When looking to fill sales positions it will take more than looking through sparkling resumes or even strong recommendations from your existing staff. Once all of the applications and resumes have been sorted, with some filed for later consideration, it’s time for the face-to-face interview process. Some company owners and hiring managers see this process as a necessary evil, almost complaining about the time it takes, but it should be an exciting time when you are hiring salespeople.
To begin with, you are going to have more than one person to interview for the position. If one is all you have you will have nothing to compare them to and even with the right sales personality will likely end up with the wrong person in the position. There should be a minimum of three candidates interviewed for each open position.
One interview is not going to be enough for you, even knowing how to conduct an interview to get an honest picture of the candidate. They have probably done their homework they know what the company does and have probably put together some stock answers in an attempt to impress you with their knowledge. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t provide a complete picture. Like selling in the field some clients will throw them a curve ball during a sales call and how they can handle the pitch will determine if they strike out or hit a home run.
You will want to put them in the hot seat at least three more time. You should never hire someone on less than three interviews and four will give you a better picture of the job candidate. It is also helpful to have different people that know how to conduct an interview. You are going to ask the same questions in the same order and if you do it all yourself they may question if you were paying attention during the previous interview. Having different people conduct the interviews also keeps emotions out of the process and then comparing the answers will give you the best indication of whether they are suited for the position or not.
Always take notes about the answers because you won’t remember what they said or who said it. You can also grade their answers A to F for example, or on a number scale and at the end of all interviews grade each of the candidates to determine which one scored the highest and is the most qualified for the sales position you are trying to fill.
