Are You Selling Yourself Short?

I’ve been involved in a number of interviews recently, I’m helping a client hire a new sales director. Here is what captures my attention and ensures the candidate makes it through to the next round. 

1. They are prepared. They have researched the position, company and even my business to formulate smart questions. Nothing starts an interview off as badly as when the candidate sounds surprised to hear from you during your appointed call time.

2. They ask questions. Not just about the role, but of the personalities in the company, strategies, tools and structure.

3. They answer the questions being asked. Far too many candidates dodge questions with the deft skill of a seasoned politician. This is not a skill you want in your top performing managers!

4. They use stories and examples from their past successes to back up facts and bring results to life.

5. They understand the KPIs pipeline stats and numbers and know how to use them to drive sales motivation.

6. They ACTUALLY build rapport during the interview, rather than just stating they are “good at” creating rapport in their resume.

7. They follow up after the interview with a thank you email including a summary of our next steps.

8.  They ask about the next steps.

9. When asked  “why are you interested in this job?” they don’t act surprised, but rather have a passionate answer about how they are the right fit.

10. They have given some thought to what their first 90 days would look like and present a detailed plan about the steps they would take to onboard themselves into the business.

Keep these points in mind the next time you want to bring a new sales rep on board. Hiring the right rep the first time around saves much time and energy for you and your business.