All recruiters sooner or later have to deal with the search for the most sought-after specialists in the labor market - sales managers. Salespeople are a key link in any company, because they fulfill the main purpose of the business - to make money. Finding them, objectively assessing their skills, personal qualities, oh how not easy.
You need to evaluate his professional abilities and personal competencies by arranging a mini certification of sellers at the entrance. So what questions are asked in a sales manager interview?
Let's start with the first set of interview questions for salespeople. Many recruiters are inclined to believe that it is rather difficult to evaluate a sales manager, since their type of activity is related to sales and who, if not them, can sell themselves. However, there are different questions to determine the level of their professionalism.
1. Traditionally, they begin with a request to tell about themselves.
At this stage, they evaluate: presentation skills, consistency and relevance of information (there were cases when candidates with 5 years of experience in sales talked about their successes at the university), speech indicators - verbs perfect look and nouns. If the candidate begins his story with the question: “What can I tell you?” Talk to him for 15 minutes and say goodbye. Save yourself and him time, he is definitely not the one you are looking for. To double-check speech indicators, you can ask the candidate to talk about his work day.
The voice must be conducive. Also focus on the correctness of speech, demeanor, presentation of thoughts. The manager must speak clearly, competently, look straight into the eyes, be confident, there must be firmness in the voice.
3. How do you imagine your typical working day?
In order to achieve a result, a sales employee needs to know a lot. He must know thoroughly the product he sells, must have information about his market, must be proficient in sales techniques and understand the peculiarities of doing business in his company. However, it is important to understand that no amount of knowledge will lead to success if the employee does not have the desire to work hard. The answer I want to hear in asking this question involves early start and late end of the work day, and a large set of active action during this day. If I don't get that response, I put the questions aside and explain to the candidate exactly what I expect from them during a typical work day. And I conclude my explanations with the phrase: "If this is not what you expected, or you do not like this schedule, let's do each other a favor and stop our conversation right now."
4. How well did you understand the product you were selling?
Here good seller will talk about the advantages of the product he worked with, how it is presented on the market, what competitors were, the main market segments where the product is presented, and who is the main consumer. It is very important to keep track of how emotionally colored the candidate's story is: enthusiasm in his voice, sincere passion - all this suggests that a person not only knows how to sell, but also sincerely “sicks” for what he sells. His task is not to force the buyer to buy, but to sell, to present his product in a favorable light.
5. What were your responsibilities in your previous position?
Here the main task is to determine what exactly the person was doing, because in each company the sales process is built differently and it can differ significantly. It is important to understand whether the candidate has active sales what documentation he kept, whether his duties included not only communication with clients, but also preparation of contracts, registration of invoices.
6. What are the main stages of sales.
Many may argue with me, but still I believe that knowledge of sales techniques is necessary. Someone assimilates them on an intuitive level and formulates them in their own words. Someone attends trainings, reads books. But the fact remains that if the seller does not know that you first need to identify the need, and only then present the product, then it is unlikely that he will have good sales figures. You need to focus on this answer:
- Building a client base.
- Client search.
- Greeting the client.
- Identification of needs.
- Product presentation.
- Argumentation and work with objections.
- Price negotiations.
- Make a deal.
- Maintenance business relations with a client.
7. Tell me about your most successful deal.
A good sales manager will not be limited beautiful words and phrases, he will point the numbers and describe the sales process in detail in this case.
8. Tell us about a time when, despite your best efforts, you couldn't close a deal.
Even the most productive seller has such a case and he is not afraid to talk about it. He will share his mistakes that were made in the described situation and name ways to correct them.
Most sales managers are sure that if a salesperson knows the technique of cold sales and makes a lot of cold calls, then he will work much more efficiently with warm clients. It's hard to argue with that. Of course, the effectiveness of cold calls in the field of B2B is now almost zero, but, nevertheless, if a candidate is afraid of cold calls and declares his unwillingness to engage in them, or is interested in how often he will have to do them, he is unlikely to sell well .
You can immediately check the candidate and instead of asking questions about the number of cold calls and what percentage of them ended in a deal, you can give the phone and ask to make a few cold calls. It will be immediately clear who is capable of what.
9. Give as many solutions as possible to this situation: the client is asking for a discount that you cannot provide.
A good seller should give at least 3-5 options (possible examples of questions):
- What can I offer in exchange for a discount?
- We can offer you such a discount when purchasing XXX.
- We may offer you an additional benefit (service, promotion).
- We can offer you a slightly smaller discount, but in the most convenient form for you.
- We can provide you with such a discount for prepaid shipments.
- You know, I would gladly give you such a discount, but there are certain rules which I am required to comply with.
- You know, it would be unfair to our other partners, because everyone works according to the same scheme (XXX), I'm sure you would not want us to spoil the reputation of our company as a partner. Etc.
10. How will you determine at the first meeting if the client is promising?
A competent seller should not give unambiguous answers to this question. By the way, this is a good case for internal certification of sellers.
He must make a reservation that it is impossible to evaluate this, on the first impression one can make a mistake.
Here's a guess based on:
- Direct statements from the client.
- Customer reactions to prices.
- Appearance of the client and the company.
- pre-collected information.
11. Personal competencies
Only a person with a set of certain personal characteristics be able to sell effectively.
In order to be a good sales manager, a person must be result-oriented, not process-oriented. There is no worse sales manager who believes that if you do something (call, write, communicate), then he will definitely sell something. To determine how result-oriented a person is, it is enough to listen to him carefully, if a person more often uses perfective verbs - “what did you do?” (“concluded”, “expanded”, “renewed”), which means that he is more likely to be result-oriented. If he uses mostly verbs imperfect form- "what have you been doing?" (“negotiated”, “searched”, “tried”) - on the process.
It is recommended to carefully monitor how the applicant explains the reasons for his failures and difficulties: takes responsibility for himself or refers to external factors (product quality, luck, situation). More effective in the position of sales manager, as a rule, people with an internal reference. When discussing the wage system good specialists in the field of sales, they are guided, first of all, by a percentage of sales, and not by a fixed rate. They realize what better result, the higher the level of payment, and are willing to make personal efforts to achieve high results. Candidates who are afraid of "living on a percentage", showing special interest to the size of a fixed rate, often turn out to be less successful sellers.
12. Flexibility
Give an example of a time when you were constantly distracted while working with a client. What was the most difficult for you in this situation? Tell us about your last "difficult" client
Have there been times when the usual customer service techniques didn't work? Have you ever encountered incorrect customer behavior (rudeness, aggression, etc.)? How did you get out of the situation?
Evidence of flexibility are the following features of behavior: maintains a friendly attitude towards the interlocutor at any turn of the topic of conversation
quickly finds optimal solutions in difficult situations
13. Decency
If a candidate for a "sales manager" vacancy solemnly declares to you that he has a customer base - do not rush to rejoice. This speaks primarily of his dishonesty in relation to past employers. Was he selling the Company's services, not his own? And when he left, he “captured” a portfolio of clients with him. We all have a certain pattern of behavior in certain situations. Think about it: are you facing the same fate that befell his past employer?
14. It is also important to correctly identify the candidate's motivation for work. In order to identify the motivation of a candidate, you can ask the following questions:
In what work situation did you feel most/least comfortable?
What did you do when you were most satisfied / dissatisfied with your activities?
Why was this or the situation unpleasant for him?
It is very important that a specialist wants to develop in his chosen field of activity, so that he likes his work and brings pleasure. A successful sales manager enjoys the process of communicating with customers, the opportunity to satisfy their needs, and, of course, the result (whether it is expanding the client base and attracting new customers or increasing sales).
The ability to objectively evaluate sellers and choose the only one comes with experience. The ability to write effective sales interview questions is a great art that can be learned. In order to conduct an interview, you need to prepare for it, carefully study the candidate's resume, imagine what kind of person he is, and most importantly, not only listen, but also hear. It helps a lot to capture information. Write down direct speech, phrases that the candidate says when answering questions. After the interview, this will help you to restore the picture and correctly interpret the information received.
Liked our material, have questions? !
It all starts with a resume. Summary - business card applicant, which will enable the employer to form a first opinion about him.
A well-written resume is a guarantee that the employer will call and invite you to.
General rules a good resume or what the employer is looking for:
- Are there any mistakes? Their presence is evidence of inattention, haste and, ultimately, negligence.
- Is there a photo on the resume? Her absence is suspicious and may suggest that the applicant for the position is not a self-confident person.
- Place of residence, age, knowledge foreign languages, own car and willingness to travel.
- Are there many previous places jobs, how often do they change?
- Does education match work experience? Does the work experience of the applicant meet the requirements of the employer?
Features of a sales manager resume:
- Properly placed accents are very important. In the resume of a sales manager, emphasis should be placed on the qualities of a leader, on communication skills. After all, this is work with people, requiring the ability to find mutual language with representatives different ages, different social groups.
- Must indicate willingness to travel. This will show the seriousness of the attitude towards future work and willingness to do much for her.
- Focus on results. The employer appreciates such sales managers who want and strive to earn money, that is, they are able to bring income to the company.
In the column " Functional responsibilities» sales manager should pay attention to:
- registration of calculations and maintenance of cash documentation;
- the expansion of the customer base;
- document management;
- search for new suppliers.
Questions when applying for a job
And now a little about what are the interview questions for a sales manager job, as well as for a sales manager interview? 
The resume was noticed - its owner was called and invited to an interview with a sales manager or head of sales.
The interview is the next and very important stage for both parties.
At the interview, the employer and his potential employee meet face to face. They watch and listen to each other. They ask each other questions. What questions to ask in a sales manager interview? And what do they ask at a sales manager interview? Whether there is a finished script sales manager interviews?
Top 5 questions for sales managers:
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
It is a question of purpose and aspirations. Experts advise: no need for unbridled fantasies! Look at things realistically and formulate affordable plans for the next five years.
It is important that the target flies away from the teeth, so that the applicant does not think or mumble when answering this question.
What are your best and worst features?
They do not advise the applicant to turn inside out when answering this question, demonstrating crystal honesty.
Usually, positive traits sales manager are responsible, organized and communicative. The negative ones include: arrogance and honesty, and also a tendency to in-depth analysis. Experts believe that all this spoils good manager by sales.
It is good if, answering this question, the candidate argues, specifying what exactly is expressed, for example, his organization and responsibility.
Smart candidates, when answering this question, manage to negative qualities present them in such a way that they look positive in the eyes of the employer. For example, listing their shortcomings, they can say: “I don’t know how to relax at all. A terrible workaholic, a fan of work. I am very demanding of myself and others.”
Can you cheat?
Trick question. Whatever the answer to it was not given - everything is bad. 
The applicant admits that he can deceive, he will be considered a liar. He will say that he is always honest and truthful, they will be suspected of lying.
How to be? It is advised to laugh it off and avoid answering this question.
What's your best deal?
If the best deal in a sales manager's professional life hasn't happened yet, it's worth inventing it. For reliability, it can be embellished with details about difficulties in negotiations and other business moments.
If the conscience does not allow the applicant to “embellish”, then the profession of a sales manager is not for him.
Are you stress resistant?
The sales manager must be stress-resistant. He must be friendly and smiling and not lose these qualities even when he is “run into” right during the interview. This is an employer's test of stress resistance and it is necessary to demonstrate a playful reaction in response.
There are a number of other questions that are popular with the employer:
- What exactly draws you to this job?
The answer “growth prospects” and “solid firm” is a formula. It would be better if something more individual sounds. For example, “the desire to gain new skills in a team of professionals.”
- Why do you think this position is yours?
This question is a good opportunity for the candidate to name the best that he has. What matters is how he does it. Emotionally, forcefully? Good. Not convincing common phrases? Badly.
- Why did you change your previous job?
It is bad if the conflict with the leadership is called the reason for leaving. Well, if - the desire to go further, open up new professional horizons, get a big salary.
5 the right questions future sales managers
- What are the responsibilities of a sales manager?
- What reports should a sales manager fill out?
- What is the objective quality of the company's product itself?
- How are clients assigned to managers?
- What is the motivation system?
Questions may also be asked, such as: “Is there a division of managers into farmers and hunters? Who will I be? The employer needs to be prepared for this kind of competence of the applicant.
Watch the video: Sales Manager Interview Questions.
Rules for a successful interview
So, how to successfully pass a sales manager interview? It is known that both sides are focused on the result. Employer - get what he is looking for. A candidate is to become what the employer is looking for. Therefore, he must show his best side.
This means:
- be punctual. Do not be late for an appointment;
- look good. This is the same case when they are greeted by clothes;
- to smile. A smile and kindness are very endearing to people;
- confidence. Not arrogance, but rather calm self-confidence. It is necessary for the sales manager to look convincing;
- activity. Modesty decorates, but not in this case. The sales manager is expected to be proactive;
To better understand who is sitting in front of him, Employers will also have to make an effort:
- create a friendly environment; This will help the candidate to relax and open up better. You can, of course, immediately arrange a stress interview, but this method does not work in the first minutes of the interview. Such a "trump card" is better to save "for later."
- calculate the meeting time; 30 minutes per candidate is enough. Short interviews annoy people just as much as long ones.
Even if you have already formed your opinion about the candidate, but the time has not yet come, ask the planned questions.
In this case, you are already doing this not in order to understand the applicant, but in order for the applicant to compose positive opinion about company. After all, it is important for you that, after leaving the office, he spreads positive information about the company. Word of mouth is a powerful, both advertising and anti-advertising resource.
Ask questions, prepare in advance, tests, cases with specific workflows, situations. Everything should be aimed at assessing the experience, personal qualities and professional skills of the candidate. Take notes during the interview. The system of pluses and minuses works well. She is very visual.
Putting together a case
How to interview for a sales manager job? And what are the cases at the sales manager interview? Let's try to figure it out. 
Interview assignments and tests are important and useful.
They will help to reveal the personal qualities, professional skills and experience of the candidate. They are very effective because they are very revealing.
There are many testing options. Select the appropriate one depending on the type of vacancy.
Communication skills are essential for a sales manager position. logical thinking ability to work in a team and stress resistance.
In order to make sure that the candidate has or does not have them, as well as the availability of practical skills, the type of situational interview is selected.
To do this, it is necessary to prepare cases in advance - various working situations - and invite the candidate to find their solution. You can put in front of him, for example: “Is it possible to tear a thick reference book in half with your hands?”
Depending on the answer, it will be clear whether the applicant is able to analyze whether he has developed creative thinking, whether there are communication skills, whether he is aware of the strength of the team spirit.
Case options:
- You have received several advantageous offers About work. How will you do it?
- What will you do if you are offered to do work that is not covered by the contract?
- What will you do if you find out that your colleagues are complaining about you?
It is very popular for candidates for sales managers to arrange. The goal of the employer is to piss off the applicant. There are many ways and they are sometimes very hard.
For example, they ask questions very quickly, without giving the candidate the opportunity to recover and focus on the answer. And then they charge him with the fact that he is passive in conversation and does not know how to communicate.
In the presence of a candidate, the interviewer may yell at one of his employees to see how the future sales manager will react. After all, in his work with this you have to deal often.
There is an option to check the speed of decision-making - to offer the applicant to make a call to the client regarding the purchase right at the interview. No more than 10-15 minutes are given to study the price list of the company. Also very popular is the technique called: "".
How to get?
There are a few binding rules successful interview. 
But from a sales manager, in addition to smiling, neat appearance and punctuality, a number of other properties and qualities are expected.
Competence. Before applying for this position, you need to read at least a couple of professional sales books.
In them, by the way, there may be answers to those questions that you will be asked at the interview.
Activity. You have to ask questions yourself. Questions and answers will give an idea about the company. Questions at the interview when hiring a sales manager will help clarify the working conditions, show your interest. And one more thing - the more you ask, the less they ask you and the less likely it is to screw up.
Believe in yourself. It will give a positive attitude - to sell yourself, your knowledge and skills, as profitably as possible. May this be the best sale of your life!
When it comes to salary, do not immediately declare your desire to receive a large salary. Focus on the percentage of sales. So the employer will appreciate your desire to earn money by actively looking for buyers. Moreover, the buyers are new, and not only from the company's ready-made client base.
When the decision on the candidacy is made, it will need to be communicated to the applicant, whatever it may be - positive or negative.
You can't take too long to answer. It will look like disrespect, which is not respectable and not decent for a decent company.
There is also no need to rush to a decision. This is suspicious.
The normal time for making a decision is 1-2 days.
If you did everything right, then, in the end, you are doomed to success, and such a welcome phrase will sound: “We take you. You suit us."
We hope that now you know how to successfully interview for a sales manager or head of sales department. Taking into account all the information received, you will certainly get the desired position.
Watch below: sales manager interview video
Before conducting an interview with a manager, it is necessary to draw up a profile of the employee's position. The fact is that specializations have formed in this area.
And this, not to mention the fact that the staff of the commercial division has different levels subordination and functionality: ordinary salesperson, team leader/senior salesperson, department head, commercial director.
The good news is that there is a standard profile template that will work for any of them. We provide this template
- Job title:
- hunter (cold dialing, call centers);
- closer (position to close primary deals);
- account specialist / farmer (specialist in working with the current database);
- shop assistant;
- sales representative, etc.
- Responsibilities:
- dialing on a cold base;
- dialing a warm base;
- dialing on the current base;
- processing applications from the site;
- entering information into 1C;
- work with the system;
- accepting incoming applications;
- drawing up reports;
- organization of training;
- holding meetings;
- data analysis;
- measuring indicators and development indices;
- work with the incoming flow of customers;
- display of goods, etc.
- Requirements:
- age;
- competencies.
- an experience;
- education;
- Terms:
- reward system;
- working conditions;
- working time.
How to conduct an interview with a sales manager: features of hiring
You will be interviewing different types specialists. One thing unites them - they either were, or will be, or are already sales managers.
Their admission is made taking into account the level of the position.
Commercial Director
We take a ready-made employee with experience in managing structures that include from 15-20 people. Look for it in competing companies, or in businesses with a similar scheme for closing deals.
Head of Sales Department (ROP)
Here, too, a mature specialist with good experience is required. You can hide it like commercial director. But don't limit yourself to just this possibility. A professional ROP can be found not only “by acquaintance”, but also through a standard individual or competitive recruitment.
Senior Specialist / Team Leader (3-4 subordinates)
Here you will have to conduct an interview with an experienced manager that your HR finds. Then we put him in the position of an ordinary seller and, with due progress, we promote him to the position of a senior in 1-3 months. If you want faster, look also among your subordinates.
Telemarketer, hunter, sales representative, closer, farmer
Depending on the segment, look for a person without experience, but with the necessary competencies, with experience and competencies. The latter option is more preferable, since in this case, an adaptation training with a subsequent test covering all sections of the product manual is enough.
How to Interview a Sales Manager: Group Selection
If everything is more or less clear with the seller’s appearance, and it’s not worth focusing on this, then his personal qualities Ah, you should have stopped. It is the personality traits of subordinates that managers or business owners tend to pay least attention to. Meanwhile, it is misunderstandings between subordinates and customers that deprive a company that works with the premium segment of most of its revenue.
There is nothing for envious people to do in premium sales. Whenever a seller sees a buyer twice or three times, or even tens of times richer than himself, a buyer who is ready to spend on a trinket, he, the seller, is, to put it mildly, indignant about this. No matter how hard he tries to hide his feelings, he still can't do it. The buyer will read this both on the manager’s facial expression and in his manner of speaking and presenting the product – in this case, he is unlikely to be able to sell. Ready to continue sacrificing customers?
Give preference in selecting staff to better motivated personal growth employees, rather than those inclined to complain about universal injustice. This will come in handy when you are interviewing.
How to interview a sales manager: individual selection
How to Interview a Sales Manager: Specific Skills
How to Interview a Sales Manager: Salary Negotiations
When we are talking about an individual interview rather than a group recruitment, always act prudently and coldly. Remember that now the time of the employer's market, not the employee's, has come in the country. So follow a few tips.
- Never agree on a salary at the first meeting.
- Based on test results, identify weak spots candidate and point them out to him.
- Explain the salary scheme, in accordance with which the applicant will be able to receive the required remuneration for achieving certain results.
We talked about how to interview a sales manager. Develop a position profile and take the specifics of the position into account when interviewing.
The sales manager is the central position, which is aimed at the sale of the company's services and products. If the candidate is selected correctly - according to personal qualities, competence, experience - then often the product or service will be promoted on the market quite quickly. Otherwise, it will be wasted money, effort and time. To begin with, the applicant needs to know what the ideal candidate for this position is, and how to interview for a sales manager.
There are many criteria by which a sales specialist is selected. Basically, their priority depends on the leader. That is, focusing on his vision of the ideal candidate, and what the sales team should be like, criteria should be set.
If we talk about external formal criteria, then they have a significant impact on the decision, but not always. For example:
- Age. It is usually not an indicator of the success of the candidate. However, it is quite obvious that a person at the age of 25-35 is more energetic and ambitious and, accordingly, can achieve greater success.
- external data. A sales manager does not have to be a beauty standard. The most important thing is a neat representative appearance: high-quality, well-ironed and fitting clothes, a neat hairstyle, beautiful well-groomed hands and polished shoes.
- Gender identity. There is an opinion that a man is more successful in sales. However, practice has proven that success does not depend on gender, but on the personal qualities of a person.
Personal qualities
They play a major role in sales. Mandatory for a sales manager are such qualities as:
- Initiative. An enterprising person always generates a lot of ideas, offers new projects that can significantly increase the level of company sales. He is always first and ready to work.
- The ability to convince people. There are specialists who are naturally given the ability to exert a strong influence on people. But often this ability consists of a number of tricks and techniques that can be learned and successfully applied in the work.
- The ability to make contact. These qualities allow the manager to gain confidence in a potential buyer and find out his needs or problems, and then offer a product or service as a solution to the problem.
- Stress tolerance. Not every meeting with a potential client ends in a sale. And not all customers are friendly and courteous. Therefore, the manager must have strong self-control and emotional stability. The right approach: the manager does not consider failures as losses, but sees them as lessons from which he draws the right conclusions.
How to successfully pass an interview?
How to interview for a sales manager job? This is a fairly popular question and there is no universal recipe for success. Everyone determines their own strengths and weak sides. And the employer, in turn, evaluates the candidate and correlates his image with his expectations. As a result, a choice is made in favor of one or another candidate.
However, there are some universal tips that will help you get through it correctly and successfully:
- Reading professional literature, attending specialized trainings, etc. All this must be done in order to improve professional level knowledge and skill as a specialist.
- Behavior. It should be active, enterprising, energy should be felt in the whole body, there should be a “fire” in the eyes. But at the same time, accepted in this organization.
- A smile is a sales manager's weapon. Not necessarily a well-established "Hollywood" one, but it is important that it be sincere and friendly.
- A well-written resume. This is the first document by which the candidate is evaluated. In order for a resume not to end up in the trash, it should be structured, informative, and free of spelling errors.
- Questions to ask the employer They will show the level of proficiency in this area and interest in the work.
Questions
At the interview, as a rule, both the employer and the candidate ask questions. In order to cope with the questions of the employer, you need to remember at home in advance all your labor activity. This includes the details of the stay in each of the positions, an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. For example, the following questions might be asked:
- What are the reasons for leaving last place work?
- Why do you like being a salesperson?
- What new can you bring to our company?
- What qualities should a successful salesperson have?
- What is the biggest deal you have made recently?
- What do you know about the main stages of sales?
- What do you dislike about being a salesperson?
After the employer has heard everything he wanted from you, . Remember that the interview is always a mutual choice, so do not miss the chance to expand your knowledge and delve into the company.
Thus, it is quite possible to successfully pass an interview for the position of a sales manager. The main thing is to approach the interview responsibly and carefully prepare for it. We need a correctly formulated goal, clear priorities, courage and perseverance. As a result, the employer will certainly choose you.
We turned to an experienced recruiter for advice:
Tatyana Arsenovich, Deputy Head of the Personnel and Career Department at the GANDALF IT company. Why is HR asking you these questions?
Stories about job searches and interviews have now become like jokes: everyone has heard the funniest ones, and everyone is ready to tell a few from their own memory. While some ridicule the monotonous behavior of recruiters, others share their indignation: “They asked me why dogs don’t fly! What does this have to do with my job?!” But for some reason, few people dare to ask the hiring specialists themselves what happens at the interview, what their questions mean, and what HRs really want to hear in response.
We did not rely on the opinion of other applicants and turned these questions to an experienced recruiter: Tatyana Arsenovich, Deputy Head of the Personnel and Career Department at the GANDALF IT company. As an example, we took a position that is available in almost any enterprise - a salesperson.
- Tell about yourself. How long have you been hiring?
– I have been working in HR for 10 years, most at Gandalf. Prior to that, she worked in a recruiting agency. It was hiring "outside", now - "inside". The first years in "GANDALF" she was engaged in hiring personnel for partners. Basically, I tried different methods assessment of personnel, both franchisee companies and large trade enterprises. Over the years of work, I began to fear that soon I would know all of Rostov-on-Don. And if you count approximately, about 25,000 people all over Russia in one way or another went through interviews with me.
- Let's start with general question. What kind of people are you looking for? Who do they want to see at interviews, so that it is clear: this person is an employee?
- A person should want to work, and not want to collect vacancies, test a recruiter, endure self-assessment. To be adequate, to understand that he is at the interview, and this implies a certain model of behavior for all participants in the process. This is not enough to hire a person, but this is the first thing I want to see: a person understands that he has come for an interview, imagines what kind of job he wants, and tries to find it in the company. And he also understands that he is also being diagnosed, whether he is suitable for a vacancy.
– For example, almost every company is looking for a sales manager. What do you think the ideal sales manager should be like?
- I will not say professionally, omitting the description of competencies, but burning eyes are needed. This person begins to sell himself by entering the premises of the personnel department. A person who knows his strengths and weaknesses and favorably shows the positive without hiding. It doesn’t work only when you click “and now I’m a seller”: “Well, I can’t sell you now, you’re not a buyer ...”
The salesperson is not a role. This is a stock of certain competencies and skills. I am waiting for a person who respects the profession of a salesperson, wants to be one and understands that this is not temporary, this is a calling. He respects the client, is tuned in to positive interaction, and at the same time knows how to insist on his own, is interested in how to earn money, and understands that there is a difference between receiving and earning. He will say: “Give me a fulcrum, and I will turn the world upside down”: give me a product, price, client base and I will make money. He thinks in terms of “I get what I sell. And I can sell a lot if I have certain resources.”
And he asks the right questions.
A candidate for the post of sales manager asked us last week: “Isn't it noisy in your office? Can I leave at 18:00?
These are important things, but the seller should be interested in something else: “Do you have a salary ceiling? Can I sell to other regions? Can I sell courses or services from another department?
- Have there been cases when a person does not immediately fit, and this is clear at first sight? What gave out such applicants?
– Low emotional tone. I am convinced that the person in a better mood, in a tone of enthusiasm is much more active. If a person comes in, as if he is bored, tired, has lowered eyes, shoulders, moves slowly ... Most often it will not be a seller. If a person is not proud of himself in anything, considers himself and his achievements mediocre, does not name his results, this is not a seller. The seller is a person who is confident in himself.
– With what “baggage” do applicants come to us for a sales manager?
- In general, with different things. To the same extent, salespeople with education in biologist, robotics, philosopher and management proper became successful in our company. Experienced candidates are interested in their level of knowledge, ability to learn, and customer service skills. This greatly accelerates their entry into the profession and brings success closer - but does not guarantee it. And there are many cases where a person without experience, but with a greed for work, became very successful in short time and compensate for the lack of knowledge. Here fighting qualities play a big role.
- What from your experience is worth mentioning, and what is better not to talk about?
Any experience working with people is a plus. Not necessarily in sales. Even a waiter - working with a conflicting client, the ability to insist on one's own, the ability to manage the dialogue. Successes in the study of complex materials and goods are interesting. The ability to overcome difficulties will help.
And sales experience is certainly useful. But the right ones: where there is a need to identify, work with objections, the ability to establish contact with a client, knowledge of the stages of sales, including the stage of closing the transaction, understanding the logic. If a person is used to pushing, deceiving, or, conversely, giving up at the first objection of a client, then such an experience is harmful.
There is nothing worse than a salesperson who hangs up at the first “no” from a customer.
– Are interviews different for an experienced applicant and for an inexperienced one?
The questions will not differ significantly. As I said, there is also a harmful experience - "just to sell." When choosing, we are guided not by the number of lines in the resume, but by the skills, knowledge, and competencies that we reveal during the conversation. We learn achievements, if there are no working results, we ask about personal ones.
Learn the principles of working with a client. Only an experienced person can have examples from practice, while an inexperienced person can have his fantasies, ideas on this topic, which can also be analyzed.
Well, we reveal personal traits: fighting character, motivation, his goals. It is important for us not just to close the vacancy, but for the person to work in his place. So that the company allows the employee to realize himself. It is important for me to understand: is what a person expects and what we can provide him - is it the same thing? And it doesn't matter if he's experienced or not.
The practical part may differ. We can give an inexperienced candidate simpler cases: the ability to ask questions, identify the need for simple goods. An example is the banal sale of a pen (or seeds). And we will offer an experienced candidate to sell what he sold before or a product with which he worked. And we check how it corresponds to our idea of professionalism.
- Here we come to the notorious pen. What is the true purpose of its sale?
“First, you need to back up your words with deeds. I met experienced candidates who did not know the basics, or could not demonstrate their experience in practice. Therefore, we need the sale of a pen or any other stationery to check which sales technology the candidate uses. Does he use his methods, "chips": an experienced person should have them.
Secondly, we test the ability to do uncomfortable, unpleasant things. It is clear that it is uncomfortable for an experienced candidate to sell pens at an interview. The very process of verification and evaluation is exciting. It is one thing to talk about your experience, another to demonstrate it in stressful situation. For a salesperson, this is an important skill.
There were comical situations when a seemingly experienced seller began to beg and beg to buy from him. There are people who very quickly get out of the role and begin to explain their every word, why he said so, to make excuses - the mask of “experienced” immediately falls off. But there were also unexpected good sales: cases when the applicant took the initiative, entered the game and began to sell not only the given, but also everything that he sees around him. These are great sellers, even in an uncomfortable situation they make you play by their own rules.
- Is it possible to honestly say at an interview that you came to work for money?
- Can. Companies need employees to earn profit and go to some goals. And the employee needs money - it would be strange if it were otherwise. Especially for the seller. A salesperson who won't say that he wants to make a lot of money is a terrible salesperson. He must understand that the more he sells and earns more, the more the company receives. We are extremely interested in the fact that the seller wants to earn more. Keyword- "earn". It is important that the employee can correctly estimate how much he must sell in order to earn a lot.
We ask how much the manager wants to receive, we find out - 50,000. And then how much should you bring to the company? And the man replies: “Well, 50,000 and bring it!”. With such an idea of the situation, it is difficult to reach such a salary. When a person understands that he needs to sell a product for 250,000 to get his 50,000, this is normal.
But when a person is only interested in money and nothing else, this is not an ideal picture. After all, you can always find more money somewhere. There is no limit. And it will be difficult for such a person to build a career in one company. Therefore, a person should be driven by something else: ambition, the desire to become a leader or an expert in their product. Additional motivation greatly helps to build a career.
- Let's imagine a situation: a person created a resume, posted it, most likely, according to this resume, they called him and invited him to a meeting. He comes for an interview, and he is asked to fill out a questionnaire. But why fill out a questionnaire if a person sent a resume?
- If the questionnaire repeats the resume word for word, then this, of course, is an unnecessary questionnaire. But most often, the questionnaire contains open-ended questions that allow the recruiter to understand certain competencies. Or the questionnaire serves as an additional source of information for the interview, and you need to correlate some data with others.
A recent example: we take an employee to work with partners in one of the representative offices. And the person in the questionnaire indicates a priority working condition for him - the team. And the position involves working alone, the person is in the office alone. And the applicant has already agreed to this. For me, such conflicting information is immediately a signal of risk. We need to clarify the real motives and see if we can give it to him. Maybe you will have to adjust the adaptation system, draw up agreements on interaction, arrange for the manager to call him 5 times - and then the person will have a feeling of a shoulder nearby. Therefore, it is important that a person answers questions both orally and in writing, since these are different circumstances of the answer. Orally, we respond faster and can succumb to the intonation of the dialogue; in writing, we can think over the answer.
In addition, completely different answers to the questions in the questionnaire and in the interview are a signal that a person can be trusted less.
We also check literacy writing, this is important for the seller, who constantly conducts business correspondence with customers. And adequacy in terms of the appropriateness of the answers. One of the candidates recently wrote in the questionnaire in response to the question of what you are proud of in life: "I hit a dog, and then I saved it." How relevant are such stories when applying for a job? Not always.
