Earlier this week, myself and the President of one of our customers interviewed a sales candidate. We purposely put the candidate through an extensive interview to observe his ability to handle a lengthy discussion (similar to our customer’s typical call).
After putting him through the paces, we gave him the chance to ask questions of us. This time is most valuable in an interview in that it gives you insight into the candidate’s thought process during the qualifying stage in a sales process. He did quite well in his questions – he learned who the competition is, what markets he would call on, the company’s value proposition and culture (including training & support).
But one of his questions of the President I especially liked:
In all my past sales positions I have surprised my managers and ramped up much quicker than they expected. In a relatively short time, I have been able to not only reach but exceed my quotas. If I came in a repeated what I have done in all my previous positions, what would you expect that to look like?
What a great question. The candidate came across as confident in his ability to be successful in this role, but he was also able to discover how the President defined success in this role.
As you are interviewing sales candidates, don’t race to answer their questions without noting their questions. Remember, a strong salesperson always has a remarkable ability –ASKING QUESTIONS. Many times I watch clients ask question after question and then never really allow the candidate to ask their questions. They then want to judge the sales candidate solely on how well they answered the questions. This approach is risky since you may end up hiring the best interviewer, not necessarily the best salesperson.
The candidate’s answers to your questions are obviously important, but make sure you properly value their questioning (i.e. qualifying) ability.