How do you adapt your sales recruitment interview style and questions to different sales roles and levels?
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Before you start interviewing candidates, you need to have a clear understanding of the role and level you are hiring for. What are the main responsibilities, goals, and challenges of the role? What are the skills, qualifications, and experience required? How does the role fit into the sales team and the organization? What are the expectations and standards of performance for the role and level? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you design your interview style and questions to match the role and level.
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Don't just ask the senior team members or managers - ask the staff doing this role day in, day out. By asking the staff you will get a clear and candid account of the role, the struggles, the sort of person that is likely to succeed, the challenges, the clients, etc. You can also improve staff happiness by involving them in this part of the process. They will feel listened to, valued, and respected as a part of the team. If you asked a handful of staff for their opinion you may also see if there are any consistent issues that you could address before hiring new staff.
Depending on the role and level, you may want to use different interview styles to evaluate the candidates. For example, for entry-level sales roles, you may want to use a behavioral interview style, where you ask candidates to describe specific situations where they demonstrated relevant skills, such as communication, persuasion, negotiation, and problem-solving. For senior-level sales roles, you may want to use a situational interview style, where you present candidates with hypothetical scenarios and ask them how they would handle them, such as dealing with a difficult client, managing a sales team, or developing a sales strategy. For specialized sales roles, such as technical or consultative sales, you may want to use a case interview style, where you give candidates a realistic business problem and ask them to analyze it, propose a solution, and explain their reasoning.
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An interview shouldn't be an interrogation, it needs to be a conversation. It goes both ways. In terms of evaluating talent, giving candidates realistic hypothetical situations and letting candidates tell stories are two of the most effective ways to determine their ability. Dig into exact tactics and understand how they reach their conclusions.
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It i important to follow guidelines within your company processes. I would say no more than 3 interviews would ever be justifiable. Make sure you include: 1. A "GET TO KNOW" chat and make sure it is a match. Not the same to look for a BDR to focus on new business than an Account Manager to focus on upselling. Do this with the actual hiring manager. 2. Create a day to day example of a selling situation. Let the candidate prepare and get them in with the team to pitch the product and a plan of action for the account. Tasks and day to day stuff can be discussed. 3. Get the last interview here to dive into actual skill - situational based questions and make sure all doubts are cleared. These can edited for any level.
When conducting a sales recruitment interview, it is important to ask relevant, specific, and open-ended questions to assess the candidate's skills, personality, and fit for the role and level. For entry-level sales roles, you may want to inquire about how they approach a new prospect, handle objections and rejections, close a sale, or measure their sales performance. For senior-level sales roles, you may want to ask about their ability to lead and motivate a sales team, plan and execute a sales strategy, manage key accounts and relationships, or handle complex sales cycles and negotiations. For specialized sales roles such as technical or consultative sales, you may want to ask questions regarding their ability to communicate technical information to non-technical audiences, identify and understand the needs of clients, demonstrate the value of their product or service, or collaborate with other experts and stakeholders in the sales process.
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In my experience for senior sales and BDR roles, it is also important to identify and contact candidates from the client's specific industry or related fields. These candidates have been involved in the sales industry for a good 5 years or more. So, at the end of the day it will come down to how much technical knowledge of the product they are selling, they have and also the interest in the specific industry itself.
During a sales recruitment interview, you should not only listen to the candidate's answers, but also observe their behavior, attitude, and body language. You should look for signs of confidence, enthusiasm, professionalism, and rapport. You should also pay attention to how the candidate responds to your questions, whether they are clear, concise, and structured, whether they provide concrete examples and evidence, whether they ask relevant and insightful questions, and whether they show interest and curiosity in the role and the organization.
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STAR technique is great to use in these cases. Prepare the candidates on it before the interview. If they are able to use this to give clear answers and still be able to build rapport and make it a conversation, they will be good. What is STAR? -Situation. They will describe the situation or context they were in, explaining the circumstances or challenges they faced.. -Task. They explain the specific task(s) they had to achieve in the situation described. -Action. They describe the actions they took or decisions they made to work through their tasks and goals. -Result. The applicant defines the outcomes and results of their actions whether positive or negative.
After a sales recruitment interview, you should follow up with the candidate and thank them for their time and interest. You should also ask them for feedback on the interview process and their impression of the role and the organization. You should then evaluate the candidate based on their interview performance and compare them with other candidates. You should use a consistent and objective criteria and rating system to score the candidate's skills, personality, and fit for the role and level. You should also consider other factors, such as their resume, references, assessments, and portfolio, if applicable.
Sales recruitment interviews are an essential part of finding and hiring the best sales talent for your organization. By adapting your interview style and questions to different sales roles and levels, you can ensure that you assess the candidate's suitability and potential for the role and level. You can also create a positive and engaging interview experience that showcases your organization's culture and values.
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