There are four Interview “soft” Questions I always ask Salesperson candidates.  I am usually not the final decision maker but can provide information about the candidates’ soft skills during the interview and their sales process.  I use a mix of behavioral questions to determine if they can tell a story (customers like stories) and demonstrate maturity.  I will also want them to keep their replies short, concise, and on point (like a customer interaction).
 

1. What motivated you to apply for this position?  Yes, it is a simple question, but it will tell you how the person prepared for the interview.
   1. Are they going ahead and moving up a career track or are they escaping something from their past?
   2. Have they read about the company and the position-are they prepared for the interview?
      1. Do they have the experience to excel in the role?
      2. Do they understand the responsibilities of the role?
   3. What motivates them towards change?
2. Tell me about a time when a prospect was hesitant to share budgetary questions regarding the project you were working on?  How did you keep the sales process moving?
   1. All salespersons run into this dilemma.  Salespersons usually had yet to build trust with the prospect and needed to overcome this obstacle. What tools do they use?
   2. I look for someone that is assertive in handling this objection.  Is the salesperson able to obtain this necessary information and build a successful proposal?
3. Tell me about a time when there was a pause or a delay in the sales process-how did you stay in touch with the prospect and keep the sales process moving forward?
   1. All sales projects encounter delays usually due to the prospects multiple juggling priorities.  How did they maintain communications, keep fostering collaboration and retain a positive attitude?
   2. Does the salesperson understand the length of the sales cycle and the buying process at the account?  Ensure that they are in sync with the length of the cycle.  Can they defer their own personal sales gratification for a customer win?  Will they build a long term relationship?
4. Tell me about someone in your past organizations that was a leader and the personal characteristics that led you to admire them.
   1. This question tells you more about the type of person that the candidate respects?  Does this behavior match the culture you are building?
   2. It also tells you how this person is motivated.  Understanding individuals’ motivation is important so that they will successfully graduate through the onboarding, probationary and indoctrination process.  Longer term will they get to break even and be a good investment for your organization.  Can I keep the person at the company five years?  That has been my acceptable BEP.

Everyone has their favorite interview questions and I prepare my questions based on the position requirements, my role in the interview process and the candidates background.  Once I have completed my portion of the interview, I complete a one page assessment of the candidates competency profile and provide a go/no go decision replete with any follow up items that the hiring manager may want to consider.
 
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You can streamline the onboarding and account handoff process if you choose how to engage each handoff scenario from new employee training to incentive programs by mapping the process.  The ultimate objective is to make the process as seamless as process for the customer to maintain the customer relationship and keep the sales process moving forward.  We see essential parts of the process as:

1. Outlining the transition process
2. Managing and Understanding the customer database
3. Sizing the customer opportunity
4. Incentivizing the players
   

Outlining the replacement situation for the current transition process

Why are you filling this role? Is the new replacement following a:

• < >Territory expansion or account shift
• < >Voluntary separation
  Each situation will create different scenarios, however, it should be clear that the new person now “owns the account.”
  
  If possible in the case of the retirement, promotion or expansion it is best to hold a rep to rep meeting to discuss the account.  They can exchange questions, advice and any key information e.g. org charts, project status.  A joint customer meeting in person or electronically with the account can further ease the transition.  When there is a termination or voluntary separation of the previous account manager the Sales Manager should step in and brief the new account rep.  The Sales Manager’s coaching process needs to extend as long as possible to ensure the sales processes are being followed and successful sales execution is established.
  

Managing and Understanding the customer database

The advent of CRM has made it easier for the larger organization to see accurate account notes.  Accessible and updated account information allows new reps to reap account information provided that the Sales Manager monitored the account database to minimize the GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) factor. 

I always encouraged new reps to review the account database with inside account reps.  They usually knew more about ongoing projects, org structure on their levels of communication and had good insights on relationships because their conversations with the account would be weekly if not daily.  They should also seek internal feedback from:

• Credit Managers-how do they pay their bills?
• Warranty personnel-did they return a lot of product or were they generally pleased?
• Marketing Managers-did they seek new or custom products?  Did they get special pricing?

Sizing the customer opportunity

It is also important to tailor the onboarding program by channel.  If your company sells direct understand the key accounts first.  Is this a major or strategic account?  These accounts should get priority and additional support.  Consider more in-depth deal reviews, joint account visits, more 1:1’s with your new rep for them.  If your company sells through channel partners understand the A distributors, co-op programs, exclusivity, agreements etc.

Selling globally, there may be private label customers, licensees https://www.jimthomasintl.com/blog/archives/11-2018 or joint ventures that need to be serviced.  Consider helping manage these special relationships until the “normal” business is transitioned.

Incentivizing the players

Are there impending large deals in the pipeline? Sometimes the “replaced” account salesperson is still within the organization and you want both the new and replaced account manager to jointly seize the project.  A walkaway attitude by the past sales manager can be detrimental to the onboarding process and the sales process.  Explore “special” ways to incentivize reps in a way that is aligned with your sales and post sales strategies. 

Consider double paying or sharing commissions on large account sales that are in transition.  I would usually extend this to either the normal sales cycle or a fixed period of time e.g. six months.   The past account manager is usually responsible for making the sure the project schedule and timeline is updated.  The new account manager is responsible for closing the deal and any post sales work. Remember to focus on activity and joint work.   This is good both for your team and the customer.

Do you want to have a free fifteen-minute call on improving your account hand off process?  You’ll need to make some deft choices to be successful.  Sign up on my web site or contact me directly by phone.

Good Selling!