Sales Chump

Would you like to move up in your current department or company?  Do you like collecting a check every month and not wondering where the next will come from?  If so, treat every day like it is an interview.

Each day your are at your job you are being watched and evaluated.  Are you doing the things that will make your self successful at your current job?  Do you go above and beyond what is required of you on a daily basis?  Do you make yourself more of an asset than anyone else in your position?  These are the things that will get you a promotion, not an interview.

If you had a rocky start with some bumps along the way and you’re worried how that may affect any future openings, first make a pact with yourself.  Make sure this is something you can totally correct and make a complete turn around from.  Once you have made that pact with yourself, then notify your direct supervisor or manager.  Follow up with an email so you have a written trail.  Let him or her know that you apologize for your past conduct and you realize you haven’t been living up to your full potential.  You can draw the line in the sand so to speak and hopefully that will be behind you.  Be sure to track your progress and always keep the email on hand so you can reference it and remind yourself you’ve moved forward.  This will show your manager you can set a goal, stick to it and accomplish it.  It also shows you stay true to your word. 

There are still promotions and growth these days but there are also slowdowns and lay-offs.  Your actions should remain the same regardless.  A lot of times lay-offs will happen no matter what but many other times they are discretionary.  If you are doing the things that separate yourself from the rest of the pack you may be spared while the weak are let go.

In good times and bad, each day should be treated as an interview if you want to keep your current position or move up.

Looking for a good sales rep but not sure what questions to ask them in the interview?  The questions below are a good base of questions to ask.  Some of them aren’t related to sales at all and just get a better understanding of the type of person you’re interviewing.

General Interview Questions

• How do you currently pay for your expenses (rent, cell phone, etc)?
• What are your long term goals as a professional?
• If your current co-workers could describe you in 1 word, how would they describe you?
• If you could rate your organizational skills 1 - 10 (10 being high), what would you rate yourself?
  • What methods do you use to stay organized?

These questions allow you to see if they rely on others to help them and what their true motivation is.

The rest of the questions will be more sales related:

Sales Interview Questions

• What do you like most about sales? 
• What do you dislike most about sales?
• Would you prefer longer sales cycles for a bigger account or several smaller sales cycles for smaller accounts?
• Describe a situation with a client or prospect where you made a mistake. How did you handle the error?
• Describe a situation where the standard approach to a situation wasn’t working and a creative solution was needed.
• What do you think are the most important skills in succeeding in sales?
• What do you feel is the most important part of the sales process? (Opening, Interviewing, Demonstrating, Negotiating, Closing or some other aspect)
• How do you overcome a string of rejections and get out of a slump?

Again these aren’t all the questions in the world you would ask but I find these a more core group of questions that will get the foundation of the rep you are interviewing.  Obviously there may be more company specific questions needed for your particular interview.

Please feel free to chime in with a set of questions you like to use when interviewing new sales reps.