Behavioral-based interviewing has been the buzz in hiring for the past few years and rightly so.  This technique brings real-world clarity to a sales interview as opposed to theoretical, positional answers.  Selling Power provides a good article to assist you in your interview strategy.

In order to ensure you are using a behavioral-based approach (emphasis mine):

“A lot of people think that they are conducting behavioral-based interviewing when they’re really not,” says Wolf, who defines behavioral-based questions as questions that allow candidates to relate real situations and demonstrate how their strengths and weaknesses are exhibited on the job. “Many times hiring managers are asking theoretical questions, such as, ‘How would you handle this situation?’ Or, ‘If you were faced with this situation, what would you do?’ A behavioral-based question is phrased differently, such as, ‘Can you tell me about a situation where you…’ A true behavioral question may not even be a question. For example, ‘Tell me how you handled a client objection.’ The whole premise that past behavior predicts future behavior falls flat unless you are really getting examples of past behavior.”

I am partial to using a statement as opposed to a question in the interview.  I find this approach focuses the candidate and allows less room for theoretical answers.  Here are a few suggestions from the author:

Wolf shares a few best practices of behavioral-based interviewing to help you garner the most information from your candidates:

1. Have a valid interview guide. “Start with a job analysis because every question you ask in an interview has to be job relevant,” says Wolf. “Questions have to be linked to the tasks performed on the job – that’s critical. For example, if the job requires the ability to overcome objections, you need to specifically ask about a time when a candidate overcame an objection.
2. Be familiar with your information. “Just like you wouldn’t go into a sales call without researching the company, don’t go into the interview without some knowledge about the candidate,” says Wolf. Review the resume, check out social networks, and review the candidate’s company Website.
3. Be a practiced interviewer. Seek training and role-play because interviewing is a skill, says Wolf.

“The most difficult things about doing behavioral-based interviews are balancing the timing and pace of the interview, while managing the experience that the candidate is getting,” says Wolf. “You need to get the information by getting enough detail, but not too much. At the same time, you need to get that detail without making the candidate feel as if you are drilling them – you need to have empathy. It takes a lot of practice and training.”

That last paragraph is filled with wisdom.  If you overdo it the interview becomes something of a scene from a crime drama interrogation.  One thing we always remind our hiring managers – you are selling the candidate also…don’t forget that fact.

However, we always recommend that you model the interview after a sales call.  You can be a little standoffish and disconnected to see how the candidate handles the situation.  The best way to see a salesperson’s talents is to see them selling.  You can model your hiring process after your typical sale to see which candidates can handle the different situations, pressures and processes.

If you need help in this area we would welcome the chance to talk to you about your sales hiring process.

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