{"id":2002,"date":"2009-04-15T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-15T17:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/04\/sales-interviews-are-uncomfortable\/"},"modified":"2009-04-15T12:39:47","modified_gmt":"2009-04-15T17:39:47","slug":"sales-interviews-are-uncomfortable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/04\/sales-interviews-are-uncomfortable\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales Interviews Are Uncomfortable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I about fell out of my chair reading this SellingPower.com article \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sellingpower.com\/html_newsletter\/article.asp?usr=SP9477331254&amp;NLid=10&amp;Layout_ID=882&amp;ARTid=3924&amp;nDate=April+14%2C+2009\" target=\"_blank\">Interviews Get Comfortable<\/a>.\u00a0 A quick excerpt to set the tone:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s your job as an interviewer to make the candidate feel comfortable and it starts from the moment you see that person,&#8221; says Barbara Pachter, a speaker, trainer, coach, and author of numerous business books, including <em>The Power of Positive Confrontation<\/em> (Marlowe &amp; Co., 2006). Pachter does acknowledge that there are times when interviewers put candidates in awkward positions to view reactions, but for the most part they should work to put candidates at ease.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Her suggestions for putting candidates at ease include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Be a gracious host.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Ask easy questions<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Set up the room for comfort.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Handle awkward moments properly.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Change the environment.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In all fairness, you have to read the article to get an understanding of her approach since there is some nuance to it.\u00a0 However, in sales successful interview techniques are much different.<\/p>\n<p>My experience has consistently been this:\u00a0 I learn more about the candidate during the awkward, uncomfortable moments than the smooth, relaxed interactions.\u00a0 Here\u2019s why \u2013 salespeople (even bad ones) tend to have highly refined social interaction skills.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, they can make themselves appear to be stronger than they actually are.<\/p>\n<p>The key in a successful sales interview is to ask the difficult questions and then use the awkward silence afterwards to compel the candidate to respond.\u00a0 Silence produces tension and tension removes the candidate\u2019s veneer.\u00a0 It is at these precise moments that you learn about a candidate\u2019s true sales ability.<\/p>\n<p>I can understand Ms. Pachter\u2019s approach in hiring other positions, but sales is the most difficult position for which to hire.\u00a0 The better approach is to use an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.selectmetrix.com\/Recruiting_Main.html\" target=\"_blank\">accurate, repeatable process<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I about fell out of my chair reading this SellingPower.com article \u2013 Interviews Get Comfortable.\u00a0 A quick excerpt to set the tone: &#8220;It&#8217;s your job as an interviewer to make the candidate feel comfortable and it starts from the moment you see that person,&#8221; says Barbara Pachter, a speaker, trainer, coach, and author of numerous business books, including The Power of Positive Confrontation (Marlowe &amp; Co., 2006). Pachter does acknowledge that there are times when interviewers put candidates in awkward positions to view reactions, but for the most part they should work to put candidates at ease. Her suggestions for putting candidates at ease include: \u00a0 Be a gracious host.&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/04\/sales-interviews-are-uncomfortable\/\">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":[2,16],"tags":[257,855,38,446,1309],"class_list":["post-2002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hiring","category-hiring-salespeople","tag-hiring-sales","tag-interview-technique","tag-sales-hiring","tag-sales-interview","tag-selling-power"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-wi","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2289,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/03\/hiring-like-a-detective\/","url_meta":{"origin":2002,"position":0},"title":"Hiring Like A Detective","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, the title is a bit quirky, but it is true.\u00a0 A significant portion of successful hiring involves being a good detective.\u00a0 I have always taken that approach when helping our customers find the right salesperson for their position.\u00a0 To be a good detective, you need to be a bit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":506,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/12\/an-even-tougher-interview\/","url_meta":{"origin":2002,"position":1},"title":"An Even Tougher Interview","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"December 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Interviews are stressful for candidates as we posted this morning. If you want to gain an even more in-depth knowledge of the candidate, take them out for a meal as part of your interview process. Selling Power has a quick article worth the read - Out to Lunch? In case\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1487,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/03\/assessments-shorten-interviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":2002,"position":2},"title":"Assessments Shorten Interviews","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I've read many sales technique articles recently that discuss how to approach a prospect.\u00a0 Salespeople are expected to have a cursory knowledge of the company itself, it's market and, to some extent, whether or not they have a solution that may be a fit for this prospective customer.\u00a0 Gone are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":163,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/07\/interview-strategies\/","url_meta":{"origin":2002,"position":3},"title":"Interview Strategies","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"CareerBuilder has a new article - Top 4 Strategic Interview Styles - that provides some thoughtful approaches to interview strategies. However, I take umbrage with the opening sentence: Interviews are the most important piece of the hiring process. Wrong. Of far greater importance is knowing what traits lead to success\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1759,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/10\/tips-for-interviewing-sales-candidates\/","url_meta":{"origin":2002,"position":4},"title":"Tips For Interviewing Sales Candidates","author":"Lee Fratzke","date":"October 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Too many times the process of hiring a sales person rarely takes priority in a sales manager's duties\u00a0- they have enough to do already.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the hiring tasks get pushed to the margins of their day.\u00a0 Any sales manager knows how important it is to hire strong sales people, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2474,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2011\/02\/they-always-reference-the-top-salesperson\/","url_meta":{"origin":2002,"position":5},"title":"They Always Reference The Top Salesperson","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve encountered a common question in recent interviews which pertains to the current level of performance from the existing sales team.\u00a0 This economy is wreaking havoc on many salespeople in terms of their commissions.\u00a0 Sales candidates are aware of this situation and are diligently asking the question regarding where the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2003,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions\/2003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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