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<\/a>Often you will see these types of questions listed with a follow up question that simply states, “Why or why not?” Avoid this. Here is the reason – the word “why” is frequently associated with a critical parent. This association typically has negative connotations.<\/p>\nThink about when you were younger and got in trouble for your actions (I have many examples in case you are lacking). I suspect every reader of this post heard some form of “Why did you do that?” Yes, I’ll give extra credit to parents who used the curveball “What were you thinking?” I guarantee even those parents used “why” at some point in their interrogation.<\/p>\n
The 5 words listed above will cover all the bases without invoking any subconscious, negative emotions. These words will also lead you to more revealing responses from the candidates without revealing your desired response. Rewrite your interview questions if needed. Avoid starting your question with a verb or the word why. Instead, use one of the five investigative words to get a better answer from your sales candidates.<\/p>\n
BONUS: This question format is just as important for salespeople to use when qualifying prospects. Keep your ear tuned to sales candidates who take this approach when qualifying the position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The title of this post is a statement often offered by my father. The statement can be slightly aggravating in certain situations, but there is much truth in it. Who? What? Where? When? How? and Why? When phone screening or interviewing salespeople, one of those 5 words should be the lead-in to your question. Yes, I crossed out “Why” for a specific reason that we will get to shortly. We have covered this technique before but it is immeasurably important when screening sales candidates. Do not ask questions that leave you “boxed” in a corner. Those questions tend to have a structure that leads with a verb and always elicits… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,10,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-interview","category-screening"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-cP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":611,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/01\/questions-often-reveal-the-skills\/","url_meta":{"origin":795,"position":0},"title":"Questions Often Reveal The Skills","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We're working through some sales candidate sourcing activities this week for some new customers and uncovering some strong salespeople. There are many reasons why we incorporate a screening step in our recruiting process, but one of the most important reasons is the questions posed by the candidates. A crucial component\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Compensation"","block_context":{"text":"Compensation","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/compensation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":479,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/12\/dont-talk-write\/","url_meta":{"origin":795,"position":1},"title":"Don’t Talk. Write.","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"December 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been reading up on articles that are discussing how to use email for prospecting as opposed to the traditional cold call. The process has some merit since email has become so ubiquitous and accessible(BlackBerries, PDA cell phones, etc.). The cold call is an interruption in the prospect's day no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":638,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/02\/the-phone-screening-essentials\/","url_meta":{"origin":795,"position":2},"title":"The Phone Screening Essentials","author":"Lee Fratzke","date":"February 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I have read numerous article over the past few weeks about phone interviewing or screening sales candidates and every one of them miss the mark. Instead of going at what is wrong with each of these articles, I will give you some essentials that make this an effective step in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1519,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/04\/from-closing-to-coaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":795,"position":3},"title":"From Closing To Coaching","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Selling Power.com's Sales Management newsletter provides an excellent article that addresses a common issue in sales management - how do you move from salesperson to sales manager?\u00a0 One important aspect of this move is becoming a coach for your sales team. The suggestions in the article are worth the read,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":244,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/08\/anecdote-is-that-your-final-answer\/","url_meta":{"origin":795,"position":4},"title":"Anecdote – Is that your final answer?","author":"Lee Fratzke","date":"August 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Late on a Friday and we need some levity so it is anecdote time. The set up - I am conducting a phone interview for a consultative service company where excellent listening and verbal skills are required. After asking a candidate (that was doing quite well) some preliminary questions about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anecdotes"","block_context":{"text":"Anecdotes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/anecdotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":594,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/01\/the-fine-art-of-stalling\/","url_meta":{"origin":795,"position":5},"title":"The Fine Art of Stalling","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Let me think it over.\" \"I'll get back to you.\" \"We'll take a look at it.\" If you have been in sales more than a day, you are familiar with these sayings. They are the prospect's attempts to \"stall\" a buying decision. These comments are trouble for any salesperson who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring Salespeople"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>Often you will see these types of questions listed with a follow up question that simply states, “Why or why not?” Avoid this. Here is the reason – the word “why” is frequently associated with a critical parent. This association typically has negative connotations.<\/p>\n