If you have ever recruited candidates for sales positions, you may have already encountered being turned down by the candidate you chose. Or perhaps, you hired a promising salesman, who soon left, and your recruitment became significantly more expensive. With a few techniques and awareness of possible mistakes, you will increase your chances of success.

Interviews are not just a challenge for those looking for work. They are also difficult for a sales manager.

Mistake #1: Job requirements or responsibilities are not clear

In your own company, you have a steady jargon and clear processes that you know, because you use them on a daily basis. However, it may not be clear to your candidates. Even if they have sales experience, they may not be as familiar with the terminology that your particular company uses

Take this into account when writing position requests. You want the potential seller to understand very clearly what the expectations of this position are and what you will demand from them. Find someone in your company who doesn't work in sales, but has a general idea of ​​what your team is doing. Ask him to review the job requirements.

In the description of the advertisement, emphasize up to five job responsibilities you consider to be the most important using points so that they are completely clear to the applicant. You can mention others as an advantage.

Mistake #2: You ask your candidate about hypothetical situations

"If you were in situation X, how would you handle it?" This is one of the most anticipated questions at any job interview, especially in the sales world. Get rid of it. The candidate will already have rehearsed the answers that you would like to hear. Instead, ask how he reacted to a similar situation in his previous job. This will give you a good indicator of how a potential trader will handle the situation with your company.

Mistake #3: You don't conduct interviews as a conversation

Your role, even from the position of a potential employer, shouldn't be purely managerial and set out "questioning" the candidate. The candidate also needs to know a lot about you and your company so that you can determine if you are comfortable with each other. Pay attention to how the respondent answers the questions and ask them to develop their answers to get a better idea of ​​who they are. Also, give them enough time to ask you what they are interested in.

Mistake #4: You were unable to verify that the candidate has sufficient interest and enthusiasm for the job

"Drive" enthusiasm is what will lead your salesperson and thus your sales team to success. But how can be sure? Focus on asking questions that will fulfill and answer these three key areas:

• the need for success,
• competitiveness,
• optimism.

Mistake #5: You don't listen

During the interview, make sure you spend more time listening to the candidate than talking and questioning. Ask questions, answer and listen for the rest of the time. Take the time to get a good idea of ​​who is really sitting in front of you.

Focus on how to avoid these five major interview mistakes to better protect your business results. Know that even one bad salesman can influence the team or otherwise break a problem-free relationship with a customer.

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