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25 Questions for Hiring New Salespeople By Leslye Schumacher f you've done any interviewing, I'm sure you have a few questions that you ask every candidate. Over the years, I've interviewed hundreds upon hundreds of salespeople and I've accumulated quite a few favorites from books, articles, the Internet, co-workers, and from salespeople themselves. Below are the ones that I've found most effective in helping uncover a candidate's sales talents and characteristics. What you won't see in this list are questions that are designed to catch a candidate off guard. I'm not a big fan of that. Actually, I've found that the more relaxed candidates are with you, the more likely they are to reveal their true thoughts and show their real characteristics. So, my interviews tend to be very conversational—and not confrontational. But you do have to be careful not to tip off the candidate as to the answer you're looking for, so watch your body language. Also, when interviewing over the phone, don't lead the candidate toward a particular answer with your I 38 FEDA News & Views responses and verbal cues. Keep in mind, this is not a comprehensive list of all the questions you need to ask when interviewing a salesperson. And, all of them may not be right for your particular sales position.These are geared to an experienced seller, not a rookie, and not all of them are asked on the first interview. After I interview a candidate,I go back through the notes I've taken during our talk. This helps me evaluate whether or not I want to move forward with a candidate (either to the next round of interviews or a sales talent assessment). The great thing about doing this with each candidate is that over time you are able to see what types of answers correspond with candidates who do well on the sales assessment and are high-performers in the job. Using that information,you can edit your questions accordingly and make your interviews even more effective. Here are my favorite 25 questions. What do you say when a prospect 1.says send me some information? In your work, what feels like a win 2.to you? What do you like and dislike about 3.your current sales job and why? What do you do personally for your 4.professional development? Describe a situation with a client or 5.prospect where you made a mistake. How did you handle the error? What are your top three open- 6.ended questions for initial sales calls? What do you see as the key skills in 7.closing? What are some of the challenges 8.you see that are facing this industry?