The modern-day salesman is a talented person. He must not only be an expert on his product, but also an expert on reading and relating to people. But how do you find them? Since many of us are looking to someday own our own businesses, we’re definitely going to need to know how to hire awesome salespeople.
In his article for Entrepreneur magazine, David Priemer describes three questions that he likes to use when interviewing people – especially for sales roles. At the surface level, they look like an easy way to lighten the mood and make your interviewee comfortable, but their answers can actually yield some pretty powerful insights. Curious? Here’s a list of the questions David recommended:
- What’s your super power? David explains that he sees sales teams like a group of
superheroes – like the X-Men or Avengers – a group of individuals with different strengths
and weaknesses that when combined can be incredibly effective. By asking candidates what their superpower would be, the interviewer can see what strengths the candidate can contribute to the team, see how self-aware the candidate is, and open up an avenue of follow-up, evidence-based questions. - What’s your kryptonite? In contrast to the previous question, candidates now have to assess their weaknesses. David writes that “It’s even more interesting to ask what they [the
candidate] would do to win if they were selling against themselves!” This question helps interviewers understand how aware candidates are of their weaknesses, how well they understand the nature of the industry, and shows the interviewer where coaching may
be needed. - If you were a plant, what care instructions would you come with? Basically, David writes, this
answer would tell him what he, as a manager, would need to do to help the candidate perform at his best.
Hopefully, you found these questions as helpful (and enjoyable) as I did – maybe they’ll even help you land some ideal sales candidates in the future – and have some fun while you’re at it.
BoweryJE22