Rounding up the latest in sales research and innovation.
October 20, 2021
By Mike Valade
Happy Halloween! And welcome to Maestro’s Sales News Monster Mashup. We’re bringing you the best of this month’s sales stories and research from around the web that you won’t want to miss.
If you checked out last week’s “Bad Omens” blog, you’ll love the lead-in to this Sales Hacker piece on career-defining a-ha moments for women in sales. As a sales consultancy that has had the privilege of working with and learning from many female sales leaders, we’re a big fan of this one.
One of my favorite pieces of advice for women in sales comes from tech executive/author/global speaker/mother Hang Black, who shared the following:
“Sales success has often been attributed to traditionally self-centric masculine attributes of competition and aggression. With a lens on customer-centricity, women can proudly #EmbraceYourEdge with traditionally female attributes of listening, empathy, and nurturing. Wait. Both genders can exhibit both traits? Bingo.”
You can learn more about Hang and her book here. She has the best website address ever.
Halloween is back, and so is Halloween spending. According to the National Retail Federation, consumer spending on Halloween-related products is expected to reach an all-time high—$10.14 billion. Maybe it’s because more of us feel safe trick-or-treating this year and are back to buying costumes and decorations. Or maybe it’s because some of us still don’t feel comfortable letting our kids trick-or-treat and are drowning our sorrows in sugar.
If you are planning to be part of this record-breaking Halloween spending trend, though, you need to get moving. Candy and costume shortages are expected according to the Halloween & Costume Association Chairman. Yes, that is a real association.
We’ve written before about implicit bias and how it can impact hiring and workplace morale. This month’s Harvard Business Review has a great article about a hiring practice we all use that introduces loads of implicit bias—checking out applicants’ social media profiles. Seventy percent of employers admit to doing this, and 54 percent have rejected applicants based on what they found through social media snooping.
Research on this tactic has revealed that, not only is some of the information legally prohibited from being considered, but the information is not predictive of job performance. But what if you’re just checking for egregious activities—those that are in direct conflict with your company’s values? If you feel the need to screen for red flags on social media, it’s recommended that someone other than the hiring manager do the digging so as not to introduce bias.
Also related to implicit bias, HBR reports this month that most of the implicit bias training happening right now doesn’t work—in fact, it might actually make things worse. Only ten percent of training programs provide strategies for actually lowering bias. Be sure to check out the article to learn what elements you should look for in implicit bias training to make it’s more successful for the long term.
HubSpot has pulled together a solid list of keys to success for those of you new to the sales game–frankly, we could all probably benefit from their tips. The list includes the suggestion to read HubSpot’s blog, which is a great resource. If you’re looking for more blog suggestions, the folks over at Close culled together a list of their favorite sales blogs—including their own, of course. Perhaps we will see Maestro Mastery on an updated version.
Our last treat comes from Salesforce, and could come in handy as we approach 2022. For many sales teams, their first attempt at a virtual SKO fell flat. That’s why Salesforce is offering a playbook for running a virtual sales kickoff since so many teams are still remote or are taking a hybrid approach.
Be sure to check out next week’s Maestro Mastery blog as we share some truly frightening sales horror stories. If you have any you want us to include, please send us an email.
If you’re looking for tips and training to avoid finding yourself in a sales horror story, get in touch with us at mastery@maestrogroup.co.
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