Here are some good tips on interview questions
to use when interviewing a potential salesperson.
February
2015
Most companies
struggle with hiring competent sales people. Recently I was helping a
client hire sales people by pre-screening them on the phone. I asked
the same questions of at least 10 different candidates to make sure there was
a certain continuity and consistency. Rarely do I spend too much credence
or time looking at their résumé. WHY? If I look at anything I will look
and see what they have accomplished. My emphasis is on their behaviors,
motivation, and skills and NOT experience.
It was amazing
to me that each person I spoke to was an “experienced and successful
salesperson”, many of whom have gone through well-known and respected sales
training. Some had worked for major corporations. And yet, I
noticed that there were some very disturbing traits in almost all the candidates.
Let me set the
scene. I first called and if they did not answer I sent an e-mail
asking to set up a time to talk. I did not want to interview them
immediately because from experience many of them were applying to other jobs
and this would give them time to prepare. Here were some of the common
issues I discovered:
- Most of the candidates
did not read the Job Description thoroughly. We had Sales Managers
applying for a Sales Representative job. Maybe the Job
Description title was misleading. However, I believe that is no
excuse for not taking the time to read the job description. What
does that tell you about future responses and actions when a
customer requests something in writing or following up skills?
- One of the first
questions I asked was “From the website what can you tell me about the
company?” Despite giving them at least a day to prepare many
had not even looked at the website. Zero went beyond looking at
the website and finding out more about the company or the industry or
industry trends. Do you want a salesperson that does not do their
research before calling on a buyer? Are they really interested in
finding a job? Will they be customer centric and try to understand
the customer’s business so they can service them better?
- I asked “How do you
sell?” – Many answered, “I build great relationships” but what does this
mean? I am not diminishing the importance of relationships in selling
but is this what today’s buyers want to hear? We can have a great
relationship and go out for a beer, but you may not trust me or my
company’s services or products. Do I want to buy from someone who wants
to build a relationship with me alone or someone who I believe is an
authority in their field and can collaborate with me on solutions to my
problems and opportunities?
- “What do you do to
keep up with your profession?” This was probably the most interesting
question I asked. If you want to know how truly motivated for work
a person really is than ask this question. If one has the mind-set
of constant improvement and learning I want them on my team.
Answering networking or going to trade shows to keep up with the
profession is not an acceptable answer. Reading books, articles,
scoping out competition, and self-improvement courses show a need to be
better at what you do.
- Ask the interviewer
questions – Come on people you are in sales. You tell me that what
helps you build relationships is asking questions and listening.
Yet most of the candidates never asked me any questions. Does this
mean they will have difficulty asking the customer for next steps, or
worse yet asking for the order?
- Say Thank you – Only 1
in 10 of the interviewees actually took the time to write me a short
thank you for interviewing them. Yes, I understand I am not with
the company. However, isn’t it a common practice in sales to thank
someone, or reconfirm how much you want the opportunity?
__________________________________________________________
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If you or your group are looking for a speaker at a
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Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at
www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at
www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at
http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.
