TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

How to weed out the S*#T Reps

I am of the belief that sales reps will have to be more consultants than sales ppl in the future (maybe even now).

With buyers having more knowledge before they talk to us, they want to talk to someone who knows their stuff and can guide them, not just push a sale.

So if you were a hiring manager/ director, what questions would you ask during and interview to make sure you are getting a solid rep and not some Saas bro who jus pushes product???

Questions I have thought of so far:

How would you describe what your job is as a sales person?
If an inbound lead tells you they know exactly what they want, how would you move forward?
What is one deal that you won that you are most proud of?

What else should I add??

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32 comments

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Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

Tell me about your most recent experience with a salesperson, when you were on the buyer's end. What did you like / dislike about this salesperson? Did you end up buying? Why or why not?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

interesting question! I like it.

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

Love this, and the questions you already thought up @TennisandSales
What comes to mind for me is whether you're looking to hire someone from within the industry you're hiring in, or willing to take on outsiders/newbies.
I'd definitely throw in some technical asks where you ask them to give you advice about a certain problem/situation that a potential client could ask them about during the sales process.

TheIncarceration

Politicker

SDR Manager

Such a great question. This will really show if the candidate is self aware or not

SaaSsy

Politicker

Love this. I like to ask not just about a memorable loss but specifically what the rep did and why that made them lose. Also ask about their typical closing/negotiation tactics - can tell you a lot about how they think about their role when dealing with buyers.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yeah see i would ask about a loss and see what they say.

If they dont tell me what THEY did then its a red flag.

If they take ownership and pin point what happened, I like it.
If they then tell me how they made sure it didnt happen again, im impressed

SaaSsy

Politicker

Exactly. Pretty easy to see the reps that messed up, took ownership and grew Vs. the “the world is against me” attitude

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

asking a question that requires deeper levels of details and complex analysis or thought will show if they're just bluffing in their skills or knowledge

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

There are lists upon lists online with questions to ask in a sales interview. The best questions are usually phrased like “tell about a time when…”. So find a couple which resemble what you are looking for and use them.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

but why go to google for random lists when i can come here and have ya'll help me.

Normally the questions ppl remember are they ones they answered really well, or the ones that caused them the most problems haha

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Are you going to be interviewing reps in your new role?
Here's one: tell me about a loss you had, and is there anything you would have done differently?

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I have a love/hate feeling with this question. Which means it's a good one. Stirs ya up inside.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

im all about stirring it up!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Right? It can expose someone who doesn't feel they did anything wrong, but also highlight a rep who has the ability to review a loss honestly and at least challenge his or herself to think of ways to do things differently next time.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

great question. and yes I will but that wont happen for at least a year in my mind.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Have then describe the process to you, and how they currently qualify a lead/customer. That will tell you what they are looking for and will help you make a more informed decision.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

I really like these questions, because the "correct" answers aren't as obvious so you will get more of an honest answer to truly evaluate the candidate.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

BOOM! thats the goal!

Mobi85

Politicker

Regional Sales Manager

Tell me a time that a customer was wrong/incorrect about what they were wanting/needing. How did you approach this with the customer, and what was the outcome.
This has given me the opportunity to see how they can be able to overcome this possible objection, helps me understand what type of persuasion skills they have, as well as empathy with the customer because they need to empathetic to the customer to let them know while they may want this product it won't be the solution they are looking for and here is a better solution for them.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i like it!

HappyGilmore

Politicker

Account Executive

A few that I think could be interesting and tell quite a bit about a rep:-What is one deal that you lost, what did you learn from it and how did you apply the learnings moving forward?-What's your collaboration style among teammates like?-Tell me about a time where you didn't hit your goals, how did you bounce back from that?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

I like asking about a deal they lost. I would NOT ask them what they learned from it. I would want to see if they tell me that on their own.

If they share that unprompted then im impressed.

HappyGilmore

Politicker

Account Executive

That's totally fair and I agree with you on that. The question could be asked but as the interviewer you're looking for them to share what they learned rather than ask for it.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

This is basically what I do now, my industry sees right through people who don’t know their shit.

Here’s a good question: give me an example of a time you didn’t get a sale and why. What did you learn from the experience?

aenima

Celebrated Contributor

Principal Account Manager

1) “Tell me a time you told a customer/client no”

Reps that can’t answer that are just “yes men.”

2) “what do you think makes a sales rep successful?”

If they say “grit” or “hard work”, they are disqualified for me, and likely a shit rep.

3) When they tell a success sorry, DRIVE at “what impact did this have on your customer?” Follow on with numerous deeper questions, “what was measurable?” Or “what was the timeframe they recognized XYZ impact” etc

Most shit sales reps can’t answer that, they were to focused on a commission check and never paid any real attention to the customer.

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

This was for SDR and very entry level roles, but I had a manager who would ask for some kind of recommendation. He was adamant that he could train anyone that had natural curiosity.

So, just about every person who asked him a few qualifying questions about what he liked made it to the next interview round. Those who just listed things they liked tended to not make it past that interview

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Sounds like the difference between someone who could naturally run a discovery call vs a person who immediately starts pitching feature/function.

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

exactly

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

They usually weed themselves out pretty fast

GingerBarbarian

Opinionated

Lead Sales

There is a great book by Patrick Lencioni called "The Ideal Team Player". It says you want people who are humble, hungry, and (people) smart. Just about everything else can be taught.

Personally, I would focus on finding people who have gone out of their way to improve. What books are they reading? What sales leaders do they follow?
Likewise, you want to find people with very high intrapersonal intelligence. People who really know themselves. Ask them about their plans to get better are. Odds are they will focus on either improving a strength or decreasing a weakness. Great reps will often be able to coach you on how to coach them.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

this is great feedback!

coaching you on how to coach them is a GREAT point to pay attention too

GDO

Politicker

BDM

Ask them to teach you something

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TennisandSales

How to weed out the S*#T Reps

32 comments

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