The Three Minute Sales Interview

The Three Minute Sales Interview:from Peak Sales Recruiting by PEAKSALES
We wrote about the One Minute Sales Interview  and we wanted to follow on with what to do when you have a little more, but not much more, time.
Let’s say you are called in to interview a sales candidate and have little time to prepare. What can you ask to get a sense of whether this person is someone with whom you would want to spend more time?
As we mentioned in the One Minute Sales Interview, the simplest way to get a sense of what a sales person is all about is to ask them that exact question.  A strong sales person will be self aware, succinct and will naturally promote themselves.
This gives you insight into the person’s DNA (see more on this here…  Three Reasons to Hire Sales DNA) and now you need to see if they have the background and experience to be successful in your company.
Have the candidate walk you through their resume and probe them on their career moves.  The strongest sales people choose their career path rather than react – they shape their career. Dig in on reasons for leaving any role and don’t hesitate to ask if they have former supervisory references for any company where the story does not sound right.
Then get the candidate to close you. Have the candidate tell you why they think they are the right person for the job? They should suspect this question and will provide a pre-thought out response.  Once they are done, ask them what assurances you have as an employer that they will produce.
Lastly, ask them if they have any questions for you. If they have no questions, it is a deal killer. If they don’t ask questions, they either aren’t interested, aren’t used to qualifying or there are no lights on upstairs. The level of their questions will help you understand how well they know your business, how well they prepared for the interview and if they are seriously engaged.
To your success!

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