When you were interviewing for your current job, you probably prepped yourself for days, making sure you did all your research on the position, spoke to the few people who know the job well, maybe got a little background information on your boss-to-be.

On the day of the interview you woke up that morning, you might have rehearsed your answers to some of the potential interview questions while you were in the shower.

Maybe you made extra sure that you got a nice haircut was just so and wore your best suit and even shined those beat up Bostonians.

The point is this, when you interviewed, you made every possible attempt to represent yourself in the best possible way.

In short, that day, unless you were sick, you presented yourself in the best possible way you knew how. It was the best that you had.

By the same token, when a sales manager is interviewing sales candidates, think about this: what the sales manager sees in front of him is the absolute best that you’ll ever see of them.

If they don’t blow you away in the interview and sell you on them, chances are slim that they will sell any sales prospect they are presenting your product to.

In the interview you have with them, you’re observing them at their very best. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Don’t convince yourself that maybe they’ll do a better job when they’re out in the field, because they won’t.

If anything, they’ll be worse in their daily sales calls than they were in the interview. Just like you dolled yourself up as best as you could for your current job interview, they did the same thing when they interviewed with you. Everything else will be a steep drop off.

You may tell yourself, that some people just don’t interview well right?

No! Not salespeople. If a sales rep cannot sell you or your sales manager in an interview on their best day, they cannot sell effectively when they’re not at their best. And let’s not kid ourselves, there are plenty of days that a sales rep doesn’t have it all working in your favor.

So don’t settle. Don’t make excuses. If the interview candidate is anything less than stellar…then keep looking you and your sales manager can do a heck of alot better.

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Tell us what you think. Should you hire a sales interview candidate that just has a bad day interviewing?

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