Directors/VPs/CROs:
What were some of the best questions you were asked by a candidate?
fidelcashflow
Best questions to ask sales leadership
16
What’s the biggest challenge your team faces.
Make them own their weakness.
Make them own their weakness.
No offense but too cliche. Appreciate you though
What's considered 'growth' for you as a company (apart from revenue numbers going up of course)? Sometimes they are thinking of going IPO / blitzscaling / more funding - you might get some insight into where they are headed. They will answer this question more in line with what they are expecting as growth for them.
What made him / her / it / they take this role up in the first place (what's the one attraction they had)? You will also get to know a lot about what the leadership is looking at when they take decisions, what attracts them - and you can see if the same attractions apply to you as well. If they align, well and good. If they don't, you can prepare for some friction.
What made him / her / it / they take this role up in the first place (what's the one attraction they had)? You will also get to know a lot about what the leadership is looking at when they take decisions, what attracts them - and you can see if the same attractions apply to you as well. If they align, well and good. If they don't, you can prepare for some friction.
"Why do you do it that way?"
Can apply to anything. Question serves two purposes. If the HM is a humble type, they'll think about it and answer. As they're thinking, they think you're a thinker. If they're an egotistical blow-hard (more likely), they'll go off on a tirade about how smart they were to figure it out. The more they talk, the more interested they think you are in them. Makes them smart, and because you're interested, you're smart.
Can apply to anything. Question serves two purposes. If the HM is a humble type, they'll think about it and answer. As they're thinking, they think you're a thinker. If they're an egotistical blow-hard (more likely), they'll go off on a tirade about how smart they were to figure it out. The more they talk, the more interested they think you are in them. Makes them smart, and because you're interested, you're smart.
This is really good. I think WHY questions are the best. This would be with a head of sales and another with the CEO. Normally folks in those seats are smart and not d-bags. While a sales manager would probably get offended with stuff like that 😂
Yeah- “why” leads one to believe you might have a why not. Even better if you do. Hires happen really quick when you’ve thought of something they haven’t. Good luck with it!
Anytime you can do research and find good nuggets and you can ask them regarding a new product announcement, reaction to a competitor move, etc. have always gotten good feedback and discussion on those.
Annual reports, if the org is big enough, are great for this.
Not question - tell them you see yourself there for the long haul.
The main reason many people leave a company is poor management and supervision.
I always ask what type of person is successful in the organization and what successful means tot hem
Focus on their top performers... what do they do differently?
What do our 1 on 1s look like? I take pride in the ownership of my territory, what will you do to make sure I'm successful in this role?
How many people have hit quota? What's the YoY trend? What is being done to continually raise that number?
What tools do you wish you could get for the team and why?
All these show me that you want to be empowered and set up for success which is exactly what I owe you. If you are fine with "any setup works" when you walk into a role, I assume you think being a robot and doing what everyone else does will be sufficient.
How many people have hit quota? What's the YoY trend? What is being done to continually raise that number?
What tools do you wish you could get for the team and why?
All these show me that you want to be empowered and set up for success which is exactly what I owe you. If you are fine with "any setup works" when you walk into a role, I assume you think being a robot and doing what everyone else does will be sufficient.
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