Official thread

Best and Worst - Sales Hire

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What’s your Best sales interview story? To what lengths have you gone just to stand out in front of the hiring manager? Ever made any sacrifices?


I remember running to the nearest mart an hour before an interview to buy a giant-*ss whiteboard; just so I could write down the company and panelists’ names on it in BLOCK LETTERS and put it in my backdrop to passively catch their attention.


@sahil 's Best Sales Hire was someone who did all the right things one should ace a sales interview:

  • Researched the company and the hiring manager (sahil)
  • Learned the role inside out
  • Initiated a dialogue
  • Knew that an opportunity doesn’t wait for anyone
  • Clearly showed he wanted to make a dent in the universe
  • Aced the interview with valor

The outcome?

He became the #1 salesperson at almost every organization he worked at - including giants like Pinterest and Reddit.


The Worst Sales Hire? Probably every tom, dick, and harry who isn’t self-driven and cannot function independently.



What’s your best and worst sales interview story?



-@Gasty

👥 Hiring
🎤 Sahil
14
TennisandSales
Politicker
5
Head Of Sales
I once hired a guy I thought would be an INCREDIBLE fit. Former olympic qualifier in track and field, super determined, seemed to have a passion for the industry, said ALL the right things in the interview process.

After I hired him....turned out he hated taking feedback, would not follow the process I laid out for him, and he was a COMPLETE fail. He did not make it 6 months.

crazy learning experience for me when it comes to hiring thought...
Gasty
Notable Contributor
2
War Room Community Manager
damn! being open to feedback is critical
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
2
Account Executive
It's funny how sales people can be sold, isn't it?
Gasty
Notable Contributor
1
War Room Community Manager
It’s funnier when the buyer does it
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
1
Bravado's Resident Asshole
It's crazy that they were against feedback.. Their whole career was based on feedback and adjustments before that job haha. Sounds like they were one of the arrogant ones.
TennisandSales
Politicker
2
Head Of Sales
FOR SURE! it was a reality check for me to always press in to see if the person can do what I need them to do.

The number of interviews before this guy i remember were just terrible. so he looked even better haha
swabianarabian
Fire Starter
1
Teamlead Business Development
Just a quick question to understand the story fully: in the interview, you also checked his coachabilty / feedback ability which than turned out to be different than you thought? Or were you so amazed by the energy, that you didn’t check those?
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
great question. this was a number of years ago now so its hard to remember exactly. But im pretty sure i assumed too much. I thought "oh hes got the discipline clearly, he can do this". and didnt really press to much on if he would be ok with the day to day.
GreenSide
Politicker
3
Sales manager
Knew a manager who hired a guy early last year, and he didn’t sell shit at all during his ramp (transactional product so some sales are expected). Didn’t care at all. Metrics showed he wasn’t making any dials or sending emails and he would no show internal meetings. So they canned him.

A month later we get a call from a hiring manager we knew at another local tech company. This guy was interviewing there and said he had been at our org for 4+ always overachieved his quota, team lead, promotions, etc. All BS obviously. So the guy was clearly a complete fraud that swindled us into hiring him. The hiring manager made him jump through hoops during the interview process just to fuck with him and he eventually ghosted when asked for references.
punishedlad
Tycoon
2
🧙‍♂️
If my growth stalls out at my current employer, I might need to give @sahila call...
Redrover
Good Citizen
2
Exiting a start up
I hired a guy years ago… within a month he ended up robbing a place and killing 3 people.
FoodForSales
Politicker
1
AE
seriously?!?!
Gasty
Notable Contributor
0
War Room Community Manager
Wow!
Pachacuti
Politicker
1
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
good post!
BlueJays2591
Politicker
1
Federal Business Dev Director
Worst interview I ever conducted the person had to do a mock cold call and they got so flustered that they went silent and turned their camera off for 30 awkward seconds and then just dropped from the call
DonDraper
Politicker
1
National Sales Manager
I was a Senior BDM when this happened - we hied a guy, checked out perfectly, good track record. Came in on Day 1 ate 4 bananas from the kitchen and then left. Took 4 months to get the laptop and phone back
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
If you are going to hire properly, don't do so based off arbitrary, stereotypical, or pedigree based concepts.

Hire for what you need. If that person cannot give you that, keep it moving.
3

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