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This may sound like a familiar scenario. That new sales person you hired isn\u2019t working out. After six months on the job, he hasn\u2019t met one monthly sales goal. And, he doesn\u2019t get along with others on the team. How did this happen? He seemed so great in the interview!<\/p>\n
If this sounds familiar, maybe it\u2019s time to look at your interview techniques to determine if you are making these common sales interviewing\u00a0mistakes that prevent companies from hiring great salespeople:<\/p>\n
If you ask mostly closed ended questions, candidates can often guess the right answer from the question and have a 50% chance of answering the correct answer \u2013 even candidates who are a poor match for your open role. Pose questions that require the applicant to provide thoughtful, detailed answers. The more the applicant tells you about their motivations and sales philosophy, the better you are able to judge whether they\u2019re\u00a0right for your company.<\/p>\n
There is a stark difference between behavioral interview questions which focus on what someone has done<\/em> and regular questions which focus on what someone would do<\/em>. For instance, if you ask a sales candidate to describe how they have successfully sold a new product in a price competitive market, you will get a very different answer than if you asked how someone would sell your new product which exists in a price competitive market. The former questions forces someone to demonstrate that they have the critical experience and gives you insight into how they will behave if you were to employ them, while the latter question will elicit a theoretical answer which likely represents what the candidates thinks you want to hear, but may not provide any indication of how they will operate on your team.<\/p>\n Many salespeople are able to predict the questions they will hear in an interview. They can often concoct convincing answers which may make them sound more accomplished and skilled than they actually are. This is particularly true for salespeople that can\u2019t hold jobs and have more experience interviewing than closing sales. The key to breaking this is to ask key questions multiple time or multiple ways and to ask follow on questions that challenge the answers. For instance, if someone claims to have made 50 calls a day in a particular role, ask them to talk about their ratios of calls to closes. More often than not, winners know their own metrics and the metrics make sense when stacked against total sales performance. Does it all sound plausible? Challenge claims.\u00a0If he or she cites percentages, ask for real numbers. Increasing sales by 50% is not very impressive if the real numbers were small to begin with.<\/p>\n There are many small queues which provide useful insight into both the real character of the person you are interviewing and their level of honesty.<\/p>\n Check all facts listed on an applicant\u2019s resume, including college graduation dates, degrees earned, dates of past employment and, if possible, details such as salary history and the authenticity of awards claimed. Do this both in interviews and in reference checks.\u00a0Ask around within your network. Does anyone you know also know the applicant? Does their\u00a0story check out?<\/p>\n While there is no way to guarantee that your next new sales hire will be perfect, avoiding these common sales interviewing mistakes should increase your chances of hiring a great sales rep.<\/p>\n relpost-thumb-wrapper <\/p>\n3. Not Asking Follow-Up or Cross Referencing Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Ignoring Applicant\u2019s Language and Demeanor<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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5. Forget to Check the Facts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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