Tag Archives: Interviewee

Sales Management Training | Why Stupid Questions Are Really Smart

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stupid sales management questionsStupid questions can be your best friend.

And when you are interviewing salespeople, you’ll hear a lot of them.

In this occasional sales management training series on How to Interview a Salesperson, in this session, we delve into the question and answer part of the interview.

The Q & A Part of The Sales Management Interview

Most sales managers think that once their questions are asked, the interview is over. Most sales management training completely discounts this part of the interview.

That’s really too bad because its probably the most important…

The sales interview is only “over” until, as Blake (played by Alec Baldwin – way before 40 Rock and twenty-something appearances on Saturday Night Live) said in the greatest sales management movie of all time Glengarry Glen Ross… “get them to sign on the line that is dotted”…

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(Any opportunity for me to show a video clip of Glengarry Glen Ross on this blog I will! :-) )

Unlike Alex Baldwin, you don’t have to swear and insult the sales interview that asks the stupid question…all you need to do is listen for the questions that are the ones that knock them out of the running.

And these questions are the stupid ones.

Because you don’t want to hire those guys.

And “put the coffee down”! Continue reading →

Sales Management Training | Don’t Forget This One Tip When Hiring a Salesperson

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We almost forgot one of the most important sales management training steps in hiring…

My bad. I almost didn’t include it because it was left out of my last post.

But if you don’t include it in your sales management training interviewing arsenal, you could really leave yourself open to making some fatal hiring decisions.

And I don’t want that to happen…so here goes.

Get to the “whys”

Get them talking, but ask them to focus on the “whys” behind the decisions they made in their life. The answers to those questions will give you insights into who they really are. Everyone is the sum of all the decisions they have made in their lives. Ask them about those decisions.

In asking them “why did they do what they did?” questions, you are cutting to the core of their nature. Taking a new job is a huge event in someone’s life, these decisions/thought processes are “windows into their true character”.

Simply ask them about the decisions they made and the “whys” behind each decision.

When you got married wasn’t it one of the biggest decisions you ever made in your personal life?

And the spouse you decided to marry tells a lot about who you are as a person.

Just like a “marriage” to another company tells tons about who that person is.

Ask the interviewee a question like: “Why did you leave Paychex to go work at AT&T? What were you hoping to accomplish?”

Or when they left Paulie’s Walnuts, Inc. to go to Phil’s Cashew Company, my personal favorite question is:

“What was missing from your current situation at Paulie’s Walnuts Inc.?”

When you find out the “whys” behind this question, you get a window into their soul. Then probe into each decision. Get specific. Have them give you examples.

The more specific the examples they give, the better it is for you.

And the better your chances of making a killer sales hire.

In our next sales management training step in the interviewing process, we get to the question and answer section. This isn’t the time to snooze…its time to wake up and make sure you use this all important segment of the hiring process to get the best salesperson possible.