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Casual Articles - How To Interview Sales Candidates - Executive Leaders, Managers, and Individual Contributors
When I was in college, one of the many jobs I had was as a security person in a department store. We were the "spies" who lurked about waiting for the local "Louie Light Fingers" to snatch something so we could arrest them.One of the guys in our group, Steve, was always getting himself in trouble.One day, as he was driving down the highway, Steve decided the person driving the car next to him was doing something wrong. I don't remember if the guy was speeding or failed to use a turn signal or what. It's not important.The important thing was, Steve, didn't like the way this guy was driving and Steve had a security badge for his job at the department store. So, Steve flashed his badge and he pulled the guy over
2.0 Describe an opportunity where there was no specific funding/budget originally identified/earmarked for acquiring your products/solutions. Specifically describe 1.1 - 1.5, including how you dealt with competitive product solutions or competitive projects competing for the same funding pool.
3.0 Describe your approach to coaching sales reps specifically in the con
The quest for perfection is second only to human survival instincts. These are the two reasons that were solely responsible for civilizations to flourish. That we are wearing clothes today as a symbol of the quest for perfection and innovation should reinforce this statement.Was There A Conscious Effort To Develop Six Sigma Into A Competitor To Existing Systems?This is a na?ve and unfounded question, as Six Sigma was developed as independently as any other school of quality management systems. If we value the famous quote of M.K. Gandhi that the end result justifies the means, then it clarifies the need to have more than one quality system.Evolution Of Six SigmaSix Sigma has its roots in the early indu
The sales process and strategic complex selling can be somewhat mystifying for some executive hiring authorities. The whole interview/screening process gets even worse if an executive recruiter is in the mix who lacks any direct background in sales and is incapable of properly screening/interviewing candidates in depth as a result. This can lead to disastrous hiring decisions given most businesses will suffer dramatically if the individuals who own producing a company’s revenue fail to meet their objectives.
A number of executive hiring authorities have asked me for example questions/areas of focus that I concentrate on when interviewing Sales Executives with respect to a candidate’s “battlefield” acumen. The actual flow of interview information is what really dictates how and in what order the questions are asked.
1.0 Tell me about the politically complex sales you've directly executed/contributed on as a Sales Rep, a Manager/Executive, a coaching Manager/Executive.
1.1 Describe your approach to sales strategy, planning and execution (including any "solution selling" methodologies you've consistently employed) within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.2 Describe how you "mapped" out the various "players" in the accounts and your specific approach/strategy with each member you called on within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.3 Describe your approach to building/creating an opportunity within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.4 Describe your method of approaching/building business relationships up/down/across the targeted account's organizations described in 1.0.
1.5 Describe your approach to building and positioning a customer specific compelling value proposition at each of the levels you target within the accounts described in 1.0.
2.0 Describe an opportunity where there was no specific funding/budget originally identified/earmarked for acquiring your products/solutions. Specifically describe 1.1 - 1.5, including how you dealt with competitive product solutions or competitive projects competing for the same funding pool.
3.0 Describe your approach to coaching sales reps specifically in the cont
Ever eat lunch alone?I know, it sounds contrary to the entire concept of networking and approachability. Especially if you’ve read Keith Ferrazzi’s best selling book, Never Eat Alone. But hear me out on this one. Because eating alone (every once in a while) gives you an opportunity to do something you often forget to do while dining out with a client or coworker: observe.Now, don’t think of it as eavesdropping, snooping or spying. It’s research. And it’s amazing what you can learn about approachability if you just immerse yourself in it, watch, and then listen.So, I tried it yesterday. I ate at my favorite lunch spot, all by my lonesome. Just me, some gumbo and a book by John Maxwell. The smell
A number of executive hiring authorities have asked me for example questions/areas of focus that I concentrate on when interviewing Sales Executives with respect to a candidate’s “battlefield” acumen. The actual flow of interview information is what really dictates how and in what order the questions are asked.
1.0 Tell me about the politically complex sales you've directly executed/contributed on as a Sales Rep, a Manager/Executive, a coaching Manager/Executive.
1.1 Describe your approach to sales strategy, planning and execution (including any "solution selling" methodologies you've consistently employed) within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.2 Describe how you "mapped" out the various "players" in the accounts and your specific approach/strategy with each member you called on within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.3 Describe your approach to building/creating an opportunity within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.4 Describe your method of approaching/building business relationships up/down/across the targeted account's organizations described in 1.0.
1.5 Describe your approach to building and positioning a customer specific compelling value proposition at each of the levels you target within the accounts described in 1.0.
2.0 Describe an opportunity where there was no specific funding/budget originally identified/earmarked for acquiring your products/solutions. Specifically describe 1.1 - 1.5, including how you dealt with competitive product solutions or competitive projects competing for the same funding pool.
3.0 Describe your approach to coaching sales reps specifically in the con
A Marketing RiddleQuestion: What am I? I am the best low-cost marketing strategy in the world, I’m cheap, but few businesses use me.Answer: Credibility!Or for you real estate guru’s, what are the 3 most important elements of marketing:1. Credibility 2. Credibility 3. CredibilityCredibility is being believed and trusted by your customers and potential customers. You can’t buy it. No amount of advertising or promotion can hand it to you on a platter. Yet you can achieve credibility by trusting in and using your own product expertise.Gaining credibility is the best marketing strategy in the world. And it is the cheapest. It can have an enormous impact on income, and it can a
1.0 Tell me about the politically complex sales you've directly executed/contributed on as a Sales Rep, a Manager/Executive, a coaching Manager/Executive.
1.1 Describe your approach to sales strategy, planning and execution (including any "solution selling" methodologies you've consistently employed) within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.2 Describe how you "mapped" out the various "players" in the accounts and your specific approach/strategy with each member you called on within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.3 Describe your approach to building/creating an opportunity within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.4 Describe your method of approaching/building business relationships up/down/across the targeted account's organizations described in 1.0.
1.5 Describe your approach to building and positioning a customer specific compelling value proposition at each of the levels you target within the accounts described in 1.0.
2.0 Describe an opportunity where there was no specific funding/budget originally identified/earmarked for acquiring your products/solutions. Specifically describe 1.1 - 1.5, including how you dealt with competitive product solutions or competitive projects competing for the same funding pool.
3.0 Describe your approach to coaching sales reps specifically in the con
Who do you report to when you are the boss? How do you deal with unmotivated days, or those times when you feel overwhelmed?Successful people have known the key to dealing with these pressures for a long time.In the early 1900s Napoleon Hill studied first-hand the high achievers of the day - names that we still recognize, like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Edison - and discovered their secret: a network of other success-oriented people who kept them focused and on track.He called this phenomenon the "Master mind" because the calibre of ideas produced by the group as a whole were greater than the ideas produced by the same individuals on their own. If you've experienced being in a group of people who take
1.2 Describe how you "mapped" out the various "players" in the accounts and your specific approach/strategy with each member you called on within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.3 Describe your approach to building/creating an opportunity within the targeted accounts described in 1.0.
1.4 Describe your method of approaching/building business relationships up/down/across the targeted account's organizations described in 1.0.
1.5 Describe your approach to building and positioning a customer specific compelling value proposition at each of the levels you target within the accounts described in 1.0.
2.0 Describe an opportunity where there was no specific funding/budget originally identified/earmarked for acquiring your products/solutions. Specifically describe 1.1 - 1.5, including how you dealt with competitive product solutions or competitive projects competing for the same funding pool.
3.0 Describe your approach to coaching sales reps specifically in the con
Do you know someone who tends to ask a lot of questions? Maybe he or she gets on your nerves because of the questions you have to field and because it seems you can’t get through a conversation without numerous interruptions. Don’t despair. This may be a very creative person from whom you can learn and someone who might help you increase your own ability to be creative.In my “A Strategy For Winning” book, principle number three is Be Creative. I define creativity as doing a common thing uncommonly well. It is taking what we have, where we are, and getting the most out of it. It is looking at old things with a fresh pair of eyes and seeing them differently. When aptly applied, the questions “Why?” and “What if?” can
2.0 Describe an opportunity where there was no specific funding/budget originally identified/earmarked for acquiring your products/solutions. Specifically describe 1.1 - 1.5, including how you dealt with competitive product solutions or competitive projects competing for the same funding pool.
3.0 Describe your approach to coaching sales reps specifically in the context of how you've coached/influenced a sales rep's behavior within the applicable accounts described in 1.0 while specifically focusing on the coaching areas described in 1.1 - 2.0 above.
4.0 How many of your reps have been over quota? This is an important area. A sales manager can ride the success of a couple of people that "blow out" their sales quota while others consistently under perform and waste precious resources. You want a sales manager that can get a large majority of his/her people exceeding quota. The object of this question is to drill down (with the questions above) on how the manager worked with and developed the "under-performers", and if they knew when to draw the line and coach someone out of their company.
Most people directly involved in politically complex selling, versus simply flying a desk and coaching from the sidelines, can answer these questions with a lot of detail. The nature of the detail exposes if someone is just a gunslinger flying by the seat of their pants and/or lucky enough to be selling a product "that sells itself", or if they are deliberate in their approach to a sales process associated with consultative solutions selling methodologies in politically complex, multi-functional, hierarchical client situations (e.g., selling into matrix organizational structures within the Mil/Aero industry, or large international corporations). Drilling down on all the above in the context of someone being a coaching Manager/Executive will tell you how well they are able to influence the results their sales team delivers versus simply being a choke point for information and data consolidation (i.e., manage sales funnel data).
A Manager/Executive that is a good sales coach can add an unbelievable amount of value in the context of ensuring that the "right" deals are ultimately won (i.e., not all deals are good deals). A Manager/Executive that is a good sales coach can build a fantastic sales team that is welded together and that will walk through fire for their Manager/Executive/Company.
All of the above questions should also be put
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