How to Interview Candidates sales - executive officers, directors and Individual Contributors

For some executive hiring authorities who have no background in sales, can be a challenge to really know if they are making a good hiring decision when interviewing potential sales executive leaders, managers, individual employees or units of transportation. Why? Because any halfway accomplished sales professional is able to offer a sophisticated smoke and reflects the presentation, in an attempt to close a deal.

The sales process and strategic complex selling can be a bit 'confusing for some organs of executive recruitment. The entire interview / screening process becomes even worse if an employer executive is the mix that lacks any background in direct sales and is capable of properly screening / interviewing in depth as a result. This can lead to disastrous hiring decisions given most businesses will suffer dramatically if individuals who possess the production of income of a company fail to achieve their goals.

A number of authorities hiring managers have asked me for such questions / areas of interest that you focus on when interviewing sales managers insight to a candidate "battlefield". The actual flow of information that this interview is really like and in what order the questions are asked.

1.0 Tell me politically complex sales made directly to you / helped, as a representative, a manager / executive, a manager coaching / Executive.

1.1 Describe your approach to marketing strategy, planning and execution (including any "solution selling" methodologies have always occupied) in the targeted accounts described in 1.0.

1.2 Describe how "mapped" the different "actors" of the accounts and your specific approach / strategy in which each member is invited to the targeted accounts described in 1.0.

1.3 Describe your approach to building / creating opportunities in the targeted accounts described in 1.0.

1.4 Describe your method of approach / develop business relationships up / down / across organizations of the destination account is described in 1.0.

1.5 Describe your approach to the construction and placement of a specific compelling value proposition to each customer and target levels within the accounts described in 1.0.

2.0 Describe a situation in which there was no specific funding / budget originally identified / earmarked to acquire your products / solutions. Specifically describe 1.1 to 1.5, even how you dealt with solutions or competitive products competitive projects competing for the same pool of funding.

3.0 Describe your approach to coaching sales reps specifically in the context of how you coached / influenced the behavior of an individual within the applicable accounts described in 1.0, while particular attention to areas of coaching in paragraph 1.1 - 2.0 referred to above.

4.0 How many of your representatives were over quota? This is an important area. A sales manager can ride the success of a couple of people who "blow" their share of sales, while others run constantly and wasting valuable resources. Want a sales manager who can get a large majority of its people over quota. The object of this question is to drill down (with the questions above) on how the manager has worked with and developed the "sub-artist", and if he knew when to draw the line bus and someone out of their society.

Most of the people directly involved in selling politically complex than just flying a desk, and coaching from the sidelines, unable to answer these questions with a lot of details. The nature of the detail exposes if someone is just a gunslinger flying by the seat of their pants and / or lucky enough to be selling a product "that sells", or are deliberate in their approach to a sales process associated with functions consultative solutions selling methodologies politically complex and multi-functional, hierarchical client situations (for example, sales in the matrix organizational structures within the Mil / Aero industry, and large international companies). Drill-down on all of the above, in the context of someone being a manager coaching / executive will tell you how well you are able to influence the results of your sales team from delivering simply be a choke point for the consolidation of information and data (for example, manage sales funnel data).

A Manager / Executive, which is a good sales coach can add an incredible amount of value in the context of ensuring that the "right" deals are ultimately won (ie, not all deals are good deals). A Manager / Executive, which is a good sales coach can build a great team of sales that are welded together and walk through fire for their Manager / Executive / Company.

All of the above questions should also be put in context with the size of the candidate's previous employers and the market / brand recognition associated with what they were selling. Someone whose successful sales experience is just to sell industry leading name brand products and services for a recognized category leader may fall on their face walking into a never heard of them before start-up mode that comes stealth trying to close the first sales of the company.

Most of these questions try to pull out the method of a candidate for the production of a result / outcome. It is important to make sure to drill in particular - as - a candidate has guided the results they are claiming. Focusing more one how someone produced a given result or outcome than simply focusing on what results they have produced lots of smoke wipe out a sophisticated and reflects all sales made in mid-professional is able to put forward.

Obtaining solid clear answers to these questions / areas of interest will be hiring an executive authority familiar with the procedures for selling and complex strategic sale of a long walk along the road to make a solid hiring decision .......