Most sales leaders and business owners have never been formally trained on how to properly interview a salesperson. So unless you think you will be lucky enough to hire a sales superstar, it definitely helps to get an edge when making a hiring decision. Especially since, according to an article by Personnel Policy Service, Inc., "the wrong person costs you three times his or her annual salary. A $50,000 employee costs you $150,000; a $150,000 employee costs $450,000. That's for starters. There's also lost opportunity cost . . . plus lost business, potential customers and momentum. And you're back to square one, looking for a replacement."
Click here to download "How Much Does An Employee Cost?" by Joe Hadzima.
Any sales leader or business owner who has hired their share of salespeople knows how challenging it can be. That is why we have listed below 10 tips that will help you improve your interviewing effectiveness.
- Prepare A List Of Questions In Advance - Once you know what skills are required for the position, you can prepare an extensive list of questions designed to get the candidate talking about actual selling situations they have been in - NOT hypothetical scenarios. A true story will allow you to ask follow-up questions that fully explore how well a candidate qualifies for the position.
- Maintain Objectivity During The Interview - To interview effectively, you need to stay emotionally unattached - and not just with regards to the interviewee. One mistake many interviewers make is letting their passion for what they sell take the reins. When this happens the interviewer winds up doing all the talking. In general, emotional involvement is counter-productive to effective interviewing.
- Know What You Are Looking For - First, you need to evaluate the position's requirements. What are the markets they will be targeting? Who are the prospects they will be targeting? What are the competitive pressures? You also need to know if this position requires traveling, or if it will be an inside or outside sales job. Put time into this and define the position as thoroughly as possible. Developing the position's profile is a crucial step.
- Verify Their Sales History And Background - By the time you engage the candidate, they should have been prescreened by either a recruiter or your HR person so that all significant issues have been identified. Make sure someone is tasked with verifying the information listed on a candidate's résumé. According to research from the Society for Human Resource Managers 53% of people lie on their résumé in some way or another.
- Don't Give The Candidate Too Much Information - Another mistake people make during an interview is providing a candidate with too much direction towards the kind of answer they want. If a candidate senses what you want for an answer ahead of time they will just parrot what you want to hear.
- Challenge The Person - When talking with a candidate, consider responding to one of their answers with "I don't know if I agree with that. Can you tell me why you feel that way?" and see how they respond. Do they get defensive? Are they unable to answer the question? Or do they dodge the question by asking YOU why you disagree?
- Take Detailed Notes - When talking with a candidate, write down notes on their résumé or a notebook. Observe and log their communication skills, physical appearance, eye contact and their ability to remember detailed parts of the interview and the job requirements. Remember, the faintest of ink outlasts the fondest of memories.
- Always Dig A Little Deeper - If a candidate tells you that they broke all sorts of sales records, ask for details about the sales process used to achieve these numbers. Did they have to get their own leads or were leads supplied? Always dig deeper - the devil is in the details. Be sure you get the names of colleagues and management they worked with to check up on this when you call for references.
- Practice Interviewing - As a sales leader or business owner, you should always be interviewing prospective salespeople. Even if you don't have a slot for someone, constantly interviewing allows you to maintain an up-to-date list of candidates and to practice interviewing techniques. This way you stay sharp for when you really do need to bring someone new onboard.
- Give Each Candidate Immediate Feedback - It is in everyone's best interest for you to give candidates your honest feedback. Just be sure not to give them any inside information in the process (remember Tip #5). Providing immediate feedback requires a candidate to react on the fly, and seeing how they respond off the cuff can provide valuable insight.
Executive Summary: Interviewing a salesperson is a skill in and of itself. Many interviewees are passionate about what they sell and let that passion fuel their optimism about a person's ability to sell in the field. But when emotions blind the hiring process it can result in the wrong person being hired. Just because a person was great at one company does not make them a perfect fit for yours. Knowing this can save your business tens of thousands of dollars and avoid wasted time, energy and resources.
No comments:
Post a Comment