TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

Acclaimed Answer

How to gauge things like: company culture, leadership, development - a framework

hey fam,

So i see a lot about ppl wanting to know more about the TRUE culture a company has, or if they will really get the coaching, development that they need. Apart from looking at reviews, talking to current and former employees (which is a super important step) here is what I suggest.

Asking 'situational' questions.

We get them all the time in an interview: "tell me about a time you did_____"

Well i suggest you do the same thing in the interview. Instead of asking "what is the company culture like?" "how do reps get developed?" "what is the manager like?" ect ask questions like this:

Culture:

"so if I needed to leave the office/stop working at 4:30 a few times a month how would that be handled?"

"what is the process for taking PTO?"

"do peoples requests for PTO get denied often?"

"if I didnt attend company events outside of work, how would you view that?"

Coaching/development: (asking to the manager them self not the recruiter)

How would you describe your management style?

Do you have a sales methodology that you follow specifically? (Gap, Challenger, sandler ect)

When you have an AE that is doing really well, what have you dont to help them take it to the NEXT level?

When you have a rep that is underperforming what is your approach to help them improve?

What are the agenda's for your one on ones typically?

what is the role of one on ones in your mind?

these are just a few that i can think of.

The goal is to get a sense for how the leader answers these. I think the answers can give you a sense of what it would be like to work for them.

let me know what you think.

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detectivegibbles

Politicker

8

Sales Director

I think all are pretty good and shows the interviewer that you care about culture expectations of your potential new employer.

But IMO nothing beats talking with people that are in the position you're interviewing for.

My approach has been finding 3-5 people that have been with the company for 3-12 months and asking pretty much the same types of questions.

I think vetting them with these questions gives you more transparency and they aren't protected by the framework of a formal interview to give BS answers. They'll tell you like it is most of the time.

coletrain

Politicker

4

Account Executive

Fully agree, plus it also allows you to ask "alright, are what these people saying legit or nah?"

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

this is so true. this has helped in in the past.

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

for sure! and thats why i called out that this should be in addition to reaching out to current and former employees. if you are able to do ALL of this...you should have a solid idea of what you are getting yourself into.

SaaSam

Politicker

5

Account Executive

Tons of value here for job seekers. One of the most important variables to consider when joining a new company is the company culture. It's also one of the hardest to gauge from an interview, and every company says their culture is great.

Personally, I put emphasis on talking with ex-employees. The idea here is that no longer working for the company, they won't feel any pressure to paint them in a certain light. If it sucks, they won't pull any punches, and if it's awesome, they'll sound like a cheerleader for those guys.

As for your questions in the interview, genius. Plus, asking intelligent questions in an interview is always positive. Helps you control the tone of the interview so it feels less like an interrogation.

I would also add some probing questions about how they've handled criticism from someone on their team. This should tell you a lot about the level of toxicity amongst leadership and, consequently, across the company. If they squirm even a little, that's a red flag.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yep i totally agree. asking how they have handled criticism would be good to ask.

and yes, HOW they answer the questions is almost as important as what they say

BourbonKing

Valued Contributor

5

VP of Sales

Spot on. When you ask a hypothetical question (e.g., "How important is coaching to you?") you're going to get the perfect, textbook BS answer. But when you ask a situational question (e.g., "How are addressing the performance of the person who is currently last in the stack rank on your team?") you are much more likely to get the truth.

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

Yep! Exactly!

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

3

Bravado's Resident Asshole

VERY useful tips. Always good to have these questions/scenarios in your back pocket.

Diablo

Politicker

3

Sr. AE

Great post, thanks for sharing.
We got to tweak the questions to get the best out of someone.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yep tweak the questions, and ask follow up questions to get true clarity

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

2

Sales Rep

Asking about not attending outside work events is huge! Never thought of that

The only thing I would change is "What are the circumstances it would take to deny a PTO request" This then provides the assumption they would deny a request so they might talk about a story of them denying in the past.

Or hopefully they said they never have and dont plan on it

Really like this post and can be super helpful for everyone interviewing in the new year

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

thanks! and yes I like how you framed that question!

Gasty

Notable Contributor

2

War Room Community Manager

Great post @TennisandSales!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Great way to position the questions so they are scenario-specific rather than too broad and therefore not really illustrative.

I also agree that bringing these up with existing employees is another good method. Sometimes field managers are different than the screeners or hiring managers, and it's good to get as much information as possible.

Salesandcoffeedude

Valued Contributor

1

Business Development Representative

thanks for sharing - super valuable questions for us starting our careers here. Didn’t ask these questions before! Will definitely do it in the future cos I think these are so important now.

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

awesome! glad you found it helpful!

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

0

Officer of ♥️

Agreeing with @detectivegibbles- ask former employees and current employees - but asking situational questions is great as well

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

0

Rolling 20's all day

These are great questions and show that you're a real person. If I got terrible answers from these it would tell me I don't want to work here.
Going the extra mile to connect with people who currently work there and asking the same questions is hugely important to make sure you're not getting lies.

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