Most interviewers only accomplish a third of what they should (part 1 of 3)
Submitted by Dan Leymaster on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 9:21pm
Anyone in sales knows how important it is to hire the right people. In fact, it has been said that hiring the right people is the absolute most important element in running a successful company. I can’t argue. I’ve seen the impact that just one great salesperson can have on a company. And I’ve seen the struggles that go along with not having the right people in place. But identifying the right person is only the first step. If you don’t sell them on the opportunity of working for you, the right candidate will end up working for someone else. In addition, if you don’t set the right expectations they may arrive at work only to find that what they were expecting and what you were expecting are two very different things.
Each element in the interview process is critical to bringing the best and most productive sales talent to your organization.
1. Find the right people
2. Show them the opportunity
3. Set the proper expectations
During the next few entries on this page we will look at each of these steps with the heaviest focus on 2 and 3. Why? Because most companies have a pretty good idea of what they are looking for when it comes to hiring the right people. They don’t always know how to articulate it, they may not always write ads that reflect it, and they rarely interview well enough to capture the very best talent, but they have a pretty good idea of what kind of person does well in their organization.
That being said, let’s discuss a few tips to make sure that the first step in the process is as effective as possible. There is no one-size-fits-all series of questions to ask a candidate. You company is unique. Your needs are unique. Once you have identified what you are looking for in your ideal candidate creating a solid and repeatable interview process can help ensure that the people you hire meet that profile. Here are some guidelines to make that happen:
1. Ask questions that get them talking about their experience. We’ve seen hundreds of different questions used effectively to find out about a person’s background. The key is to guide the conversation so that they show you their true colors, good or bad.
2. Let them talk. Too many interviewers dominate the conversation. If you were to do a word count at the end of an interview the interviewee should be ahead by a margin of two or three to one.
3. MAKE THEM QUANTIFY!!! One of the biggest mistakes interviewers make is letting people get away with general answers. For example, an answer like,“I was consistently one of the top salespeople in my company…” should immediately trigger a series of follow-up questions including; What do you mean by “one of the top people”? When were you at the top? What numbers did you hit to get there? Out of how many people? How was that recognized? To what do you attribute that success? Etc.
4. Take genuine interest in them. Even when asking the deep follow-up questions it is important that they see you ask out of genuine interest in what they have accomplished.
5. Address all discrepancies. If something they say does not match up with their resume, ask about it. This is the last place you want to make assumptions. If something doesn’t match up, giving them a chance to explain it will either let them clear up the misunderstanding or prove that they were not honest with the information they gave.
6. Take notes. They come in very handy during the interview and after when evaluating which candidates you choose to go with. They also send a strong message that you take the interview process very seriously.
When done properly this portion of the interview can put you in a great position to know whether you are talking to a future superstar or future dud. Next time we’ll talk about how to show that future superstar why your company is clearly the right choice.
