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How To Identify Successful Salespeople
To be able to identify any prospective flourishing sales people at a job interview is an essential skill of any sales manager. This is a vital area for discussion on sales management courses. Here are series of characteristic questions and the possible answers from both typical and top sales people.
Job interview: Answers given by successful salespeople to trial questions.
Telephone acquisition
"Would you consider telephoning a prospective customer out of the blue in order to expand your client base
Response of a run of the mill sales person:
Refuses to call customers unexpectedly.
Speaks about “hawkers” or “currying favour”.
Sees it as a pure waste of time.
Instantaneously demands if telephonists can do that.
Reactions of top sales people:
Enquires about success rates.
Asks about relevant experiences or organisational aids.
Is all set to give it a go.
Competitive pressure
"You have discovered that one of your main rivals has approached your regular customers offering particularly cheap prices, what is your reaction?
Reaction of an average salesperson:
Regards the competitor’s behaviour is unreasonable.
Would retaliate with even lower prices.
Relies on their faith in their “good contact” with the client.
Reactions of a top sales person:
Chooses to see the behaviour of the opposition as an individual challenge.
Compares every aspect of the competitor’s offer with their own.
Strengthens their own sales stratagem with the recognized compensation and shortcomings and fights to secure the order
customer demands
“What do you think of clients who make their order dependent on you making a presentation to a decision-maker within their company?”
Reaction of average salespeople:
Sees this as a baseless use of their time.
Is instantaneously negative about the likelihood of success.
Would to a certain extent avoid doing this and prefers to push the client for a comprehensible answer.
Does not construe this situation as a personal challenge. Sees it rather as a potentially precarious position that could lead to disappointment.
Reactions of top sales personnel:
Initially asks the customer a number of clearly qualifying questions in order to evaluate the amount of time to be invested and the potential return.
Tests the importance of the client’s wish by asking the customer to help them do so.
Determines ahead of time what decision-making criteria the customer regards as most important Responds to the challenge in the client’s positive answers about the presentation.
Overcoming failure
“How would you act (what would you think, feel and how would you react) no orders were recieved by midday?”
Reaction of average sales personnel:
Would be discouraged.
Would have doubt in his ability (or in his offer)
Would modify their sales approach in the afternoon and change to asking, pressing, etc.
Response of a top sales person:
Know their own success rate and stick to their sales strategy.
Continue undeterred and know (because of their self-confidence and success rate) that they will be successful sooner or later.
When faced with particularly intricate failures, they react defiantly.
Complaints
“What would you do if a client complained about the poor quality of your last delivery?”
Reaction of an average salesperson:
In order to bring the discussion to a swift conclusion, they generally make the customer a pledge (usually at the expense of the company)
Resolves to visit this customer less frequently in the future and only recommend to them the tried and tested regular products.
Is unable to see this circumstance as an opportunity to ensure the client is truly contented and in doing so misses the chance to improve the relationship. The result is, they see it as a threat to their self-assurance and work.
Reactions of the top salespeople:
Is sympathetic to the customers position and promises them that they will look into the matter.
Gives the customer the chance to explain how they would like the grievance to be dealt with agreeably
Is prepared to commit himself to the customers full approval (if the disapproval is accurate).
Makes every endeavor to maintain the client.
Behaves in a professional, business-like manner both to the client and the office sales force.
By applying these questions at the interview step and gauging the answers can help to recognize successful sales people and evade the expensive mistakes of recruiting under performers. The successful conducting of any recruitment meeting is an essential ability of a manager and this theme is taught on all good management courses.
