Behavioral Interviewing Strategies To Help You Build And Manage Teams

All effective leaders use objective metrics to track and measure progress. We see this in every facet of every business. There are new platforms and technologies coming out daily to help us track, measure, optimize and simplify how we run our organizations.

However, even with all the information that we have available to us, a 2019 survey from The Predictive Index (which my company is certified in) found that 52% of the CEOs surveyed who set goals in 2018 didn't achieve them.

Additionally, 2018 data from SalesForce found just 42% of sales reps expected to meet their quotas. We have more information and resources than ever, yet sales teams often see long sales cycles, low close rates and high sales team churn. Underperformance is becoming normal.

To me, this comes down to the one glaring problem that constitutes a large of many organizations' costs: people. Unfortunately, as the director of performance solutions at a company that offers talent optimization software, this is one issue that I see all too many executives ignore every day.

Remember, Sales Performance Is A People Challenge

We invest in and optimize technology daily, but many of us only have the occasional one-on-one with our team members. Whether we're talking about recruiting our team upfront or leading the team we have, the way we build our teams should change, particularly when it comes to sales.

This is typically where we'd head into a conversation with HR about culture, onboarding and so on; however, I'm going to steer this in a different direction. As a more analytical, objective individual who uses emotional selling and the ability to read people to make a living, I still find it difficult to understand what makes people truly tick.

It's easy to realize that some people operate differently than others, but it's another thing to understand it. If you can understand why someone does what they do, you'll be able to connect and communicate with that person at a far more effective level than ever before.

Strive To Understand Your Team

The ability to lead your team or close the next deal can skyrocket when you truly understand the drives, behaviors and "operating system" of the person you're dealing with. Moreover, you can predict which candidates will perform in a given position far more effectively than you can by checking for keywords on a resume.

Behavioral interviewing is one way to do this. Ask situational questions during the interview to force quick thinking that's specific to your industry and company scenarios. Examples can include questions that start with "give an example of ..." or "tell me about a situation ..." These are open-ended questions meant to help you understand how someone reacts to different scenarios, not just a high-level answer on how they might react in the future to a situation.

Behavioral analysis is one key; however, I've found that the reason for any behavior is a need. Drives result in needs, which drive behaviors, which lead to personality. If you understand someone's drives, you can predict their long-term behavior and personality better. Needs drive behaviors that ultimately drive a person's communication, sales, management styles and personality. When companies take the time to truly understand their teams' needs, they're able to be more effective in every way, and behavioral interviewing strategies (for both candidates and employees) is one way to do that.

Two very practical ways of diving into the needs of your team are often overlooked. First, ask your team "why" more frequently. Understand why they do what they do, not just what action they took in a particular instance. This applies to both candidates and members of your current team.

There are many ways to shift a company toward a more people-focused approach to business, but many of them are simple and you can implement them immediately. Despite how easy it is to scan a resume for keywords, ask questions about work ethic and strengths and pick the candidate who can play the "interview" game the best, there is a better way.

Build a profile for the person you need to do the specific job open at your specific company and stick to it to help avoid those post-honeymoon hiring woes. Look at more than just the facade of applicants and focus on what really drives them. Ask situational interview questions. Learn how their brains work. Dive into what they do, why they do it, and what they can truly bring to the table long-term. Don't get distracted by the flashiness of impressive experience or a beautifully worded answer to a tricky question.

If you want to predict sales success of your teams, ensure the needs, drives and behaviors are in line with your organization's needs. An incredible track record at a competitor's business doesn't necessarily predict future success.

Our People Determine Whether We Succeed Or Fail

That said, I offer you a simple challenge: Invest in the optimization of your people as much as your company's technology. No matter what business you're in, including the tech space itself, your success will always depend in part on your ability to build and lead teams. To get the best out of your people, you should invest in choosing the right fits at a greater level.

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To view the original article published on Forbes.com, click here.

Stephen M. Lowisz is the Director of Performance Solutions at Qualigence, Creator of the T3 Framework, and Author of The Sales Code