How to Hire A Plus Players

by Beth Standlee | May 27, 2010 | Sales

Last week, I had the opportunity to work with a group of new hire candidates. We executed the 3–step TrainerTainment hiring process in order to hire a performing staff for a new location: Job Fair, Casting Call and Auditions. The basic goal is to hire “performers” and then teach them the job.

It is an awesome process. The job fair is atypical in that the applicant really only gets a “hand shake” moment, two questions, and then “bye bye”. They are on their way. A member of management then makes “first impression” decisions about the potential performer based on:

1. The applicant’s smile.
2. Their ability to make eye contact.
3. Their confidence level. (Yes, I know this is subjective.)
4. Their dress.
5. Their handshake.

The card below is the rating card that is used. Once the 2 questions are asked, then the score is taken. Scoring is 1–5 with 1 being “Oops! You might be able to work somewhere, but NOT here!”, and 5 is – “YES you have made it to the next round.” With 7 categories, 35 is the highest possible grade.

In the past, we have decided that a score of at least 28, which is 80%, is good enough to go to the next level. When we are talking about making the grade, an 80% in most school grading models is the lowest score for a B.

Our original thought about requiring a score of 28 was that number usually gave us the right number of people for the auditions which is the next level of interview based on the number of people who attend the job fair.

With one exception, this has been a pretty good method of judging. Our exception location had 1500 applicants for approximately 135 jobs so we bumped the required score to 32. (Note – 31.5 = 90% – an A)

This weekend, I was able to evaluate and compare scores of the people who made it through the casting call process and performed at a top level at the auditions. In this location, we assigned audition time slots to those who scored at the B level (28 and above) at the job fair.

Auditions were scheduled for 15–25 people and applicants were invited to a 90 minute “try out”. During this audition process candidates were required to do the following 6 things:

1. Introduce themselves in a way that was memorable to the judges – (NOTE: Must be legal and moral!) I saw a kart wheel. Someone initiated the wave. We’ve seen people juggle, tell jokes, suck up, and I’m confident that we’ve only scratched the surface of the things we will see in the future.
2. Creatively perform a random request based on a slip of paper that they draw. This weekend, a small young man responded to the question of, “If you were a puppy dog, what kind would you be and why?” in the following way – “I would be a Shih Tzu (he pronounced it “S––T Zoo” with a strong emphasis on the first syllable!) because they are small but they don’t know it.  I am perfectly suited to be a Shih Tzu (again he used his pronounciation) because I know I can run with the big dogs!” Hysterical, truthful, and I think we hired him! I have to admit that I felt like a 4th grader trying not to laugh in church. He used his version of the pronunciation about 7 times during his creative explanation.
3. There’s about 10 minutes of training. We teach the 4 core guest service concepts of the Fish Philosophy as developed by the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington. (www.fishphilosophy.com)
4. We have everyone participate in the hand dance game.
5. There’s a team building activity where they all work together.
6. Finally we end with a role play exercise. This is their final audition moment. They put together an actual skit based on an everyday scenario that might come up in a family entertainment center.

It was an incredible two days! Approximately 105 people attended 7 different sessions. We identified 38 qualified performers. Their selection in the audition process is also quantifiable just like in the job fair grading. Candidates are only selected if they score at least 4 out of 5 from all the judges’ scores combined.

The cool thing that I noticed this weekend is that at least 95% of the time, when we looked back at the job fair score,  the candidates that were selected for hire in the audition process scored 32+. We had candidates that did not show up, and, most of the time, those candidates and the ones not selected were those who had job fair scores of 28–32. Please note that this discovery was after the fact. Each phase is an independent process. What I mean is that applications are reviewed, people are invited to job fair, some are invited to auditions based on the first impression scores, and then auditions are held, evaluations made, and finally, there is an end review of the application, and the job fair scorecard.

We know that this process helps us hire the cream of the crop, which is certainly different than hiring the first guy or gal who comes in the door. Seeing the relationship of the A–A+ scores from the job fair phase to the actual performance of the candidates at the auditions was very exciting.

Sales Goals and Football?

by Tech Support | May 18, 2010 | Sales

I had the opportunity at the Colorado State Bowling Proprietors’ meeting last week to share the stage with World famous BPAA marketing guru, Henry Lewczyk and a ”real celebrity,” former NFL Denver Broncos running back, Reggie Rivers. The Gala Team

Daniel Gutierrez, Colorado’s state Executive Director, puts on an outstanding event, and although my job was to teach and train, I got a lot out of attending the session. It’s a constant reminder to me when I have the opportunity to attend a seminar or read a new book, that there’s never enough ways to learn all the things that I need to know in order to be the best I can be!

Here’s a recap of the central message that Reggie delivered. He was great fun to listen to and I thought the wisdom of his words were awesome.

In life, work, and love we have things we can control and plenty that is out of our control. This happens to be a concept that I personally grapple with on a daily basis (control freak that I am). Reggie outlined Goals and behaviors in this way.

Goals: Anything you want to accomplish – usually requires the participation of other people. (Largely out of your control).

Behaviors: Your behaviors are what you can control. It’s these things you alone can control to get you to the goals that are out there. We have control over today.

I’m simplifying. But the message I heard was that instead of focusing on the outcome (the goal) – focus on the things on which you have control – the behaviors that must be performed on a day to day basis to get you to that goal. This is not the first time I’ve had this lesson. Those of you that know me know that I bowl; and I’ve had the great fortune to be coached by 2 time, Gold Coach of the year, Susie Minshew. At Susie’s urging, I’ve bowled best when I focused on great execution (the behavior of delivering the ball clean off my hand), rather than the outcome or goal of getting a strike. The goal is certainly to strike but whether or not that happens is out of my control once I’ve released the ball. I’ve done all I can. The focus has been in the right place. And if the moon and the stars line up and I’m lined up, and the pins aren’t offset, or I don’t hit an undiscovered slick spot down the lane, and I have the right ball in my hand, and, and, and…then I’ll strike – maybe.

I got to thinking about how this concept could make a big difference when it comes to selling, and it occurred to me that the sensitivity to rejection is what makes selling so difficult to some. I believe selling can be easier and a lot more fun when we shift the focus to the day to day behaviors or actions we can control in order to sell products successfully. This behavioral focus puts you in the driver’s seat of the prospecting you can do and the way you’ll approach potential buyers. You’ll be focused on your role of selling rather than the outcome of whether or not people buy. Because the reality is that some people will buy your stuff, some won’t, and so what! You do what you can do every day and consistently implement the behavioral practices that put you in front of the most customers and in the end you’ll reach your goals.

Reggie said that most guys in the NFL are not great. They are good guys with the drive to work hard. He said that many of these guys are average guys focused on overachieving. What he learned from his college coach is that the ability of others fell into the category of things that were out of my control. What I can control when it comes to competition is how hard I work – not how others perform. They might be jogging and I’m a sprinter. When I sprint I can win if they decide to jog!

Reggie talked about NFL Players belonging to 2 Groups:

1. Those that became Superstars early like a John Elway are rare. He had raw talent and continued to work hard
   • Many of the early superstars are mentally and physically demoralized more when they get to the NFL training camp and a lot of them get cut.
2. The 2nd group who seem to survive training camp better are those that are not Superstars early, but reached their peak in their 20’s.
   • This guy knows he’s not the best yet – he has had to work hard all his life.

Reggie did say that he believes there’s an element of luck too. But the harder you work the luckier you get. I buy this 100%. I always feel very lucky every day, but I also know that I work pretty darn hard most of those days as well.

So in conclusion here are the big take aways for me.

1. Behaviors lead to goals.
2. Goals require the participation of others… Great goal reachers recruit others that help you get to your goals.
3. It’s human nature to help others who are working hard.

The big challenge to all of us is to think of the behaviors that I can employ on a daily basis, to attract the people that can help me get to my goals? We make an investment in one another every day. Who are you investing in today, and who’s investing in you?

PS – Reggie says if you’d like to buy any of his books, use the code BOWLING to receive a discount, and he’ll contribute $2.00 to the Colorado State BPA for every book purchased. Thanks Reggie. It was a real pleasure to be in your seminar!