Are you moving forward, “Sempre avanti”; or paralyzed with fear? I am reading the book The Winter Army: The World War 2 Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division. The division unit’s motto was “Sempre avanti”, or “Always forward”. It served to be quite useful when they were under heavy fire, scared out of their wits....Read More

Virtual interviews and sales meetings are now more prevalent. Brian Geery of SalesNV demonstrated to Xtra Effort Zoom’s ability to provide a virtual background, increasing the professionalism of your virtual appearance. We highly recommend embracing this feature. It is an easy way to increase the receptivity of your interviewer or prospect. Below are instructions for...Read More

You invest in recruiters, advertising, Linkedin, Indeed, and a talent acquisition team. You discover the elusive and sought after ‘A’ player, capture her interest, but then lose her to your competitor. What happened? Perhaps a hiring manager’s charisma and his initial rapport with your candidate is not enough in today’s market? Instead, treat the Interview...Read More

Below is direct feedback from Sales and PS employees about why they left or chose to remain with their employers. We also include a few comments from hiring managers. The topic is obviously important because Sales and PS employee retention has a direct impact on revenue and customer satisfaction. The information may be insightful. We...Read More

Enterprise technology ‘A’ players (Sales, SE, PS, or CS) … are they helping or hurting you? As an executive of a high growth enterprise technology or services company, you may constantly feel pressure to identify and hire the elusive ‘A’ player. The biggest challenges with hiring the ‘A’ player: Lack of agreement of what your...Read More

The importance of stating a clear and positive motivation for change when interviewing Xtra Effort recently had a few different clients reject qualified candidates because the candidates did not include any enthusiasm for the employer. The client hiring manager or internal recruiter would ask the candidate, “What is motivating you to want to speak to...Read More

We all know candidates need to send thank you notes after every interview. Thank you notes reinforce your interest, differentiates you from competitive candidates, shows professionalism, gives the employer a favorable glimpse as to how you operate, and provides a vehicle to drive home why you are a fit. Of course, you don’t HAVE TO...Read More

Companies that hire professionals with CUSTOMER FACING responsibilities often look for candidates with warm, positive, energetic, and welcoming personalities. The first phone interview is a crucial gate for the candidate to pass before being further considered. This can be punishing for the more introverted, shy, or technical candidate because their sincerity, value, and integrity may...Read More

I recently attended a Boston Enterprise Sales MeetUp. The topic was “Make Your Sales Team Rockstars!- Continuous Sales Development”. One of the guest panelists was Mary Rogul, VP of Enterprise Sales at Boston- based Mautic. She was previously with HubSpot and was a key sales player in their early stage growth. Mary made a comment...Read More

Xtra Effort has discovered that some of our more innovative and successful clients have embraced an approach to identifying talent that echoes Belichick. Specifically, to have a deep understanding of what skills are truly needed for success within a given time period, process, and role. This helps them better SEE the right talent at the...Read More