The Sales Performance Suite

The Best Questions to Land Your Next Top Performing Sales Rep

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How Do You Know Who's Really Behind The Mask?

In our earlier discussion, we pointed out the predominant characteristics of top performing salespeople. Of course we know there are others which positively contribute to a rep's performance not mentioned here. For now, we're focusing on 3 key characteristics which appear below with a brief description:

Enterprising: Independently competitive, takes on initiative and risk, has personal ownership or "stake" in outcomes. Tends to "ask for forgiveness instead of approval."

Sociable: Conversant and comfortable across a broad array of business and social settings; easily builds rapport and readily interacts with all types of people. 

Assertive: Leads more than follows; is confident, comfortable and competant in directing people as well as the course of events. In the sales environment it's mandatory in any sales professional's ability to advance their sales cycle.Now equipped with these characteristics, you're certainly wondering...

"How do I know the candidates I'm talking to have them...or don't?"

That's the easy part - just like good sales professionals, we ask! Listed below are some interview questions to help you do that:  

Enterprising:

• While on a sales call with a prospect, you encounter an issue that's outside of your authority but must be addressed to close the sale. Do you: a) execute to advance the sale or b), wait for approval from higher authority?
• When in competition, what lengths do you go to to win? 
• When sales goals are not achieved, who's responsible?

Sociable:

• Describe the relationship building skills you have used to successfully achieve your sales goals.
• How would you build rapport with a remote, indifferent prospect on a initial call?
• What types of things have you done in the past to retain and expand business from existing accounts?

Assertive:

• Describe an example when you closed a particularly difficult sale by using your persuasion skills.
• Using examples from your experience, explain how a salesperson’s tenacity impacts the outcome of the sales process.
• When in the sales environment and while engaging a prospective customer, tell me how you a sense of urgency.
• Demonstrate for me how you'd handle a indecisive prospect who is stalling your sales cycle. Specifically, I’m interested in the approaches and the words you’d use to move them forward.

By carefully gauging your candidates' responses to these questions, you'll be better prepared to tell if they're the "real thing" or merely saying "what they think you want to hear."

Armed with the answers to your questions and then comparing them to the experience and accomplishments cited on their resumes, you'll be well on your way to hiring your next "top performer - not just another "great pretender!"

We'll be talking about other tools available to you in order to accomplish this - and more - in a future blog. Stay tuned! 

Photo Credit: esper.art.br

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xper/3350897632/