In our article on optimizing the recruitment process, we talked about the difficulties of recruiting commercial functions. Faced with volatility and the shortage of commercial profiles, the interview is an important step for you as well as for the candidate.
Since the health crisis, some salespeople have become reluctant to change jobs and expect the new company to prove itself. The interview therefore has a double objective: to detect the best profile according to your needs and to motivate the candidate to join your teams!
In this article, we share with you all our tips based on more than 15 years in recruiting sales positions.
The scorecard
A good job interview starts with good preparation and in particular the development of your scorecard. The scorecard is an essential tool to ensure that you recruit the best talent. The success of your business depends above all on the quality of your employees, it is important to put all the chances on your side.
What is a scorecard?
The scorecard is a document that allows you to align your various expectations according to the main mission of the position. It should guide you in preparing for your interview and allow you to objectify your final decision based on criteria established beforehand. It will also allow you to communicate more easily internally and to standardize the candidate framework with the various stakeholders in your company.
To be effective and actionable, the scorecard should consist of:
- of the mission: this consists in summarizing in a clear and factual manner the objective of this recruitment, its context and the main need.
- objectives and expected results: to improve the accuracy of your scorecard, you can use the SMART method as inspiration for setting your goals. They must be Specific (precise and clear), Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This will allow you to quickly detect if your candidate is right for this position based on their previous experiences. Example: Increase the market share of new offers by 15% in sales results within 2 years.
- skills: the human and behavioral skills necessary to achieve the results previously defined are one of the essential elements of your scorecard. To do this, you can list 6 to 7 skills that you think are essential to carry out the main mission of this position and to ensure a good integration into the company.
Our advice for building your commercial scorecard:
To support you in your commercial recruitment, here are our tips for building an effective scorecard.
To define the mission : Ask yourself a few questions about why this recruitment was made. Is it a job creation or a replacement? Are we in a growth phase? A fundraiser? Are we looking for a breeder profile? Hunter? For a long cycle? Short cycle? What are our targets? What are the needs of the current sales team?
Some key skills to find in salespeople : while there is no ideal profile, certain technical and behavioral skills are still essential for sales functions. When it comes to hard skills, we recommend that you pay attention to:
- motivation, determination, tenacity and ambition
- empathy and active listening
- reliability and autonomy
- the ability to work in a team
Download your commercial scorecard here
The right questions for a successful interview
Asking the right questions is a crucial element in ensuring the relevance of an interview. The choice of questions should allow you to validate various points in the candidate such as:
- The candidate's thinking logic
- personality and relationships
- Level of interest in the position
- the ability to argue clearly
- operational skills
- Aspirations and ambitions
Conducting a commercial job interview using questions is one of the bases of recruitment. However, it is important not to turn the interview into an interview. The objective of these questions is to open the discussion on specific topics to be addressed. This will serve as a guideline and support for your exchanges.
To establish and guide a dialogue, there are 4 different types of questions to answer a particular objective:
- closed: accurate, brief and informative answer
- open: opinion, argument, reflection...
- hypothetical: problem solving, forecasting, ambition
- atypical: personality, organization...
Useful questions for conducting your commercial job interview:
- How many customers did you manage simultaneously? How much in full autonomy?
- How long was the sales cycle? Did you intervene throughout the sales cycle?
- What were your types of customers? Have you already worked with key account customers?
- What type of interlocutors did you communicate with?
- Why do you want to enter our market?
- What was your customer portfolio? The average basket amount?
- How many appointments did you have per week?
During your various questions, take the time to analyze the answers and ensure consistency between them. The objective is to understand what the candidate is able to achieve independently, with the support of the manager, and what he does not know how to do. It is important to carry out the various checks now to avoid unpleasant surprises for you as well as for the candidate once the recruitment has taken place.
The sales test
To support you in the search for the ideal salesperson, the sales test remains your essential ally. This will allow you to see the strengths and areas for improvement of the various candidates in order to build a complementary team. At Job2bedone, we have developed a unique test on the market to quickly identify everyone's sales preferences. The objective? Take stock of the current strengths of your teams and ensure the complementarity of talents.
To access the test, click here.
We hope that these tips, based on more than 15 years of experience in consulting in the recruitment of commercial functions, will be useful to you. Today, many companies are still struggling to recruit the best salespeople. Is that your case? Talk to our experts now to find out how we can support you.
