings who steal all the bird seed. No interruptions…just never-ending sourcing and talking to prospects on the phone. When lunchtime rolls around, it’s last night’s leftovers, alone. And when your day is done, there is no unwinding on the way home…you just walk into the kitchen and wonder what you’ll eat for dinner.

All I can say is if you’ve never worked remotely, and think it may be the ideal way to work, think twice if you’ve acclimated to a corporate office lifestyle. I can’t say that I’m unhappy but you should be prepared for some weeks, if not months, of being disoriented. Some survival techniques are to make sure you LEAVE at lunchtime even just to do an errand or walk around home depot, make sure you have a strong support system for entertainment so you can feel engaged with the world on a personal level and last but not least, try not to linger outside too long during the day or else your retired neighbors will start rumors that you are unemployed!

Metro Team Resources July 8, 2016 http://www.metroteamresources.com

Metro Team Resources Opens New Satellite Office In Wilmington, NC Area

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New York, NY, March 29, 2016 – Metro Team Resources, LLC (Metro), www.metroteamresources.com, leading global sales recruiting and executive search firm, continues to grow exponentially and has announced its expanded coverage of the Southeastern US with a significant new presence in North Carolina. Randall Gans, who has joined Metro as Senior Director of Business Development, will lead the firm’s focus in this area.

Gans brings over 30 years of senior sales, sales management and marketing leadership experience in the Human Capital Management industry working for ADP. He joined Metro Team Resources to bring his unique insight and understanding and exceptional record of success to help identify other high performers to help position them with the best opportunities to further their career goals.

He began his impressive sales career in the Human Capital Management space across all business size segments—achieving company top performer club awards and honors.  He continued his career with an equally stellar 13 years track record as a high performing sales executive helping to drive his personal passion to find, develop and promote the best and brightest talent. Gans will be spearheading this initiative for Metro Team Resources from his base in North Carolina.

Gans will work closely with the founder of Metro Team Resources, Jeffrey Dooney, along with his stellar team of executive recruiters and marketing professionals, all highly adept at placing executive, sales and sales management candidates globally.

Commenting on the recent expansion, Dooney said, “MTR continues to grow and remain in high demand by employers due to our unique approach . . . everyone on our team has experience managing highly-productive sales teams and organizations. ‘We get sales professionals’ and go to great lengths to ensure that our clients and candidates are perfectly matched and completely satisfied with the connections we make.”

For additional information, please contact Jeff Dooney at jdooney@metroteamresources.com.

Metro Team Resources Appoints Dan Hajjar as Managing Director

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New York, NY, February 23, 2015

Metro Team Resources, LLC (Metro), www.metroteamresources.com, the national recruiting and executive search firm, today announced the appointment of Dan Hajjar as Managing Director effective immediately. Hajjar is responsible for servicing and supporting client placement mandates and positioning quality candidates for future career advancement. He joins Jeffrey Dooney, Founder and CEO, and a team of executive recruiters and marketing professionals.

Hajjar brings more than 20 years of management and human capital consulting, payroll and employee benefits administration, and HR outsourcing experience to the position. Before joining Metro Team Resources, Dan spent the past few years building a successful management consulting firm focusing on helping “start-up” companies develop their HR and IT infrastructure. For most of the last decade while at Aon Consulting and Willis, Hajjar held senior leadership positions as a national practice director of an insurance carrier consulting unit, a human capital consulting group, and led Willis of New Jersey, Inc. Additionally, Dan was the senior-most executive leading the Aon Human Capital Services, LLC end-to-end HR and business process outsourcing company for Aon Consulting.

Prior to joining Aon Consulting, Hajjar was a partner and Vice President at Actuarial Sciences Associates, Inc. a leading actuarial, employee benefits, and insurance and human capital consulting firm. Dan’s introduction to the employee benefits and insurance industry began at The Ayco Company (a Goldman Sachs wholly-owned subsidiary) where he was a principal of the firm and whereby he joined after completing his military obligation as an officer in the U.S. Army.

Commenting on the appointment, Dooney said, “I am thrilled to welcome Dan to the expanding Metro team. His wealth of experience in building highly effective organizations positions him perfectly to add tremendous value to our clients, especially in developing talent acquisition strategies and on-boarding top-notch talent. Together with Dan, and the exceptional team that we have in place, I look forward to further extending Metro’s message and continuing our journey to becoming the premier recruitment partner in our industry.”

Hajjar said, “I am extremely excited and energized to join Metro Team Resources’ dynamic leadership team and inspired colleagues as we continue to focus on delivering exception value and service to our clients and candidates, expanding our brand in the marketplace, and growing our business across the country. My decision to join Metro is unequivocally based on the firm’s commitment to our clients and our mission to serve as advocates of such trusted relationships, which are clearly stated, fully transparent, and actionably demonstrated in how we go about our business every day.”

Please contact Dan Hajjar at dhajjar@metroteamresources.com or at (908) 693-8846.