I’m working through another week consisting of one phone screen after another. There are few things that are more revealing than spending time on the phone with sales candidates.
One topic I enjoy hearing is a candidate who clearly has experience building a territory from nothing to a significant revenue level. This ability is highly valuable and it doesn’t take long to discover if the candidate has truly done it or not. The candidates who have done it have detailed accounts of successes and failures in growing the revenue. Drill down a level or two on their responses and you will hear either past-tense experiences or theoretical strategies. Listen for the experiences.
The only thing better than growing a territory from nothing is a sales candidate who turned around an underperforming territory. Typically these salespeople have had to overcome forces working against their success (bad reputation, upset customers, ignored prospects and so forth). I focus on the obstacles they have overcome and how permanent their recent success is. Did they close one big deal or have they built it up through many smaller successes? Either way will work, it is just good to know how they did it.
Listen for these specific details next time you phone screen a sales candidate.