Why it's so tough to find digital-sales talent

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November 14, 2011 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF Share | Sign up | Archive | Advertise The Leaderboard    Trouble connecting with others? You may be overthinking Research shows that the way we use our brains can affect the way we interact with others in the workplace. "Leaders who spend too much time analyzing and strategizing may find it difficult to activate their rarely used social circuits," David Rock writes. That may explain why some leaders are unable to connect with their team members under pressure. Harvard Business Review online/HBR Blog Network (11/11)      Key Steps Business Owners Should Know About Successful International Payments. This American Express® guide helps you streamline FX payments. Includes FX payment provider profile, how to simplify payments, and insightful FAQ. Sales Strategies    Reduce your reliance on sales forecasting Spending too much time on sales forecasting can take sales leaders' time away from important tasks, writes Dan Perry. To reduce the focus on forecasting, sales leaders should spend more time in the field, he writes. It's also essential to make sure you hire sales representatives you can trust and to create a sales process they can follow, he writes. Sales Benchmark Index/Sales Force Effectiveness Blog (11/12)      Why it's so tough to find digital-sales talent Surging demand for digital-sales professionals has made hiring top talent a difficult and expensive proposition. Part of the problem is a shortage of people with the proper educational background, and a recent survey has found that many say there aren't enough training opportunities in the industry. Evan Gotlib of Blip.tv is addressing his company's sales needs by looking for people who know how to close a deal rather than searching only for those with extensive digital experience. "You have to hire people who understand when someone says, 'No,' that that's just when the job starts," he said. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (11/11)      How to create a productive employee-feedback program Creating a top-notch experience for your customers requires having satisfied employees to cater to them, Greg Marek writes. An employee-feedback program can help to ensure your people are engaged. The success of such a program requires agreement about its objectives, employee participation and a focus on privacy to build trust, he writes. CustomerThink (11/13)      Organizations who handle payment card data are obligated to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This whitepaper discusses how the TransArmor® solution can enable scope reduction, minimizing costs and effort of PCI compliance. Daily Data Points    SMBs increase IT spending, use tablets and cloud services IT budgets for small and midsized businesses have increased 9% over the first half of the year to an average of $143,000, according to a study by Spiceworks. One third of respondents said they are using tablets, and 46% are employing cloud-based services, the survey found. BusinessNewsDaily.com (11/11)      Other News U.S. economy shifts from recovery to growth mode Bloomberg Businessweek (11/14)      Is domestic ad spending headed for a Q3 decline? The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (11/14)      Report: Industrial-space demand grew slightly in third quarter DC Velocity online (11/10)      Organizational Privacy Architecture and Assessment This checklist for Ecommerce, Web Development and Design, and Direct Marketing professionals enables you to gauge your organization’s privacy compliance and best practice levels. Thousands of companies leave the intricacies of privacy management to TRUSTe, the 13-year-old leader in online privacy. Gain an overview of the program today. Strategies from Sales & Marketing Management    Spot a profit-margin problem and fix it fast When businesses are cutting spending, your own sales team can become the highest hurdle to clear in terms of retaining profit margins. The temptation for salespeople is to lower prices and toss in add-ons that they used to charge for. A little more digging when comparing quarterly sales can help identify problem salespeople, writes Nico Schinagl, who also provides steps to take to put the company back on the path to higher profits. Sales & Marketing Management (11/11)      How to Master the Art of Content Marketing Learn how to turn content assets into online consumer engagement and higher web conversions. In this report, you’ll find: • An overview of content marketing strategies and solutions • Keys to content development success • Must-haves for content publishing and distribution On the Road    A picture is worth a thousand denials when rental car companies find damage Before you drive that rental car off the lot, you may want to take a minute to pull out your smartphone and snap a few pictures -- especially of any areas of the car that appear to be damaged. "Yes, that phone can sometimes save you real money: When in doubt, take a picture," Ed Perkins writes. SmarterTravel.com (11/1)      Logistics is much more than the movement of goods and services. It's also your pre-game strategy. Before you step on the court, you need the right players running the right plays at the right time. Learn more about those key plays in this free whitepaper from UPS and get in the game of logistics. App Update    A pen that can transfer written information to your computer The Livescribe Echo is a digital pen that can be used to write down information and then transfer that data to a computer. The device, which costs $100 for the model with the least storage, is an "easy-to-use and cost-effective alternative to often-expensive mobile work terminals," writes Jonathan Blum. But those with poor handwriting may have trouble with the pen, and getting the data into your logistics software can take a little effort, he notes. Entrepreneur.com (11/11)      Relax with the “Beyond Breakfast” package at The Benjamin. Indulge with breakfast for two each morning at celebrity Chef Geoffrey Zakarian's newest restaurant–The National, and enjoy 20% off spa services. Sample our renowned 12-choice pillow menu before dozing off with a satin eye mask for a great night’s sleep. Call 1.866.222.BENJ. Use code BFAST. Most Read  Top five news stories selected by SmartBrief on Sales readers in the past week. Stop competitors from spying on your sales reps via LinkedIn (Sales Benchmark Index) Are you rewarding lousy salespeople? (Sales Benchmark Index) What your marketing department needs to do to help your team sell (Harvard Business Review online) How to tell when your workers are lying to you (SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership) Want to be the boss? Stop being so nice to everyone (Kellogg Insight) Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. Featured Content    Profiting From Your Competitor's Mistakes Mike Periu 9 Easy Ways Small Retailers Can Attract Holiday Shoppers RIEVA LESONSKY Small Business Snapshot: What Does American Idol Have To Do With CRM? Anonymous The 2 Questions You Should Be Addressing On Twitter Rohit Bhargava The Fed's Dennis Lockhart: Startups Are Key To Recovery Courtney Rubin Most Popular Headlines from Last Week Ashton Kutcher Is Not The Answer Courtney Rubin The 4 Laws To A Perfect Elevator Pitch (And How To Create One) Neil Patel Why Customer Engagement Is Just As Important As Customer Service Rick Jensen Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Business Wire and SmartBrief Announce Partnership Expansion Interested in learning more about advertising with SmartBrief? Click here for detailed industry information and media kits.  Making Small Talk  Where the place you go meets the way you go The Neo, a motorcycle that uses a toilet as its seat and runs on environmentally friendly fuel created from sewage and livestock waste, can reach speeds of 45 mph and recently traveled across Japan. "Although the seat of the bike is indeed a toilet, it is not for actual use. ... It's a surprisingly nice way to travel," said Kenji Fujita of Japanese toilet company Toto, which developed the vehicle. Yahoo!/Reuters (11/11)      Position Title Company Name Location VP, Sales and Marketing Atlantic Media Company Washington, DC Inside Sales Executive (ISE) FuelQuest Houston, TX Sales Training & Mgmt Development Consultant Colonial Life Columbia, SC Click here to view more job listings. SmartQuote  [W]hatever you do, don't obsess over forecasting. Get out there and build your pipeline." --Dan Perry, writing in the Sales Force Effectiveness Blog at Sales Benchmark Index      SmartBrief on Sales Partners SmartBrief delivers need-to-know news in over 100 targeted email newsletters to over 3 million readers. All our industry briefings are FREE and open to everyone—sign up today! 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