TruGreen LandCare is GROWING!!

Our Team is GROWING!! We are currently recruiting for New Business Development Sales Reps in Southern CA - and I wanted to share the great news. I am including our Sales Rep job description below; but please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Have an Awesome Friday!!


Business Development Sales Rep
This job will focus on selling commercial landscape services to businesses and industrial establishments and provide excellent client satisfaction.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Researches, identifies and delivers profitable business opportunities with new and existing clients through customer relationships, cold calling, client presentations, referral generation, cross selling and networking.
• Develops close customer relationships and thorough understanding of client needs; trouble-shoots customer issues.
• Evaluates all revenue generating opportunities within a customer or prospect and designing proposals based on finds.
• Meets regularly with prospects to continue to build and enhance potential business opportunities throughout business sales cycle.
• Increases market share by achieving sales and revenue production goals.
• Travels through local assigned territory to call on regular and prospective customers to solicit sales.
• Serves as mentor for less tenured or experienced sales representatives.
• Develops and executes sales and business development plans.

Qualifications
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Must have current state driver's license in good standing.

Education and/or Experience
• Bachelor's degree (B. A.) from four-year college or university with four to five years’ related business-to-business sales experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Preferred experience with business-to-business transactions involving mid-to-long sales cycles.

At TruGreen LandCare, you’ll enjoy a competitive compensation and benefits package, as well as the opportunity for professional growth and respect that comes from working for the industry leader. Qualified candidates must be able to successfully pass a criminal background check and drug screen. Come grow with us.

AA/EOE M/F/V/D

Non-Profit Experience on your Resume??

Great article on CNBC.com today that I thought you would find of interest....Please let me know your thoughts and ideas!!


Is This On Your Resume? It Could Make or Break You
Published: Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010 11:51 AM ET
By: Aman Singh

What is that one essential skill that would make or break your decision to promote someone to senior leadership?

We all know the standard ones of communication, management, strategic planning experience, etc.

But what is that one crucial qualification that would kill the decision for you?

According to Alice Korngold, CEO of consulting firm Korngold Consulting, it rests on whether you have any nonprofit board service experience.

In her blog, Leading Companies for Good on Fast Company earlier this week, she quotes Harold "Terry" McGraw III, the chairman, president and CEO of McGraw-Hill Companies, saying that if he doesn't see board service on the resume, he is "discouraged about the candidate."

He adds, "I want to see how complete a person is. Board participation tells me a lot about someone's interest and experience in teambuilding and openness toward coaching."

His emphasis on nonprofit board service speaks volumes about the kind of experience he is looking for.

What he is getting at is the much larger issue of mentorships and the willingness to train leaders.
And this skill becomes paramount when discussed in the nonprofit sense, as their boards require a lot more determination, drive, and due diligence in supporting the cause. Because it is not about the bottom line, numerical values do not determine most board decisions, thus requiring members to be realistically interested, involved and willing to go the extra mile to further the mission, which can a lot of times include building leadership teams—especially if you are involved since the inception of the nonprofit—and laying down long term strategies.

As Mr. McGraw puts it, "A candidate who doesn't serve on nonprofit boards is underdeveloped," adding that he believes that a CEO must act "like a role model through his/her community service and nonprofit board participation."

However, not every CEO (Read former CEO of Medtronic, Bill George's take on leading in a crisis) sees building and training a supportive team as an inherent part of serving on a board.

There can be several reasons for this including their own business being first priority and board service being an extension of brand awareness, philanthropy and for some, necessary networking outside their immediate circle of associates.

But for those of you who do, —a perfect example would be former Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy mentoring current chief Ursula Burns— how much does this experience weigh in your final decision, specifically to nonprofits? When forming a team, do you actively look for board experience on the resume? At the same time, do you encourage volunteerism and charity work among your employees and is it tied to bonuses and pay, much like how pro bono work is today integrated at most law firms' compensation packages?

Weigh in on the issue here by leaving a comment, or follow Vault's CSR blog In Good Company on Twitter at @VaultCSR!

Aman Singh is the Corporate Responsibility Editor at Vault.com. She is a New York University alum and previously wrote for The Wall Street Journal. Her area of work includes corporate diversity practices and sustainability, and how they translate into recruitment and strategic development at Fortune 1000 companies.

Tip of the Day

Recruiting Tip:

Send a Thank You Email!! Less than 10% of candidates I interview or that our team interviews, sends a thank you email. This is AMAZING. If you are looking for a simple way to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack in an interview, make sure to get business cards from all of your interviewers and send a thank you email within 24 hrs. This demonstrates follow-up, excitement/interest in the opportunity, and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Tip of the Day

Recruiting Tip:

Please use professional email addresses and voicemails!! A major turnoff for recruiters is after reviewing a resume and liking your credentials, is going to contact you and finding an inappropriate email or voicemail. Yahoo and GMail both provide free email addresses, so if you insist on keeping your BigBaller email, set up an additional free email that you can direct recruiters and HR Managers to for your job search.

And please, please, please.....do not ask me to "Holla Back" at you!

Happy Weekend!!

Region Sales Manager Position for Northern CA

Good Afternoon!!

I wanted to let you all know about an exciting opportunity we have within TruGreen LandCare. We are currently seeking a Region Sales Manager to lead, coach, mentor and develop our Northern CA Sales Team. The ideal candidate resides between San Jose and Sacramento, and his a proven track record of managing a Sales Force (10 or more Sales Reps) in a Hunter/New Business Development environment.

The job description is below for your review; and please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you or someone you know is interested in this awesome opportunity!!

Region Commercial Sales Manager


TruGreen Companies has an immediate opening for the position of Regional Commercial Sales Manager. The RCSM is responsible for maintaining and generating commercial sales for the region. He/she will manage up to 10 – 12 Sales Representatives and is responsible for interviewing, hiring and training employees, planning, assigning and directing work, appraising performance, rewarding and disciplining employees, addressing complaints, and resolving problems.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Essential duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

· Creates a successful sales formula that balances customer retention, high quality sales, cost- per-sale efficiencies and gainful gross margins to maximize region profitability.

· Maintains current and accurate records of all prospective customers, to include top master prospect list, prospect qualifications forms, pricing worksheet and on-site property analysis.

· Manages and distributes prospective customer and lead information, obtained from direct mail, advertisements, community activities, tradeshows, seminars and other resources.

· Identifies Region’s prospect universe by market segment and determines most strategic way to infiltrate each segment.

· Develops and implements sales programs, campaigns and promotions to achieve growth.

· Promotes programs and services to Region’s prospective customers through telemarketing, presentations and face-to-face meetings.

· Regularly evaluates current LandCare customer properties and reviews outgoing proposals to ensure that Company financial goals are continuously being met.

· Assists Branch Managers with the quoting of prices and preparation of sales contracts.

· Obtains required approvals for services and works with Branch Manager to determine start date of service to customer, based on branch production and service schedules.

· Manages and maintains sales reports as determined by Region and Company standards.

· Investigates and collects from overdue accounts when requested by the Region Manager.


Qualified candidates will possess a Bachelors Degree, or three to four years of successful Sales Management experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Must be able to read, analyze, and interpret general business reports, professional journals, technical procedures, and governmental regulations, and have the ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, customers, and the general public. Must have a valid Driver’s license with a clean driving record.

EOE AA/M/F/D/V Drug Free Workplace

Jobless Claims Decrease!!!

CNBC.com this morning ran this article which I found to be of interest....please let me know your thoughts!!

Jobless Claims Show Strong Decrease to Reverse Trend
Published: Thursday, 11 Feb 2010 8:35 AM ET
By: Reuters

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless benefits tumbled last week, a government report showed on Thursday, reversing a recent spike that had raised concerns about renewed labor market weakness.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 440,000 for the week ended Feb. 6, down from a revised 483,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected 465,000 initial claims. The prior week was initially reported as 480,000, an unexpectedly high reading that was blamed in part on a backlog of claims that piled up over the holiday season.

U.S. stock index futures extended gains after the data, while the dollar pared losses versus the yen.

A Labor Department official said that with this latest report, the administrative backlog was largely "washed out."

"By and large we are resuming a normal level with all states reporting an appropriate base level," the official said.

The four-week moving average, which smoothes out week-to-week volatility, fell by 1,000 to 468,500.

"The good news in the claims is that the Labor Department administrators are telling us that they have gotten through a backlog and perhaps the labor market hasn't deteriorated very much in the last two months," said Cary Leahey, senior economist with Decision Economics in New York.

"You can't conclude that the labor market in February will be worse than it was in January."
Investors are keeping a close eye on jobless claims for evidence that the economy is on the verge of adding jobs again.

With the exception of November 2009, payrolls have declined in every month since the recession began in December 2007.

That has piled political pressure on President Barack Obama, whose popularity fell as the jobless rate rose to a 26-year high.

In an economic report released earlier on Thursday, the White House said it expects the economy to create an average of 95,000 jobs a month this year.

However, it said the unemployment rate would probably fall only slowly, and it was concerned about the large number of people out of work for a prolonged period.

The Labor Department's report showed the number of people applying for benefits after an initial week of aid fell to 4.54 million in the week ended Jan. 30, the lowest in 13 months.

That figure is somewhat skewed by the fact that many people have dropped off the rolls because they have exhausted benefits, not because they have found new jobs.

Tax Credit for Creating Jobs??

A colleague recently shared an article with me that I found of interest, and thus wanted to give you an opportunity to chime in and let me know your thoughts!


Obama retools tax credit idea for creating jobs

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER and CHRISTINE SIMMONS, Associated Press Writers Stephen Ohlemacher And Christine Simmons, Associated Press Writers – Fri Jan 29, 3:30 pm ET

BALTIMORE – President Barack Obama renewed his call for tax incentives to create jobs Friday, saying a greater effort is needed even though his administration has "stopped the flood of job losses."

Obama wants to give companies a $5,000 tax credit for each net new worker they hire in 2010.

Also, businesses that increase wages or hours for their existing workers in 2010 would be reimbursed for the extra Social Security payroll taxes they would pay.

No company could reap more than $500,000 from the combined benefits, one of several features meant to tailor the program more to small businesses than to large corporations.

House Democrats rejected a similar proposal last month after questioning how it would work. On Friday, some GOP lawmakers called the retooled plan too tepid; Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana described it as "a tax credit which was last promoted by President Jimmy Carter."

But Obama urged Congress to enact it, saying economists consider it an effective way to spur job growth.

"It's time to put America back to work," the president told workers after touring the Chesapeake Machine Company in Baltimore. "We've had two very tough years. And while these proposals will create jobs all across America, we've got a long way to go to make up for the millions of jobs that we lost in this recession."

Obama later spoke to a gathering of House Republicans in Baltimore.

"You may not support our overall jobs package, but if you look at the tax credit that we're proposing for small businesses right now, it is consistent with a lot of what you guys have said in the past," Obama told Republicans.

Under Obama's plan, which he mentioned in Wednesday's State of the Union address, companies created in 2010 could receive up to $250,000 in the tax benefits. Existing companies could not close down and then reopen under a new name and receive any benefits, the White House said.

The program would end Dec. 31 and would cost an estimated $33 billion. Obama wants to fund it with money repaid to the government from the 2008-09 bank bailout program. The Social Security system would not lose any revenue under the plan, which officials described Thursday ahead of Obama's Baltimore visit.

Obama said his revised proposal will be less susceptible to abuse from employers trying to game the system. Companies that fire workers and then quickly replace them would not qualify for the tax breaks, he said.

Some tax experts say it is hard to prevent abuse by companies that artificially increase their payrolls. But White House officials said they believed regulators would detect such attempts in the great majority of cases.

Wage increases for high-income employees would not qualify for tax breaks. No one pays Social Security payroll taxes on income above $106,800, so any pay increases above that level would trigger no reimbursement to the employer.

Despite the House's recent rejection of a similar plan, the idea of tax credits for job creation has caught on among Senate Democrats. They plan to include such a credit in a scaled-down jobs bill to be voted on in February.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently analyzed several proposals to create jobs and improve the economy and concluded that a payroll tax credit for companies that increase payroll would be among the most effective. However, the analysis cautioned that it could be difficult to administer.

Congress enacted a similar tax credit in the 1970s and few small businesses took advantage, the CBO report said.

Obama hailed Friday's government report that showed a greater-than-expected economic surge in the last quarter of 2009, but noted many people are still struggling.

Republicans generally embrace almost any tax cut proposal, but Obama got a lukewarm reception for his proposal from GOP leaders in Baltimore.

"From a policy perspective, it's very difficult to make it work," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Pence said he understands why a tax break for adding jobs would be popular. But, he said, businesses won't hire new employees until there is increased demand for their products.
___
Associated Press reporter Charles Babington in Washington contributed to this report.

Are You Considering Relocation for a New Job??

Great article on relocating for a new job --- courtesy of cnn.com today!


Will move for work
By Paul Keegan, contributing writer
February 3, 2010

(Money Magazine) -- Ira and Hope Moskowitz, both 44, have lived within a 10-mile radius of Philadelphia their whole lives. City kids, they met in junior high, got married in Philly in 1989, and settled in nearby Cherry Hill, N.J., where Hope manages a hair salon and Ira headed up software administration for a mortgage-servicing firm.

The family -- Josh is 17, Rachel is 14 -- even vacations at the Jersey shore every summer. "If it wasn't for losing my job," says Ira, "we'd be happy to spend the rest of our days in this area."

But as soon as the firm where he worked closed up operations in late 2009, the family realized it may not have the luxury of staying put. The mortgage business has been especially hard hit in the region. So, reluctantly, Ira expanded his job search nationwide, giving particular attention to Texas and North Carolina, where several mortgage-servicing companies are based.

Besides sending out a slew of résumés, he's been networking with far-flung friends and former colleagues. Hope, meanwhile, is researching neighborhoods around Dallas, where two of Ira's co-workers found jobs.

With 10% unemployment the norm nationally and some states hit even harder, more Americans are -- like the Moskowitzes -- considering job prospects away from home. Some 66% of executives polled by job site TheLadders.com in October said they'd move if an opportunity arose, up 11 percentage points from 2007.

The decision to uproot your family for work can be a difficult one even in the best of times. This economy, while providing impetus to relocate, also presents added challenges: Will you have to juggle the costs of two residences? Will you lose money on your old house? Will your spouse find work in the new city?

If you're thinking of making a move -- whether because you're unemployed or just seeking better opportunities -- here's the way to go about it.

Finding the job
Families searching for jobs elsewhere often let fantasy determine where they'll look. The Moskowitzes, for example, imagine themselves in a warmer climate. "I'd like Honolulu," Hope says. Rachel -- who, for a teenager, is surprisingly excited to move -- is pushing for a swimming pool; Josh wants to be able to skate-board year-round. Their preferences have kept Ira's search to the South.

But such narrowcasting is detrimental. "In this economy you have to look for jobs wherever they are," says Cathy Goodwin, career consultant and author of "Making the Big Move."

That doesn't mean heading to Bismarck, N.D., simply because it has the lowest unemployment rate. In fact, it's unwise today to move without a job. It does mean casting a wide net rather than focusing on specific areas. Get the offer, says Goodwin -- then you can fantasize.

To make the search manageable, identify the top 20 or so firms in your industry (or fields to which your skills are transferable), no matter where they're located. Then contact hiring managers directly. Ira should also connect with recruiters specializing in his field; he can find some via the Association of Executive Search Consultants.

Evaluating an offer
Assessing a job offer that requires relocation can be overwhelming. But the financial part of the equation boils down to this: Would you be able to afford a life you'd be happy with in the new place?

You can do a lot to investigate this via the Web. Online calculators can give you a rough idea of how far your pay will go. (For example, to live as well as they did on $140,000 near Philly, the Moskowitzes need only $104,000 in Dallas.)

Also look up income, property, and sales tax rates. And check classified ads to get a sense of job prospects for your spouse, if relevant, and yourself in case the new gig doesn't work out. Home in on a few neighborhoods, factoring in schools if you have kids, then visit realtor sites to see what you can afford.

The Internet won't tell the whole story, however, so also plan on visiting in person -- with your whole family -- to get a feel for the area.

After doing all this, list the pros and cons of moving, both financial (such as higher housing costs) and intangible (warmer weather), says Atlanta financial planner Bobbie Munroe. If you're out of work, also consider whether you're likely to get any better offers. The answer may help put your "cons" in perspective.

Making the move
Before accepting a job, ask the prospective employer for help with moving expenses, temporary housing, and travel. But don't hold your breath. New York recruiter Martin Kartin says that two years ago 90% of his corporate clients helped with such costs, but now it's down to 35%. Have a plan for paying for such expenses if the company won't.

Once you say yes, get your house on the market right away -- it'll probably take time to sell. You may be tempted to rent it out until conditions improve, but don't, says Munroe: "You don't want the added stress of becoming a landlord." (The exception: if you're underwater and would have to come up with money to pay off the loan.) Homes in Cherry Hill are averaging five months on the market, so the Moskowitzes will have to budget for those carrying costs.

No matter how low home prices are in the new city, don't buy right away, cautions Concord, Mass., financial planner Katie Birmingham Weigel. It may take longer than you think to get out from under your old place. And with less debt once you sell, you'll also have a better chance at qualifying for the lowest-rate mortgage.

Further, the job may not last, or the area may not be a good fit. Goodwin suggests the Moskowitzes rent for a year wherever they end up.

A self-confessed worrywart, Ira had been the least eager of his family to move. But as he makes progress in his search -- he recently interviewed with a firm near Atlanta -- his wife and kids' excitement is beginning to wear off on him: "I'm starting to look forward to trying something different, especially now that the cold weather is here."